A Digital Newsletter from Living Stream Ministry
God’s heart’s desire is only Christ. To simply understand that Christ is God’s Beloved and God’s delight is too shallow. The desire of God’s heart is entirely centered on Christ. According to the Bible, all that God wants to do, all that He has planned to accomplish and gain, is entirely related to Christ and for Christ. God’s intention is to work to such an extent that Christ will be expressed in all things, fill all things, and even be all things.
The Old Testament types and the Old Testament commandments are explanations of Christ. God commands that we keep the Sabbath, and Christ is the reality of the Sabbath. God commands that we be holy, and Christ is the reality of holiness. Every sentence in the entire Bible points to the reality of Christ Himself. The entire universe, even every tree, flower, and blade of grass, speaks of Christ. The beauty of a flower expresses the beauty of Christ because the reality of beauty is Christ Himself. The sweetness of a piece of fruit expresses the sweetness of Christ, because the reality of sweetness is Christ Himself. Hence, the Bible uses many flowers and fruits to show forth many aspects of Christ. Everything in the universe is for the expression of Christ. Righteousness is Christ. Holiness is Christ. Purity is Christ. Patience is Christ. Power is Christ. Suffering is Christ. Everything in the universe is an expression of Christ.
The universe is a great painting drawn by God. In this painting, various things, matters, and persons describe Christ. The relationship between a husband and a wife is a description of Christ. The relationship between a master and a servant is a description of Christ. The relationship between a father and a son is a description of Christ. There is nothing that is not a description of Christ. Today our vision of Christ must be so clear that we see that Christ is not only the desire of God’s heart but even more the reality of all positive things, matters, and persons. In our gospel preaching we should preach Christ. In our messages we should speak Christ. In our administration of the church, we should administrate so that Christ can be ministered into people and then be ministered into others through them (CWWL, 1967, vol. 1, pp. 179, 181-182).
Philippians 2:12 says, “So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” What were the Philippians to obey? They were to obey Paul’s word regarding thinking the one thing and being joined in soul. The one thing that they were to think is the experience of Christ for the Body life.
This one thing is clearly revealed in chapter 3, where Paul speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord (v. 8). To experience Christ as our enjoyment for the church is excellent. All other things are dung, refuse, dog food. Anything other than this one thing is refuse, food for dogs, not something for us Christians. As children of God, we should not feed on dog food. Rather, we should eat at the table.
In Philippians 2 Paul was encouraging the Philippians to think the one thing and to be one in soul. The one thing is not merely the objective Christ but the subjective experience of Christ as our enjoyment for the church life. This one thing should occupy our mind all the time. We should constantly be thinking about how to experience Christ as our rich enjoyment so that we may have the proper church life. The Body life is the issue of the experience and enjoyment of Christ. When we enjoy Christ, the church life spontaneously issues forth. Thus, the church life comes out of our experience of Christ.
We should not only think about this but even dream about it. Have you ever dreamed of feasting with all the saints at a banquet? Many of us have had dreams like this. Dreams come mainly from impressions, desires, and thoughts. Often, what we dream about is what we have been thinking about or what we desire. We need to think about the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ until we dream about it. This is the one thing that the apostle Paul charged the Philippians to think about (CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” pp. 355-356).
A schedule of the upcoming conferences and trainings is provided on lsm.org.