Chapter 4 Reigning in Life (1) In Dying with Adam and Living with Christ, in Being Overcoming in All Circumstances, and in Living a Grafted Life with Christ In the preceding three messages we saw the six major items in God s organic salvation: regeneration, renewing, sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. With this message we begin to cover the matter of reigning in Christ s life. The first four chapters of Romans show us the aspect of judicial redemption in God s complete salvation; the remaining twelve chapters show us the aspect of organic salvation in God s complete salvation. We were redeemed, justified, and reconciled to God through the death of Christ. This is on the judicial side. However, Romans shows us that God s salvation has not only the judicial aspect but also the organic aspect. The organic salvation is referred to in 5:10, which says,...much more we will be saved in His life. Today we are passing through the processes of God s organic salvation that we may be saved in His life. On the one hand, we have been saved; on the other hand, we are still being saved. THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD S ORGANIC SALVATION EQUALING REIGNING IN CHRIST S LIFE However, there is a further revelation concerning our being saved in life. It is for us not only to be saved in God s organic salvation but also to reign in Christ s life. How much we are saved in God s organic salvation determines how much our reigning in life is manifested. Our reigning in life is proof of our experience of God s organic salvation. It means nothing for someone to claim that he is healthy. He needs to take a blood test, and if his red blood cells, white blood cells, cholesterol, etc., test normal, then this is proof that he is truly healthy. To know whether we are truly experiencing God s organic salvation, we must see if we are reigning in Christ s life. Romans 5:17 says, For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Here, the abundance of the gift of righteousness refers to judicial redemption, and the abundance of grace is the processed Triune God. This grace will accomplish God s organic salvation in us. The life which we received not only saves us from certain things but also enables us to reign over all things. Such reigning far surpasses our being saved in life. We have received righteousness objectively, but we still need to receive continually the abundance of grace (the processed Triune God as the consummated Spirit) that we may reign in life subjectively. Romans 6 16 unveils the meaning of reigning in life. Our dying with Adam and living with Christ, our being overcoming in all circumstances, and our living a grafted life with Christ all these matters show us the meaning of reigning. However, none of them is by our own striving but by our receiving the abundance of grace. How do we know that we are reigning in life? If we have the living and experience portrayed in the revelations in Romans 6 16, this is evidence that we are definitely reigning in life. We will use three messages to look at the items covered in those chapters.
First, in this message we will see the following matters: in dying with Adam and living with Christ, in being overcoming in all circumstances, and in living a grafted life with Christ. I. IN DYING WITH ADAM We reign in life first in dying with Adam. Dying with Adam is not a doctrine; rather, it is a matter of our being in an organic union with Christ. A. Our Natural Life Needing to Be Terminated with Adam in Our Co-death with Christ Our natural life needs to be terminated with Adam in our co-death with Christ (Rom. 6:3, 4a, 5a, 6-8a; Gal. 2:20a; Eph. 4:22). We were created by God in His image and after His likeness. However, due to Adam s fall, our life became the natural life of the old creation in Adam. There are two main elements in our natural life of the old creation. The first element is sin and the second is death. Romans 5 7 shows us that in Adam there are only sin and death. Through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and through sin, death (5:12). Thus, sin reigned in us through death (v. 21a; 6:12), and death reigned over us through the offense of the one, Adam (5:17a, 14). Therefore, in Adam we did not reign in life; rather, we were under the ruling of sin and death. However, as the last Adam, Christ died an all-inclusive death on the cross, and through such a death He brought everything of the adamic life to the cross and had a great ending there (6:6). How can we be delivered out of the reigning of sin and death? It is not by our struggling and striving; rather, it is through the all-inclusive death of Christ that we allow the life of Christ to reign in us instead of sin and death. Thus, it is no longer sin and death that reign in us; rather, it is grace and life that reign in us (5:21). B. Our Natural Life Needing to Be Annihilated with Adam in Our Co-death with Christ Our natural life needs to be annihilated, completely destroyed, put out of existence, with Adam in our co-death with Christ. In our baptism we have been buried with Christ into His death, and thereby the natural life of our old man in Adam has been annihilated (6:3-4a). II. IN LIVING WITH CHRIST We reign in life not only in our dying with Adam but also in our living with Christ (Rom. 6:4b, 5b, 8b; Gal. 2:20b). Romans 6:8 says, Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. This shows our organic union with Christ in His death and resurrection. Such an organic union is best illustrated in grafting. Two separate branches are made one by grafting. We were grafted with Christ and have grown together with Him in His death and resurrection. A. Our Natural Life Needing to Be Raised with Christ in His Resurrection Our natural life needs to be raised with Christ in His resurrection. Although our natural life was defiled by sin and death through the fall, we have received the resurrection life of Christ into us through our death and resurrection with Him. This resurrection life of Christ is the life-giving Spirit, who enlivens us from within that we may be raised with Christ. In resurrection our Godcreated faculties are restored; moreover, they are enriched with, uplifted by, and saturated with Christ s resurrection life for us to experience and enjoy all that Christ is.
B. Our Natural Life Needing to Be Renewed with Christ in His Resurrection Our natural life needs to be renewed with Christ in His resurrection (Eph. 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 4:16; 5:17). Our natural life belongs to the realm of the old creation, the old man. In baptism we put off our old man; moreover, our old man was crucified with Christ. In our practical experience, however, we need to allow the Spirit, who indwells our regenerated spirit, to spread to our mind so that in such a mingled spirit we may be nourished and renewed by the fresh supply of the resurrection life of Christ. III. IN BEING OVERCOMING IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES When we reign in life, we can overcome in all circumstances (Rom. 8:31-39; cf. 1 Cor. 15:54-57). A. Needing to Be More Than Conquering in Our Overcoming with Christ in All Circumstances We need to be more than conquering in our overcoming with Christ in all circumstances. We do not overcome in ourselves; rather, we are more than conquerors in Christ s victory. 1. The Love of God Being the Source of His Salvation The love of God (Rom. 8:39) is the source of His salvation. In His salvation this love to us has become the love of Christ (v. 35), which will accomplish God s complete salvation in us through the grace of Christ. This love of God is in Christ and has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (5:5). Nothing can separate us from this love of God (8:38-39). In God s salvation this love has become the love of Christ, which does many marvelous things for us through the grace of Christ until God s complete salvation is accomplished in us. Ephesians 2:8 says that we are saved by grace. According to our natural understanding, we think that grace is freely given to us by God without any price. Actually, it is not so shallow. What is the grace of Christ? The grace of Christ is Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit through death and resurrection; it is also the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God who has passed through the various processes. 2. More Than Conquering in All the Sufferings and Calamities as the Attacks from God s Enemy The marvelous things which God does for us due to His love provoke God s enemy to attack us with all kinds of sufferings and calamities (Rom. 8:35-36). However, because of our response to the love of God in Christ, these attacks have become benefits to us (v. 28). Hence, we more than conquer in all our calamities (v. 37). B. Needing to Be All-transcending in Our Overcoming with Christ in All Circumstances When we reign in life, we are all-transcending in Christ s victory in all circumstances. How can we be transcendent? According to the book of Ephesians, we are joined with Christ in His resurrection and ascension (2:5-6) so that we have transcended to the heavenlies. This is to be transcendent over all things. Ephesians 1 tells us that since we have resurrected and ascended with Christ, we are transcendent with Him not only above all that is under the earth but also above all that is on the earth, in the air, in the heavens, and even in the heaven that is above the heavens. We are also far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come (vv. 20-21). It is when we arrive at such a transcendent position that we have truly received grace and are genuinely saved. I hope that all the believers can hear this word. Do not live a befuddled life
day by day, imagining that you have been saved and are just waiting to go to heaven. This is a pagan thought. Today we are living an all-transcending life with Christ in His victory. 1. Christ s Resurrection Being His Victory Christ s resurrection was His victory, which will accomplish the ultimate and complete victory in resurrection for us who believe in Him and participate in His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:54). Through resurrection Christ was victorious over Satan, God s enemy, over the world, over sin, and over death. We who believe in Christ will enjoy the consummation of resurrection through the redemption and salvation in Christ. This resurrection begins with the enlivening of our dead spirit and is completed with the transfiguration of our corruptible body. Between these two ends is the process in which our fallen soul is metabolically transformed by Christ Jesus as the life-giving Spirit, who is the reality of resurrection. 2. Christ s Victory Needing to Become Our Daily Experience in Life Christ s victory should not only be an accomplished fact for us to receive; it should also become our daily experience in life through the union of the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) with our spirit as one spirit (6:17) that we may be all-transcending in our overcoming with Christ. Hence, we should live by and walk according to this mingled spirit. IV. IN LIVING A GRAFTED LIFE WITH CHRIST We reign in life not only in dying with Adam, living with Christ, and being overcoming in all circumstances but also in living a grafted life with Christ (Rom. 11:17-24). A. To Live the Life of the New Creation in Our Being Grafted with Christ We reign in life to live the life of the new creation in our being grafted with Christ. This means that we become a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), walking by the Spirit according to the rule of being a new creation (Gal. 6:15-16; 5:25) that we may put on the new man (Eph. 2:15; 4:23-24) and experience the renewing of the new man (Col. 3:10). B. To Reign in Eternity in Our Being Grafted with Christ We reign in life not only to live the life of the new creation but also to reign in eternity in our being grafted with Christ (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 22:5). This word concerning our being grafted with Christ may be simple, yet what is involved includes the heaven, the earth, and many other things. Here it says that we have been grafted into Christ, yet this Christ is the God who dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). Since we cannot touch Him, how can we be grafted into Him? This is why Christ needed to pass through various processes. The first process that He went through was His becoming flesh (John 1:14) to be the seed of David (Matt. 1:1), the branch of David (Zech. 3:8; Jer. 23:5; 33:15), that we might be grafted together with Him. As human beings we are branches, pieces of wood; in like manner, Christ came as the branch of David, as a piece of wood. He is exactly the same as we are; hence, He and we can be grafted together. The process by which Christ became a piece of wood was not simple. And His becoming a piece of wood did not by itself mean that He could be grafted with us. A grafter knows that in order to have a successful grafting, both of the grafting parts need to be cut and die. First, the part to
be grafted has to die, and second, the part to be grafted into has to die also. Only when both sides die can the grafting be accomplished. On Christ s side, one day, as the branch of David, He died on the cross; however, although He died in the flesh, He was resurrected in the Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18b). Through death and resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). By becoming such a Spirit, Christ was ready for the grafting. On our side, as sinners, we need to repent and receive the Lord. Once we repent and receive Him, He as the life-giving Spirit enters into our spirit and puts the divine life in us. This life is a life of death and resurrection. Hence, He brings the key to death and resurrection into us who have believed in Him and have died and resurrected with Him. Thus, in this death and resurrection we are grafted together with Christ. After we have been grafted together with Christ, we should no longer live by ourselves; rather, we should allow the pneumatic Christ to live in us. Furthermore, we should no longer live by our flesh or our natural being; rather, we should live by our mingled spirit, a spirit grafted with Christ. Thus, first, we are united with Him; this is a union. Then we are mingled with Him; this is a mingling. Eventually, we are incorporated with Him into an incorporation. This incorporation is the New Jerusalem, the great universal incorporation of the mingling of God and man for us to reign in eternity. Brothers and sisters, I hope that you not only get these words into you but also repeat them like tape recorders. I often pray for you at my home. I have been a slave of the Lord speaking for Him for over sixty years. I am like a tape recorder speaking for the Lord again and again. I truly hope that when I speak, others will be tape recorders. This is my prayer. The Lord answered my prayer, saying, With men it is impossible, but with Me everything is possible. With all these believers who are under your leading, I can make every one of them such a tape recorder. I hope that all the brothers and sisters can enter into such a word, be constituted with such a word, and clearly speak such a word. OUTLINE I. In dying with Adam: A. Our natural life needing to be terminated with Adam in our co-death with Christ Rom. 6:3, 4a, 5a, 6-8a; Gal. 2:20a; Eph. 4:22. B. Our natural life needing to be annihilated with Adam in our co-death with Christ. II. In living with Christ Rom. 6:4b, 5b, 8b; Gal. 2:20b: A. Our natural life needing to be raised with Christ in His resurrection. B. Our natural life needing to be renewed with Christ in His resurrection Eph. 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 4:16; 5:17. III. In being overcoming in all circumstances Rom. 8:31-39; cf. 1 Cor. 15:54-57: A. Needing to be more than conquering in our overcoming with Christ in all circumstances: 1. The love of God (Rom. 8:39) is the source of His salvation. In His salvation this love to us has become the love of Christ (v. 35), which will accomplish God s complete salvation in us through the grace of Christ. 2. God s enemy attacks us with all kinds of sufferings and calamities (Rom. 8:35-36); however, because of our response to the love of God in Christ, these attacks have become benefits to us (v. 28). Hence, we more than conquer in all these calamities (v. 37). B. Needing to be all-transcending in our overcoming with Christ in all circumstances:
1. Christ s resurrection was His victory, which will accomplish the ultimate and complete victory in resurrection for us who believe in Him and participate in His resurrection 1 Cor. 15:54. 2. Christ s victory should not only be an accomplished fact for us to receive; it should also become our daily experience in life through the union of the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) with our spirit as one spirit (6:17) that we may be all-transcending in our overcoming with Christ. IV. In living a grafted life with Christ Rom. 11:17-24: A. To live the life of the new creation in our being grafted with Christ: 1. Becoming a new creation in Christ 2 Cor. 5:17. 2. Walking by the Spirit according to the rule of being a new creation Gal. 6:15-16; 5:25. 3. Putting on the new man Eph. 2:15; 4:23-24. 4. Experiencing the renewing of the new man Col. 3:10. B. To reign in eternity in our being grafted with Christ 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 22:5.