Not Living in the Vanity of our Mind but Learning Christ as the Reality is in Jesus

Before we were saved we lived in the vanity of our mind, but through faith in Christ and baptism in Him we have learned Christ even as the reality is in Jesus, and now we put on the new man with the new living, the church life.

By faith in Christ we have received Him into us as our life; He as the life-giving Spirit has come into our spirit, and we have a mingled spirit.

Through our baptism we have been put into Christ as the mold, and He is conforming us to His image every day, so that we may become the same as He is and have the same kind of living for the corporate expression of God in the one new man.

For the corporate living of the one new man, we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus (Eph. 4:20-21). On the one hand we need to grow into Christ in all things, who is the Head, and on the other, we need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.

We learn Christ not by learning about Him, having the knowledge and doctrine of Christ, or having a theological understanding of what He is.

Also, we don’t learn Christ by imitating Christ outwardly, but by taking Him as our pattern, our mold, and imitating Him in an organic way, in the way of life.

Christ is not only our life – He’s also our example, our pattern; in His life on earth He has set up a pattern, a mold, and then He came as the life-giving Spirit into us to regenerate us and put us into this mold that we may be conformed to His image.

To be saved is to be put into Christ by God, and to be baptized is to be put into Christ, who is the pattern, the mold; when we believe into Christ and are baptized in Him, God put us in Christ, and He in us can live us the life that God wants to for the fulfillment of His purpose.

We learn Christ according to the mold of the life of Jesus, which is reality. To learn Christ is to be put into the mold – it is to be molded into the pattern that Jesus has set up during His years on earth.

To be molded in the image of Christ is something of the growth in life. The more we grow in life and the more we cooperate with Christ, He is conforming us to His image for us to be the one new man having the corporate God-man living, a repetition of the life that Christ lived on earth.

Not Living in the Vanity of our Mind but Learning Christ as the Reality is in Jesus

In Eph. 4:17-21 we see a contrast between the vanity of the mind (which was our living before we were saved) and the reality in Jesus (which should be our living after we were saved).

When we were without God in the world, we lived in the vanity of our mind; our mind was full of vanity, our understanding was dark, we were ignorant, and our heart was hardened.

We were alienated from the life of God, we have lost our feeling, and there was dissoluteness, filthiness, and lust. All these were the result of the enemy’s working in man.

The function of our conscience was lost, we had no feeling, but we were darkened in our understanding, even hardened and stubborn, not willing to receive anything of God; therefore, our body became flesh, and there was greediness, corruption, and uncleanness.

But when we believed into the Lord and have been baptized in Christ, we were put into Christ and we put on Christ – we put on the reality which is in Jesus.

Reality is only in Jesus; the only reality in the universe is the Triune God Himself, and when Jesus lived His human life on earth, this was the living out of reality, for lived in truth.

The old man is in the vanity of the mind, but God is reality, and God was revealed and expressed in Jesus; now the reality is in Jesus. In Jesus we see the only reality in the universe because He was God living in man, God being expressed through man.

Through His death and resurrection Christ became the Spirit of reality, and He came into us that we may live a life in spirit and truthfulness (John 4:24).

The God who is the reality of the universe passed through many processes and became the Spirit of reality; as such a Spirit He has come into our spirit to become the truthfulness that is lived out of us. This is what God wants to gain – the corporate living of the one new man.

Hallelujah, through regeneration and baptism we have put off the old man and we were put in Christ; now we are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.

What kind of living do we have? Do we still live in the vanity of our mind like the Gentiles do, as we used to live before we were saved?

We used to live in the vanity of our mind, but today we have the spirit of our mind; we have two choices: we can either live in the vanity of our mind or live in the spirit of our mind.

We have been renewed in the spirit of our mind, and we have vanity in our unrenewed mind; the spirit of our mind is the reality in Jesus, but our unrenewed mind is vain and full of vanity.

The Spirit of reality came into our spirit, renewed our spirit, and mingled Himself with our spirit; now we have a mingled spirit, and this spirit is spreading into our soul, especially in our mind, to direct our whole being until we live the corporate living of the one new man.

Lord Jesus, we want to no longer live in the vanity of our mind but learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus! We refuse to live as the others do, and we reject any vanity in our mind; we choose to set our mind on our spirit and be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Thank You Lord, we have been put in Christ as the mold, and Christ as the life-giving Spirit is in our spirit to renew us, transform us, and conform us to the image of Christ until we have the corporate living of the one new man!

The Life of Jesus was a Life of Reality – we are in Him and He is in us to Live again!

It is futile to endeavor to imitate Christ by the efforts of our natural life; no matter how hard we try and how much we do our best, we cannot have the same kind of living as He did in our natural effort and life.

We need to realize that God put us into Christ as the mold, and this mold is nothing else but the life of Jesus recorded int he four Gospels, a life absolutely according to truth.

God is light (1 John 1:5), and truth is the expression of God; every aspect of the life of Jesus recorded int he Gospels is an expression of God, for His living was according to the truth.

In everything that Christ did and said He expressed God; this was the shining of the light, and His living became our pattern, the mold into which we were put by God through faith in Christ.

In the life of Jesus there is truth; the life of Jesus was a life of reality, and now we are in Him and He is in us for Him to live again in us and through us as the one new man!

We should no longer live in the vanity of our mind as the nations do, but let Christ conform us to His image both from within (where He is as the life-giving Spirit) and from without (where He is as our mold).

Christ formed the mold, the pattern, during His thirty-three and a half years on earth; now all those who believe into Him are being conformed to this mold.

Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory and the impress of His substance (Heb. 1:3); His living was the shining of God who is light, and therefore His life was a life of reality, a life of the shining of God Himself.

When we read the four Gospels what we see is not just a chronological or theological record of the life of Jesus, but the pattern of Christ in whom is reality; His life was a life of reality, and reality is in Jesus.

Our Christian life is a life of learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus. He passed through death and resurrection and became a life-giving Spirit; as such a Spirit, He comes into us to be our life.

When we believed into Christ, we were put into Him as the mold, and He came into us as the Spirit. On the one hand God put us in Christ, and on the other, He came into us as the Spirit.

The life of Jesus was a life of reality – now we are in Him and He is in us, for Him to live again in us a duplication and repetition of the life of Jesus in a corporate way through His Body.

Now we may live by Christ according to the mold in which we have been placed by God. We are in Christ as the mold, and He is in us as our life; in this way we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.

Because in every aspect of the Lord’s living on earth there was the shining of light, His life was a life of reality, a life of the shining God Himself; that life of reality was the expression of God (John 8:12; 14:6). Hallelujah!

Thank You Lord Jesus for coming into us as the Spirit and for putting us into You as the mold, so that we may be in You and You may be in us for You to live in us again a life of reality, the corporate living of the one new man! Thank You, Lord, for setting up a mold, a pattern, by Your God-man living on earth. Now we are in You, and You are conforming us to Your image so that we may become the same as You in life, nature, and expression. We want to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus daily for the corporate living of the one new man!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by the brothers for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 341 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Goal of the Lord’s Recovery – to Bring Forth the One New Man (2018 ICSC), week 2, Being Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind for the Practical Existence of the One New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # I’ve found the One who’s all to me; / He’s become reality. / Now He’s in my life to stay; / He is the truth, the life, the way. (Song on, I’ve found the One who’s all to me)
  # Jesus is the Lord, and He lives in me; / Now I’m as happy as I can be. / O Hallelujah! O Hallelujah! / Jesus lives in me! / All the world is filled with vanity; / Jesus is the one reality. / O Hallelujah! O Hallelujah! / Jesus lives in me! (Song on, Jesus is the Lord, and He lives in me)
  # All things are vanity of vanities, / Christ, the reality all things to fill; / Though everything we may enjoy and own, / If we’re devoid of Christ we’re empty still. (Hymns #496)