Having the Consciousness of the New Man and Progressing until All Churches are the Same

When we see that all the local churches on earth are the one new man, we will live the church life with the consciousness of the new man.

The Lord is taking us on in the local churches until eventually we all be absolutely the same; we will think the same thing (Christ), speak the same thing (Christ), and express the same thing (Christ). Actually, the Lord’s recovery is a recovery of Christ being our everything, and what is here in the Lord’s recovery is nothing but Christ – and this Christ is all and in all! Amen!

When we all see such a vision and live a life governed by this vision, we will be saved from anything that is not Christ, and we will think the same thing (which one thing is Christ), we will speak the same thing (which is Christ), and we will have the same manifestation, the same expression, which is Christ being expressed through us.

This is the one new man coming into being practically on earth, the one new man being brought into full existence; there will be no more emphasis on the differences between the churches, there will be no more talk about the jurisdiction and autonomy of the churches, but Christ will be all and in all.

The Lord wants to give us such a consciousness of the  new man, so that we may live the church life not only with the house of God in view, and not only by realizing that we are one Body in Christ, but by having the consciousness of the new man.

The Lord is moving on and on in His recovery; He is recovering more and more aspects of the truth, life, and church service, and in these last days He is burdened concerning the one new man.

The one new man is comprised of all the local churches on the earth; when we live the church life in the locality the Lord placed us, our consciousness should be not only of our local church or the local churches in our country, but the consciousness of the new man.

We all need to take Christ as our person and live Christ; in this way, only Christ will be among us, and the only person manifested among us is Christ.

Christ really wants to become our all; He wants to be our life and even our person, and He wants to grow in us and be expressed through us.

When we take Christ as our person and as our life, what spontaneously happens is that we all will speak the same thing, for Christ speaks the same one thing; then, in a practical way, we will be the one new man.

But if we don’t take Christ as our person but we are still our own person, then the new man cannot come into being practically. Oh Lord!

May the Lord continue to shine on us and remove any darkness, exposing how much we still live in and by the self and not by Christ, so that we may put the self aside, take Christ as our person, and live the church life with the consciousness of the new man!

Living the Church Life with the Consciousness of the New Man in a Practical Way

When we realize that the local churches are one new man, we will have a different kind of practice and living; whenever we’re about to decide something in our local church, we will consider the churches throughout the whole earth (see Rev. 22:16; 1 Thes. 2:14; Rom. 16:4; 2 Cor. 11:28).

Paul recommended the Thessalonian saints for being imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; it is not a shame to imitate other churches or to follow them – rather, it is a glory, for we all are the one new man!

And when Paul spoke of some in Rom. 16:4 that they risked their own necks for his life, he realized that not only he was thankful to them but all the churches of the Gentiles were thankful; he had the consciousness of the one new man.

Paul had such a consciousness of the new man that he testified that daily there’s a crowd of cares pressing upon him, which is the anxious concern for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:28). He didn’t have a particular church that he preferred – he cared for all the churches.

We need to realize that today in the Lord’s recovery we have nothing else but Christ, and our Christ is all and in all; so we can’t be individualistic but rather, we are all related to one another, for Christ is in all of us.

Today is the day to have a new man constituted with all the local churches, including all the saints as one in Christ, for Christ is all and in all. When we see such a vision, we will be rescued from all things other than Christ, and we will count all other things as refuse compared with Christ (Phil. 3:8).

If we see the vision of the new man and have the consciousness of the new man, we will be willing to pray and take the Lord as our person for the one new man.

Furthermore, we will live the church life with the consciousness of the new man, realizing that in all our decisions, speaking, and doing, what we say and do and decide affects not only us but all the constituents of the one new man.

Since we’re part of the new man, our decision and our living shouldn’t be ours; they should be the decisions and the living of the one new man.

Both personally as saints and corporately as local churches we need to have such a consciousness of the new man; it is not merely of individual localities and individual churches, but all churches on earth are involved corporately.

When we decide about a certain matter and when we live a certain kind of life, as we fellowship, pray, and consider together, do we consider the churches on the whole earth?

When we’re about to make a decision either personally or as the church, do we have the thought of the churches in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, England, France, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Ghana, USA, Canada, or South America?

We all have to admit that we have never thought anything like this; at most we consider the saints in our locality, but we didn’t consider how the saints and the churches around the world feel concerning our decisions or our way of living.

This is such a high requirement, that only a real consciousness of the new man can meet it. This requirement is extremely high as we consider our decisions and our living. It is good to open to the Lord and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we want to receive grace and mercy with all the saints as the one new man, taking You as the person in all of us. Amen, Lord, we take You as our person for the one new man. May our daily living with its way of life and all the decisions be checked not only with the Bible or with the church in spirit, but also be checked with the consciousness of the new man. Save us from living an individualistic or independent life personally or as the churches. May we live the church life and the Christian life having the consciousness of the one new man on earth today!

The Churches will Progress in the Divine Life until They are Absolutely the Same!

In this world today where people glory and boast in their differences, we in the church life are learning from the word of God concerning becoming the same.

The churches will progress in the divine life to such an extent that eventually they all will be absolutely the same (Rev. 1:4, 11-12; 1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 14:33).

Do we in the church life glory in sameness or in differences?

When we speak of sameness we don’t mean that we’re being brainwashed and act robotically, dress the same, and speak the same words with the same intonation and do the same practices.

Rather, sameness refers to the organic sameness, which is more powerful than anything robotic; this sameness is real, from the inside, for we all have the same one Person living in us and being manifested in us!

We may not want to be the same as the other churches because of our pride; but according to the divine economy, the more we are the same in Christ, the more glorious we are.

Paul recommended the churches imitating other churches and following them, for it is a glorious thing to imitate others in the Lord and to follow them, being one with them in the spirit.

It is actually shameful in the Lord’s eyes to try to be different, not to be joined to others in spirit but to try to be not the same; it is glorious to imitate those who imitate Christ, follow those who follow Christ, and be the same in the Lord.

We need to learn from one another, receive grace from one another. This involves that we need to blend, fellowship, learn from others, give to others, we are touched by others, we are adjusted by others, and we are built up with others until we are the same!

When others come among us they shouldn’t feel the smell of anything else but Christ; when we visit a certain local church, the scent should be of Christ, and not of anything that is different than Him.

It is a glory to be the same as Christ, and that we all are the same – the same as Christ! In this way we imitate the apostles, who imitated Christ.

One day will come when all the local churches will look alike, just as Rev. 1 speaks of seven golden lampstands – they are the same in their life, nature, shape, function, and expression, and if there’s anything negative, the Spirit speaks to all the churches!

We all are twin brothers of the Firstborn Son of God, being conformed to His image. We shouldn’t try to look different than Christ but be made the same as Him, for one day we will see Him as He is, and we will be just like Him! Hallelujah!

May this be our reality in the church life today. What we have here in the church life in the Lord’s recovery is nothing but Christ, and this Christ is all and in all; when we see this vision, we will be rescued from anything that is other than Christ (Col. 1:18; 3:10-11).

The Lord intends to raise up His believers throughout the world to seek Him, and when we seek Him, we will see that He desires the one new man to be expressed in the local churches (Phil. 3:7-16; Eph. 4:24). Amen!

Lord Jesus, rescue us from anything that is other than Christ and make us the same as You are for the one new man! Amen, Lord, conform us all to Your image until we all look the same as Christ, we all speak the same thing (Christ), and we all manifest the same thing (Christ)! Save us from trying to be different from others. May we learn to follow those who follow You and imitate one another for we all imitate You in the way of life. Amen, Lord, may the day come when all the local churches look alike and bear the testimony of Jesus, so that You may have the one new man being expressed in all the local churches!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 3, “One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man,” ch. 6, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man (2019 fall ITERO), week 9, Practicing the Church Life, Speaking the Same Thing, and Doing the One Work in the Consciousness of the One New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Be the person of our heart; / Manifest Thyself through us. / Build the saints into Thine house / That we’d bear Thine image thus. / Consummate Thy central work / That we’d match Thee perfectly; / Thus, the church would builded be— / One new man eternally. (Song on, Lord, Bring Forth the One New Man)
  – Lord, transform us to Thine image / In emotion, mind, and will; / Saturate us with Thy Spirit, / All our being wholly fill. / By the power of His Spirit / In His pattern He transforms; / From His glory to His glory / To His image He conforms. (Hymns #750)
  – We give ourselves to follow the churches, / Oneness in Christ display; / Follow His move in all of the churches, / Stand fast as one this way. / We must follow the Spirit / In all simplicity. / In our spirit is Jesus— / He follows perfectly! (Hymns #1246)