![Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. Rom. 8:29](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Because-those-whom-He-foreknew-He-also-predestinated-to-be-conformed-to-the-image-of-His-Son-1024x576.webp?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1 "Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers. Rom. 8:29")
When we love the Lord, contact the Lord, and live in spirit, we spontaneously live Christ according to the pattern of Jesus as seen in the Gospels.
As believers in Christ, we are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus; as we love the Lord, contact Him, pray to Him and live in the spirit, we are learning Christ according to the reality in Jesus by the Spirit of reality. Amen!
Regarding the matter of the God-man living, we in the church life may be quite familiar with this topic; we even have a book entitled, The God-man Living (by Witness Lee).
If we read that book of 17 chapters we see the first God-man’s living from the manger to the cross and as a man of prayer.
We as believers in Christ are the Lord’s disciples, and we should live the same way that He lived.
Our living today should be the same as the living of Jesus, for we have Jesus living in us.
The Lord’s story is that He lived a God-man life from the manger (where He was born) to the cross (where He died).
His entire life was characterized by these two things: the manger and the cross.
How about us, do we have a God-man living? We should not be so quick to say that yes, we have a God-man living, for many times we know that we do not live one with the Lord.
The Lord Jesus lived the life of a God-man not only when He was an adult but even when He was a child.
When He was twelve years old and went to the temple with His parents, He remained back and His parents were looking for Him for a few days.
When they finally found Him, He said to them, I must be in the things of My Father.
In other words, I must mind My Father’s business.
Still, even though He was there minding His Father’s business, the Lord Jesus as a teenager went back with His parents in subjection, for it was not yet the time for Him to do something.
He still needed to have eighteen years of silence.
We do not know what occurred during most of the Lord Jesus’ life, but we know that He had a God-man living, even when He seemed to be silent outwardly, not doing much for God.
When we live a God-man life, we may be silent for a long time, but we will still express God, for we’re learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
We need to contact the Lord, love Him, and live in spirit so that we may do all things in oneness with Him for Him to live in us and be expressed through us.
The desire of God’s heart is that the actual condition of the God-man living of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels would be duplicated in the many members of the Body of Christ by the Spirit of reality to become the reality of the Body of Christ, which is the highest peak in God’s economy.
God’s desire is not only to save all men but even more that Christ would live in them and they would express Christ, having the same kind of life that He did when He was on earth.
When such a living is taking place in a substantial way, when we live according to the pattern of Jesus, the Lord can return, for He has gained the reality of the Body of Christ, which is the bride of Christ.
Living the Same kind of Life as the Lord Jesus by being in Christ and Learning Christ as the Reality is in Jesus
After we were saved and read the Gospels, we spontaneously have a desire to live according to the pattern that the Lord Jesus established in the Gospels.
Our aspiration is to live according to the pattern of Jesus, for we love and appreciate this wondeful Person.
We realize that such a living is the highest living, and only such a living satisfies God.
So we do one of two things: we either try our best to imitate Christ by our natural life or we simply ignore this desire to live like Christ.
It is a mistake, however, for us to think that we can live like Christ by the exercise of our natural strength and according to our natural life.
At best, we can improve ourselves a little bit, but we can never have the same living as the Lord Jesus unless we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
The Lord said that we should learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29).
We learn from Him by being in Him.
When we were saved and baptised, we were put into Christ; now all our living should be in Christ, by Christ, and with Christ.
The only way we can live a life according to the pattern of Jesus revealed in the four Gospels is by being in Christ and by learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
We have been put into Christ as a mold, a pattern, and now we are learning Christ.
We have been put in the mold of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, a life that is absolutely according to reality, truth.
God is light (1 John 1:5), and the living of Jesus was the shining of light, the expression of God.
Every aspect of the life of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels is an expression of God.
Actually, His life was His work and His work was His life; He didn’t just do a work for God but lived and work for God, one with God, expressing God.
We have been put into this One, in Christ as the mold; now we are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
As we read and pray over the Gospels, we enjoy the pattern of Jesus, and light shines on us.
The living of Jesus was the shining of light. He never walked in vanity; rather, He always walked in reality, and His living was a God-man living, a living of and in reality.
Whether He spoke or was silent, whether He went somewhere or did not go, and whether He healed others or did not heal them, He lived out God, expressed God, and shined out God.
We have been put into this One as the mold of our Christian life and we are learning Christ day by day.
As we turn to the Lord and contact Him, love Him and read His word by coming to Him, something of the pattern of Jesus is infused into us.
He infuses us with Himself and we remain in Him; the result is that we spontaneously live a certain kind of life, the life of a God-man.
The God-man living is not a deliberate living, something we do as a work by putting on a particular behavior and doing some things in a deliberate way.
It is a spontaneous result of the living of Christ in us.
The Lord Jesus lived a life of preaching the gospel, teaching the truth, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the lepers (Mark 1-3).
His living was His work, His move, and His ministry; whatever He did, whatever He spoke, and wherever He went were all part of His life.
We have this One living in us and we are in Him.
As we turn to Him day by day, call on His name, and read and pray over the Word of God, we can live Christ, for we are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
Lord Jesus, we aspire to live like You and have the same living as You did when You were on the earth. We put ourselves aside, Lord, and we simply want to live one spirit with You. Live in us today. Keep us turning to You. We want to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus. We don’t want to do anything apart from You. We depend on You in all things. Amen, Lord Jesus, keep us in You as the mold, the pattern, so that we may learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus. May our life be our work, our ministry, and our speaking. Save us from trying to imitate You according to our natural life. Save us from trying to be like You by our natural effort and with our natural zeal. Oh Lord, keep us in Christ, the pattern, so that we may learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus and spontaneously live the same kind of life as Jesus lived! Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through us, for You are our very life!
Love the Lord, Contact Him, Pray to Him, and Live in Spirit to Live Christ according to the Pattern of Jesus as seen in the Gospels
The Lord’s way is not outward imitation or correction; His way is that we contact Him, enjoy Him, love Him, pray to Him, and live in spirit so that we spontaneously live Christ according to the pattern of Jesus seen in the Gospels.
We need to have a personal relationship with the Lord and cultivate our fellowship with Him. Day by day we need to love the Lord and open to Him.
In our personal time with the Lord, we need to have fellowship with Him, open to Him, and pray to Him.
As we do this, as we personally and intimately love the Lord, contact Him, and pray to Him, we automatically live Christ according to the mold, the form, the pattern described in the Gospels (Matt. 11:29; Rom. 8:29).
![But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus, That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, and [that] you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Eph. 4:20-24](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/But-you-did-not-so-learn-Christ-if-indeed-you-have-heard-Him-and-have-been-taught-in-Him-as-the-reality-is-in-Jesus-1-1-683x1024.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus, That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit, and [that] you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Eph. 4:20-24")
In this way we are shaped, conformed, to the image of this mold; this is what it means to learn Christ.
The disciples of Jesus spent so much time with the Lord Jesus that even after His death and resurrection the others could see that they were with Jesus, for their speaking and living were the same as that of Jesus.
May we daily behold the Lord and contact Him.
When we behold Him, we will also reflect Him (2 Cor. 3:18).
What we need is not more trying, more striving, more improving, or more correcting ourselves; it is more beholding and reflecting.
As we behold the Lord and contact Him in spirit, we will live in the mingled spirit; in this way, we are learning Christ according to the reality in Jesus by the Spirit of reality.
When we live in spirit, the Spirit of reality guides us into all the reality of what Christ is.
We learn from Christ as our model so that His biography becomes our history (Gal. 6:17-18; Rom. 1:1, 9; Eph. 4:20-24; Phil. 2:5; Matt. 11:29; 1 Pet. 2:21).
The living of the Body of Christ as the new man should be exactly the same as the living of Jesus revealed in the Gospels.
His biography needs to become our history.
We need to take the word of God and mix it with our prayer by faith, and we need to remain in the contact with the Lord day by day so that we may live Christ.
The purpose of God in sending the Lord Jesus to be a man was for Him to live a God-man life by the divine life.
Now, when we eat Him, we live because of Him to become a universal great man who is exactly the same as He is – a man living a God-man life by the divine life (Lam. 3:22-24, 55-56; Rev. 2:4, 7; John 6:57, 63; Jer. 15:16; Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:15). Hallelujah!
May we take heed to our mingled spirit, contacting the Lord and living in the spirit, so that we may live Christ.
May we eat the Lord in His word day by day so that we may live by Him and because of Him.
And may we stop our struggle and self-condemnation; may we simply contact the Lord, love Him, eat Him, and live in the mingled spirit so that we may learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus.
Our whole life is a life of learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus by eating the Lord and living because of Him.
The righteous requirements of the law are being fulfilled in us spontaneously when we live according to the Spirit (Rom. 6:4).
May we realize that we are in Christ and Christ is in us, and may we stop our self-effort, our struggling, and our striving to fulfill God’s purpose.
May we simply enjoy the Lord and eat Him so that we may live because of Him.
When we eat Christ, we live because of Christ, and our living will be the same as that of the Lord Jesus as revealed in the Gospels.
May we follow the Lord’s footsteps in this way, the way of life. May we imitate Him and those who follow Him by eating Jesus and living because of Him.
And may the Lord’s biography become our history as we learn Christ according to the reality which is in Jesus.
May the Lord gain a corporate God-man living among us as we learn to live by the divine life day by day.
May there be a great corporate God-man living on earth in all the local churches for the corporate expression of God.
As we bring these matters to the Lord in prayer, He as the Spirit of reality will have a way to guide us into the reality of what Christ is.
Lord Jesus, we love You! We come to You to contact You. We pray to absorb You and be filled with You. We open to You, dear Lord Jesus. We want to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus. Have a way to shape us into the image of Christ in our daily life. Amen, Lord, we want to live in the mingled spirit, our spirit mingled with the Lord, so that we may learn Christ according to the reality in Jesus by the Spirit of reality! Oh Lord, we want to learn from You as our model so that Your biography becomes our history. May our living as the new man be exactly the same as the living of Jesus revealed in the Gospels. We want to eat Christ and live because of Him so that we may become a universal great man who is exactly the same as He is! Amen, Lord, Jesus, gain the God-man living among us today as we learn to live by the divine life in our daily life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Mark (msgs. 56-57) by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, An Overview of the Central Burden and Present Truth of the Lord’s Recovery Before His Appearing (2023 July Semiannual Training), week 5, entitled, The God-man Living.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Taking Christ as the pattern, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 2: Romans through Philemon, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
– My Experience Growing up in the Church Life with Spiritual Fathers and Mothers, testimony via, Living to Him.
– The personal and intimate experience of Christ, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
– Christ as our pattern and expression, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
– How to Practice the Private Prayer Described in Matthew 6:6, via, Bibles for America blog.
– Do You Have a Private Time with the Lord? Read more via, Holding to Truth in Love. - Hymns on this topic:
– Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / For my very life art Thou; / Thee I take to all my problems / As the full solution now. / Live Thyself, Lord Jesus, through me, / In all things Thy will be done; / I but a transparent vessel / To make visible the Son. (Hymns #403 stanza 1)
– We have found the way to live by Christ— / Pray His Word and call His name! / This—the eating, drinking—has sufficed / And its worth we now proclaim. (Hymns #1153 stanza 3)
– Spreading outward from our spirit / Doth the Lord transform our soul, / By the inward parts renewing, / Till within His full control. / By the power of His Spirit / In His pattern He transforms; / From His glory to His glory / To His image He conforms. (Hymns #750 stanzas 3-4)
About aGodMan
Life-study of Mark, pp. 485-486, by Witness Lee
We all have the desire to live according to the pattern of the Lord Jesus, but we cannot have such a living by our natural life.
We need to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus by loving the Lord, contacting Him, eating Him, and living in the mingled spirit.
As we eat Christ, we spontaneously live because of Him.
Amen Lord increase our appetite 🙏🏼
Yes Lord! Amen!
The life of Jesus is a life absolutely according to reality!
Enjoy, When We Live in the Mingled Spirit
https://fb.watch/oj2D0KsZQR/
amen dear saint that we can apprehend Him who is gentle and humble of heart and take Him as the person to have rest in Him
Amen brother, may we continuously contact the Lord in good or bad times and trust His timing. As the Lord’s plan is better than ours
Jesus, the Son of God, came to live the life of a God-man by the divine life.
We were foreknown and predestinated to be conformed to His image, to learn from Him as the reality is in Jesus – one who lived God on the earth and who was one with God.
As we eat such a one this reality is lived out in us.
Praise the Lord! Jesus lived the God-man living, set for us the way to follow by being conformed to Him to be many God-men!
Amen. We are told to follow the model of Christ and learn from Him to find rest in our souls, but we are also told that we are being conformed to the image of Christ by God’s predestination. How can we choose to do something that God is setting in motion anyway?
The answer is that in our salvation we develop an appetite in our being to live out Christ. I speak from experience that when I don’t do what I know Christ would do, or when I act in a way I know Christ would not, I feel uneasy. There’s always a part of me that feels ashamed and disappointed, and it doesn’t leave. It gets bad even seeing other people being worldly and unbelieving. I don’t feel at ease with how the world goes.
I guess the way to see it is that God lets us do what we want as believers, but He never allows us to stop wanting to live to please Him like Christ lived.
Another thing, and I know I’m writing a lot, but it’s interesting that Jesus says “take My yoke upon yourself”. A yoke is a tool one attaches to bulls usually to open up the ground and allow seeds to be planted. No furrowing of the ground, no crop growing. Given that the Gospel mentions multiple times how the gospel preaching and building up the kingdom is like planting and growing more believers, it’s peculiar that Jesus tells us to take up a yoke. I think this means that our following Christ’s example furrows the ground for new believers.
In the Bible as well, a yoke implies a joining of two animals. We can thus count on not being alone when we take up His yoke. He and the saints are with us in this yoke, and I think that’s a comfort to remember always.
Amen, Lord! You are our main teacher and want to learn from you like Marry (sister of Martha). Because you are the reality of God, coming with grace (love of God) and reality (light from God). You are the only real rest for our souls.
Amen! Lord we come back to you, thank you Lord you are in our spirit dispensing grace to us
Amen, thank You Lord! Hallelujah we can rest in Him! Keep us learning to live in Your reality!
The apostle Paul told us to imitate him as he imitates Christ.
However, we must not make the mistake of imitating Christ by our natural life.
Jesus did everything in God, with God & for God.
God has put us into the mould that is the life of Jesus.
Every aspect of the life of Jesus in the Gospels is an expression of God. He expressed God in everything He said & did.
This is the pattern in which God has placed us. We need to learn Christ according to the reality shown in the Gospels.
May the Lord grace us to walk in the shining of the divine light, to live & walk in the expression of God.
Oh, what a life! God’s life must be our work, and our work must be His life.
Amen. Jesus is our mold and our pattern.
Praise the Lord! 😃🙋🏽🙏 Amen!
We love you Lord! Thank you for coming as a person to live in us
Listen to the audio version of this article at,
Not me but Christ in me! Hallelujah amen, dear Looord Jeeesuuuus!
I must decrease so that He may increase…
Amen, the reality is in Jesus our Lord.