Enjoy the Riches of the Divine Life to become a Reproduction of Christ as our Model

As believers in Christ, we may become a reproduction of Christ as our model; He is our model, the underwriting, which we can trace and copy in our daily living not by outwardly imitating Him but by inwardly enjoying Him, partaking of His riches, and letting Him be revealed in us, make His home in us, live in us, and be formed in us. Amen!

This week we come to a new topic in our morning revival called, Becoming a Reproduction of Christ and Experiencing Christ as the Shepherd of Our Souls.

We see this mainly in 1 Peter chapter 2; this is one of the important points in the Epistles of Peter.

When we read Peter’s Epistles we may be quite impressed with the fact that our Christian life is under the government of God, and we may be quite touched by the Lord judging all things and all persons until He gains a universe in which righteousness dwells.

However, we need to realize that there’s a central focus and basic structure of these epistles and of the whole Bible in general, which is not mainly the government of God but is related to God’s economy.

The basic structure and central focus of the Epistles of Peter and of the entire Bible is the Triune God who has been processed to become our all-inclusive portion.

May we exercise our spirit to cooperate with the Lord and respond to the divine Spirit as He operates in us to infuse all that God is into our being.

It is good to diligently study all the verses and know the details in the Epistles of Peter, but as we do this, we should not lose sight of the fact that the Triune God went through a process to dispense Himself into us as our enjoyment and everything so that we may live Christ and become the reproduction of Christ

It is easy for us to read the Bible and be impressed with things written in it, yet miss the central line of the Bible, the main street of the Bible, and the basic structure and central focus of the Bible.

We may appreciate many practices revealed in the Bible and we may be touched by many words of wisdom, and we may pick up many points related to our living, our speaking, and our attitude.

But we need to see a vision of God’s economy to realize that the entire Bible speaks of God’s eternal economy according to which the Triune God became a man and went through a process to become a life-giving Spirit to dispense Himself into us and live in us to obtain a corporate dwelling place.

May the Lord save us from our natural way of reading the Bible.

May we be enlightened to see God’s economy and live a Christian life under the vision of the eternal economy of God so that we may be one with the Lord and become a reproduction of Christ as our model.

We Believers in Christ may Become a Reproduction of Christ as our Model

1 Pet. 2:21 is a wonderful verse, for here Peter tells us that were called to this, because Christ also suffered on our behalf, leaving us a model so that we may follow in His steps.

We believers in Christ were called to this, to become a reproduction of Christ as our model. He is our model and we are His reproduction.

This word “model” has been spoiled today, and we don’t have a proper appreciation of this.

In Greek, this word refers to a writing copy, an underwriting for those who study to trace letters as they learn to draw them.

In the old days, the teachers would write letters on a writing material, and those letters became a master copy.

Then, the students would put another piece of writing material upon the master copy and practice writing by tracing the letters from the master copy onto their own copy.

The Lord Jesus has set His life with His living, especially His suffering on our behalf, as an underwriting before us for us to copy by tracing and following His steps.

He is the model and we need to copy Him.

How do we copy Christ? It is not by trying to imitate Him outwardly by thinking, What would Jesus do in this moment?

Nor is it by exercising our effort to imitate Christ so that we speak what He speaks and do what He does. This does not work.

Trying our best to imitate Christ doesn’t work; we’re not able to imitate Him. He is the master copy, and He has set His life before us for us to live the same way that He lived.

Even as He was in this world, so we are today (1 John 4:17; John 15:19).

We read the Gospels and admire the Lord’s living, His words, and His pattern.

He didn’t come just to accomplish redemption for us; He lived in a certain way, spoke certain words, and had a particular kind of living and attitude when He was on earth.

As we read the Gospels with the exercise of our spirit, touching the Lord in our mingled spirit, we realize that the Lord has set His life with His living before us as a model for us to copy today.

We believers in Christ may be a reproduction of Christ as our model.

What kind of living did the Lord have while He was on the earth? What should we copy and imitate, by becoming a reproduction of Christ as our model?

1 Pet. 2:21-23 tells us that the Lord committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.

He was being reviled, but He did not revile in return. He suffered, but He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously. Amen!

If we try to imitate this by our own effort, it doesn’t work.

When we try to imitate the Lord’s human living by our own efforts is like a monkey trying to imitate a man.

The monkey may stand on two feet, try to walk like a man, maybe even be clothed as a man and pretend to do this or that, but at the end of the day, it returns back to being a monkey, not a man.

Many times we discover that we try our hardest to imitate Christ by our own efforts, and it seems to work for a while, but then we return to what we used to do before and we behave the same way as before. Oh, Lord!

The living of the Lord Jesus under the government of God is a model so that we may follow in His steps by becoming His reproduction (Eph. 4:20-21).

We are learning Christ as the reality is in Jesus.

The Lord Jesus has set His life before us as an underwriting for us to copy by tracing and following His steps (Matt. 11:28-30).

It is good to come to the Lord concerning this matter and have many conversations with Him, opening to Him from within, so that He may live in us and be expressed through us.

May we come to the end of our human resources and end our efforts to please Him and imitate Him, and may we just open to Him so that He in us may live the same kind of life as He was on the earth.

Lord Jesus, we love You! We open to You. We admire Your human living, for You lived the life of a God-man. Amen, Lord, we want to live the same way that You lived. Thank You for calling us to this, leaving us a model so that we may follow in Your steps. Amen, Lord, we want to follow in Your steps today. We want to copy You in our daily living not by outwardly imitating You but by inwardly enjoying You and allowing You to live in us. Oh Lord, live in us today. May we be in this world even as You were in this world. May we become a reproduction of Christ as our model. We take Your life with Your living as an underwriting for us to copy by tracing and following Your steps. Amen, Lord, even as You lived in this world, so we want to live today. Make us Your reproduction, Your duplication, and Your continuation. May we be saved from our efforts to try to imitate You outwardly and simply turn to You, enjoy Your riches, and allow You to live in us today!

We Become Christ’s Reproduction by Enjoying the Riches of the Divine Life

When the people in the world hear that we are Christians, they expect that we live in the same way that Jesus lived, and most times they are disappointed, for they do not see Jesus living in us.

Throughout the centuries millions of Christians lived according to the best of their ability trying to imitate Christ and express Christ, but their living was mainly outward imitation and not a reproduction of Christ as our model.

We are guilty of the same thing today; so many times today we live in the natural man, and then we may remember that we need to express Christ, so we try our best to be better, to do good, to not be angry, and to abstain from evil. Oh, Lord!

It is not God’s intention that we try to imitate Christ by our own effort; on the contrary, what we need is not imitation but reproduction.

Rom. 8:29 tells us that we were predestined by God to be a reproduction of Christ as our model, for He is the Firstborn among many brothers and we are conformed to His image to be the same as He is.

How does this happen? It is not by outward imitation or our striving to copy His living and speak His words, but by beholding Him day by day so that we may reflect Him, thus being transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18).

We are predestinated by God to become a copy of Christ, a reproduction of Christ as our model.

We are predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ; this was God’s plan from the very beginning.

He wanted many copies of Christ, a corporate reproduction of Christ; therefore, Christ came to be incarnated, lived a perfect human life and laid His life as an underwriting for us to copy, and now we follow in His steps.

We can become Christ’s reproduction, even copies of Christ, by experiencing a process that involves the riches of the divine life.

We enjoy the riches of Christ, are richly supplied with all that He is, and spontaneously follow in His steps to become a reproduction of Christ as our model.

We need to become Christ’s reproduction, copies of Christ, by a process that involves the riches of the divine life; when this process is completed, we will become a reproduction of Christ (John 3:15; Eph. 3:8).

The making of Xerox copies may be used to illustrate what Peter means by Christ being a model to us.

When you put a particular page on the copier, you don’t think that the copy will somehow look similar to that page; rather, you know it will be exactly the same.

It’s not an unclear imitation but a full copy, word by word and detail by detail, of the original.

Christ is the original and we are the copies; His living is set before us for us to copy, and as we enjoy the riches of His divine life, He lives in us and reproduces Himself in us.

From experience, we know that, as we enjoy Christ day by day, we are undergoing the process of spiritual reproduction so that we may become living copies of Christ.

Wow, we are becoming living and breathing copies of Christ!

May we be encouraged and may we encourage one another to enjoy Christ! May we not look to our efforts or pay attention to our dispositions but focus our attention on Christ to enjoy His riches!

He lives in us. It pleased God to reveal His Son in us – we need to have a fresh revelation of Christ day by day.

He is making His home in our hearts – we need to let Him make His home deep in our heart daily (Eph. 3:16).

He lives in us – we have been crucified with Christ, and now He lives in us as we live one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17; Gal. 2:20).

He is being formed in us – there’s a process that we go through in order for Him to take shape in us, be formed in us (Gal. 4:19). Hallelujah!

May we daily come to the Lord to enjoy Him, be filled with Him, and partake of His riches in spirit so that we may have Him revealed in us, making His home in our hearts, living in us, and being formed in us until we become a reproduction of Christ as our model!

As we practice enjoying Christ as grace, as the model, and as the wonderful Savior, Shepherd, and Overseer of our souls, we are infused with Him and spontaneously we live Christ, becoming a reproduction of this wonderful model who set His life before us as our pattern.

Lord Jesus, make us Your reproduction on the earth today! We come to You to enjoy the riches of Your divine life in our spirit. We exercise our spirit to contact You and enjoy You in Your holy word. We give up our efforts, our struggling, and our striving to please You or imitate You outwardly; we just come to You to enjoy You today! Amen, Lord, may we enjoy You with Your riches day by day so that we may undergo the process of spiritual reproduction so that we can become living copies of Christ! Hallelujah, Christ has set His life before us for us to copy and become a reproduction of Christ as our model! Amen, Lord, we want to follow in Your steps today. Even as You lived on the earth, so we want to live today. May You be revealed in us. May You live in us today. May You make Your home in us. May You be formed in us. Keep us enjoying Your riches today until we are filled with You and spontaneously live You out for Your expression!

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 Ted Williamson in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 56, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living a Christian Life and Church Life under the Government of God for the Economy of God (2024 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 4, Becoming a Reproduction of Christ and Experiencing Christ as the Shepherd of Our Souls.
• Similar articles on this article via:
  – The key to experiencing Christ – the human spirit, a portion from, The Key to Experiencing Christ–the Human Spirit, Chapter 1.
  – What Is Transformation in the Bible? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The believers’ receiving and enjoying of Christ, a portion from, The Economy and Dispensing of God, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
  – Becoming a Reproduction of Christ as the Tree of Life for the Ministry of Life, via, The Church in Regina.
  – Enjoying the riches of Christ to become the fullness of Christ, a portion from, Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – To be a man of God is to be someone who expresses God and represents God, via, CSOC YouTube.
  – Luke (Program #54) – The Reproduction of the God-Man (1 & 2), via, Bible study radio.
  – The Crystallization – a continuing look at the Gospel of John, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The New Man Becomes New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Living the Christian life under the government of God to experience Christ and grow in life for God’s building, outline via, The Church in Miami.
  – The Mark of Death and Resurrection on the Ministry of the Apostle Paul, via, Shepherding Words.
  – Children of God Born of the Spirit of Life, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – A heart in every thought renewed, / And filled with love divine; / Perfect and right, and pure and good, / A copy, Lord, of Thine. / Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart, / Come quickly from above; / Write Thy new name upon my heart, / Thy new, best name of Love. (Hymns #410 stanzas 4-5)
  – We’re Thy total reproduction, / Thy dear Body and Thy Bride, / Thine expression and Thy fulness, / For Thee ever to abide. / We are Thy continuation, / Thy life-increase and Thy spread, / Thy full growth and Thy rich surplus, / One with Thee, our glorious Head. (Hymns #203 stanza 4)
  – 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)