We Exercise our Spirit to live out Godliness for God’s Manifestation in the Flesh

Today God is manifested in the church, for the manifestation of God is the proper living of the church; when we exercise our spirit, we are one spirit with the Lord, and godliness is our living, for God is expressed in us and through us.

The Lord Jesus was the individual manifestation of God in the flesh, and He was so one with God that He could say that in Him the enemy had nothing – no ground, no possibility in anything.

In us, however, the enemy may still have some ground, so we need to contact the Lord by exercising our spirit all throughout the day so that we may remain in the organic union with the One in whom Satan has nothing.

The Lord Jesus was the first God-man; He lived a God-man life by being one spirit with God in all things.

When He prayed, He didn’t pray merely as a common man praying common prayers to God or as a pious man praying to God in a religious way.

He did not pray even as a God-seeking man praying to God for the divine attainments and obtainments.

He prayed as a man in the flesh praying to the mysterious God in the divine and mystical realm.

Christ was fully one with God, but He was still a man in the flesh.

As a man in the flesh, He prayed to God to be one with God, and in all things, He continually contacted God, for He treasured His organic union with God.

We are men in the flesh; we are not men who live by the flesh but are men in the flesh, and our prayer is to the mysterious God in the heavens with whom we are joined in spirit.

What does it mean for a man in the flesh to pray to the mysterious God in the divine and mystical realm?

God wants to be expressed not only through man but through men in the flesh; God wants to be manifested in the flesh.

Yes, the enemy has corrupted the fallen man to the uttermost, to the extent that man has become flesh; however, men in the flesh who do not live by the flesh but in the mingled spirit can manifest God in the flesh.

As we live our life on earth as men in the flesh, we’re well aware of our limitations, our weaknesses, and our shortcomings.

We are aware of the constant struggle between our flesh and the Spirit who is joined to our spirit.

Yet we also realize strongly that God lives in us. The Spirit of God is in us, and we are one spirit with the Lord. Hallelujah!

So we pray to God in a mysterious way, contacting Him to be infused with Him, to remain in the organic union with Him, and to live one spirit with Him.

This is our daily living as men in the flesh who express God for His manifestation in the flesh today.

God is Manifested in the Flesh through the Church in the Principle of Incarnation

Not only Christ, the incarnated God, is the manifestation of God in the flesh, but we also as the church, the Body of Christ and the house of God, are the manifestation of God in the flesh.

God desires to be manifested in the flesh, that is, to be expressed through man.

But for four thousand years no one expressed God to the uttermost, for God had no way to enter man and be mingled with man.

However, at the incarnation of Christ God gained a man, a God-man, Jesus Christ; the manifestation of God in the flesh began with Jesus Christ, when He was on earth (John 14:9).

He manifested God, lived God, explained God, and made God real to man.

Then, after His death and resurrection, He was multiplied and reproduced in the church composed of the many believers in Christ.

The church is the increase, the enlargement, and the multiplication of the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16); the church continues the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Now we as believers in Christ who have God’s life and nature are part of the enlarged manifestation of God, and today God is manifested through the church in the principle of incarnation.

What is the principle of incarnation? God today is manifested in the flesh in a wider, more enlarged, way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation (1 Cor. 7:40; Gal. 2:20).

The principle of incarnation is that man does nothing without God, but that God comes into man, enters into man, and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself.

We see this in John 15:4-5, where we are told that we’re the branches in Christ the vine, and apart from Him we can do nothing.

By faith in Christ, we have been grafted into Christ, and now apart from the Lord we can do nothing, but in Him and with Him, we can do everything.

The principle of incarnation means that God is brought into man and divinity is brought into humanity to work within humanity (1 Cor. 6:17; 7:40; 1 Tim. 4:1).

It means that man and God, God and man, become fully one.

This is the desire of God’s heart, to make Himself fully one with man so that, just as God became man, man would become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead. Wow!

This mystery of godliness is indeed great, for in a miraculous yet normal way, God became man to make man God in life and nature but not in the Godhead.

The great mystery of godliness is not only that Christ came as the first God-man to express God and manifest Him in the flesh but even more that God became man to make us, human beings, God in life and nature. Wow!

All we can say is just, Amazing!

In Christ, God became man so that we today may believe into the Lord and become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a great corporate God-man for the corporate and enlarged manifestation of God in the flesh (Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Eph. 4:24).

How can this be? How can we, sinners, become sons of God and even become God in life and nature?

The secret is our spirit.

God wants to manifest Himself through us, and He can do it in the principle of incarnation by Him coming into our spirit to make Himself one with us in spirit.

What happened at our regeneration is that God has imparted Himself into us to make us one with Him and Him one with us.

We are joined to the Lord as one spirit.

By being in our spirit, living in our spirit, and exercising our spirit, God can manifest Himself in the flesh.

This is truly amazing!

We can only praise and thank the Lord, and give Him all the glory, turning to Him so that we cooperate with Him for His manifestation in the flesh.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us to be our life and everything so that we may be part of the enlarged manifestation of God in the flesh. Hallelujah, today God is manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation. Wow, Lord, thank You for coming into us to make Yourself one with us and to make us one with You. Hallelujah, we are now one spirit with the Lord, for we are joined to Him as one spirit. Thank You, dear Lord, for bringing Your divinity into our humanity to mingle God with man and man with God. Thank You for mingling Yourself with us to the extent that You and us, we and You, are fully one! We open to You, Lord, and we exercise our spirit to be one spirit with You in all things. Make us the same as You are so that You may be manifested through the church as a corporate God-man, the same as Christ in every possible way! Hallelujah, the church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh!

Exercise our Spirit to Live out Godliness for God’s Manifestation in the Flesh

Many Christians want to please God and therefore seek to imitate Christ and imitate those who follow Christ; the result, however, is that they outwardly try to do something, express something, and live out something which they are not in themselves.

We need to realize that, although we were sinners, we have been redeemed out of our sinful position and situation, and God has imparted Himself into us to make us one with Him.

1 Cor. 6:17 tells us clearly that we’re intimately and personally joined to the Lord as one spirit.

This is the great mystery of godliness – God manifested in the flesh.

The key to manifesting God and expressing Him is not trying to imitate Him outwardly or asking ourselves, What would Jesus do right now; the key is our spirit.

The key to God’s manifestation in us is in our spirit.

Paul tells us in 1 Tim. 4:7 that we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness; bodily exercise profits a little, but exercise unto godliness profits all things.

What does it mean to exercise ourselves unto godliness?

It is to exercise our spirit so that we may express God. We do not try harder to express God – we exercise our spirit to be one spirit with the Lord, and He is spontaneously expressed through us. God has not given us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power and of love and of sober-mindedness (2 Tim. 1:6-7).

We need to exercise our spirit, for it is in our spirit that the Lord dwells; the Lord is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22).

The mystery of godliness, Christ Himself, is with our spirit.

When we exercise our spirit, we live out the mystery of godliness, that is, we manifest God in the flesh.

Since the Lord Jesus as the mystery of godliness is in our spirit, we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness by exercising our spirit so that we may express and practice this mystery.

The mystery of godliness is with our spirit, and we can manifest God in the flesh simply by exercising our spirit to live out godliness.

Practically, this means that in our daily life, we need to exercise our spirit all the time.

We are not by default exercising our spirit, so we need to practice to exercise our spirit.

Before we do anything, we need to exercise our spirit.

Before we speak to our spouse, before we are about to say something to our workmates, and before we are about to do something, we need to exercise our spirit.

We must live, walk, and have our daily walk and even our whole being according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4).

The key to fulfilling God’s purpose to manifest Him in the flesh is to live according to the spirit by exercising our spirit all the time.

To exercise our spirit, we need to pray. We pray for our needs, for those around us, for those in high position, and for all things (1 Tim. 2:2).

This means that we bring all matters, things, situations, and circumstances to the Lord; we not only live among people, do our job, take care of our family, and meet in the church, but we bring all things to the Lord in prayer.

We fellowship with the Lord about all things. As we’re about to go shopping, we fellowship with the Lord.

As we are talking a way, we communicate with Him.

We just contact the Lord about all things. As we are combing our hair, we contact the Lord.

As we’re about to get dressed, we contact the Lord and ask Him about this and that.

As we exercise our spirit to contact the Lord in all things, spontaneously we live out godliness, and God is manifested in the flesh.

Our inward life of godliness has an outward expression; the manifestation of godliness from within us by the exercise of our spirit has an impact on those who meet us.

They see not just a man who does this and that but someone who lives out godliness, and they see God being manifested in us.

If we exercise our spirit in all things to contact the Lord and live out godliness, we will be affected in the way we dress, the way we speak, the way we decorate our room, and the things we view online and on our smartphones.

The Lord Jesus as the mystery of godliness in our spirit is being manifested through us, and we simply live out Christ, for we remain in our spirit, being one spirit with the Lord.

May this be our experience day by day so that God may gain His enlarged manifestation in the flesh.

Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to contact You. Thank You for coming into us as the mystery of godliness. Hallelujah, the Lord Jesus as the mystery of godliness is in our spirit, and we can practice and express this mystery by exercising our spirit. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit, again and again, to contact You and be one spirit with You. We choose to exercise ourselves unto godliness by exercising our spirit in all things. Lord, keep us coming to You about all things in our daily life and about all persons and situations we encounter. Keep us in an intimate fellowship with You throughout the day. May our living be godliness; may You be expressed through us and in us. May others see Christ being lived out in us in all things, both great and small. Oh Lord, we give ourselves to You. May the inward life of godliness have an outward expression so that God may be manifested in the flesh through us in an enlarged way!

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 the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3664-3666 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 9, entitled, The Function of the Church (2) The Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Exercise unto godliness, a portion from, The Two Great Mysteries in God’s Economy, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – New Jerusalem Conforms to God’s Golden Standard, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Eating Jesus by exercising our spirit to contact Him, a portion from, Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – Do You Know How to Exercise Your Spirit? Read more via, Bibles for America Blog.
  – What is it to Exercise Our Spirit? Read more via, Hearing of Faith.
  – Applying the principle of incarnation, a portion via, The Church in New York City.
  – The Daily Exercise of a Believer—Exercising the Mingled Spirit to Breathe in the Lord, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – As the center, as the kernel, / Of God’s plan our spirit is; / Calling on the name of Jesus / Makes our spirit one with His. / From the center to circumference / God would saturate each part; / Feeling, mind, and will renewing, / Making home in all our heart. / Thus in life we’re built together, / Then in love we’re knit as one; / God is now His plan fulfilling, / Finishing what He’s begun. / Lord, increase Thyself within us / That we might be built by Thee / Into that great corporate vessel / Filled with God exclusively. (Hymns #1325 stanzas 4-5)
  – The Church the vessel is to Christ, / Him to contain and Him express, / Just as the human body doth / Man’s life show forth, his life possess… / With Christ as life, with God as light, / And with the Spirit’s living flow, / The triune God she manifests / For all the universe to know. (Hymns #821 stanzas 1 and 8)
  – God with man completely blended, / Mystery of godliness. / God in glory, full, resplendent, / Man, His dwelling, doth express. / ’Tis a vessel universal / All God’s fulness to express; / All His beauty manifesting, / Mingled with His holiness. / ’Tis a living composition / Of the saints He hath transformed; / As the pearls and stones most precious, / To His image they’re conformed: / From the throne of God, its center, / Flows the living water free; / Christ the tree of life doth flourish, / Bearing fruit abundantly. (Hymns #976 stanzas 2-3)