We Follow the Pattern of the Divine Trinity to do all things in, by and for the Body

As believers in Christ, we need to follow the pattern of the Divine Trinity to do all things not in, by, or for ourselves but in, by, and for the Body, one with the Lord, for His kingdom to come in.

In His kingly ministry for the establishing of His heavenly kingdom in the stage of His incarnation, Christ the Son of God as the center of the Divine Trinity was altogether not by Himself, for Himself, or to Himself, for He did everything by the Spirit of God and for the kingdom of God the Father.

He is our pattern, and today we need to do things not in and for ourselves but in the Body and for the Body. Amen!

What God desires today is to gain His kingdom on the earth; He wants His kingdom to grow, develop, and be manifested on earth.

But the kingdom of God does not come outwardly; it is a spiritual kingdom which will have an outward manifestation at the end, when it is fully developed.

Today Christ is the seed of the kingdom being sown into the heart of the believers in Christ; He grows in us and develops in us to become a realm in which God can rule and reign.

God’s goal is the full development of the kingdom of God.

When He came in the Gospels, He came as the Sower to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom into those who are open to Him.

Then, in the book of Acts, there were many sowers, many regenerated believers who did not only have the seed of the kingdom within them but even more, were one with the Sower to sow the seed of the kingdom into many others.

In the Epistles we see how this seed grows and develops; the gene of the kingdom grows in the hearts of the believers in Christ unto maturity.

The harvest of the seed of the kingdom is seen initially in the millennium, when the overcomers will be the firstfruits, and then for eternity, the full harvest will be the New Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

God will gain what He is after – He will gain His kingdom, even the full growth, development, and harvest of His kingdom!

Today we are in the age of grace, the age of the church, and the kingdom today is hidden, inward, and spiritual.

We need to cooperate with the Lord not only initially by calling on His name but even more, throughout the day and all the days of our Christian life, we need to let Him grow in us.

He must increase; we must decrease. In all things, in all situations, and the things related to our human life, we need to let the Lord grow in us and set up His kingdom in us.

For this, we need to enjoy and experience Him as the Physician who heals us, the Shepherd who cares for us in love, and the Lord of the harvest who sends us out to reap the harvest and increase His kingdom.

What a wonderful Christ we have! And we are becoming His increase, His reproduction, and His corporate expression on the earth!

Christ the Son Did all things by the Spirit of God for the Kingdom of God the Father

One particular matter that we see in relation to the kingdom of God is that Christ, the heavenly King, did not do things in Himself, by Himself, or for Himself.

Rather, Christ the Son did all things by the Spirit of God for the kingdom of God the Father to come in. How about that!

Here we see the pattern of the Divine Trinity.

In His kingly ministry for the establishing of His heavenly kingdom in the stage of His incarnation, Jesus Christ – the Son of God – as the center of the Divine Trinity was altogether not by Himself, for Himself, or to Himself.

Rather, whatever He did was by the Spirit of God and for the kingdom of God the Father.

We see this in Matt. 12:28 where the Lord Jesus, answering the Jews who accused Him that He is casting out demons by the ruler of the demons, said that He casts out the demons by the Spirit of God for the kingdom of God to come upon them. Wow!

This shows us the Divine Trinity in action.

When we look at this picture we see the divine excellency, the divine virtues, and the divine attributes, such as oneness, humility, beauty, and harmony.

The Lord Jesus could have told them that He was God and He just cast out the demons by Himself, which was true, but He said that He by the Spirit of God cast out the demons, and the kingdom of God the Father had come upon them. Wow.

What an amazing view of the Divine Trinity!

He was speaking with the Pharisees who were proud, selfish, and individualistic; they considered themselves righteous and did not work with anyone else, even considering others not being up to their standard.

There was no humility among them; rather, they were self-seeking and selfish.

But here was One who, though He was condemned by them, did all things not in Himself, by Himself, or for Himself, but by another One and for another One.

Christ did all things by the Spirit of God and for the kingdom of God. He depended on God the Father, He did everything in oneness with the Father, and He did all things for the kingdom of God the Father to come in.

And when He did anything, He didn’t do it in or by Himself but in and by the Spirit of God. This is so beautiful.

It shows the excellency in the Divine Trinity. Christ is the center of the Divine Trinity, but He would not do anything by Himself or to Himself.

This shows us the oneness in the Divine Trinity and the beauty of the Divine Trinity. It shows us the excellency of the Divine Trinity.

Another verse showing the excellencies of the Divine Trinity is Heb. 9:14 where we are told that Christ offered Himself to God the Father through the eternal Spirit.

We may think that Christ offered Himself by Himself to God as a sacrifice for our sins, but the Bible tells us that even in His crucifixion, Christ did all things by the Spirit for and to the Father.

The blood of Christ is eternally efficacious for us today and forever, for Christ the Son offered Himself to God the Father through God the Spirit.

This blood purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Here we see the humility and selflessness of the Son, who didn’t do anything in Himself, by Himself, or for Himself, but by the Spirit of God and for God the Father.

Whatever He did was not for Himself but for the Father, and whatever issued out of Him went to the Father, for He was altogether not by Himself, for Himself, or to Himself.

What a good pattern the Lord shows us today so that we may follow Him and duplicate this in spirit in the church life for the kingdom of God!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we praise You! We praise You for doing all things by the Spirit of God and for the Father to be satisfied and pleased. Hallelujah, the Son did not do anything from Himself, by Himself, or for Himself, but by the Spirit of God and for the Father! Thank You, Lord Jesus, for not living in Yourself, by Yourself, to Yourself, and for Yourself, but doing all things by the Spirit and for the Father! Praise the Lord! How wonderful are the divine excellencies, virtues, and attributes of the Divine Trinity! We praise You, Triune God, for Your oneness, Your humility, Your beauty, and Your harmony! Hallelujah, Christ the Son offered Himself to God the Father through God the Spirit, and we can apply Your precious, eternally efficacious blood today! We worship You and we praise You for showing us such a pattern. We want to learn from You in the church life today to not do anything in ourselves, by ourselves, or for ourselves, but in You, by You, and for You!

Follow the Pattern of the Divine Trinity to do all things in the Body, by the Body and for the Body for the Kingdom of God

When we read the Gospels and the entire New Testament and see that the Son did not do anything in Himself, by Himself, or for Himself but by the Spirit of God and for the kingdom of God, we need to follow Their pattern in the church life today.

This move of the Divine Trinity with the divine coordination shows us the harmony, beauty, and excellency in the Divine Trinity and is an excellent and beautiful pattern that the Head has set up for our coordination as members of His Body.

Today we as the saints in the church life need to follow the pattern of the Divine Trinity in all the things we do, taking the same way that the Son took in our doing.

The Body of Christ has not been built up adequately among us because of a shortage of proper coordination.

In our fellowship and coordination in the church life we need to learn to do all things not by ourselves or for ourselves but by others and for others.

We should take the Lord Jesus as our pattern and behave ourselves just like our Head.

As we hold Him as the Head, the growth comes from Him, and we grow in all things into Him (Col. 2:19).

The Lord has produced the Body of Christ constituted with many members; we all are the members of the Body of Christ.

All the members of the Body need to hold the Head and learn from the Head in all things.

Just as the Lord lived in this world so we should live today. He did not do anything in Himself or for Himself but did all things by the Spirit of God and for the kingdom of God the Father to come. We need to do the same.

In the church life we need to do things not only according to the will of God but even more, in coordination and fellowship with others.

We may have a burden from the Lord to serve with the young ones, with the students, or with the children, but this does not mean that we need to just go ahead and do what we feel we should do.

Rather, we need to fellowship with the saints, pray together, and seek the Lord’s infilling in a fresh way.

Then, when we do something, we should do it with others, by others, and for others, that is, we need to do all things in the Body and for the Body.

When we take Christ as our life and person for the church as the one new man, allowing Him to live in us and be expressed through us, we will do all things in fellowship and coordination, following the pattern of the Divine Trinity in all things.

The Lord’s humility will be expressed through us, and His selflessness will be ours when we exercise our spirit to be one spirit with Him.

May we take the Lord as our pattern, learning to do things not in ourselves, by ourselves, or for ourselves, but by exercising our spirit to be one with the Lord and in the Body.

On the personal side, we exercise our spirit to be one with the Lord; on the corporate side, we fellowship and coordinate in the Body to do all things in the Body, by the Body, and for the building up of the Body.

This requires much experience on our side.

Today the Body of Christ is not adequately built up because we still do things in ourselves and by ourselves, and the result is that we gain something. Oh, Lord.

May we cooperate with the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, who lives in us, so that we selflessly do things not by ourselves but by others and do things for others and not for ourselves.

Someone else needs to be the beneficiary of our work, and someone else needs to be the one who does the work, while we remain in fellowship and coordination with the Lord.

The four living creatures in Ezek. 1 are a good picture of this; they were joined together, working together, going together, and doing all things together, yet every one of them went forward straight, cooperating with others in all things.

The result was that God’s move on earth was as quick as lightning, accomplishing God’s purpose and carrying out His heart’s desire.

May we be such ones today. May we learn to fellowship and coordinate in the Body in all things.

May we learn to open up our situation to the Body, fellowship with the saints, and exercise our spirit in all things so that we do all things in the spirit and in the Body, by the spirit and by the Body, and for the kingdom of God so that the Body of Christ may be built up (Phil. 1:2-4, 8; 2:25-28; 4:18).

What we do should not be done merely by ourselves but by some others; furthermore, what we do should not be for ourselves but for the interest, the right, of God on this earth.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn from the pattern of the Divine Trinity to do all things in the Body and for the Body. Save us from doing things in ourselves, by ourselves, or for ourselves in the church life. We take You as our pattern. We take You as our Head, our life, and our person. We love You and we want to follow Your pattern to do all things in our spirit, by our spirit, and for God’s kingdom to come in. Amen, Lord, we behold the beauty, the harmony, and the excellency in the Divine Trinity and we take You as our pattern. What a beautiful and excellent pattern the Head has set up for our coordination as members of His Body! Amen, Lord, in the church life we want to have a proper coordination so that the Body of Christ may be properly built up. May we learn to do things in the church life not in, by, or for ourselves but in the Body, by the Body, and for the Body so that the kingdom of God would come in! Amen, Lord, may all we do be not for ourselves but for the interest and the right of God on this earth!

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 Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1988, vol. 1, “Living in and with the Divine Trinity,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 8, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and Discipling the Nations.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The Triune God in His Divine Trinity dispensed into the tripartite man, a portion from, The Experience and Growth in Life, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
  – Being Transformed by the Spirit into the Glory of New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Knowing Christ in His Resurrection as the Son of God Designated in Power with His Human Nature, message by brother Ron K. via, Heavenly Foods.
  – The gospel calls us beyond awareness—to participation, confession, and true cooperation! More via, CSOC instagram page.
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• Hymns on this topic:
  – As in a team we’d never / Act independently, / But in coordination, / Each would dependent be; / Not acting by our choosing / But following the flow, / Distraction never bringing, / The Spirit’s way we’d know. / On Christ we here would focus, / No other center make; / With Christ in sweet communion / His riches to partake. / He is our Head and content, / His Body we express; / Whate’er we do while meeting / Himself must manifest. (Hymns #867 stanzas 2-3)
  – Freed from self and Adam’s nature, / Lord, I would be built by Thee / With the saints into Thy temple, / Where Thy glory we shall see. / From peculiar traits deliver, / From my independent ways, / That a dwelling place for Thee, Lord, / We will be thru all our days. / By Thy life and by its flowing / I can grow and be transformed, / With the saints coordinated, / Builded up, to Thee conformed; / Keep the order in the Body, / There to function in Thy will, / Ever serving, helping others, / All Thy purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #840 stanzas 1-2)
  – I long for fellowship in spirit, / That mingled with the saints I’ll be, / Long to be saved from independence / And to be built with saints in Thee. / I long for fellowship in spirit, / That opened shall my spirit be, / Long to be rescued from seclusion, / And with the saints to worship Thee. (Hymns #847 stanzas 1-2)