The God-man Living is a Mingling Living of the Conformity to the Death of Christ

Blending is for the reality of the Body of Christ; the reality of the Body is a corporate living of being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection, and it is a mingling living in the eternal union of man and God in the resurrection of Christ.

As believers in Christ, we are born of God to be the children of God; we are God-men – not just men and not just God but God-men.

Many Christians wrestle with this thought that we are God-men, for they think that we as human beings can never be God.

It is true, we can never be God in His person and in His Godhead, for there will never be a time now or in eternity when we become omnipresent, omniscient, almighty, or worthy of worship by others.

However, the Bible says that those who believe into the Lord Jesus, that is, receive Him, are given the authority to become children of God (John 1:12).

And in case you doubt this, the next verse says, Those born not of the will of man or of the flesh but of God.

We are sons of God – born of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6).

We were born of our human parents, men in the flesh, and we are flesh; however, we were also born of the Spirit to become God-men, men filled with God’s life.

We are partakers of God’s life and nature, and we are growing in life unto maturity to the extent that, when we see Him, we will be even as He is. Wow!

Until then, however, we need to have a certain kind of living and go through particular experiences so that we may be conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God.

We are the children of our heavenly Father who is perfect, and we will be as perfect as He is (Matt. 5:48).

Hallelujah, we are now being perfected to be the many God-men who live not by their natural life but by the divine life!

We are learning to live not by our natural life or by the self and the flesh, but by the inner life, the life we received at the time of our regeneration.

Jesus Christ took the lead to do this; He was a perfect man with a perfect, sinless, and flawless humanity, but He denied Himself and lived a crucified life, daily denying His perfect humanity to live by the Father, for the Father, and unto the Father.

He took the lead to take up His cross daily and live by the Father, and now we need to eat Him and live because of Him (John 5:47).

We need to take up our cross daily to follow Him, living even as He did in this world.

The whole world is waiting to see a group of God-men who live by the divine life to express God. May we be such ones today!

The Reality of the Body of Christ is the God-man Living of being Conformed to the Death of Christ by the Power of His Resurrection

The Lord wants to gain not only the Body of Christ with many members today; He wants to gain the reality of the Body of Christ.

The reality of the Body is the God-man living, the living out of the God-man life.

If we do not live Christ, if Christ does not live in us, what we have is a religious activity in society, which is no different from the moral teachings of renowned philosophers or leaders.

Simply living in the right way, doing the right thing, choosing the good way, and doing good things doesn’t mean that we live Christ; we may do all these things as a result of eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not the tree of life.

We need to have a God-man living today, which is a living of being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection (Phil. 3:10).

Like Paul, we need to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings so that we may be conformed to His death.

We need to live a crucified life daily by continually taking the death of Christ as the mold of our life.

Only when we live a life of being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection can we be in the reality of the Body of Christ.

Too many times, however, we still live in ourselves and by ourselves.

We still think we are OK, we don’t need to depend on the Lord, and we can do this or say that without being conformed to the death of Christ.

We need to realize that, according to God’s design in His economy, we have already been put on the cross; we have been crucified, and we are finished (Gal. 2:20).

Our old man has been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us.

There’s a new man with us: the resurrected God-created man uplifted with God’s divinity in him.

We have a new man, God Himself living in us. Now we need to live by that man.

On one hand, we need to practice to keep our old man on the cross; on the other hand, we live by the new man.

We can live such a life by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19).

We need to take the death of Christ as the mold for our life and put ourselves in this death-mold to live there and be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection!

This is very real and practical to us in our daily life.

We may want to say something to our spouse, and we know we’re right in what we’re about to say; however, as we try to speak to them, we have an inner feeling from the Lord that this is not from our spirit but from our old man.

If we give heed to that inner feeling, if we just heed the inner speaking of the Lord, we are conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection.

The Spirit moves in us and speaks to us, many times bothering us to not do this, not go there, not say that, and not continue in what we’re doing.

If we go against ourselves and just listen to the Lord’s inner speaking, we are conformed to the mold of Christ’s death by the power of His resurrection, and we have a God-man living, thus living in the reality of the Body of Christ.

We should not only understand the doctrine of the reality of the Body of Christ but practice it in our daily living.

Daily we need to remain in the mold of Christ’s death by the power of His resurrection so that we live not by our natural man but by the new man, the Christ who lives in us.

When we all have such a living, when there’s a corporate living of being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection, there is a corporate God-man living, and this is the reality of the Body of Christ.

The God-man living is a corporate living of the conformity to the death of Christ through the power of the resurrection of Christ.

This needs to become a reality in our daily life.

We may not live this constantly but at least instantly, again and again, we need to be conformed to the death of Christ.

We have the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ in our spirit, and we can be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection.

Amen, may we be willing to be conformed to Christ’s death in our experience, dying to our self, our flesh, our natural man, and our natural life so that Christ may live in us.

Lord Jesus, we want to have a God-man living today for the reality of the Body of Christ. Save us from just doing the right thing and choosing the right way; we want to live one spirit with You! May we have a living of being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection. Oh Lord, make us those who live a crucified life continually by taking the death of Christ as the mold of our life. Amen, Lord Jesus, gain such a living among us so that You may obtain the reality of the Body of Christ. We don’t want to live in and by ourselves. May we see that our old man has been put on the cross and that we are finished, but there’s a new man within us – God Himself living in us! Amen, Lord, we want to live by the new man. We want to practice keeping our old man on the cross so that we may live the new man. Bountifully supply us with Your Spirit so that we may live Christ today!

The Reality of the Body of Christ is the Mingling Living in the Eternal Union of God and Man in Christ’s Resurrection

The reality of the Body of Christ is the God-man living, which is a mingling living; it is not just God living or man living, but God and man living, God and man being mingled together to live one life with one living.

When we first believed into the Lord, we have been brought into an organic union with Him.

We were not just saved and cleansed outwardly but God’s life has entered into us, and we are now one with the Lord – one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

We are tripartite – body, soul, and spirit – and God is Triune – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; we have been joined to Him organically, and we are one spirit with Him.

We now should live in this union and mingling with God; we should live in this mingling of God and man.

Our living should be a mingling living in the union of God and man.

The reality of the Body of Christ is nothing but the mingling living in the eternal union of the regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite God-men with the Triune God in the resurrection of Christ.

May we live in this union today, being mingled with God and having a mingling living today in our union with God.

This mingling is a corporate entity of conformity to the death of Christ in the power of the resurrection of Christ.

The Lord is blending us together with Himself and with the saints so that we may be conformed to the mold of Christ’s death by the power of His resurrection.

May we have a mingling living today, a living in the resurrection of Christ!

The reality of resurrection is the Spirit; the resurrection of Christ imparts the consummated Triune God and releases the death-overcoming life into the believers (John 11:25).

An example of living in this mingling living is living in a corporate living, in a brothers house or a sisters house. In such a house there may be a Chinese brother, a Korean brother, a German brother, and an American or British brother.

If they do not have the Spirit and do not live by the Spirit, there will be friction and arguments every day, but if they live by the Spirit and deny themselves, there will be much fellowship and sweet coordination.

If these God-men come every day to call on the name of the Lord, exercise their spirit, pray and read the Word of God, and enjoy the Lord together, they will be mingled with the Lord and blended together.

Their dispositions and their backgrounds will be put aside, and they will be molded, conformed, to the death of Christ.

This is not only applicable to corporate living but also to every aspect of the Christian life and church life (Col. 3:10-11).

In the church life we are from so many backgrounds, and races and cultures; how can we be one?

If I like to only eat Chinese food and you like to be with the Korean saints, how can we be one?

How can the Lord gain the reality of the Body if we live according to our disposition, background, and preference?

The Lord desires to have one Body, one new man, and He wants this Body to be expressed and manifested in reality.

This can only be possible when we live corporately a mingling living by the resurrection of Christ, thus being conformed to His death.

When we let the Lord put to death our preferences, our disposition, and anything that makes us distinct and apart, we will be mingled with Him and blended with the saints, and there will be the reality of the Body of Christ.

This corporate and mingling living by the perfected God-men consummates ultimately in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth as God’s increase and expression for eternity (Rev. 21:1-2, 9-11). Amen!

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into us as our life and person; we are now one spirit with You! Hallelujah, we and the Lord are joined together in spirit! We come to You again and again, Lord, through the exercise of our spirit to contact You, enjoy You, receive more of You, and be saturated with You. We want to have a mingling living in the eternal union of God and man. May we live in the resurrection of Christ by living in our spirit to walk by the Spirit and do all things in the spirit. Oh Lord Jesus, we don’t want to live according to our background, our preferences, and our desires. We simply want to live one with You. Blend us more with God and with the saints in the Body of Christ so that we may have a mingling living, the reality of the Body of Christ! Perfect us, Lord, to live in this mingling living today, living in conformity to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection so that Christ may live in us!

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 James Lee in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “A General Outline of God’s Economy and the Proper Living of a God-man: A Fellowship with the Elders from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia,” chs. 3-5, 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 4, entitled, Blending and the Reality of the Body of Christ.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – A corporate living of the conformity to the death of Christ through the power of the resurrection of Christ, a portion from, Practical Points Concerning Blending, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – What is the Mingling of God and Man? Read more via, The Hearing of Faith newsletter.
  – God’s intention in this universe – to mingle Himself with humanity, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The God-man Jesus – the mingling of God and man, a portion from, The Full Knowledge of the Word of God, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – The Secret of the Christian Life—Living in the Mingled Spirit, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The union and mingling of the Spirit of God with the spirit of man produces a building of the living and walking together of God with man, a portion from, The Issue of the Union of the Consummated Spirit of the Triune God and the Regenerated Spirit of the Believers, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – Beholding the Glory, Transformed into the Image, article via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The Mingled Spirit—the Divine Spirit Mingled with Our Human Spirit, outline via, The Church in Chicago.
  – The Deep Significance of the Birth of Jesus Christ, article via, The Church in San Gabriel.
  – The True Nature of Our Relationship with the Lord Jesus, article via, Bibles for America blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – First the blood, and then the ointment, / Cleansing, then anointing comes; / If we pass not thru Golgotha, / Ne’er to Pentecost we’ll come. / If the blood has never cleansed us, / Ne’er the Spirit’s pow’r we’ll know, / If for Christ we’d truly witness, / Self-life to the Cross must go. (Hymns #279 stanza 1)
  – Jesus, my life, Thyself apply; / Thy Holy Spirit breathe; / My vile affections crucify; / Conform me to Thy death… / More of Thy life, and more I have, / As the old Adam dies; / Bury me, Savior, in Thy grave, / That I with Thee may rise. (Hymns #364 stanzas and 1 and 3)
  – I would give myself, Lord, / Fully unto Thee, / That Thy heart’s desire / Be fulfilled in me. / I no more would struggle / To myself reform, / Thus in me to hinder / What Thou wouldst perform. / I would cease completely / From my efforts vain, / Let Thy life transform me, / Full release to gain; / Build me up with others / Till in us Thou see / Thy complete expression / Glorifying Thee. (Hymns #841 stanzas 5-6)