Live in the Divine History by Living as One Body, the Continuation of Christ today

The book of Acts reveals a group of people who live in the divine history by living, moving, and acting as one Body; the Lord Jesus continues to live on the earth in the members of His Body, who are the continuation of Christ, the duplication of Christ, as the Body of Christ, for they live by the divine life. Amen!

Our God is a moving, living, acting, and flowing God; He is moving from eternity to eternity, and He came on the bridge of time to live and move in us, the believers in Christ.

In eternity past, Christ was in the bosom of the Father, in the Father’s glory, as God’s unique, only begotten Son. But the Father sent Him to us, even gave Him to us, and He came to express the fullness of the Father and proclaim this fullness in the Spirit. Wow!

Then, through death and resurrection, Christ was made God’s firstborn Son; this is the move of the Triune God in man and through man. He came to move in man through Christ’s incarnation, His human living, His death, and His resurrection.

In His resurrection, Christ was begotten by the Father to be His firstborn Son, and as the Spirit, He is imparting His life into us to accomplish His duplication.

Now we are part of the history of God in man, for we have been regenerated to be part of the divine history within human history.

We were regenerated to be the many sons of God to become the many brothers of Christ, and we are being conformed to the image of Christ, even to be the same as Christ.

First, He was the only grain who came to the earth to die, so that through death and resurrection He may multiply in life! Amen, we were brought forth in His nature to be the many grains, who are blended together to be one loaf, to proclaim His fullness.

Not only is Christ the fullness of God, not only does He express God’s fullness and embodies His fullness, but even more, we today, as the Body of Christ and His duplication, express the fullness of God corporately.

We are part of the expression of the fullness of God in this universe, for we are part of the divine history! Hallelujah!

This word, history, is composed of his and story; history is His story, the story of God in man. Real history is the history of the Triune God in humanity, the only history that is worthwhile to be recorded and remembered.

The universe is about His story, the history of the Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

Thank the Lord that we have also become part of His story, for He came into us as the Spirit, and we now learn to live by the divine life to live in the Body of Christ and be part of the divine history within human history!

Acts Reveals a Group of People Living in the Divine History by Living, Moving, and Acting as One Body

In the book of Acts, we see a group of people who live in the divine history by living, moving, and acting as one Body; they don’t live or work by themselves but they do everything in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body.

We could consider the four Gospels and the book of Acts as one full picture of a universal man, Christ the Head and the Body of Christ being expressed.

In the Gospels we see the Head, Christ, who came as the embodiment of God to express God and manifest Him on the earth; these books present the individual Christ and His acts on the earth.

In the book of Acts we have not only the apostles and the disciples doing things and working but even more, the Body of Christ, the Body of the ascended Christ, who does things as one Body.

In the book of Acts we see not just the acts of the apostles but even more, the acts of Christ in the church by the Holy Spirit.

When the disciples would do something, say something, or go somewhere, it was Christ by the Spirit that did that thing, said that thing, or went to that place.

The disciples of Christ, regenerated by His life and nature, became the continuation of Christ, and the book of Acts shows us the acts of Christ through the church as the Spirit.

The Lord Jesus in the Gospels expressed God in an individual way, and then He went through death and resurrection to be reproduced and duplicated in His many believers, the disciples of Christ, so that He may continue to live in them in the book of Acts in a corporate way.

The Lord Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended, and now He continues to live, act, walk, and work on this earth in us, the millions of believers in Christ, for He imparted His life into us through His death and resurrection.

We are the duplication of Christ, the mass reproduction of Himself on the earth.

He was originally one grain, but now He has become many grains, a mass duplication, even a mass reproduction of Himself for the glory of the Father in humanity (John 12:24).

What was seen in an individual person in the Gospels was continued and multiplied in the book of Acts through the disciples.

The book of Acts contains the acts of Christ; in this book we don’t see Christ acting in Himself alone but acting in His believers who have become His reproduction and duplication, which is the church!

Today we are the continuation of Christ, the duplication of Christ, even Christ Himself; we are becoming the fullness of Christ to express Him corporately (Eph. 1:23).

This is why, when Saul was persecuting the church and the Lord Jesus met him on the way to Damascus, the Lord didn’t say, Why are you persecuting my followers, but, Why are you persecuting Me (Acts 9:4-5).

Saul thought that he persecuted a particular sect of heretics who followed and preached the teachings of someone who claimed to be the Son of God and died and, they claimed, was resurrected.

But then he met this One, who said that the followers of Jesus were actually Him; Saul saw a vision of the corporate Christ. Wow!

Christ is not just Himself but together with His Body – Christ the Head and Christ the Body (1 Cor. 12:12).

This is the vision that Paul saw, and this is the vision that saved him; he didn’t just hear the gospel, but he met the Head of the Body and saw that Christ is the corporate Christ, one with His believers on the earth.

When someone touches our hand or hits our leg, he touches us and hits us, not just a member of our body, for our body is us, ourselves.

When Saul persecuted some of the members of the Body of Christ, Christ came to reveal Himself to him as the Head of the Body who is one with His persecuted members on the earth.

This shows that, even though Christ Himself lived, acted, and worked on earth, and then He went through death and now is in resurrection and ascension, He still continues to live in us, the many believers in Christ, as the many members of the Body of Christ.

We are a group of people who live in the divine history, continuing the history of God in man, by living, moving, and acting as one Body; we do everything in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body.

The Christ we see in the four Gospels is now living and acting in us, the many believers in Christ, for we are the church as His Body, His reproduction and duplication.

Hallelujah, today we are a group of people who live in the divine history by living, moving, and acting as one Body, the Body of Christ! Amen, Lord, we want to do everything in the Body, through the Body, and for the Body! Thank You for coming into us to regenerate us and live in us, even to continue to live in us and make us the continuation of Christ! Praise the Lord, we believers in Christ are the continuation of Christ and He lives in us! Amen, Lord, live in us today. Thank You for coming into our spirit to be our life and our everything; live in us and be expressed through us today. Keep us living one spirit with You. Keep us in the Body of Christ, living and acting and doing all things in fellowship with the saints. May You gain the built-up Body of Christ whose acts are the acts of Christ by the Spirit in the church as His Body! Amen, Lord, be expressed through us corporately as Your continuation and reproduction today!

Corporately Live in a Divine Way by the Divine Life to be the Continuation of Christ on Earth today

If we look at the general situation in Christianity today, we cannot see that Jesus lives again in all His believers.

We know that He is in each and every regenerated person, but does He live in them? Many times we ourselves do not live Christ; we may love Him, pursue Him, call on Him, and contact Him, but we may not let Him live in us.

The Bible tells us that we, the disciples of Christ, are the continuation of Christ on the earth, but the only way we can be His continuation is when we live in a divine way by the divine life.

When Christ was on the earth, He did not live by Himself or of Himself; He lived one with God, expressed God, manifested God, and did all things in God and by the Spirit. He was truly the expression of God in an individual person.

After living and expressing God, even doing the work of God, Christ died and then entered into resurrection to become a life-giving Spirit to impart Himself into His believers.

Now the believers in Christ are the continuation of Christ, and they are learning to live not by their human life but by the divine life in a divine way, even live in a corporate way by the divine life, to express Christ.

In the book of Acts we see thousands of persons living in a divine life by the same divine life to be the corporate expression of Christ.

They continued steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42).

They did this corporately, and as they lived out Christ corporately, God simply added people to them. Yes, there were times when they preached the gospel, but it was God who added to them.

They simply lived Christ, living corporately in a divine way by the divine life to be the continuation of Christ.

Today we are the extension of Christ, the continuation of Christ. We are not just Christians who try their best to obey the Lord and read the Bible; we are Jesus living again, for we live by the divine life to express Him and not ourselves.

On the one hand, we personally need to live by the divine life; on the other hand, we need to realise that we are members of the Body of Christ, and Christ lives in us corporately.

Like Saul on the way to Damascus, we need to see a vision of the Body of Christ, Christ the Head, together with His Body, and we need to realise that we’re members of the Body, expressing Him!

He lives in us and we live Him. He moves in us and we move one with Him. He lives and acts in us. And He lives and moves in the members of His Body.

Just as Paul was sent by Christ to another member of the Body to be saved and baptised, so the Lord uses members of His Body to help us be saved, baptised, and brought into the church.

Sometimes we don’t have the Lord’s leading in a particular matter, but as we come together with the saints, His leading is made clear to us, even made real to us in detail, for the other members of the Body have the light and the leading from the Lord.

We need to know the church as the Body of Christ. Many times we need the members of the Body to interpret the significance of the Lord’s calling.

The Head lives, moves, acts, and speaks through the members of His Body.

We need to remain in the fellowship of the Body, even continue in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles with the saints, learning to live by the divine life in a divine way so that Christ may be expressed through us.

We cannot continue to live the Christian life in ourselves or by ourselves.

If we are alone, no matter how spiritual we may be, we cannot continue; Christian life is not a lone wolf or lone ranger life. It is a corporate life, for we live in and as the Body of Christ, and we are part of the corporate Christ.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You today! We want to live one spirit with You today for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may we corporately live in a divine way by the divine life so that Christ may live in us. We want to live as the corporate continuation of Christ on the earth today. Hallelujah, all believers in Christ are persons living in a divine way by the divine life for the corporate expression of God on the earth! Amen, Lord, may we know the Body, live for the Body, and do all things in the Body and for the Body! May we know Your leading in the Body. May we realise that Christ the Head lives, works, and moves in the members of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may we open to You and also open to the Body to have Your leading and the unveiling of Your purpose. May we not live in and by ourselves but by Christ as the Spirit and in the Body! We take You, Lord, as our life, strength, power, and everything, for we want to live by You for the Body and in the Body!

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, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1964, vol. 2, “A General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, Part 1—the Gospels and Acts,” pp. 178-182, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, One Accord and Crucial Aspects of the Book of Acts (2025 April ITERO), week 7, Continuing to Live in the Divine History within Human History in the Continuation of the Book of Acts for the Spreading and Building Up of the Church as the Corporate Manifestation of Christ – day 3.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Crucifying our flesh with its passions and its lusts in dealing with our body of sin, a portion from, The Christian Life, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee.
  – Constituted to be God’s Corporate Expression, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – What does it mean to be saved by Jesus? || CSOC UT Austin.
  – In the church – the Body of Christ – as the enlarged corporate expression in the flesh, a portion from, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 13, by Witness Lee.
  – Man – A Vessel to Contain God, via, Living to Him.
  – The living of the divine life through the human life, a portion from, General Sketch of the New Testament in the Light of Christ and the Church, A – Part 1: The Gospels and the Acts, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – The One Unique New Testament Ministry, via, Shepherding words.
  – The continuation of the book of Acts – living in the divine history within human history, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Acts (Program #27) – The Conversion of Saul (3), via, Bible study radio.
  – Christ’s crucifixion to redeem people for the church, a portion from, Lesson Book, Level 5: The Church—The Vision and Building Up of the Church, Chapter 8, by Witness Lee.
  – What is God’s Purpose for Saving Us? 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 #402 stanza 1)
  – Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today, / Oh, to see Thee in Thy members, / ’Tis for this I long and pray. / No more just to know Thy headship / In an individual way, / But to see Thee incarnated, / As the Body-Christ, I pray. (Hymns #1225 stanza 1)
  – By Thy death and resurrection, / Thou wast made God’s firstborn Son; / By Thy life to us imparting, / Was Thy duplication done. / We, in Thee regenerated, / Many sons to God became; / Truly as Thy many brethren, / We are as Thyself the same. / Once Thou wast the only grain, Lord, / Falling to the earth to die, / That thru death and resurrection / Thou in life may multiply. / We were brought forth in Thy nature / And the many grains became; / As one loaf we all are blended, / All Thy fulness to proclaim. (Hymns #203 stanzas 2-3)