Being Perfected and Rising up Together to Take Christ as our Person for the New Man

If we are unveiled and enlightened, we will see that we today need to rise up together and take Christ as our person for the new man, for when the new man is perfected, that’s the time for the Lord’s coming, and the perfected new man will be the bride.

What the Lord is after today is the church as the Body of Christ and especially as the one new man.

When God created man in His image and according to His likeness, He intended to obtain a corporate man that expresses Him and represents Him (Gen. 1:26).

Adam was made in God’s image and bore God’s likeness, and God wanted him to eat the tree of life so that Adam would express God as a God-man filled with God’s life.

God presented Himself as life before man so that man would partake of Him and be filled with Him.

Man, however, ate of the wrong tree and fell, so Christ came as the second man, the last Adam, to be the man that God desires to obtain.

Christ came to express God and represent God.

From Adam to Christ, there has never been a man who has fully expressed and represented God on earth; not until Christ came, who was God incarnated to be a man, did God obtain such a one.

However, Christ came, God incarnated to be man, and for the first time in human history we now have a man who is both divine and human.

He was both God and man, and He lived not just a human life but the divine life in the human life.

Christ came not only to accomplish the work of redemption; even more, most of the time He spent on earth was to express and represent God.

All His words, deeds, works, and acts were in oneness with the Father. He did not speak from Himself but spoke what He heard from the Father.

He did not do His own work but did the work the Father gave Him to do. He did not seek His own glory but sought the glory of the Father.

For thirty-three and a half years, Christ lived the life of a God-man, being the model for the God-men who follow Him to follow.

Then, He was crucified and, on the cross, He not only destroyed the devil, redeemed man, and reconciled man to God, but created the two – the Jews and the Gentiles – in Himself as one new man (Eph. 2:15). Wow, Hallelujah!

On the negative side, Christ dealt with all the problems in the universe by destroying the devil through His death.

On the positive side, He created in Himself the one new man, making peace among all the nations, and this new man is for God’s expression and representation.

We today are not merely redeemed and saved sinners; we are members of the one new man to be the continuation, the reproduction, and the duplication of Christ as the first God-man.

We are part of the new man to live the same way that Jesus did; He is the first God-man, He’s the Head of the Body, and we as His many members live one with Him and in the same way that He did.

The ultimate goal that God is after is the one new man; in His economy, when He gains the perfected one new man, the bride is prepared, and the Lord can return.

Yes, God needs to gain the Body of Christ, and for the Body, we need to take Christ as our life; even more, He wants to gain the one new man, the church as the one new man, and we need to take Christ as our person for the new man.

In order for us to see how will God gain the one new man, we must touch the matter of knowing, experiencing, and living Christ as our person.

Being Enlightened to see that we need to Rise up Together to Take Christ as our Person for the One New Man

May the Lord have mercy on us to unveil and enlighten us so that we may see that today in the Lord’s recovery we need to rise up together to take Christ as our person for the one new man (Eph. 3:17; 3:24, 11-13).

God’s original intention, His purpose in creating man, is to have a man to express Him and exercise His dominion.

The old man, the first Adam, failed God; however, God has raised up a new man to replace the old man.

It seems that God was defeated for such a long time throughout history, for so all unbelievers and so many believers still live in the old man, and they cannot fulfil God’s purpose.

But praise the Lord, our God can never be defeated.

Now is the time for Him to accomplish His purpose to perfect the new man.

God is bringing into existence the one new man so that He would be expressed and represented by the one new man.

God needs such a man to express Himself and to exercise His dominion.

So we need to be enlivened and enlightened to see that today in the Lord’s recovery we need to rise up together to take Christ as our person for the one new man.

Today we live in the last days, and there is a golden opportunity for us to be those who bring the Lord back.

On one hand, the Lord is building up His Body and we all are growing in life and being perfected.

The Lord is moving in every country and on every continent, and He is enlarging His kingdom and building up the church as the Body of Christ.

On the other hand, however, we need to rise up together to take Christ as our person for the one new man.

It is so evident that the Lord’s move has spread to all six continents of the earth.

We live in an unprecedented time. Outwardly, the world situation is being prepared for the coming of the Antichrist, and the immorality, evil, and corruption of the people in the world are unprecedented.

But inwardly and intrinsically, the Lord is moving in His economy to build up the church as the Body of Christ and as the one new man.

The Lord is desirous to come back, and He will return soon; for this, however, He needs to gain a prepared bride, and for the bride to be prepared, the new man needs to be perfected.

The Lord is perfecting us and we can cooperate with Him to be perfected so that we may be the one new man that fulfils His purpose.

May we all rise up together to take Christ as our person for the one new man.

The saints in every locality need to be perfected so that they may enter into a situation where they take Christ as their person for the one new man.

All the saints need to see this; we all need to rise up together and take Christ as our person as the one new man.

And we need to open to the Lord to be perfected so that we may enter into a situation where each one of us personally and we together corporately take Christ as our person for the one new man.

What happens if we all take Christ as our person is that, spontaneously, we will all be the one new man.

If we all take Christ as our person, the one new man will come into existence, and the Lord can return.

When the one new man is perfected, that will be the time for the Lord’s coming, and the perfected new man will be the bride of Christ to bring Him back (Rev. 19:7).

This is what we are aiming for; this is our goal.

We want to rise up together and take Christ as our person for the one new man so that the new man would be perfected, the bride would be prepared, and the Lord may return.

Lord Jesus, unveil and enlighten us to see that we need to rise up together to take Christ as our person for the one new man. May we take this golden opportunity today to be perfected and be the one new man that fulfills God’s eternal purpose. Amen, Lord, our desire is to bring You back. We want to hasten Your return, so we give ourselves to You to be perfected and be the one new man. We pray for ourselves and we pray for all the saints. May the saints in every locality be perfected so that we all may enter into a situation where we all take Christ as our person for the one new man. Amen, Lord, may we all learn to take You as our person in our daily life so that we may spontaneously be the one new man! Gain the one new man that is perfected so that You may obtain the bride that is prepared for You to return! Amen, Lord Jesus, come back quickly!

Being Perfected as the New Man to arrive at a Full-Grown Man, at the Measure of the Stature of the Fullness of Christ

The one new man was created in Christ when He died on the cross; He tore down the middle wall of partition, nailed the ordinances and any separating thing to the cross, and made peace.

Now we need to put off the old man and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.

As we live the church life in our locality and are putting on the new man in the Lord’s recovery, we need to have holiness and righteousness.

We need to become the universal new man – we all need to rise up together and take Christ as our person for the new man.

When you and me, when all believers take Christ as their person, the new man will be manifested on the earth in righteousness and holiness of the reality.

For this to happen, we need to be perfected as the new man until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The church is not merely a gathering of the called-out ones, an assembly of the Christians; the church is the fullness of Christ and the one new man on the earth.

Yes, there’s the old man on earth, and this old man is quite great. But at the same time there’s another man, the new man.

The Lord wants to gain the one new man on earth. But how and where is the new man today? Where in Christianity can we see the one new man?

What we see in Christianity are divisions and independent groups, and there are so many so-called “churches.”

How can God gain the one new man when there are so many divisions in Christianity?

We need to rise up together and take Christ as our person – even take Him as our corporate person.

When we do this and that during the day, we should not decide things merely in ourselves but rather, take Christ as our person in the new man and with the new man.

Most believers may not do this, but we need to check with the Lord and have His feeling and leading in all things.

If He does something, we should do it, but if He does not do it, we should also not do it.

This requirement is very high, but we can practice taking Christ as our person for the one new man.

The Lord will gain the full-grown man, the one new man, and we can cooperate with Him for this.

If we take Christ as our person, we will definitely take Him as our life.

When we take Christ as our person, we will grow in life and mature.

This is our need: we need to grow in life unto maturity by taking Christ as our person until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

As we all grow in life and arrive at maturity, there will be a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

If I take Christ as my person and you take Christ as your person, we will also have Christ as our life, we will grow in life, and the new man will come into being in existence.

Christ is our person for the new man to grow and be perfected; Christ is our life is for the increase of the measure of the stature of the Body of Christ.

May we all rise up together and take Christ as our person for the one new man so that the Lord may have a way to gain the one new man in reality all over the earth today!

And may we open to the perfecting of the gifted members so that we all may enter into a situation where we take Christ as our person for the one new man.

Lord Jesus, we take You as our unique person so that the new man would be manifested on earth in righteousness and holiness of the reality. We open to You and we open to the perfecting of the gifted members in the Body so that we may be perfected as the one new man. Amen, Lord, grow in us today. Grow in us unto maturity. May we all learn to take Christ not only as our life for the church as the Body of Christ but even more, take Christ as our person for the church as the one new man. May we take Christ as our person so that we may grow and mature, until we all arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Amen, Lord, may the Body grow in life and may the new man be perfected so that God would gain His corporate expression and representation on the 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 the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 3, “One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man,” pp. 323-326, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life (2023 spring ITERO), week 3, entitled, Taking Christ as Our Person for the Church as the One New Man.
• Similar article on this topic:
  – Growing by taking Christ as our person, a portion from, One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – Allowing Christ the Preeminence for the Advance of God’s Move Today, article at, Living to Him.
  – 8 Verses that Show Jesus Christ Lives in You, article via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Growing up into the Head, Christ, in all things, a portion via, The Organic Union in God’s Relationship with Man, Chapter 4, by Witness Lee.
  – Arrive at three things – a portion via, Life-Study of Ephesians, Chapter 43.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Many gifts the Lord has given, / That His Body He may build, / That the saints may be perfected / And their ministry fulfilled. / Thus we must put off the old man / That we may put on the new; / Thus, renewed in mind and spirit, / We will bear God’s image true. (Hymns #823 stanza 7)
  – From every tribe and nation / Do all the members come, / Regardless of their classes / United to be one. / No high there is, nor lowly, / No Jew, nor Gentile clan, / No free, nor slave, nor master, / But Christ, the “one new man.” (Hymns #842 stanza 5)
  – By this Person being formed in me, / I’ll a member of His Body be, / No more acting individually, / But with the saints. / More and more our Person He must be; / That our natural personality / Be eliminated thoroughly / Till Christ is all. / Only Christ, our Person, must remain; / From our aims, our goals we must refrain, / Till the church be only Christ Himself / Built up as the one new man, / Thus fulfilling God’s great plan of— / Mingling fully with the human race / To obtain a proper dwelling place, / ’Stablishing His kingdom’s rule and grace; / Over all the earth. / Not Himself just individually, / But the church together corporately, / Taking Christ as all in all, to be / The full-grown, perfect man. (Hymns #1180 stanza 2)