As believers in Christ who have Christ as their life and living, we need to be those seeking the things which are above and set our mind on them by joining ourselves to the Lord in His heavenly ministry, His divine enterprise, and live Christ by having a living that is one with Christ’s living for the one new man.
God’s life is the life of Christ, and Christ’s life has come into us through our regeneration. When we believed into the Lord, we received the divine life of God into our spirit, and Christ is now our life to be our living for the one new man.
He has come into us to be subjective to us, near and dear, even our life. Nothing is more subjective to us than our life, for our life is ourselves, even we; Christ came into us to be our life, and He is growing in us as life, seeking to fill our entire being with life until He will saturate us with life and make us the same as He is.
Right now Christ is a mystery in us – He is in us as life, but He is hidden; but when Christ our life is manifested, we also will be manifested with Him in glory. Christ is in us as life, and this life is different from what we would think.
The life of Christ is a crucified life, a resurrected life, and a life hidden with Christ in God. When we enjoy and experience Christ as life, He strengthens us to go through difficulties without complaining, and He within us is the supply to not open our mouth and seek our right when we are mistreated or criticized.
When we enjoy Christ as life, His life within will not be affected, bothered, or limited by death, but it will be manifested as resurrection life.
When we experience Christ as life, we seek to have a hidden life with the Lord, nor being showy about our righteousness or knowledge, but desiring to be accepted and appreciated by the Father who sees in secret.
Today we want to see how we can not only enjoy and experience Christ as life but also have a living that is one with Christ’s living for the one new man, and this living is by our setting our mind on the things which are above so that we may be joined to the Lord in His heavenly ministry.
When we enjoy Christ as our life, our person, we will spontaneously seek the things that He desires, that is, we will set our mind no longer on the things on earth but on the things in the heavens, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
Seeking the Things which are Above to be Joined to Christ in His Heavenly Ministry
If therefore we were raised together with Christ, and since Christ is our life, we should no longer focus on or seek the things which are here on earth but seek the things which are above and set our mind on them (Col. 3:1-2).
To seek the things which are above and set our mind on them is actually to join ourselves to the Lord in His heavenly ministry, His divine enterprise.
To set our mind on the things which are above is to have a living that is one with Christ’s living for the one new man (Col. 3:10-11). The living of the one new man is a living of seeking the things which are above and setting our mind upon them, for it is there that Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
What is Christ doing today in His heavenly ministry? Today Christ is in the heavens on the throne, carrying out His heavenly ministry, and we need to seek the things above to join ourselves to the Lord’s heavenly ministry; such a living is living Christ to bring forth the one new man.
In His heavenly ministry Christ does three main things: He is the High Priest interceding for the churches, He is the Heavenly Minister supplying the saints with the riches of Christ, and He is the universal Administrator of God’s government for the accomplishment of God’s purpose.
We are not here to seek earthly things, power, fame, or recognition; what we are here for is to have one living with Christ’s living. He is living as the High Priest, the heavenly Minister, and the universal Administrator, and we as the ones who have Christ as life can have one living with Him.
We need to join Christ in His living and have one living with Him today on earth; He is in heavens interceding, ministering, and administrating, and we are here on earth cooperating with His heavenly ministry.
He is more busy than ever: He intercedes for all the saints and for all the churches, He ministers the life supply to all the members of His Body and to all the churches, and He administrates the entire world situation for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
We need to set our mind on the things which are above and join ourselves to the Lord in His heavenly ministry to intercede one with Him for the saints and the churches, minister life to others for the building up of the Body, and pray the prayers He need to further His move on earth.
This is what it means to live Christ for the one new man: to set our mind on the things above where Christ is, and to be joined to Him in what He is doing today, in His divine enterprise, so that we may have the same living as He does – as He lives in the heavens, so we do on earth.
Lord Jesus, we want to seek the things which are above and set our mind on them so that we may have a living that is one with Your living for the one new man. We are one with You in Your heavenly ministry, Lord, as You intercede as the High Priest for the saints and the churches. May we enter into Your intercessory prayer life so that what You intercede for in the heavens we would echo on earth. We are one with You as the heavenly Minister to supply the saints with the riches of Christ. Amen, Lord, we are one with You as the universal Administrator of God’s government for the accomplishment of God’s purpose!
Being One with Christ in His Heavenly Ministry by Interceding, Ministering Life, and Praying one with Him
Christ today in His heavenly ministry is busier than when He was on earth in His earthly ministry, for is no longer limited by time and space.
Right now He is living as the High Priest to intercede for the churches (Heb. 8:1; 4:14; 7:25; 4:16; Col. 4:2), He is living as the heavenly Minister to supply the saints with Christ’s riches (Heb. 8:1-2; Eph. 3:8), and He is living as the universal Administrator of God’s government for the accomplishment of God’s purpose (Rev. 4:1-2, 5; 5:6; 1:10-11).
As the High Priest in the heavens, Christ is interceding for us to grow in life, be transformed, be conformed to His image, and be glorified; because of His intercession we go on with Him and we pursue Him in love until we become the same as He is.
We need to be joined to Christ in His heavenly ministry as the High Priest.
When we touch the Lord and enjoy Him as life, a spontaneous result is that we will seek the things which are above and set our mind on them, and this means that we will pray one with Him for the saints, for the churches, and for what He is praying and interceding in the heavens.
There’s a transmission from the praying Christ in the heaven and His praying people on earth, and by means of this transmission we pray in oneness with Him.
Christ is the heavenly Minister to minister the heavenly life supply to the saints; when we live Christ and experience Him as life, we will be one with Him to minister the riches of Christ into the saints for their growth in life unto maturity for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Christ in His heavenly ministry is living as the universal Administrator of God’s government for the accomplishment of God’s purpose.
As we are seeking the things which are above, we realize that there’s a transmission bringing the things which are above into the local churches (Eph. 1:19-23), and we see the vision of God’s universal administration.
In Rev. 4-5 we have a vision of our central government – which is not on earth but in heavens – and in Rev. 1-3 we have a vision of the local churches as the “embassies”.
By means of the seven Spirits, what is decided and done in the heavenly headquarters (the throne of God and of the Lamb) is being transmitted and fulfilled in and through the local churches as the embassies.
What takes place in the local churches should be under the direction of the throne of God in heaven; we need to seek the things which are above, set our mind on them, and be joined to the Lord in His heavenly ministry, and we will be both individually and corporately under the direction of God’s throne (Col. 1:18; 2:19; Rev. 4:2-3).
In order for the recovery to be the Lord’s recovery, it must be under His direction. Christ is administrating in the heavens on the throne, and all He is doing is transmitted through the sevenfold intensified Spirit into the churches for us to pray, intercede for, and be joined to Christ in His heavenly ministry.
This is to live Christ and set our mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth.
Lord Jesus, save us from passively living a Christian life that lacks a cooperation with You in Your heavenly ministry. May we be aggressive and seek the things which are above so that we may participate in the intercessory life of Christ, supply Christ to others, and pray the prayers needed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose on earth! Amen! Lord, keep us in the constant and continual transmission of what the throne is doing and deciding in the heavens, so that we may echo on earth and agree with the decisions of the One on the throne, for God’s purpose to be fulfilled!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 58, 60 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Goal of the Lord’s Recovery – to Bring Forth the One New Man (2018 ICSC), week 4, Experiencing Christ as Our Life, Our Person, for the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
# He’s living now to intercede, / Continuing forever; / He undertakes into the age, / His priesthood changes never; / He always lives to intercede, / Such a High Priest is what we need: / He’s higher than the heavens. (Hymns #1130)
# The new covenant ministry—a ministry of God— / is the ministry of the Spirit who gives life (who gives life) / and of righteousness as the expression of God. (Song on, The new covenant ministry—a ministry of God)
# Upon the throne, the center / Of government divine, / God reigns, and with His purpose / Brings everything in line. / God’s headship and His lordship / He only can maintain / As King within His kingdom, / O’er everything to reign. (Hymns #941)
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Amen, oh we would be those who cooperate with Lord!
Amen Lord Jesus
have you noticed Lev. 16 and how Christ fulfilled the job of high priest by entering into the Holiest (God’s very throne in heaven), to make an atonement for us each time we pray? no priesthood needed from Levi anymore; but Melchizidek’s line has begun with the first of the firstfruits.
Amen! We need to join Christ in His living and have one living with Him. This requires our seeking of the things above and setting our mind on them. In this way, when Christ prays in heaven, we should pray on earth. TO pray together with Christ in this way is to have one living with Him. The Lord’s move in the churches corresponds to the action on the throne in heaven. Heb.7:25 says “Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come forward to God through Him, since He lives always to intercede for them.”
Amen Lord Jesus!
Amen!
Wow to live Christ is to seek the things above, where Christ is. When we contact Christ we are joined to Him. In the heavens Christ is always interceding for all the churches, for all the saints. The more we contact Him our prayers will change and our concerns will be one with the interceding One on the throne!
Lord Jesus save us from passively living the Christian life…May we be aggressive to pursue the things which are above. May we participate in an intercessory life of Christ to supply Christ to others. May our prayers serve the fulfillment of God’s plan. Amen!
To seek the things which are above and to set our mind on them is to join ourselves to the Lord in His ministry in heaven. We need to join ourselves to the very One who is interceding, ministering, and executing God’s administration. Our living should be a kind of living in which we seek these heavenly things and set our mind on them. This means that we live in such a way as to join our heavenly Christ in His priesthood, ministry, and administration.
We are not here to seek earthly things but to have a living that is one with Christ’s living. Christ today is living as the High Priest, the heavenly Minister, and the universal Administrator. We need to join Him in His living and have one living with Him. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 524-525, by Witness Lee)