Our Urgent Need is to see a Governing and Controlling Vision of the One New Man

In these last days of this age, before the Lord is able to return, we all must see the vision of the one Body of Christ and in particular the vision of the one new man, and this vision must control us and direct us toward God’s destination.

We need to realise that the Lord’s recovery has a goal, which is not merely to recover all the wonderful truths in God’s word or bring in the function of all the members in the Body for the building up of the Body.

The goal of the Lord’s recovery is to bring forth the one new man. God has an economy and a plan, and He has not forgotten about His original intention to gain a corporate man that would express Him and represent Him.

Even though Adam failed God, now God wants to gain the one new man who will fulfill His plan. We need to ask the Lord to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to see the vision of the one new man and enter into the reality and practical living of the one new man.

What is our general impression of the one new man? We may think that when we gather together from different nations and races, we are the one new man, but the new man is much more than this.

In the one new man Christ is all and in all; there is no nationality, race, skin color, background, culture, or personality – Christ is all and in all, and Christ Himself is the reality of the one new man.

From Martin Luther the Lord has been recovering very much in His word; the Bible was opened, the truth of justification by faith was recovered, we now know the high gospel to preach to all the nations, we can practice living a life of holiness, and we can practice the proper church life.

All these have been recovered within the last five hundred years. But are all these the goal of the Lord’s recovery? No. The Lord’s recovery has only one goal, which is to bring forth the one new man.

The gospel, shepherding the new ones, teaching the truth, and even building up of the local churches are all for this unique goal. This goal is high and absolute, and God’s heart’s desire is to gain the one new man, so that the new man would be brought forth practically on earth.

According to Eph. 2:15 Christ has already created the one new man on the cross, but if we look at the last two thousand years, the one new man has not yet been fully manifested.

Just as a baby is born and needs to grow until full manifestation, so we need to see the vision of the one new man, and we need to enter into the manifestation of the one new man in practicality.

We need to realize that, on one hand, the one new man has already been created by Christ on the cross, but on the other hand, it has to be practiced and lived out. First, we must see a vision.

We must see a vision concerning the goal of the Lord’s recovery, which is to bring forth the one new man.

What is our goal in our Christian life and church life? Is it merely to save people and help them to grow in life, or is that the one new man would be lived out in us and among us, that the one new man would be manifested on the earth so that the Lord would return?

Our Urgent Need is to see a Governing and Controlling Vision of the One New Man

Today we have an urgent need: we need to see a vision of the church as the one new man. The seeing of the vision of the one new man is an urgent matter.

If we look at the history of the world these past 2-3 decades, there has been very much development, improvement, and changes, and some of the most drastic changes have taken place. We are now in the “computer age”, and the changes are very rapid; at the same time, the enemy has dome a lot.

We all may enjoy the many modern conveniences in transportation, communication, and technology, but we should know what kind of age it is that we live in. For example, through the internet, everyone is now online all the time, and there are all kinds of people joined together on this net.

The enemy has held all the people in his hand through the internet. We must not forget the strategy of the enemy: he wants to produce and bring forth his system of error so that everyone would be brought into his error.

Therefore, there’s an urgent need for us to see the vision of the one new man.

We should not be satisfied merely with where we are in the church life or with the Lord, but we should aim to see the vision of the one new man and enter into the reality of the one new man, otherwise the enemy will fiercely attack us and distract us from the corporate man that God is after.

The enemy, Satan, scatters people, and he also keeps them under his control; may we have an urgent feeling in us that the Lord wants us to see the vision of the one new man. In the last days of this age – before the Lord is able to return – we must see the vision of the one Body and the one new man (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:15; 4:4, 24).

The unique prerequisite for the Lord to return is the preparation of His bride; the bride has to get ready before He can return. He is not waiting for a certain point in time to return, but for His bride to be made ready.

Who is the bride? The bride is the one new man – the bride is the mature one new man, the full-grown new man, which becomes the bride. The bride of Christ is the holy city, New Jerusalem, a universal corporate man – the one new man.

When we experience the Body of Christ, we are ushered into the vision of the one new man. The ultimate vision of the Lord’s recovery is the vision concerning the one Body and the one new man; this is the vision of the age, the ultimate vision.

We must know what is the Body and the one new man. The Body of Christ and the one new man are not something separate; they are two aspects of the same thing.

When we speak of the Body of Christ, the emphasis is on Christ as life for the move of God, and when we speak on the one new man, the emphasis is on Christ as the person for the living of Christ in man.

The Body is for the one new man, and the new man includes the Body. Paul often put the Body and the new man together, for to him the Body was the new man, and the one new man is the Body.

In Eph. 2:15 we see that Christ created the one new man in His body on the cross, that we may be reconciled in one Body to God. In Eph. 4:12-13 we see that we need to arrive at a full-grown man, which is the one new man; this one new man is the Body of Christ mentioned earlier.

Our urgent need today is to see a vision of the church as the Body of Christ and the one new man.

Lord Jesus, show us our urgent need to see a vision of the church as the Body of Christ and a vision of the one new man. May we see a vision of the Body and of the one new man so that we may be build up the Body and become the one new man in reality for the preparation of the bride, so that Your return may be hastened. Lord Jesus, show us a vision of the one new man. Show us what is in Your heart to gain in this age, and what is our urgent need today. Gain what You are after. Gain the one new man in reality all over the earth.

Seeing a Heavenly Vision that Directs us toward God’s Destination and Controls us according to God’s Economy

What is a vision, why do we need to see a vision, and what is the heavenly vision that we need to see?

In the Bible a vision denotes an extraordinary scene that is seen by us; vision refers to a special kind of seeing and to the spiritual scenery we see from God (see Prov. 29:18a; Acts 26:19; Ezek. 1:1; Dan. 7:1, 9-10, 13-14).

Vision is a glorious, inward seeing, and it is the spiritual scenery that we see from God. May God be merciful to us to give us a glorious inward vision of the one new man that will control us, influence us, and limit us.

Through His word God has opened the veil, but we must see the scenes contained in the Word. Whatever we see through God’s revelation is a vision. We all have to have at least once in our lifetime a vision from the Lord, a glorious vision that breaks upon us and governs us.

We may be involved in gospel preaching and many may be saved, but if they don’t see a vision, they may leave or give up when things get tough. If we see a vision, whether there’s a cold front or a warm front, we will not be affected.

Whether people receive us or reject us, we will not be determined – we have seen the vision. Seeing a heavenly vision will cause us to be governed, controlled, restricted, directed, preserved, revolutionised, and kept in the genuine oneness by this vision.

If we do not see a vision, we may be able to do all kinds of things – we may do whatever we like, speak whatever we want, and go wherever we want to go, with nothing restricting us or limiting us, for where there’s no vision, people cast off restraint (Prov. 29:18).

But if we see a heavenly vision, if we see the vision of the one new man, we will be filled with boldness to go on, we will be revolutionized, and this vision will govern us, restrict us, control us, direct us, and preserve us.

Seeing a vision of the one new man will restrict us and control us, and we will enter into the practical realization of this vision in the local churches. Before we can speak of our experience and practice, we need to have a vision, a new seeing of the one new man according to how God sees this.

Under the heavenly vision we are directed toward God’s destination, and our life is controlled according to God’s economy (Phil. 3:13-14; 1 Tim. 3:4). Seeing the heavenly vision of the one new man will cause us to be directed toward God’s destination, and our life will be controlled according to God’s economy.

Lord Jesus, grant us to see a heavenly vision that will direct us toward God’s destination and control us according to God’s economy. Show us a vision of the one new man, an extraordinary scene and a special kind of seeing that is inward and glorious. Amen, Lord Jesus, be merciful to us and give us a glorious inward vision that will govern us, control us, direct us, preserve us, revolutionize us, and keep us in the genuine oneness! Yes, Lord, may we all see the one new man and be infused with Your desire to gain the one new man in all the local churches on earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 1, “The Glorious Vision and the Way of the Cross,” ch. 1, 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 1, Our Urgent Need to See the Vision of the Church as the One New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Oh, may a clear, controlling vision of / The Lord’s economy direct my heart, / And burn in me until my spirit’s wholly set afire! / With spirit strong and active we’ll press on / To consummate God’s goal— / New Jerusalem, Hallelujah! (Song on, God has called us for His purpose)
  # Glorious vision, I have seen it: My life is meant for God’s economy! / Earthly bondage, I have left it: My heart outpours for the Lord’s recovery! / Divine Trinity, Divine dispensing: Christ to be life as Spirit real is He; / Churches of God, Body of Christ, New Jerusalem—how I long to see. (Song on, The Uniqueness of the Lord’s Recovery)
  # When all Thy members self forsake, / Thy glorious Body, Lord, is known; / When of Thy Person we partake, / The one new man is shown. / The church life is the one new man / In every local church expressed; / Thy Body is a corporate man, / One Person manifest. (Hymns #1120)