Morning Nourishment - The Eternal Life— the Life of God with the Divine Nature, the Triune God Being the Structure of the Bible, and the Hidden God, a God Who Hides Himself
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Day 1
Verses: John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 1 John 5:12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. Eternal life is a great topic in the Bible; it is the greatest blessing that God gives us in His salvation. Obtaining eternal life and enjoying the blessings of eternal life are divided into three different periods. The first period involves obtaining eternal life in this age, the second involves obtaining eternal life in the coming age, and the third involves the enjoyment of eternal life in eternity. We obtain eternal life in this age when we believe. When we believe in the Lord in this age, we obtain eternal life. We do not have to wait for the next age or for eternity to obtain it. Many misunderstand and think that eternal life involves a blessing in eternity. Actually, the Bible shows that eternal life is not a blessing in eternity; rather, it is the life of eternity. This eternal life was from the beginning [1 John 1:1]. Only the life of God was from the beginning. Therefore, the eternal life is just the life of God, which existed before the universe and time began. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1,” p. 222)
Eternal life is the life of God because God is eternal [1 John 1:2]…God is eternal, without beginning and without end, so His life is also eternal, without beginning and without end. The life of God, which has no beginning and no end, is the eternal life. The Son of God is God incarnated, God Himself embodied in His Son; therefore, the life of God is also in His Son [5:11-12]. This life, which is in God’s Son, is the eternal life. The incarnated Lord Jesus is the Son of God, so God’s life, the eternal life, is in Him [John 1:4]. When we receive Him and obtain Him, we also obtain the eternal life in Him. God considers His life, the eternal life, to be a gift freely given to us in the Lord Jesus [Rom. 6:23]. We do not need to pay for it; as long as we receive it, we obtain it. Since the eternal life, the life of God, was given to us by God, it is God’s gift, not God’s reward, to us [1 John 5:11]. God loves us and gives us His life, the eternal life, which is in His Son for us to receive [John 3:16]. The way to receive eternal life is to believe in His Son. As soon as we believe in His Son and receive His Son by faith, we obtain the eternal life that is in the Son. Since the eternal life of God that is in His Son is a gift, as soon as we believe into His Son and obtain His Son, we spontaneously obtain the eternal life within His Son [v. 36]. When we hear the Lord’s word, the gospel, and believe in Him, we immediately have eternal life [5:24]. Many think that even though we believe in the Lord now, we do not obtain eternal life until some time in the future. They do not realize that there is no time between believes and has…As soon as we believe in the Lord, we have eternal life. After we believe, we do not need to wait, for even the slightest moment, to obtain eternal life. There is no need to wait for what we are immediately given. In Christianity many think and suggest that those who believe in the Lord cannot know whether or not they have eternal life in the present age. However, 1 John 5:13 clearly says that the Word of God, the Bible, enables us to know that we have eternal life. Because the life we obtained is eternal, we will never perish. This life’s eternal nature ensures that we will never perish. Moreover, once we have eternal life, we are in the hands of the Lord and the Father, so no one can snatch us away [John 10:28-29]. We have the eternal life of God to uphold us inwardly, and we have the Lord’s and the Father’s hands to protect us outwardly. How can we perish? (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1,” pp. 222-224) Further Reading: CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy
Day 2
Verses: Mark 10:29-30 …There is no one who has left…for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now at this time…and in the coming age, eternal life. Rev. 2:10 …Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Obtaining life in the coming age, which is the time of the millennial kingdom, is related only to the matter of reward in the kingdom age; it is not related to our eternal salvation. In Mark 10:29-30 the Lord Jesus speaks of the present age and the coming age. The present age is the age today; it is the age of grace in which we live. The coming age is the next age; it is the age of the coming millennial kingdom. The Lord promised that if we leave everything for His sake and for the gospel’s sake, we will obtain eternal life in the coming age. This shows that obtaining eternal life in the coming age is a reward for which we must pay a price, the price of leaving everything for the Lord’s sake and for the gospel’s sake…Previously, we gained eternal life by believing, but in these verses we will obtain eternal life in the coming age only if we leave everything. Therefore, this obtaining is not related to eternal salvation; instead, it is related to our reward in the coming kingdom age. (CWWL, 1932- 1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1,” pp. 224-225)
Since obtaining eternal life in the coming age requires us to leave everything in this age, it must be related to the reward that the Lord gives in the millennial kingdom. This shows that the Lord especially designated the kingdom age as a period of enjoyment of eternal life as a reward for those who faithfully follow Him. The Lord promises to give the crown of life to those who are faithful unto death [Rev. 2:10]. A crown is a symbol of the glory of reigning as a king. The crown of life is a symbol of the glory of reigning in life…The glory of reigning in life is given to those who are faithful unto death; it is bought at the price of being faithful unto death. This is not related to the free, gracious gift of eternal life obtained by faith in this age; rather, it is the reward of eternal life obtained in the coming age for paying the highest price. This reward is to enjoy the glory of reigning in life in the coming age. This will be in the millennial kingdom. The Paradise of God spoken of [in verse 7] has the tree of life. Therefore, this Paradise must be the future New Jerusalem because the coming New Jerusalem has the tree of life (22:2). The New Jerusalem and all its blessings have been prepared for us by God and are for our enjoyment in eternity in the new heaven and new earth. In 2:7 the Lord promised that to eat of the fruit of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem would be a reward to the overcoming believers…The Lord will give the fruit of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem as a reward to the overcoming believers in the millennial kingdom. Although all believers will enjoy the New Jerusalem with its blessings in the new heaven and new earth, only the overcomers will have a foretaste of the fruit of the tree of life in the New Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom. To eat the fruit of the tree of life is to enjoy the blessing of eternal life, to enjoy eternal life itself. To have a foretaste of the fruit of the tree of life is to have an early enjoyment of the blessing of eternal life. This enjoyment of the blessing of eternal life is something every saved one will partake of in the new heaven and new earth. However, only the overcomers will enjoy the foretaste of the blessing of eternal life in the millennial kingdom. Before the coming of the new heaven and new earth, the Lord first gives the freshness of the blessing of eternal life, the fruit of the tree of life, as a reward to the overcomers as a foretaste and early enjoyment in the millennial kingdom. Thus, enjoying eternal life in the coming age is different from obtaining eternal life in the present age and enjoying eternal life in eternity. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1,” pp. 225-226) Further Reading: Life-study of 1 John, msg. 4
Day 3
Verses: John 4:14 …The water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. Rev. 21:6 …I will give to him who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely. As soon as we believe and obtain the Lord’s life, our names are written in the book of life [Rev. 3:5]. The Lord’s life is the eternal life, so if we obtain the Lord’s eternal life, we will never perish (John 10:28)…Obtaining eternal life by faith and not perishing in eternity have no requirements related to overcoming. But the Lord’s promise to not erase our names from the book of life has the requirement of overcoming. Therefore, Revelation 3:5 is related to the matter of reward, not to the gift of grace. A gift is given freely, but a reward has requirements. Since this is a reward, it is related to the millennial kingdom. With respect to eternal salvation, no saved person can perish; with respect to the reward of the millennial kingdom, only overcoming believers will enjoy the blessing of having their names in the book of life during the millennial kingdom…The gift is free; the reward is earned. (CWWL, 1932- 1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1,” pp. 226-227)
The enjoyment of eternal life in eternity in the new heaven and new earth is the full enjoyment of God’s salvation, which all the saved ones will share in eternity. The water the Lord gives is His life. This life will become a fountain of water in us, springing up and flowing us into eternal life [John 4:14]. Thus, we will enjoy the blessing of eternal life in eternity. The full blessing of God’s salvation is the coming New Jerusalem, which is given to all the saved ones for their enjoyment in eternity. All those who have the Lord’s eternal life and whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will participate in this blessing [Rev. 21:27]. All the saved ones will enjoy the blessings of eternal life in the New Jerusalem, and one of these blessings will be the water of life [v. 6; 22:1]… All the saved ones will eternally drink of this water of life and eternally enjoy God’s ever-living life. All the saved ones will enjoy the blessings of the New Jerusalem, including another blessing—the tree of life [v. 14]… In eternity future we will enjoy God’s ever-living life, causing us to never hunger or thirst. In this age we obtain eternal life as soon as we believe. After obtaining eternal life, we can enjoy it and live by it. If we live for the Lord today by the power of this eternal life, we will be overcomers. Then during the coming kingdom age, we will reign in life together with the Lord, we will enjoy the glory of life, and we will have a foretaste of the blessings of eternity. Finally, when eternity arrives, we, who have received eternal life through salvation, will enjoy the blessings of eternal life in the New Jerusalem for eternity. (CWWL, 1932-1949, vol. 3, “Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 1,” pp. 227-228) Second Peter 1:4 speaks of the “partakers of the divine nature.”…As those who have received equally precious faith, we, the believers in Christ, should be partakers of the divine nature. The divine nature refers to what God is, that is, the riches, the elements, and the constituents of God’s being (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; 4:8, 16). The divine nature, which mainly refers to the constitution of the divine life, the constitution of God, is constituted with Spirit, love, and light. The divine life and the divine nature are inseparable; the divine nature is the substance of the divine life and is within the divine life (1:1-2; 5:11-13). As the children of God, we are God-men, born of God, possessing the life and nature of God, and belonging to the species of God (3:1; John 1:12-13)…Because the divine nature is in the divine life, the divine life with which we were born again has the divine nature within it (3:3, 5-6, 15). Whoever believes into the Son of God is born of God and has the right to become a child of God; thus, a believer has the right to partake of, to enjoy, the nature of God (1:12-13). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3932-3933) Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 389
Day 4
Verses: John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of reality… 26 But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all the things which I have said to you. According to the revelation of the Bible, the indwelling Spirit in us has the following six main functions: First, the Spirit enters into us as the essential Spirit for our existence, being, life, and living. He is the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God, the life-giving Spirit whom Christ became in resurrection (1 Cor. 15:45). This Spirit enters into us who have believed in Christ (John 20:22) and lives in us to be the essence of the divine life, nature, and being within us. [Second], the Spirit enters into us as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). Life is the contents of the Divine Trinity. When the Spirit of life enters into us, He imparts the eternal life of God into us to be our life…[until] the Spirit of life fills our entire being, including our spirit, soul, and body, sanctifying us and conforming us to the image of the firstborn Son of God (v. 29) that we may become the many sons of God to be His corporate expression. (Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 4, pp. 56-57)
[Third], the Holy Spirit enters into us also as the seal within us (Eph. 1:13; 4:30; 2 Cor. 1:22)…That we, the believers, are sealed with the Holy Spirit means that we are marked with the Holy Spirit as a living seal, indicating that we belong to God, that is, that we are God’s inheritance (Eph. 1:11)… This sealing is spreading from our spirit to our mind, emotion, and will for the sanctification and transformation of our soul. Eventually, even our body will be thoroughly sealed, that is, saturated and transfigured; that will be the redemption of our body. [Fourth], the Holy Spirit is…also the pledge of the divine inheritance (v. 14; 2 Cor. 1:22b; 5:5b). In God’s economy we are an inheritance to God (Eph. 1:11), and God is an inheritance to us (v. 14). God and we are a mutual inheritance…As the seal, the Holy Spirit forms the divine elements into an impression in us for God’s expression; as the pledge, He gives us a foretaste as a sample and guarantee of the full taste of God. [Fifth], the Holy Spirit in us is also the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19). In John 14:17 the Lord Jesus clearly and definitely promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would indwell the disciples. Then on the night of His resurrection, He came into the midst of the disciples and breathed into them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (20:22)…The indwelling Spirit…comes into us not to visit but to settle down in us, to make His home in us, even to occupy our whole being, that He may reveal God and Christ to us and that we may receive and enjoy all the riches of God in Christ. [Sixth], the indwelling Spirit in us is also the reality of Christ. John 14:16- 20 reveals that the Comforter who was coming was the embodiment of Christ…The Spirit who indwells us is the Christ who died and was resurrected and who indwells us. [In verse 26] the Comforter is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in the name of the Son. To come in the name of the Son is to come as the Son. This proves that when the Spirit comes, it is the Son who comes, and that when the Spirit dwells in us, it is Christ the Son who dwells in us. The Spirit’s indwelling the believers is to reveal Christ, to glorify Christ, and to make Christ real in the believers [16:12-15]…All that God is and has is embodied in Christ (Col. 2:9; John 16:15), and all that Christ is and has is received by the Spirit and is revealed to the believers through the Spirit (vv. 14-15). Therefore, when the Spirit is in us, it is Christ who is in us. (Truth Lessons—Level One, vol. 4, pp. 57-59) Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 130; CWWL, 1978,
Day 5
Verses: Isa. 45:15 Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. If you study the Scriptures carefully, you will see that God has the kind of temperament that dislikes ostentation. He likes to work secretly rather than openly. He created the universe and then hid Himself in it, until we do not know where to find Him. He took up His abode in a man, but that man was almost unknowable. On first meeting Him, men just saw a man called Jesus of Nazareth. On meeting Him a second time, they recognized in Him a man of more than average intellect; and on the third time of meeting, they thought that He must be a prophet. When they met Him still later, they felt, “This man is surely more than a prophet.” But to discover exactly who He was, was no easy matter. Even His disciples, during their three and a half years in His company, did not arrive at a true knowledge of Him. All of this tells us that He was continually hiding Himself. He would manifest Himself for a moment and then would conceal Himself again. (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” pp. 6-7)
Note how Isaiah expresses this thought: “Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God of Israel” (Isa. 45:15). This statement of his is most emphatic…His utterance is based on an accumulation of facts…What he has seen of God’s doings, what he has observed happen to Israel under the hand of God, what he has beheld of the experiences of God’s people—all these observations have forced the prophet to acknowledge that God is a God who hides Himself. Why did Isaiah come to this conclusion?…It was because God did countless things in the midst of the children of Israel and countless things in their personal lives, yet He concealed Himself…Very much was being done by Him, yet the Israelites were utterly ignorant as to who the doer was. Then one day Isaiah exclaimed, “Surely You are a God who hides Himself, / O God.” (CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “A God Who Hides Himself,” p. 3) If we carefully examine the history of the universe, the history of mankind, the history of the Old Testament, and the history of the New Testament, we will arrive at the same conclusion: God is a God who hides Himself…There are many things and many stories in the universe, yet in six thousand years no one has seen God [John 1:18]…In the New Testament times, although the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, came to declare God, this declaration was also hidden. Although the only begotten Son came for the very purpose of declaring God, God was hidden inside a man, even an unbecoming man. This man’s visage and form were marred; He had no attracting form nor beautiful appearance (Isa. 53:2). This made it truly difficult for anyone to recognize that He was God. He grew up in the small town of Nazareth in an insignificant province of Galilee. The Jews recognized that no prophet or person of repute had ever come from Nazareth (John 1:46). Therefore, when Jesus the Nazarene appeared, very few thought that He could be a prophet, let alone that God was in Him. Yet God was hidden within Him. What a wondrous fact this is! (CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, p. 16) Because our God is a hiding God, others may check with us and ask, “Where is your God? Where is His kingdom?” When we are questioned in such a manner, we may want to answer in this way: “My God is hidden. I cannot see Him, and you cannot see Him either. But you need to realize that sooner or later my hidden God will come in to do something on my behalf and to deal with those who do not believe in Him.” Today we need to realize that the omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us. We cannot see Him, and apparently, He is not doing anything for us. Actually, He is with us all the time and, in a hidden way, He is doing many things for us. (Life-study of Esther, pp. 4-5) Further Reading: Life-study of Esther, msg. 1; CWWL, 1956, vol. 3, pp. 17, 24-35
Day 6
Verses: Luke 18:1-3 And He told them a parable to the end that they ought always to pray and not lose heart, saying, There was a certain judge in a certain city who did not fear God and did not regard man. And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, Avenge me of my opponent. The widow in Luke 18:3 signifies the believers. In a sense, the believers in Christ are a widow in the present age because their Husband, Christ (2 Cor. 11:2), is absent from them. In this parable the Lord indicated that the believers in Christ have an opponent. This opponent is Satan the devil, concerning whom we need God’s avenging. We ought to pray persistently for this avenging (see Rev. 6:9-10) and should not lose heart. According to Luke 18:4, the judge for a time would not avenge the widow of her opponent. Then he said within himself, “Even though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will avenge her, lest by continually coming she wear me out” (vv. 4-5). Following this, the Lord went on to say, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God by all means carry out the avenging of His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night, though He is long-suffering over them? I tell you that He will carry out their avenging quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (vv. 6-8). The Lord’s word in verse 8 indicates that God’s avenging us of our enemy will be at the Savior’s coming back. (Life- study of Luke, p. 337)
The Triune God is for man’s enjoyment. Nevertheless, the fallen human race has no concept of this whatever; it has no sense concerning it at all. The people of the world are busy with marrying and giving in marriage, with buying and selling, with planting and building (Luke 17:27-28). They have no thought concerning God being their enjoyment, for they all have been drugged, stupefied. Therefore, in His long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the Lord touched this matter a few times. For example, in chapter 14 He told His disciples that they must hate the things of this generation. They even need to hate their own soul-life, for they should hate anything that distracts them from the enjoyment of Christ. In chapter 17 the Lord came to this point again when He spoke about the stupefied generation, which keeps God’s people away from their enjoyment of the divine inheritance. Before He touched this matter again in chapter 18, He unveiled something else that concerns our enjoyment of the jubilee, and this is the persecution that comes from our opponent. We need to realize that as God’s people in this stupefied and stupefying generation, we are like a widow. In a sense, our Husband, the Lord, is absent. Furthermore, we have an opponent who is constantly persecuting us. The Lord’s word to His disciples reveals that while we are seeking Him, we need to hate any thing and any matter that frustrate us from our enjoyment of Him. Furthermore, as we are enjoying Him, we will suffer persecution. This persecution comes from our opponent, the one who is the enemy of God and who has become our enemy because we take sides with God. The parable in 18:1-8 indicates the suffering we have from our opponent during the Lord’s apparent absence. Actually, the Lord is not absent; He is present. But during His apparent absence, we are a widow whose opposer is troubling her all the time. It seems that our God is not righteous, for He allows His children to be unrighteously persecuted. For example, John the Baptist was beheaded, Peter was martyred, Paul was imprisoned, and John was exiled…Even today we are still undergoing unrighteous mistreatment. When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an unrighteous judge. Although He appears to be unrighteous, we still must appeal to Him, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 338-339, 341) Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 40