We Have Received the Necessity of a New Living (3)


	We Have Received the Necessity of a New Living (3) A New Living for the Body of Christ We have seen that when we were born again we received the necessity of a new living. This new living has two aspects. The first aspect, which we have covered, is the enjoyment of Christ. The second aspect of this new living is that it is for the Body of Christ and the practical church life. These two aspects of the new living are closely related. We can only have the enjoyment of Christ in the Body of Christ, and our enjoyment makes us a blessing to the Body. All of our enjoyment of Christ is actually for the Body of Christ. Then this new living for the Body of Christ is practically experienced in the local church life. Our operation in the local church life should issue out from our enjoyment of Christ. When we were born again, we were born into the Body of Christ. The life in us that we received by being born again demands a corporate living. That means we can no longer be individualists. In America we have been raised in a culture that tells us to "be yourself." We are told from childhood to "do whatever you like" so that we can find self-fulfillment. But now we are no longer just by ourselves. We have received the necessity of a new living. We were born into the Body of Christ. Formerly our life was for ourselves. Whatever we considered to be right or whatever we wanted to do, we would just do it. But now, after being born again, everything is different. Now we have been born into the Body of Christ to live the "Body-life." The "Body-life" is practically experienced in our local church. The "Body-life" can be demonstrated by looking at our own physical body. When we look at our body, we realize that God is truly wise. Only God could put things together in such a wonderful way. We are fitly framed together in every detail. Every part of our body is fully coordinated. Every member has its particular function, yet all the members function together as one body. This is even more true of the Body of Christ. When we were born again, we became members of the Body of Christ. We have received the necessity of a new living. We can no longer be by ourselves. We can no longer remain isolated individuals. Our new living is a corporate living, in which we function in harmony with all the other members of the Body of Christ. The Lord's Three Commissions for Us in the Body of Christ Now that we are in the Body of Christ, we should realize that the Lord requires something from us. The result of our being born again does involve some responsibility. Now that we are in the Body of Christ, we should not focus only on ourselves. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ has three commissions for us. But these three commissions are not heavy requirements for us. Rather, they issue out of our enjoyment of all the riches of Christ that we have covered previously. 1. Loving One Another First, the Lord has told us to love one another. "This is My commandment, that you love one another even as I have loved you" (John 15:12). As Christ loved us, we also should love one another. The love among many Christians can be very degraded. Their love is just a matter of exchanging favors. "I do something for you, and you do something for me. Therefore we love each other." That is very degraded love. The love we should have is the love of imparting life into each other, even as Christ loved us. How did Christ love us? Christ loved us by dying for us and then imparting His life into us. We have to love one another in the Body of Christ, even to the point that we would forsake our lives. We should learn to lay down our lives for the sake of our brothers and sisters by being absolutely poured out upon them. We should also learn how to impart the divine life into the saints. This is the true meaning of "love one another," the first commission the Lord has given us. 2. Keeping the Oneness Secondly, the Lord commissioned us to keep the oneness. The Lord prayed to the Father, "That they may be one even as We are" (John 17:11b). He further prayed, "That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me" (John 17:21). This commission of keeping the oneness is closely related to the first commission of loving one another. If we love one another as Christ has loved us, then in such a love we will be able to keep this oneness. Today the Body of Christ is divided. Why is the Body divided? Because there is a shortage of this kind of love. Christians instead often love their doctrines and practices. They would say, "I love the doctrines I believe, and you love the doctrines you believe. I love the practices I have, and you love the practices you have." They don't realize that the life we received when we were born again causes our being to be poured out upon our brothers and sisters. When we were born again, it was into the Body of Christ. So what should we do? We should learn to be before the Lord and enjoy His life and grace. Then we should love one another. We should impart life to one another and pour ourselves out upon one another. In such a love, we must endeavor to keep the oneness. We should not fight for practices. We should not argue about doctrines. These are not important. What we need is to be one. Among us there should be such a treasure: that we love each other and we are one. We shouldn't care about anything else. We should only care for the love of one another and for the oneness of the Body of Christ. 3. Feeding and Shepherding The third and final commission from Christ is found in John 21:15-17. That commission is to "feed My lambs" (v. 15), "shepherd My sheep" (v. 16), and "feed My sheep" (v. 17). From the moment we are born again, we should learn how to feed and shepherd someone. No one is too young in the Christian life to learn this. Don't say, "I just got saved. How can I care for anyone else? I'm the one who needs feeding and shepherding." If we are young in the Lord, at least we can take care of another young lamb. One lamb can take care of another lamb. Surely there are some lambs in the Body life for us to care for. Often this is our problem. We think the problem is ourselves, but the real problem is that we don't have a lamb to care for. We need to say, "Lord, I'm so thankful that I can enjoy You as life. Now the life within me demands a new living. I realize you have brought me into the Body of Christ and given me three commissions. Lord, I want to be faithful to your commissions." What are these three commissions? First, love one another and give ourselves to one another. Second, keep the oneness. Only care for oneness and not for doctrines and practices. And thirdly, we all have to feed and shepherd someone. We have to learn how to feed and shepherd others. Conclusion We were born again into the Body of Christ. We should no longer be by ourselves. We should no longer care just for ourselves. We should care for the new ones and care for the young ones. We should love one another, keep the oneness, and feed and shepherd the lambs and the sheep. These are the three commissions in the Gospel of John. May the Lord be merciful to us. Let us all pray, "Thank You, Lord, that we are born again. Now we want to enjoy and carry out Your commissions. By enjoying You as life and grace, we want to live the Body life. We are not here for ourselves. We are here for Your interests. Strengthen us to carry out these commissions. We give ourselves to You, that we would love one another, keep the oneness, and feed the lambs. Thank You, Lord Jesus!" To purchase the book Born Again