Be a Man!

Today's portion of the morning revival is very enjoyable and I was nourished richly. It was on the meal offering Christian life and church life. The light I received through the ministry was so enlightening. I could see myself clearly and my need for a proper humanity, the humanity of Jesus by partaking of His life day by day. All that is required for the building up of the church and also for the overcoming normal Christian life is in this meal offering. The ingredients of the meal offering comprise fine flour, oil, frankincense, and no honey and leaven. The spiritual significances of these items are marvelous. It all points to the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ including His death and resurrection and His denial of the natural man through the cross.

Meal Offering Christian Life 
Excerpt from HWMR Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life, msg 2, II

The meal offering typifies our Christian life as a duplication of Christ’s God-man living—Lev. 2:4; Psa. 92:10; 1 Pet. 2:21; Rom. 8:2-3, 11, 13

We need to enjoy Christ as our meal offering day by day for our priestly diet so that He can live again on the earth through us in His divinely enriched humanity; if we eat Christ as the meal offering, we will become what we eat and live by what we eat—Lev. 2:3; John 6:57, 63; cf. Psa. 92:10; 1 Cor. 10:17; Phil. 1:19-21a. 

By exercising our spirit to touch the Spirit consolidated in the Word, we eat the human life and living of Jesus, we are constituted with Jesus, and the human living of Jesus becomes our human living (Eph. 6:17-18; Jer. 15:16; Gal. 6:17) with the following characteristics of His divinely enriched humanity:

1. The humanity of Jesus fulfills all righteousness— Matt. 3:13-15.

2. The humanity of Jesus has no resting place— 8:20.

3. The humanity of Jesus is lowly in heart—11:29.

4. The humanity of Jesus loves the weak ones— 12:19-20.

5. The humanity of Jesus is flexible—17:27.

6. The humanity of Jesus serves others—Mark 10:45; see footnote 1 on 1:10.

7. The humanity of Jesus cherishes people—Luke 4:16-22; 7:34; 19:1-10.

8. The humanity of Jesus is orderly, not sloppy— Mark 6:39-40; John 6:12.

9. The humanity of Jesus is limited by time—7:6.

10. The humanity of Jesus is unique—v. 46.

11. The humanity of Jesus knows when to weep— 11:33, 35.

12. The humanity of Jesus is humble—13:4-5.

It is only in the humanity of Jesus that one can live a meal offering Christian life for the church life. The following excerpts further enlighten me on the humanity of Jesus.

A LIFE WITH THE HIGHEST HUMANITY

Excerpt from The Life-study of Leviticus, msg 16.

“Watch, stand firm in the faith, be full-grown men, be strong.” 

(1 Corinthians 16:13, RecVer)

In order for our Christian life to be a meal offering, it must be a life with the highest humanity. This is the reason Paul charged the Corinthians, saying, “Be a man” (1 Cor. 16:13). According to the context of 1 Corinthians, to be a man means that we should have a high, uplifted humanity.

If we have such a humanity, we will exercise self-control. This is indicated by Paul’s word in 9:26 and 27. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so I box, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and lead it as a slave.” These verses reveal that Paul had a high humanity and that he had a strong, excellent character. He did not run uncertainly or beat the air but exercised control over himself. He was a real man with a high standard of morality in his human living.

In 16:13 Paul does not say, “Be a hero”; he says, “Be a man.” From every angle and from every side, we should be a man. From the angle of ethics, we should be a man. From the angle of self-control, we should be a man. From the angles of wisdom and love, we should be a man. This is to have an uplifted humanity. In the book of 1 Corinthians, we can see the genuine fine flour. This book surely presents the meal-offering church life.

In the meal-offering church life, the first item is a fine, uplifted humanity. If we would have the proper church life, we all need to have a strong character. This strong character, however, should be balanced, for an unbalanced humanity is a biased humanity. Therefore, we should be strong and also soft. If in the church life we are strong without also being soft, we will offend others. Although we need to be soft as well as strong, we should not be too soft. Those who are too soft are like noodles. There is a proverb which says that we can lift up bamboo but we cannot lift up a noodle. We cannot have a proper church life if the saints are either too strong or too soft. We need to be balanced. For the church life, we need to be a man with a fine, balanced, uplifted humanity.

By enjoying the meal offering day by day, the uplifted high standard humanity of Jesus will become my humanity to live out my Christian life for the church life. I then can be a man, a full-grown man!