PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship
Volume 8 Issue 1
January 2003
In Philippians, a book on the experience of Christ, Paul said that whatever circumstances he was in, whether through life or through death, Christ would be magnified in his body (1:20). What Paul meant is that in his body Christ's thoughts of wisdom, rich emotions, and steadfast will, as well as Christ's love, light, holiness, and righteousness would be magnified. Regardless of the degree of persecution and regardless of the circumstance, what Paul and the other apostles lived and manifested were thoughts of wisdom, rich emotions, and steadfast will, as well as love, light, holiness, and righteousness. This is the meaning of Christ being magnified in Paul's body.
LIVING CHRIST IN OUR HUMAN VIRTUES
Moreover, in Philippians 1:21 Paul said that to him, to live was Christ. If a person is confused in his mind, muddled in his emotions, and indecisive in his will, he does not have the expression of love, light, holiness, and righteousness, and neither can he live Christ. Furthermore, in 4:8 Paul said, "Brothers, what things are true, what things are dignified, what things are righteous, what things are pure, what things are lovely, what things are well spoken of, if there is any virtue and if any praise, take account of these things." To be true means not to be hypocritical and not to lie. To be dignified means to be worthy of respect and to invite reverence. To be righteous is to be right before God and man. To be pure is to be single in intention and action, without any mixture. To be lovely means to be lovable, agreeable. To be well spoken of means to be of good repute and to be attractive. In addition, there are virtues of excellence and things worthy of praise. These eight items are far superior to the principles of propriety, justice, honesty, and sense of shame taught by the Chinese philosophers. When I was young, I felt it was rather strange that Paul spoke about living Christ in chapters one, two, and three, and then in chapter four, instead of speaking about living Christ, he spoke about living out these virtues.
In 4:9 Paul went on to say, "The things which you have also learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things." These things refer to the eight items that were previously mentioned. Paul seemed to be saying, "I have lived out these virtues, and you also have to practice these virtues which you have seen in me. In this way the God of peace will be with you. If you live out these virtues, you will enjoy the God of peace."
Witness Lee, The Subjective Experience of the Indwelling Christ, pp. 53-62.
APPLICATION
1. Can you make clear the way in which man shows evidence of the fact that he is created in God's image?
2. Why have some philosophers declared that man is innately good while others insist that he is innately evil?
3. Explain what Paul meant when he stated that his expectation and hope were that Christ would be magnified in his body.
