Outline of the Messages
for the Memorial Day Conference
May 28-31, 2010
general subject:
living a life for the fulfillment of God¡¯s eternal purpose
Message One
Knowing the Central Thought of God,
Cooperating with the Central Work of God,
and Living in the Divine Romance
Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:16, 18; Eph. 5:32;
3:16-17a; Gal. 4:19; S. S. 1:2-4
I. If
we would live a life for the fulfillment of God¡¯s eternal purpose, we need to
know the central thought of God¡ªGen. 2:9-12, 18, 21-23; Rev. 21:2:
A. The
central thought of God is to have Christ as His expression through the
church¡ªCol. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:21:
1. The
central thought of God is that Christ must have the church as His Body, His
bride, His increase, and His counterpart to express Christ in a corporate way;
in all the Scriptures nothing is more central, vital, or important than
this¡ªMatt. 16:16, 18; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:32.
2. God¡¯s
central thought is to make Christ everything to us so that we, the Body of
Christ, can be the corporate expression of God in Christ¡ªCol. 3:11:
a. God¡¯s
intention is to have Christ wrought into His chosen and redeemed people to be
life to them and to have them as a corporate expression so that God may be
expressed in Christ through them¡ªEph. 3:16-21.
b. God
desires to have a group of people mingled with Christ, transformed into the
image of Christ, and built up together in Christ as a corporate Body to contain
and express Christ¡ªRom. 8:16; 12:1-2, 4-5.
3. Christ
as the expression of God and the church as the Body of Christ constitute the
central thought of God; this is the greatest mystery in the universe, and if we
do not understand this mystery, we do not know the meaning of the universe and
of our human life¡ªEph. 5:32; Rev. 4:11.
B. The
central thought of the divine mind is that we, as living vessels to contain
God, should receive God in Christ as our life and life supply; that we need to
be transformed into gold, pearl, and precious stones; and that we must be built
up together as a living Body, a living counterpart to match Christ¡ªGen. 2:9-12,
18, 21-23; Rev. 21:2, 9-12, 18-21; 22:17.
II. If
we would live a life for the fulfillment of God¡¯s eternal purpose, we need to
cooperate with the central work of God¡ªRom. 12:1-2; Gal. 4:19:
A. The
governing vision of the Bible is the Triune God working Himself into His chosen
and redeemed people as life in order to saturate and permeate their entire
being with the Divine Trinity¡ª2 Cor. 13:14; Rom. 8:10, 6, 11; Eph. 3:19.
B. God¡¯s
New Testament economy is for the processed and consummated Triune God to be wrought
into us to become our life, our being, and our person so that we may be His
corporate expression¡ªvv. 16-17a; 1:22-23:
1. God¡¯s
eternal purpose is to work Himself into us as our life and our everything so
that we may take Him as our person, live Him, and express Him¡ªv. 9; 3:11; Gal.
1:15-16; 2:20; 4:19; Phil. 1:20-21a.
2. God¡¯s
intention is to have Christ thoroughly worked into our being; however, in our
spiritual seeking we may have no concern for this, caring instead for our own
intention¡ªGal. 4:19; Phil. 2:21.
C. God¡¯s
New Testament economy is focused on His central work, His unique work¡ªJohn
5:17; 4:34; Phil. 2:13; 1 Cor. 15:58; Eph. 3:16-17a:
1. God¡¯s
central work, His unique work in the universe, is to work Himself in Christ
into His chosen and redeemed people, making Himself one with them¡ªGal. 4:19;
Eph. 3:17a.
2. God¡¯s purpose is to work Himself into us, making
Himself in His Divine Trinity our inward elements; this purpose is the
center of the universe, and apart from this purpose the Christian life is
meaningless¡ªRev. 4:11.
3. We
need to live a life of consecration for the central work of God and become
a person who cooperates with God in His central work; such a person is
poor in spirit, pure in heart, and willing to be filled with the Triune God as
his content¡ªRom. 12:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:7; Matt. 5:3, 8; Eph. 3:16-19.
III. If
we would live a life for the fulfillment of God¡¯s eternal purpose, we need to
live in the divine romance¡ªS. S. 1:2-4:
A. The
Bible is a romance, in the most pure and the most holy sense, of a universal couple¡ªGod
in Christ as the Bridegroom and God¡¯s redeemed people as the bride¡ªJohn 3:29;
Matt. 25:6; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10; 22:17.
B. Song
of Songs is a marvelous and vivid portrait, in poetic form, of the bridal love
between Christ as the Bridegroom and His lovers as His bride; the subject of
Song of Songs is the history of love in an excellent marriage, revealing the
progressive experience of an individual believer¡¯s loving fellowship with
Christ: the attracting and pursuing stage (1:2-4), the stage of experiencing
the cross (2:14), the stage of living in the heavenlies to become God¡¯s new
creation in resurrection (4:8), and the stage of becoming the sanctuary, the
Holy of Holies (6:4).
C. Only
love can keep us in a proper relationship with the Lord¡ªMark 12:30:
1. Whatever
one loves, his whole heart, even his whole being, is set on and occupied and
possessed by¡ª1 Tim. 6:10; 2 Tim. 3:2-4; 4:8, 10a.
2. We
should love the Lord for His interests and according to His way, taste,
intention, and goal¡ªMatt. 16:18; Eph. 4:16; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 10-11; 22:17.
3. It
is the love in God that gives Him the yearning to unite, mingle, and
incorporate with us, and it is the same love in us that gives us the yearning
to unite, mingle, and incorporate with Him¡ª1 John 4:8, 16; John 14:20, 23.
4. We
love the Lord because He first loved us, infusing and dispensing His loving
essence into us and generating within us the love with which we love
Him¡ª1 John 4:19; Rom. 5:5; 8:35, 39; 15:30.
5. In
order to maintain and develop our first love toward the Lord, we need to live
before Him as vessels open to Him, loving Him, receiving Him, enjoying Him,
being filled with Him, and letting Him be everything to us and do everything
in us, through us, and with us for the fulfillment of God¡¯s eternal
purpose¡ªRev. 2:4; 2 Cor. 4:7; Rom. 9:21, 23; Eph. 1:9; 3:9-11.