Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2)
Message Three
God’s Power and God’s Wisdom
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Cor. 1:23-24 But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Word of Appetizer
Why the Christ who is the power of God and the wisdom of God for the carrying out of God’s economy is the crucified Christ?
In the cross of Christ we see God’s power. It takes the power of God to defeat Satan, the world, sin, fallen man, the flesh, the natural life, the old creation, and the ordinances. It is the power of crucifixion, the power of the wonderful death of Christ.
This crucified Christ is also God’s wisdom. In order to accomplish anything, we need both power and wisdom. …Wisdom is for planning and purposing, whereas power is for carrying out and accomplishing what is planned and purposed.
Spiritual Burden
As those who are called by God, we need to know and experience Christ’s power and wisdom. To those who believe in Christ and call upon His name, He is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Christ crucified is the power of God for saving us and the wisdom of God for fulfilling His plan and the wisdom of God for fulfilling His plan. Christ as the power of God strengthens us with a dynamic power, supplying and sustaining us in what we are and what we do. Christ as the wisdom of God flows unceasingly from God to us to be our present and practical wisdom in our experience.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Before mentioning Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God in 1 Corinthians 1:24 Paul, in verse 23, declares, “We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness”.
As those who are called by God, we need to know and experience Christ’s power and wisdom.
“Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption”.
The Experience of Life
When we experience the crucified Christ, He becomes to us not only the power of God but also the wisdom of God. When we experience the crucified Christ, we are terminated. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, as we are experiencing and enjoying Him, His crucifixion will terminate us.
Christ as the wisdom of God flows unceasingly from God to us to be our present and practical wisdom in our experience. For Christ to become wisdom to us from God indicates that there is the transmission of Christ as wisdom from God to us for our daily experience.
Practice and Application
When we exercise our spirit to contact Him, we become righteous. The more we contact Him and enjoy Him, the more righteous we become in Him.
By calling on the name of the Lord continually, we gain Christ as our holiness in a subjective way and experience Him as our daily and hourly sanctification.
Every day Christ, the power and wisdom of God, is being transmitted from God the Giver to us the enjoyers. We must learn to remain in this transmission all the time. Our enjoyment of this continual transmission is the way to enjoy Christ.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The crucified Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God(1 Cor. 1:23-24)
(Please illustrate that in 1 Corinthians Paul does not emphasize Christ’s resurrection. Rather, he emphasizes the preaching of Christ crucified.)
T2 God cannot save us apart from the crucifixion of Christ (1 Cor. 1:23-24)
(Why is it that God cannot save us apart from the crucifixion of Christ?)
Day 2
T1 The power of crucifixion is the power of the wonderful death of Christ (1 Cor. 1:23-24; Rom. 6:6)
(Why do we see the God’s power in the cross of Christ?)
T2 The crucified Christ is also the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23-24; Gal. 2:20)
(Please illustrate with experiences that the crucified Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God can be applied to the problem we face with our temper.)
Day 3
T1 When we experience the crucified Christ, He becomes to us both the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23-24; Eph. 1:9)
(Please illustrate simply by experiencing the crucified Christ, we spontaneously have a way to do God’s will.)
T2 When we experience the crucified Christ, we are terminated (1 Cor. 1:23-24; Gal. 2:20)
(Please illustrate with experiences that crucifixion is the way for us to be delivered from the flesh, the natural life, and the old creation.)
Day 4
T1 God’s way is His wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30; John 14:6)
(Please illustrate that wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1:30 is equal to the way in John 14:6.)
T2 Christ Jesus became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
(Please illustrate that Christ became wisdom to us from God as three vital things in God’s salvation.)
Day 5
T1 Christ, therefore, is not merely to be righteousness for our past so that we may be justified by God (1 Cor. 1:30)
(Please illustrate that He should also be our present righteousness in our daily living.)
T2 Justification is God’s action in approving us according to the standard of His righteousness (Rom. 3:26; Phil. 3:9)
(Please illustrate that as believers, we need not only to receive Christ as our righteousness but also to live Him as righteousness subjectively.)
Day 6
T1 Christ as redemption takes care of our future (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21)
(Please illustrate one day our body will be transfigured into the same body of glory possessed by Christ.)
T2 Redemption includes three matters: being brought back to God, terminated, and replaced (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21)
(Please illustrate that with regard to everything in our daily life, we need to be brought back to God, terminated, and replaced with Christ.)
