Christ is the hope of glory, my very life is He

When we study the Gospel of Mark, we are actually studying our own biography. This means that the biography of Jesus is also our biography. In the words of a hymn, "He is my history," and "His life is my experience" (Hymns, #949). Therefore, the biography narrated in Mark is not only a biography of the individual Jesus but also a biography of the believers.

In particular, the Gospel of Mark is a biography of Peter, our representative. Peter is present in the first chapter of Mark, and his name is specifically mentioned in the last chapter: "Go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee" (16:7). Furthermore, the cases in this book are a composite portrait of us as represented by Peter. For example, on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter said, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tents, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah" (9:5). Because Peter is our representative, his speaking here is also our speaking. Likewise, when Peter denied the Lord three times, that was also our threefold denial of the Lord. The angel's word concerning Peter in 16:7 is also a word concerning us. As we read this verse, it is correct to insert our name in the place of Peter's name, since we are represented by him.

From the time Peter was called by the Lord Jesus in 1:16 and 17, he was captured by Him and was always with Him. Along with James and John, he was with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. This indicates that wherever the Lord Jesus went, Peter went with Him, for the Lord brought Peter with Him.

Do you believe that when the Lord Jesus was crucified, He left Peter and the other disciples? No, when the Lord Jesus was crucified and buried, Peter, the representative of us all, was crucified with Him. Moreover, the Lord Jesus was not resurrected alone. According to God's point of view, which is beyond the elements of space and time, we all were included in Christ's resurrection.

Job's view, being altogether objective, was not complete. It was not like Paul's view, which was altogether subjective. Paul's view is expressed in the following stanzas from Hymns, #949:

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The New Testament tells us that today Christ lives in us. Not only so, He is also making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). He is gradually getting Himself settled in our entire inner being. This is the subjective living of Christ in us. Job, according to his objective view, declared, "My Redeemer lives." We, according to the subjective view in the New Testament, should shout, "Our Redeemer lives in us. He is making His home in us, and He is transforming our soul. One day He will touch our body of dust."

God's economy is to dispense Himself into our spirit as His abode and to take His residence in our spirit as a base to spread Himself through our whole being. Our spirit is His home, His dwelling place, His habitation, the very place from which He spreads Himself through our whole being. By spreading Himself through us, He saturates every part of our being with Himself. First, He thoroughly mingles Himself with our spirit, then, with the soul, and lastly, with the body. He comes into our spirit to start the mingling by regenerating our spirit. Regeneration is the mingling of God Himself with our spirit. After regeneration, if we cooperate with Him, offering ourselves to Him and giving Him the opportunity, He will spread Himself from our spirit into our soul to renew all the parts of our soul. This is His transforming work. Through transformation the very essence of the Triune God is mingled with our soul, our very self. When our soul is transformed into the image of the Lord, our thoughts, our desires, and our decisions will always express the Lord.

God's first step, therefore, is to regenerate our spirit; His second step is to transform our soul; and finally, the last step is to transfigure, or change, our body at the second coming of the Lord. The Lord will then permeate our body and His glory will saturate our whole being. This transfiguration is the ultimate consummation of His mingling with our being to the uttermost. At that time God's economy of dispensing Himself into us will be fully accomplished. Remember these three steps by which God mingles Himself with us in every way. This hymn expresses the final consummation.