O how deep and how far-reaching

We can choose three hymns from our hymnal to illustrate what we mean by the standard of the hymns—#70, #154, and #152. These hymns are concerning our love for the Lord and His love for us. The standard of hymn #70—"Oh, how I love Jesus"—is very low in life, truth, experience, and revelation. Hymn #154—"It passeth knowledge, that dear love of Thine"—is of a much higher standard. The first verse of this hymn says:

It passeth knowledge, that dear love of Thine,
My Savior, Jesus; yet this soul of mine
Would of Thy love in all its breadth and length,
Its height and depth, its everlasting strength,
Know more and more.

In one of our meetings, a brother without a high level of education called Hymns, #152; this surprised me greatly, because this hymn speaks of the Lord's love on a high level. It not only speaks of how the Lord was crucified for our redemption, but concerning His love it says, "It has caused Thee death to suffer / And to me Thyself impart" (stanza 1). This is on a high level. Singing these kinds of hymns and being on this kind of level spontaneously affect our living. I have seen that some of the elderly brothers and sisters are very much influenced and uplifted in their living. These are examples related to leading the church. When there is the proper leading, the church will spontaneously advance. The evaluation that I am giving should also be a leading to us. With this kind of leading, we will know how to advance.

Eternal Father. The Father (63:16; 64:8; Deut. 32:6; 1 Chron. 29:10). I wrote a letter to Brother Kwang-Hsi Weigh, which says, " Isaiah 9:6, 1 Corinthians 15:45, 2 Corinthians 3:17, etc., clearly prove that my view concerning the Trinity is not different from the Scriptures. Concerning the New Jerusalem, the proof is in the revelation of the entire Bible. The revelation in the Bible shows even more that my words are irrefutable. What is wrong with my stating, based on Isaiah 9:6, that the Lord is the Son and also the Father? Regarding the phrase the Lord becomes me, the Bible says clearly that the Lord became flesh, and the flesh is us (John 1:14). [Editor's note: "I become the Lord and the Lord becomes me" is a literal translation of line 6, stanza 4 of Hymns, #152, "I am Thine and Thou art mine."] Concerning the phrase I become the Lord, there is solid proof of such a truth in the following verses: Philippians 1:21 says, 'To me, to live is Christ'; in Ephesians 5:31-32 we are said to be 'one flesh' with the Lord; 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, 'He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit'; then in 1 Corinthians 12:12, concerning us—'the body, 'is the Christ.' John 6 says that the Lord is our food and that we can eat the Lord (vv. 35, 57). When food is taken into us, it becomes one flesh with us. I fully realize that such an expression is somewhat difficult for students of theology." (Bible 4)

Concerning Thou Become Me, and I Become Thee in Stanza 4 of Hymn #130 in Chinese

In His way of redemption God's desire is that His Son would become us and that we would become His sons in Him. The Bible clearly says that the Lord became flesh (John 1:14). We are flesh. The apostle Paul says, "To me, to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21). When Paul first met the Lord, the Lord asked him, "Why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:4). At that time Saul was persecuting the Lord's disciples (v. 1), but the Lord said that Saul was persecuting Him. This is because the disciples and the Lord were one. In the Lord's eyes they were the same as the Lord Himself. The criticizing ones say that it is correct to speak of God becoming a man but that it is wrong to say that "God becomes me." They further assert, "Although Paul said, 'To me, to live is Christ, ' he would not dare say, 'I am Christ. '" I wish to ask: Is not God becoming a man the same as God becoming me or us? Am I not a man? Are we not men? Does "To me, to live is Christ" not mean that I become Christ? If the disciples whom Saul persecuted had not become the Lord, how could the Lord say to him, "Why are you persecuting Me?"

The criticizers say that a dangerous deduction can be made from the phrase "Thou become me, and I become Thee" in hymn #130 in Chinese. Certainly it is always dangerous to make unreasonable deductions from words taken out of context. When we say, "I become Thee," we are not saying that we are Christ in the sense of His Godhead and sovereign Lordship. The criticizers are interpreting these words without regard to context. If we interpret in this way, then the first stanza of hymn #366 in Chinese (Hymns, #477 in English), which says, "The Cross on Golgotha, / Will never save thy soul," could also be considered as "dangerous." According to their plain meaning, the Cross on Golgotha is the cross of the Lord, and it is wrong to say that the cross cannot save us. However, according to the context, the writer is saying that the Lord's cross must become our subjective experience; otherwise, we will not know the subjective experience of salvation. Furthermore, the first stanza of hymn #26 in Chinese (Hymns, #38 in English) says, "E'en heav'n itself no richer knows / Than Jesus and His blood." If one interprets this line without any regard to its context, this line is also wrong, because God is greater than the blood in heaven. However, we know that the writer's intention was to describe the importance of the Lord's blood. If we interpret words without regard to context simply in order to find fault, we will lose the blessing. We should use our best efforts to understand the poetic meaning of the words in order to gain benefit from them.

After the overcomer conference in Hangchow in the autumn of 1934, the attendants of the conference went to Shanghai for a short stay. One day everyone went to Chao Feng Garden in Shanghai to pray. After praying, a few of us sat down with Brother Nee for fellowship. Someone suddenly asked Brother Nee, "The chorus in hymn #362 in Chinese says, 'Always walk on the narrow way of the cross, / Where my Savior died for me. ' This is not quite correct, because the Lord died on Mount Calvary, not on the narrow way of the cross." Brother Nee looked at him but did not say anything. When I heard the way he asked the question, I thought, "This person is interpreting the words according to their literal meaning but without any regard to context. Dying on Mount Calvary is the same as dying on the narrow way of the cross. Mount Calvary is included in the narrow way of the cross. The way that he strictly interprets the meaning of the words could become a problem in the future." Little did I know that what I felt that day would become a reality!

...Paul clearly says in Galatians 2:20, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." In Philippians 1:21 he also says, "To me, to live is Christ." On the other hand, the Lord says in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches." The branches of a vine are part of the vine. Likewise, we as branches are part of the Lord as the vine. This is the meaning of "Thou become me, I become Thee."

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 12:12 says, "As the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ." Here we see that Christ is the Body. Hence, in Thou become me, I become Thee, the I may not refer only to an individual. In writing poetry I can also mean we. On the other hand, it is sometimes necessary to eliminate certain words, because poetry is limited by word usage. Nevertheless, we should all understand that we are the Body of Christ and that as the Body, we are Christ and Christ is we.

Finally, since Christ is all, Christ must be the real me. Let me ask you, "Is Christ you?" You must say, "Yes, Christ is me because Christ is all, and I am included in all!" I am not something negative. As a human being, I am something positive, so Christ is surely the real me. Thank and praise the Lord that Christ is the real us! In Him we see God, and in Him we also see ourselves! Do you have the boldness to say that Christ is the real you? The last two lines of stanza 4 of Hymn #130 in the Chinese hymnal say, "Thou became me, and I became Thee: / 'Tis Thy love to the uttermost!" Since the first part of that line says, "Thou became me," it naturally follows that the second part should say, "I became Thee." Some have opposed this, saying, "To say that Christ became us may be all right because Christ became flesh. However, if we say that we have become Christ, that means that we have become God. Is this not blasphemy?" I do not know what kind of mind those opposing people have. Would it not be ridiculous for someone to say that four plus four equals eight but that eight does not equal four plus four? The Bible says that we are members of the Body of Christ. Suppose I said, "This arm is a member of this brother, but it is not this brother himself. Therefore, when I hit this member, I am not hitting this brother himself." This kind of logic does not make any sense. We have all become members of Christ, so how can we not be Christ? Not only so, 1 Corinthians 12 says explicitly that the Body is Christ: "For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ" (v. 12). The Christ here is the Body. Therefore, to say "Thou became me, and I became Thee" is not heresy. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus said that He is the vine and that we are the branches (John 15:5). The branches are included in the vine. We may even say that the branches are the vine.

This is the wonder of wonders and the mystery of mysteries—that Christ is all. If we all would know Christ to such an extent, how noble we would be! Christ is me, and I am Christ! He is Christ in me. Is God in the Bible? Then who is God? God is Christ. Is Jehovah in the Scriptures? Then who is Jehovah? Jehovah is Christ. Is the Father in the Bible? Then who is the Father? The Father is Christ (Isa. 9:6). Is the Son in the Scriptures? Then who is the Son? The Son is Christ! Is the Spirit in the Bible? Then who is the Spirit? The Spirit is Christ (1 Cor. 15:45b). Is man in the Scriptures? Then who is the real man? The real man is Christ. Are you in the Bible? Then who is the real you? The real you is Christ! Hallelujah! Christ is all. Christ is not only all in the new man but also all in the whole universe.

This hymn says that the Lord's love has blended us with Him and made us one with Him. This is the highest plane of love. The real blessing in God's New Testament economy is that Christ has made Himself one with us and has made us one with Him. First Timothy 3:16 speaks of the great mystery of godliness, which is the manifestation of God in the flesh. We are the flesh, yet God made us, the flesh, His expression. The church is the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ is the fullness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22b-23). This fullness is Christ's expression. What a wonder it is that God made us men of flesh His expression!