We must pay careful attention to an expression such as “the processed Triune God” to correctly understand what it means. This matter is in the depths of the divine revelation, based on the Word of God and not on philosophy, religious mysticism, nor a self-invented understanding. The Bible clearly reveals that there is one God who is immutable in His essence and attributes; He does not change (Isa. 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4). He is eternally the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. All Three are God (1 Pet. 1:2; Heb. 1:8; Acts 5:3-4), eternal (Isa. 9:6; Heb. 1:12; 9:14), and coexist, meaning They exist simultaneously (Matt. 3:16-17; John 14:16-17). All Three coinhere, meaning They dwell in one another (John 14:11, 17, 20; 17:21). This eternal, coexisting, coinhering Triune God is, always has been, and always will be, perfect. His perfection in His eternal Godhead is not subject to change.
The New Testament, however, clearly reveals that God became a man (John 1:14). In this man, the Lord Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead dwells (Col. 2:9). Consider the steps through which He passed. God was conceived by the Spirit within the womb of a human virgin (Matt. 1:18). Then He was born, and as an infant He was worshipped by the magi (2:11). That little infant was God. Isaiah 9:6 says, “A child is born to us,...called...Mighty God.” This wonderful God-man lived a human life, died an all-inclusive death, was resurrected, and ascended. Now the God-man Jesus Christ, with His humanity brought into divinity by resurrection, is on the throne in this universe (Heb. 1:8). Furthermore, for God’s economy, Christ as the last Adam, who is God in the flesh, in resurrection became the life-giving Spirit to impart life, which is God Himself, into us (1 Cor. 15:45b).
In His essence and Godhead, God is eternally without change; yet, in His economy, God in Christ has passed through a process to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to get into us.
Here, then, is a profound revelation in two aspects: in His essence and Godhead, God is eternally without change; yet, in His economy, God in Christ has passed through a process to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit to get into us. God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). How can we approach such a God? How can such a God approach us? Yet, when He became a man, He became the light of the world (John 8:12). Now as the Spirit, He lives in us (Rom. 8:9), and we are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). In His Godhead, God dwells in unapproachable light. In His economy, God has become the indwelling light of life in us (John 8:12) to make us a city of light situated upon a mountain (Matt. 5:14).
As we reckon with the totality of the divine revelation and attempt to describe what the Bible reveals, we use words such as processed. In Himself, God is immutable, but in Christ, God has passed through a process to become the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, we say that God, who is perfect and immutable in His Godhead, has become the completed God, the processed God, in His economy. He is not only the perfect God but also the completed God who is being dispensed into us for our experience and enjoyment (2 Cor. 13:14) that we may live Him for His corporate expression unto His eternal glory and satisfaction.
We all must open to the full light in the Word. If we seek only God Himself, we will eventually see that the God we seek is eternally unchanging and yet processed in His economy for our experience and enjoyment of Him. Praise Him.
For further reading on this subject, please see The Crucial Points of the Major Items of the Lord’s Recovery, by Witness Lee, and footnote 1 of 2 Corinthians 13:14 in the New Testament Recovery Version, published by Living Stream Ministry.
From Issue No. 34, February 2001