The Heavenly Man: The remarkable true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun

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Such as is the earthly, such also are the earthly: and such as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. The people on earth are like the man who was made from the dust of the earth. The people in heaven are like the man who came from heaven. If you have any questions about Brother Yun's testimony or his character (or anyone else's for that matter), please have the courage to do what the Bible says, and go to him. Don't rely on second or third hand information. Yun is not hard to find these days, and he is always willing to sit down and answer any question you may have. I have yet to meet anyone who has spent time praying with Brother Yun and went away believing he is a con man or a liar! I believe that unless we are willing to confront someone we have heard negative things about, we have no right to repeat those things to others. Perhaps this is part of what Jesus meant when he said, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt. 12:36-37). I first read this soon after becoming a Christian in college and was very moved at the time. Having done mission work in China for over ten years now, I decided to revisit it, and my opinion of Brother Yun is even higher now.

I would like to ask you for your most valuable commodity - your time. Twenty minutes should be enough. My request is that I might be able to openly share my heart about a matter of concern that has grown among some sections of the Body of Christ in recent months. Lots of controversy surrounds this book regarding whether many of the miracles Brother Yun talks about experiencing in this book really happened or not, since they resemble miracles found in the Bible. I went into reading this book with an open mind because I love a good biography showing God accomplishing His purpose by working through man. Andrew of Columbus, Ohio: "From the very first chapter, I was blown away! Next to the Bible, it has been the most convicting and moving book I've ever read. I realize more how good it is to know Jesus and how sovereign He is over the world and in our lives. The book's convicted me to desire to live a more sacrificial life for God, given me more of a heart for the nations and scripture, and renewed in me my sense of need for God's Spirit and presence. I highly recommend this book." I could go on and on about this book. It’s definitely a keeper for me. It was a harsh eye-opening book, but it showed me how the Lord works and that Christ is being shared in a country near to my heart.Indeed, I was incredibly impressed with Brother Yun's humility in admitting his mistakes and missteps. He even shares occasions where the LORD supernaturally directed him (through visions and/or prophecies of others) but he disregarded the leading and went his own way. He talks about making ministry an idol in his life and trying to balance his responsibilities as pastor with the legitimate claims of his wife and children. He shares about challenges, struggles and imperfections of the house church movement in China, as well as his difficulties in understanding the church of the West. These honest, and seemingly fair, assessments give his accounts of the LORD's miraculous interventions a greater weight. He talks about healings, miracles of many kinds, and the joys and sufferings of the Chinese church, including his own imprisonments and torture. He shares his personal struggles with God, his anguish and questioning of the LORD and his experience of finding Him faithful, again and again.

Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.I should also mention that Brother Yun sometimes makes sweeping claims about what "Christians in China" experience today. It's important to note that he hasn't lived in China for more than 20-25 years now (this book is also something like 15 years old). The Chinese church has changed a lot since the time he was serving the church, just after the Cultural Revolution. If you take this book as a representative sample of what Chinese churches are like today, you will be greatly misled. yun's story (which is completely true) shows what surrendering our lives to Christ looks like. it's a clear picture of what living selflessly looks like, what being willing to go where your sent by God looks like and what trusting Him in unbearable circumstances looks like. For practical reasons the consideration of the subject of Adam Ḳadmon in the Cabala has been reserved for the end of this article. Before discussing the subject it will be well to revert to the ancient rabbinical sources already referred to. There is a fundamental theosophical statement by Akiba in the Talmud relative to this topic to which no reference has yet been made. He says, in Abot, iii. 14, "How favored is man, seeing that he was created in the image! as it is said, 'For in the image, made man'" (Gen. ix. 6). That "in the image" does not mean "in the image of God" needs no proof; for in no language can "image" be substituted for "image of God." There is, moreover, another difficulty in this passage: the verse quoted is not that of Gen. i. 27, wherein the creation of man in the image of God is primarily stated. Gen. ix. 6 treats only secondarily of man's creation. The selection of a secondary quotation in support is not a little surprising to those familiar with the usual rabbinical mode of quotation. In point of fact Akiba does not speak only of the image ( ) according to which man was created, but also of the likeness ( ; Gen. R. xxxiv. 14). really has no other signification than "after the image." Akiba, who steadfastly denies any resemblance between God and other beings—even the highest type of angels—teaches that man was created after an image—that is, an archetype—or, in philosophical phrase, after an ideal, and thus interprets Gen. ix. 6, "after an image God created man," an interpretation quite impossible in Gen. i. 27. Compare the benediction in Ket. 8 a, , wherein God is blessed because "He made man in His image [ ], in the image of a form created by Him." The concluding explanatory words of this benediction intimate, in Akiba's style, that Adam was created after the image of a God-created type ( ). Zohar. What the earthy one is, that also are those who are earthy; and what the heavenly One is, that also are those who are heavenly. The Heavenly Man is an autobiography of Brother Yun detailing his life from the age of sixteen, through his three accounts of incarceration, and ending in his exile to Germany.

Today, the name of Evan Roberts is fondly remembered around the world as the human vessel that God used to bring revival to Wales one hundred years ago. Few can remember the name of even one of his detractors. The same can be said of revivalists like Charles Finney and D.L. Moody, who were also strongly denounced by other Christian leaders.

The Easter Message of ‘He is Risen’

It was a real eye opener that which caused great division among Chinese Christians: additional materials from the United Pentecostal and Word of Faith/prosperity groups. Their interpretation of Scripture discovered in those materials did nothing for the church but to set one brother against the other. Finding unity in all that mess was a true challenge, and one that the body of Christ here in America should undertake prayerfully. Keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace is imperative if we are to maintain a witness to this world. Like the man made of dust, so are those who are made of dust; like the heavenly man, so are those who are heavenly. In 1974, Brother Yun’s father became ill with lung cancer. His mother, who had been a Christian for many years but had become spiritually cold after the expulsion of Western missionaries during the Cultural Revolution, felt a deep sense of desperation because if her husband had died then, it would leave the family in dire straits. She thought of committing suicide. One evening, as she was lying in bed, she heard a voice saying to her that Jesus loved her. In tears and in repentance, she rededicated her life to God and gathered her family to pray for her husband. The next morning, her husband got better and as a result, everyone in the family, including Brother Yun, put their faith in God.