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“The Central Vision of the Bible—Building the House of God” can be considered the highlight of the Bible and also the essence extracted from the whole Bible. The content of the Bible is wonderful. The first two chapters are one section, the last two chapters are a section, and the chapters from Genesis 3 through Revelation 20 are another large section.
Let us consider the section from Genesis 3 through Revelation 20. In the beginning of Genesis 3 there is a serpent. This serpent seduced man and injected sin into man; consequently, death was brought in. From this point forward, the serpent, sin, and death continue until Revelation 20. However, during this period God has His work of grace. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to deal with the serpent and work righteousness into man so that, through faith in the Son of God, man can be justified by God and thereby have life and live (Rom. 1:17).
In this large section of the Bible the serpent, sin, and death form a background that is in contrast to Christ the Son of God and to the righteousness and life He brings. In other words, we can say that this major section of the Bible speaks of the serpent, sin, and death in contrast to Christ the Son of God, righteousness, and life. The Son of God is versus the serpent, for the Son of God was manifested so that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). The Son of God brought in righteousness to deal with sin, which was brought in by the serpent. Moreover, the righteousness brought in by the Son of God gives man life, and this life deals with death, which was brought in by sin (12, Rom. 5:21). Hence, on one hand, the serpent, sin, and death are present, but on the other hand, there are Christ the Son of God, righteousness, and life.
The first three items are in opposition to the second three items, and all the stories in the Bible develop from these. Every event in the Bible includes these factors. In Genesis 3 the serpent, sin, and death came in. Then God said that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head (v. 15). In addition, God made coats of skin for the sinners, Adam and Eve (v. 21), to cover the shame of their nakedness. The coats of skin typify Christ as the Lamb of God with the righteousness of God to deal with sin. After hearing God’s word, Adam named his wife Eve, which means “living,” “because she was the mother of all living” (v. 20). This indicates that life came. Although the serpent brought in death, God’s salvation brought in life.
Genesis 3 through Revelation 20 speaks, on the negative side, concerning the serpent, sin, and death and, on the positive side, reveals Christ the Son of God, righteousness, and life. When Christ came in the New Testament, righteousness and life also came (Jer. 23:6; 1 Cor. 1:30; John 1:4). At the end of Revelation Christ will judge the serpent, sin, those who followed the serpent and are defiled by sin, and death. In chapter 20 the serpent will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years (vv. 1-3), and then he will be cast into the lake of fire (v. 10). All those who are defiled by sin will be judged and cast into the lake of fire as well (vv. 12-13, 15; 21:8). Finally, even death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire (20:14). This large section of the Scriptures from Genesis 3 through Revelation 20 is a story of two sides: of the serpent bringing in sin and death and of Christ dealing with the serpent, righteousness dealing with sin, and life swallowing up death. The three negative items of Satan, sin, and death are resolved in Revelation 20, the end of this section.
The first two chapters of Genesis form a section, and the last two chapters of Revelation also form a section. The content of these two sections marvelously reflect each other. First, both sections contain the tree of life. The tree of life is first spoken of in Genesis 2:9 and is not explicitly mentioned until Revelation. In Genesis 3 the way to the tree of life is closed (vv. 22-24). After these verses the tree of life seems to disappear, but it is spoken of again in the last two chapters of the Bible. Hence, the first and last sections of the Bible reflect each other, having the tree of life as their focus. Second, both sections contain a river. There is a river in Genesis 2:10 and also in Revelation 22:1. Third, both sections contain three kinds of materials—gold, pearl (bdellium), and precious stones (Gen. 2:11-12; Rev. 21:18-21). Fourth, both sections speak of a counterpart, a wife (Gen. 2:18, 21-24; Rev. 21:9). These four points are the main content of the first two chapters and the last two chapters of the Bible. If we remove these four points from Genesis 1—2 and Revelation 21—22, these four chapters would not have much content. Therefore, the content of the first two chapters and the last two chapters of the Bible truly reflect each other.
Although the first and last sections are a reflection, there are still considerable dissimilarities. First, in the first section the tree of life is outside man, outside Adam; however, in the last section the tree of life is inside man. Revelation 22:2 says that the tree of life grows in the New Jerusalem. We must understand that the New Jerusalem is a corporate man, and Adam in Genesis 2 is also a corporate man. Adam represents not only Adam but also all his descendants, those who come out of him. Therefore, Adam is a corporate man. The New Jerusalem is also a corporate man. Inscribed on the gates of the New Jerusalem there are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, and on the twelve foundations there are the names of the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:12, 14). These two groups of people represent God’s chosen people in the Old Testament and all those saved by grace in the New Testament. At the beginning of the Bible the tree of life is outside this corporate man Adam, but at the end the tree of life is inside this corporate man, the holy city. Ultimately, the tree of life is mingled with man. The tree of life is in man and grows in man.
Second, the gold, bdellium, and precious stones in Genesis 2 are in contrast to Adam, a man of clay. However, at the end of Revelation all the Old Testament and New Testament saints, represented by the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel and the twelve apostles, are no longer earthy; they have become gold, pearl, and precious stones (21:12, 14, 18-21). It is more accurate to say that the man of clay is transformed; the earthy nature is gone, but the person remains.
Third, in Genesis 2 the three kinds of materials—gold, bdellium, and precious stones—are merely materials; they have not yet been built together (vv. 11-12). However, in Revelation 21 and 22 these three materials have been built up as the New Jerusalem (21:18-21). On one hand, this building is the tabernacle and dwelling place of God among men (v. 3), and on the other hand, this building is the bride and counterpart of the Lamb (v. 2).
If we see a clear picture of the beginning and the end of the Bible, we will be greatly helped in knowing the Scriptures. When we look at the Bible with this view, we must acknowledge that the very beginning of the Bible brings out God’s heart’s desire. Genesis 1 and 2 present a clear picture. If we see this picture, we will be able to fully understand God’s heart and know what God is doing in the universe.
There are four crucial points in Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1 clearly indicates that God created the heavens, the earth, and all things. In creation God’s focus was on life. There are millions of wonderful, colorful things that exist in the universe, but only one chapter in Genesis gives a record of their creation, and this record is very brief. The opening statement of the Bible is, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (v. 1). Then the record concerning God’s work of six days is wholly on life, beginning with things without life to things with life. The record of the things with life begins with the plant life, the lowest form of life without any consciousness, and goes on to animal life, a higher form of life with consciousness. The record of the animal life begins from the lowest consciousness to the highest consciousness. At the end of this record man, possessing the highest form of life among all creatures, was created. However, this man is a corporate man. God did not create many men; He created one man—Adam. Even though man became fruitful and multiplied, all men come from this one man. God did not create many scattered men but one corporate man. God wants this man to express Him in His image and represent Him with His dominion (v. 26). God created a corporate man so that man with God’s image and dominion may express Him and represent Him in the universe.
Although God created man in His image and with His authority, man still needs God to enter into him to be his life and to live in him. Therefore, the first crucial point in Genesis 1—2 is that man is the highest form of created life, because he was made in God’s image and given God’s dominion. However, in these two chapters God’s intention was not accomplished, because God did not enter into man.
The second crucial point in chapter 2 is that God created man with a spirit and placed man in front of the tree of life, a symbol of God Himself as life (vv. 7-9). This means that God wants man to receive God, who is Spirit, in his spirit. The tree of life has many significances, but its main significance is that God in the Son can be received as life. The tree of life is actually Christ (John 15:1, 5). God formed man from dust and breathed the breath of life into him to form a human spirit within him (Gen. 2:7; Prov. 20:27). This human spirit is for man to receive God into himself as his life. God can enter into man as life in the Son. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” Life is in the Son of God. As the Spirit, the Son of God enters into man (John 20:22). Hence, the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—wants to enter into man to be man’s life.
The third crucial point in Genesis 2 is the flowing river. Once the divine life enters into man, it becomes rivers of living water (John 7:38). The divine life within man is not inactive or stagnant; it is operative, lively, and flowing, just like a river. The issue of this flowing is transformation. Experienced gold miners say that many treasures are produced where water flows. The Bible reveals that gold, bdellium, and precious stones are produced where living water flows (Gen. 2:11-12). Man was made of clay, but by entering into man, the Triune God mingles with man. Hence, God’s golden nature is added to man’s earthy nature. Gold is a fundamental element; it is not produced through a process of transformation, but pearls and precious stones are produced through transformation.
Bible students acknowledge that gold signifies God’s nature. When God’s golden element enters into man to be man’s life and nature, man is regenerated. After man is regenerated, transformation begins in order to produce “pearls.” Even though we are made of clay, we can become pearls because we are regenerated and transformed in the wound of Christ. First there is gold, then pearls, and then precious stones. From the day we are regenerated, God’s life is in us, doing a work of transformation. This is the story of the precious stones. Precious stones are clay that has been transformed through high heat and pressure. Prior to the process of transformation, the base materials for diamonds and jade have no value, but through transformation they become valuable stones. From the moment we are regenerated, God’s life is operating within us and leading us. At the same time God also raises up outward circumstances to discipline us. These two matters, one within us and one without, coordinate to consume us and press us so that we can be transformed daily and, as a result, become precious stones.
After God’s nature enters into us, it causes our earthy nature to be transformed gradually into pearl and precious stones. This corresponds to what is revealed in Revelation 21. The New Jerusalem is pure gold (v. 18), its gates are of pearls (v. 21), and the foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every precious stone (vv. 19-20). Verse 11 says that the New Jerusalem has the glory of God and that her light is like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone. The light of the city is like a most precious stone, and the city has God’s glory, the expression of God. The appearance of the city is like a jasper stone, which is the appearance of God (4:3). The New Jerusalem is a jasper city; it is completely like God in appearance. This city is the result of the Holy Spirit’s transforming work on all those who are saved. The life of God enters into us with the nature of God and operates in us continuously. The result of this continuous operation is our being transformed into pearls and precious stones.
The fourth point in Genesis 1—2 is that the gold, bdellium, and precious stones are truly valuable and useful only when they are built up. Genesis 2 speaks of a woman after speaking of the river and the three precious materials. This implies that these precious materials must be built up into a woman, a counterpart. Some may feel that this interpretation is arbitrary, but it is based on Revelation 21, which says that the New Jerusalem, a city built with these three materials, is a bride, a woman (vv. 2, 9-10). Hence, the man of clay is a corporate man who, by receiving the life of God into him, obtains the element of gold, which issues in his transformation into pearl and precious stones. The gold, pearl, and precious stones are then built up into a corporate woman as the counterpart and dwelling place of God.
The built-up city shows the desire of God’s heart. The man Adam, whom God created in the beginning, typifies a corporate man who expresses God in His image and represents and rules for God with His dominion. At the end of Revelation the New Jerusalem has the glory of God and is like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal (21:11). This is to express God in His image. Furthermore, the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, His slaves will serve Him, and they will reign with Him forever and ever (22:3, 5). This is to represent God with His dominion. The four crucial points in the first two chapters of Genesis have a full development and consummation in the last two chapters of Revelation. By receiving God as life, men of clay receive the element of gold and become pearls and precious stones through transformation; they are also built together into a city, which is God’s counterpart and God’s dwelling place. This marvelous city in God’s image and with God’s dominion expresses God and represents Him.
Genesis 1—2 and Revelation 21—22, the beginning and ending of the Bible, present a picture of God’s intention. God’s intention was beginning to be carried out in Genesis 1 and 2 when the serpent, God’s adversary, came in chapter 3. After the serpent came in, there were many efforts to undermine God’s intention, but God never gave up on His intention and goal. Everything that God’s adversary, Satan, does is aimed at undermining God’s intention and goal. The serpent’s injecting sin into man, which resulted in death in man, was aimed at destroying God’s goal, God’s desire for a vessel to contain Him. However, God did not stop working and even became flesh in order to deal with the serpent, to deal with man’s sin brought in by the serpent, and to deal with the death brought in by sin. God intends to accomplish His desire. Ultimately, the problems related to Satan, sin, and death will be resolved, and the Son of God and the righteousness and life that He brings will gain the full victory. Now God has entered into men of clay with His nature of gold so that they can be transformed into pearls and precious stones. Their earthy element will be completely transformed, and they will be gold, pearls, and precious stones. God is within us to be our life, to live in us, and to be expressed through us. We can shine forth God, express Him in His image, and represent Him with His dominion.
This picture gives a clear impression that there is no room for individuals. The ultimate issue of God’s desire is that there would be one body, one corporate entity, not many individuals. He does not want many transformed individuals but instead wants one transformed and built-up corporate entity. At the end of Genesis 2, God built one woman. At the end of the whole Bible the issue of God’s work throughout the ages is one city, and this city is also one woman. Hence, the ultimate issue of God’s work is one building. Therefore, in this work there is no room for individuals. Rather, the many are part of one corporate entity. In order to have the building, we, as men of clay, need to receive God as life. After the divine life enters into us, through its flowing and through transformation, pearls and precious stones are produced. However, it is not sufficient for these precious materials to be scattered. Eventually, these materials need to be built up. This is the central vision of the Bible. This central vision includes the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in us.
It is very good that we preach the gospel to people so that they can receive God’s life. It is also good that we help new believers learn to let the Holy Spirit do a transforming work within them so that they may advance and grow before God. However, this is not God’s final goal. God’s final goal is for the gold, pearls, and precious stones, the transformed people, to be built up as one entity. These transformed people include God’s elect, represented by the twelve tribes of Israel in the Old Testament, and the believers, represented by the twelve apostles in the New Testament. This is the ultimate vision of the Bible. God will not arrive at His goal merely by our earthy nature being changed to gold, pearls, and precious stones. There is still a need for these materials to be built up. Similarly, in terms of our work—our leading people to be saved, to love the Lord, and to be transformed into gold, pearls, and precious stones—do not achieve God’s goal. That is merely the work of the first half of Genesis 2; it is not the work of building the woman in the second half of chapter 2. The gold, pearls, and precious stones need to be built up into a woman.
Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul according to the will of God. In chapter 1 Paul says that the church is the Body of Christ (vv. 22-23) and in chapter 4 that God “gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ” (vv. 11-12). According to Paul, apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers are for the building up of the Body of Christ. In 2:22, concerning the church being the dwelling place of God, Paul says, “In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” In verses 24 and 25 of chapter 5 Paul speaks of the church being the counterpart and wife of Christ. Bible expositors recognize that the book of Ephesians is concerning the church and that the church is the Body of Christ, the dwelling place of God, and the counterpart of Christ. However, it is difficult to find books or messages in Christianity concerning the building up of the church. At most, we can find some literature that refers to the church as an aggregate of all the saved ones, but there is no explanation as to how this aggregate comes into being.
God’s intention is to gain the builded church; therefore, the work of the apostles is for the building up of the church. We need to examine ourselves in order to know how much of the reality of the building of the church we have. We first need to ask how much we are built up. Building is different from edification. Edification is to make that which is improper in us proper, but building is to join us together with others. It may be difficult for us to be joined to others, but through building we are joined with others. Building not only makes us proper but also delivers us from individuality and joins us with others. Hence, the first question we need to answer concerns our relationship with others. With whom do we have the real building? Are we built together with all the saints? Second, we have to ask whether our work builds up the church. Are we satisfied with merely leading people to salvation so that they are regenerated, transformed, and changed into God’s image? Is there a building element in our work? After we lead people to salvation and help them experience transformation so that they can become valuable material—gold, pearls, and precious stones—we need to help them to be built up. However, we often do a work only of edification, not a work of building.
The Bible presents a clear picture that God not only wants to gain valuable materials, but He also wants these materials to be built up into a dwelling place. God does not want these valuable materials to be individual items for exhibition. He wants these valuable materials to be built up into a dwelling place. Hence, we must ask whether we have been built up and whether the result of our work can complete this building. Even if we are satisfied that those under our care are gold, pearls, and precious stones, God is not satisfied. Gold is precious, pearls are lovely, and precious stones are beautiful, but God is not satisfied with just this. God wants a building. While He certainly does not want anything of clay, He wants gold, pearls, and precious stones that have been built up.
Ephesians speaks particularly concerning the church and uses many spiritual utterances, including, “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies” (1:3), “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (v. 4), “sealed with the Holy Spirit” (v. 13), “His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (v. 23), and “being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit” (2:22). Many believers focus their attention on the spiritual blessings, on choosing, and on sealing, but they do not pay enough attention to the building of the Body. We cannot treat the words concerning the church as abstract or as being spiritual and heavenly and only for the future. If the things concerning the church were indeed for the future, for the heavens, God would have no need to speak about them, because there are many things in heaven that God does not make known to us. God makes known to us the things concerning the church because they are for today, for the present. However, where is this building? Where is the builded church today? There are groups of Christians everywhere. It is not hard to find lovers of the Lord, and many believers pursue spirituality, but where is the builded church?
In 1 Corinthians 3 the apostle Paul says that we are God’s fellow workers for building the saints into God’s temple (vv. 9, 17). Therefore, this building work is not something of the future. If it were something of the future, then 1 Timothy 3:15 would not make sense. This verse says, “If I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.” If this house were not for today, why would Paul tell Timothy how to conduct himself in the house of God? If there were no such building on the earth, how could there be a house of God? If building is for the future, God’s house would also be for the future; God would not have a house on the earth in this age, and we could only hope that God would have a house in the future. Such an interpretation is erroneous, because today on the earth God has a house, and this house is the church of the living God.
On the one hand, Genesis 3 through Revelation 20 speaks negatively of a serpent bringing in sin and death and positively of Christ the Son of God bringing in righteousness and life. On the other hand, however, the Bible speaks of the house of God, the temple of God. The center of the Old Testament is the tabernacle and the temple. The tabernacle is the precursor of the temple. The temple and the tabernacle are actually one. The tabernacle was erected in Exodus after the children of Israel left Egypt. From the time of their exodus from Egypt, the tabernacle was among them. From the time the tabernacle was erected until the temple was built to replace the tabernacle, the move of Israel was focused on the tabernacle. In the age of the kings the temple was the center of Israel. When the temple was built, the glory of God filled the temple, and the temple had God’s presence (1 Kings 8:10-11). Later, the temple was destroyed and became desolate, and the children of Israel were taken into captivity and scattered. After a period of time the temple was rebuilt and remained through the end of the Old Testament age.
The Bible shows that from the time of Adam, Abel, Enoch, and Noah, God’s eyes were set on the tabernacle because He desires to have a habitation on earth among men. If we have insight, we will see that God’s eyes were always set on the tabernacle and the temple. However, the descendants of Adam did not reach God’s purpose. Rather, they were utilized by Satan, became Satan’s building materials, and even built a city for Satan (Gen. 11:4). As a result, God could not find anyone on the earth to build His habitation. When God judged the world with the flood, Noah’s household was saved through building the ark, and the earth had a new beginning (6:11—9:17). However, Noah’s descendants formed nations and were utilized again by Satan to build the city of Babel (11:1-4). As a result, God was left with no one as material for His dwelling. Thus, God judged Babel and confounded man’s language (v. 7).
God called Abraham and charged him to go forth from his land and from his relatives and from his father’s house to the land that God would show him (12:1). God also promised Abraham that He would give that land to his seed (vv. 7; 13:14-17). God promised Abraham two things: land and descendants. The land would serve as the site of God’s house, and the descendants would be the materials for the building of God’s habitation. Abraham waited for the fulfillment of this promise, and his son Isaac also waited. Later, this promise was passed on to Jacob, the son of Isaac. Although Jacob was not the firstborn, he sought the birthright and employed crafty means to cheat his older brother and gain the birthright. Jacob, being hated by his older brother, was forced to leave his parents and flee to his uncle’s house (25:29-34; 27:5-46). While Jacob was fleeing to his uncle’s house, he had a dream in which he saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on the ladder. God was standing above the ladder, and He blessed Jacob. When Jacob awoke, he took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. He considered this place to be the house of God, the gate of heaven, and called the name of this place Bethel, which means “house of God” (28:10-19). This indicated that God would raise up the sons of Jacob to be His house.
The sons of Jacob later became a great race, but they were enslaved in Egypt (Exo. 1:1-14). God delivered them out of Egypt and raised up the tabernacle among them (40:17). We must understand this with spiritual insight: the erecting of the tabernacle was the beginning of God’s dwelling place on earth. From then on God was watchful of this tabernacle. The tabernacle can be considered as the symbol and figure of Israel. However, the tabernacle itself was not God’s habitation; Israel was God’s habitation. The tabernacle was a symbol, a type. When Israel was in a normal situation, God dwelt among them; when Israel was not in a normal situation, God did not dwell among them. Psalm 133 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is / For brothers to dwell in unity! / ...Like the dew of Hermon / That came down upon the mountains of Zion” (vv. 1, 3). These verses refer to the condition of God’s habitation, the tabernacle and the temple. When God’s people dwelt together in unity, they were God’s habitation on earth, and God dwelt among them. When they were apostate and desolate, God went out from among them, and the temple was destroyed. Before the end of the Old Testament age, God restored the children of Israel, and the temple was rebuilt.
The New Testament speaks of the building of God’s dwelling place. God wants us not only to be spiritual and God-fearing men but also to be those who can dwell with God’s people together in unity, who can be coordinated into one entity, and who become a spiritual temple as His dwelling place. John 1:14 says that the Lord Jesus, as the Word, “became flesh and tabernacled among us..., full of grace and reality.” In chapter 2 when the Lord Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19), He spoke of the temple of His body (v. 21). He seemed to be saying that the Jews would crucify Him, but in three days He would be raised up. This means that the Lord would resurrect three days after His death to build up the mystical Body as God’s temple. The physical body that the Jews destroyed on the cross was what the Lord Jesus put on in incarnation. The Body that was raised up when He resurrected from the dead is a mystical Body. Through His resurrection from death He imparted His life into us and regenerated us so that we became members of His Body. After we enter the gates of the New Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit does a work of resurrection in us, stripping us of our earthy element and bringing everything in us into resurrection so that we can be transformed in resurrection and built together into the Lord’s mystical Body. This mystical Body is the church and also the temple built by the Lord in resurrection.
The Lord Jesus first spoke of the church in Matthew 16:18, saying, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” When He first spoke of the church, He spoke of building. The apostles also preached concerning the building of the church. The purpose of the work was not merely for people to be saved, to be spiritual, to be consecrated, and to become gold, pearls, and precious stones. The work of the apostles was for the building of the church. In 1 Corinthians 3:12 the apostle Paul says that some build with gold, silver, and precious stones, and others, with wood, grass, and stubble. The work of the apostles was to build the church with gold, silver, and precious stones. Their work was not merely a matter of salvation or transformation. Their desire was to build the church of God with valuable materials.
The New Testament takes the line of God’s house as its center, which house is the church built by the apostles. This church is not abstract but specific; it is built in every locality. The Bible clearly states that the church is to be built in locality after locality (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). God builds His dwelling place in the New Testament age by building the church as His dwelling place. The practical way to build God’s dwelling place is to gain people to have God’s life and be built together through the transformation work of the Holy Spirit into a dwelling place of God in every locality. This is God’s desire, God’s plan.
God’s desire must be accomplished in Christ His Son. God is embodied in the Son, and the Son has the first place and the preeminence in the universe so that He can be expressed and glorified. Not only so, the Son of God is expressed in the church, He is the Head of the church, and the church is His Body (Col. 1:18-19; Eph. 1:22-23). The Head and the Body are equally crucial, and Christ and the church are balanced truths in the Bible. We must not neglect either. The vision at the end of Revelation shows that God’s redeemed throughout the ages become a city. Christ, the Lamb who was slain, is the lamp of the city, and God is the light of the city (21:23). This means that God is in Christ, and Christ is in the church. God is expressed in Christ, and Christ is expressed in the church. Ephesians 3:21 says, “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen.” This verse does not say, “To God in Christ be the glory,” but “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.” This means that He is to be expressed in the church. All that God is, is for Christ, and all that Christ is, is for the church.
From beginning to end the Bible speaks of this building. This building is for Christ and takes Christ as its center and everything. Christ’s being the center and His being everything depend on this building. When this building is damaged, Christ cannot be seen as the center and cannot be expressed as everything. Christ and the church are two aspects of the divine vision. They are the mysteries of God and are the corporate man in the universe, with Christ being the Head and the church being His Body.
