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Scripture Reading: Eph. 3:9-11; 5:29-32; 1:23; 1 Cor. 12:12; Isa. 53:10; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Acts 9:3-5; Matt. 18:20; 28:20; Eph. 4:13
Ephesians 3:9-11 speaks of enlightening “all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, in order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church, according to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The church was produced according to the eternal purpose and plan that God made in Christ Jesus our Lord. This means that the church was not an accident; the church came out of God’s plan. Furthermore, the church was produced for Christ, not for any other purpose, because the church was planned by God in Christ. In eternity past, before the foundation of the world, God purposed and ordained to bring forth the church out of creation so that He might manifest His wisdom in the Son by expressing the glory and riches of Christ through the church to the universe.
Ephesians 3:9 says that God’s plan concerning the church was a mystery hidden in God throughout the ages. In eternity past God planned to gain the church for His Son. Before God created all things, He purposed to gain the church from among men for His Son. However, throughout the past ages, God did not reveal this matter to anyone. It was a mystery hidden in God and unknown to man. God did not reveal that He had created all things for the purpose of producing the church for His Son until the New Testament age (vv. 5, 9-10). Hence, the church that God wanted to obtain for His Son was His mystery.
All things were created through Christ (Col. 1:16), but the church was brought forth in Christ. All things were made by Christ and are His creation (Heb. 1:10; Col. 1:16-17). The church, however, was brought forth in Christ and is a part of Christ (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3), just as Eve came out of Adam and was a part of Adam, being bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh (Gen. 2:23). God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, opened his side, took a rib, and built the rib into Eve (vv. 21-22). Similarly, Christ was put to sleep on the cross, and His side was pierced to release His divine life for the producing of the church (John 19:34). Eve came out of Adam and was the overflow of Adam’s life, and the church comes out of Christ and is the overflow of Christ’s life (Eph. 1:23). Eve was constituted with Adam’s life, and the church is constituted with Christ’s life. Eve had one life with Adam, and the church has one life with Christ (Col. 3:3-4). Just as Adam could not find a helper to be his counterpart from among the animals of the field and the birds of heaven, Christ could not find a match for Himself from among the created things. Only Eve could be Adam’s counterpart and be one flesh with him, because she came out of Adam (Gen. 2:20-24). Likewise, only the church matches Christ and is a part of Christ, because she was brought forth in Christ (Eph. 5:29-32).
Just as Eve came out of Adam and was one flesh with him, the church was brought forth in Christ and is mysteriously one with Him. Adam was Adam, and Eve was also Adam because she came out of him. Similarly, Christ is Christ, and the church brought forth in Him is also Christ. Eve could be one flesh with Adam and a part of him because she came out of him. Likewise, the church can be one with Christ and a part of Him because she came out of Him. Only that which comes out of Christ can be joined to Him and be one with Him.
Christ brought forth the church with His life so that the church could be His Body, making the church one with Him. This was foreordained in eternity past by God in His mysterious plan. God’s eternal plan is to gain a group of people who have the life of Christ and who are the brothers of Christ so that they may be the Body of Christ. Individually, every believer has the life of Christ and is His brother. Corporately, we share the life of Christ and are His Body, expressing His fullness. God’s highest goal is for Christ to obtain a Body so that His fullness would be expressed (1:23). An individual believer can express a part of Christ, but only the totality of all the believers, who possess the life of Christ in every place and throughout the ages, can fully express Christ. God has made us the Body of Christ so that Christ may gain a full expression. Although we are the many members who constitute the Body, this Body is Christ because Christ is its life, nature, constituent, and function. Hence, the church is the Body of Christ, and the church is also Christ.
Concerning the church, 1 Corinthians 12:12 says, “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.” This verse shows that the church is one Body with many members. However, the verse does not end with so also is the church but with so also is the Christ. This shows that the church as the Body of Christ is Christ, because it is His Body. Both our head and our body are us. We cannot say that only our head is us. Every person has a head and a body. The head and the body form a complete person. This also applies to Christ. He is the Head, and His church is the Body. Just as the Head is Christ, the Body is also Christ. Both the Head and the Body are Christ. If the Head is Christ, then the Body is also Christ. Just as the Head is Christ, the Body is also Christ. The Head and the Body are the corporate Christ.
The Bible speaks of the individual Christ and the corporate Christ. The individual Christ is the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, Peter received a revelation from the Father that He was the Christ (Matt. 16:16-17). The Lord Jesus later repeated that He was the Christ (26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62). After the Lord’s ascension the Spirit made it clear through Peter that God had made Jesus both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). These verses refer to the individual Christ, the Lord Jesus Himself. However, there are verses related to Christ in the Bible that do not refer to Him as the individual Christ. First Corinthians 12:12 says, “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.” In this verse the words the Christ include the many members who form the one Body; hence, this verse refers to the corporate Christ. The corporate Christ is composed of the individual Christ, that is, Christ Himself, and of the church, that is, all the believers. Christ plus all the believers form the corporate Christ. The individual Christ is the Head of the corporate Christ, and all the believers constitute the Body of the corporate Christ. Just as the Head has the life of Christ, the Body also has the life of Christ. The Head and the Body are the same, even one, in the life of Christ.
The Lord Jesus is Christ, and the church that is joined to Him in His life is also Christ. The many believers who have His life are a part of Christ. Every believer is a member of the corporate Christ, the Body of Christ. Corporately, we are Christ, and individually, we are a part of Christ. The many parts of Christ together with Christ Himself are the corporate Christ, the mysterious, universal Christ. The universal, mysterious, corporate Christ is not limited by time or space and fully expresses Christ in the universe. Hence, the church is the fullness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23).
Ephesians 1:23 says that the church, which is His Body, is “the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” The second half of this verse is a word of explanation, indicating that the meaning of the church, as the Body of Christ, is that the church is the fullness of the One who fills all in all. As the One who fills all in all, Christ the Lord is exceedingly rich, and His riches need a Body in order to be expressed. This Body is His fullness. If a person wants his riches to be adequately expressed, he needs not only a head but also a body. Only a head with a body can express a person’s riches. This is the function of the church to Christ. As the One who fills all in all, Christ needs a corporate, universal Body for His expression. Christ is too rich; hence, He wants to produce the church as His Body to fully express His riches. This Body is the fullness of Christ, the overflow of His riches.
A cup overflowing with water is an example of this. Christ can be compared to the water, and the church can be compared to the overflowing water. The church is the overflow of Christ, the fullness of Christ. The water in the cup is the same as the water overflowing from the cup; likewise, Christ and the church as His overflow are the same. The fullness of Christ is His Body formed with a group of people whom He fills to be His corporate vessel. This corporate vessel contains the overflow of Christ so that He may be expressed in the universe. A man’s body is his fullness, and the church is Christ’s fullness. The life of my head is expressed through my body, and the life of Christ is expressed through the church.
Eve was the overflow of Adam, his fullness to express his riches, and the church is the overflow of Christ, His fullness to express His riches. When we see Eve, we see the fullness of Adam, his overflow. Similarly, when we see the church, we see the fullness of Christ, His overflow; hence, the church is Christ.
The church is not a human organization, nor is it a religious group. Strictly speaking, the church is not even a Christian gathering. The church is Christ; the life of the church is Christ, and its content is also Christ. Everything related to the church is Christ. The church is not Mr. Chang plus Mr. Wang plus Mr. Lee plus all the other believers. The church must not have the human element, because it is the overflow of Christ. The church is the overflow of Christ’s flowing into you, into me, and into every person who has the life of Christ. The totality of the Christ who overflows into every believer is the church. Every Christian added together is not the church. Rather, the addition of Christ in every believer is the church.
A brother who knew the Lord said that when we subtract the element of Adam from every person who has the life of Christ and then add together the element of Christ in these persons, we have the church. This is an accurate definition. The church is not a group of people; rather, it is Christ. The church is not composed of people who have Christ but of the Christ in these people. The Christ in you plus the Christ in me plus the Christ in every saved person equals the church. The Lord Jesus Christ plus the church equals the mysterious, corporate, universal Christ. We must always remember that the church is Christ. Only that which is Christ can be a part of Him and be His Body. Furthermore, only that which is Christ can express Him and be a vessel of His glory. This is the church!
The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ, and Christ Himself; hence, the church is Christ’s increase and spread on the earth. Many people think that the church is nothing more than a group that proclaims and announces Christ to the world. However, according to the Scriptures, the church does not merely proclaim Christ; the church is Christ. The church does not merely announce Christ; the church increases and spreads Christ. As the Body of Christ, the church is Christ. The church on the earth is Christ on the earth. For example, my body is me. When my body comes here, I come here. Because my body is here, it is possible for you to see me and to know me; hence, my body also proclaims me to you. Moreover, my body is my presence. My body can proclaim me and enables you to see and know me because my body is my very self. What my body is to me is what the church is to Christ. The church can proclaim Christ on the earth for people to see Christ and to know Christ because the church is the Body of Christ; the church is Christ. Hence, Christ goes wherever the church goes, and Christ exists wherever the church exists. If the church is in Taipei, Christ is in Taipei, and if the church is in Kaohsiung, Christ is in Kaohsiung. The church in every locality not only proclaims Christ but also is Christ. The church is His increase and His spread.
Isaiah 53:10 says that after the Lord Jesus accomplished redemption, He would “extend His days.” How can the Lord Jesus extend His days on the earth if He was resurrected and ascended to the heavens after accomplishing redemption? This is possible through the church. After producing the church through His death and resurrection, the Lord continues to live in the church. We can say that the church is the embodiment of Christ, just as Jesus the Nazarene was the embodiment of God. We can also say that the church is God in the flesh, His second incarnation, just as Jesus the Nazarene was God in the flesh, His first incarnation. In His first incarnation God became an individual man by the name of Jesus Christ. In His second incarnation He became a corporate man called the church.
First Timothy 3:15 says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth,” and verse 16 says, “Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” The church in verse 15 is the mystery of godliness in verse 16. The church is not only the house of God and the pillar and base of the truth; the church is also the great mystery of godliness, that is, God manifested in the flesh. The man Jesus was the union of God and man, the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. Likewise, the church is the union of God and man, the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. Hence, the church as the mystery of godliness is the enlargement of Jesus Christ, the mystery of godliness. The manifestation of God in the man Jesus has been enlarged to be the manifestation of God in the church. Hence, the church is the enlargement of God becoming flesh, the enlargement of Christ; that is, the church is the increase and spread of Christ on the earth.
In relation to time, the church is the increase of Christ, and in relation to space, the church is the spread of Christ. Christ ascended to the heavens over nineteen hundred years ago, but He still has not left the earth; He is still on the earth. On the day of Pentecost He was in Jerusalem. Then He went to Damascus, Antioch, Asia Minor, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. He went to these places through the church and in the church. The church is the increase of Christ through the centuries and the spread of Christ in place after place. To this day Christ is still increasing and spreading. For two thousand years Christ has been increasing and spreading in and through the church. He is still being manifested among men on the earth through the church, His Body.
Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11), and the church is the firstfruits of Christ being all and in all (James 1:18). Christ fills all and is in all in the church. As such, the church is the universal Christ, a great, corporate, universal man. The universe includes both space and time. Hence, Christ in the church is a universal man, increasing in time and spreading in space. Christ fills time and space so that His glorious fullness may be expressed.
For two thousand years Christ’s existence on the earth has never been interrupted. Church history shows that Christ has been increasing and spreading on the earth through the church, His Body. The church that belongs to the Lord, loves Him, and is filled with Him has continued to exist on the earth without interruption from the time of the ascension to the present day. This means that the Lord to whom the church belongs, whom the church loves, and with whom the church is filled has continued to exist without interruption on the earth. On the one hand, Christ has ascended to the heavens, but on the other hand, He has continued to exist on the earth without interruption from the day of His ascension. Whenever the church that belongs to the Lord and loves Him exists, there is Christ’s increase. Wherever the church that is filled with Christ exists, there is His spread.
When Saul of Tarsus was going to Damascus to persecute the believers, he met the Lord. The Lord said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). This word puzzled and surprised Saul because he thought that he was persecuting people who believed in Jesus, such as Stephen, Peter, John, and James, people whom he could see and touch. But here was Someone, whom Saul had neither seen nor known, questioning him from heaven, saying, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Hence, Saul was puzzled and asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute” (v. 5). This response was an even greater surprise; it was beyond Saul’s imagination. He had persecuted Stephen and the church, but when had he persecuted Jesus? Nevertheless, the Lord said that He was being persecuted by Saul. The Lord said this because He and His believers are one; He and the church are one. He is in the church, and the church is in Him. He is the church, and the church is Him. To persecute the church is to persecute the Lord, and to persecute His believers is to persecute Him. Hence, the Lord said to Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” He wanted Saul to know that by persecuting Stephen, he was persecuting “Me” and that when Saul persecuted the church, the Lord’s believers, he was persecuting “Me.” The word Me refers to a great, universal “Me.” This “Me” includes the Lord Jesus and all His believers in the universe. This great, universal “Me” is the universal man, the mysterious Christ, the corporate Christ, who includes Christ and the church.
The Lord showed Saul that He and the church are one, because the Lord wanted Paul to reveal the mystery of His oneness with the church. When Saul was called, the Lord revealed that the church is Christ and that to persecute the church, His believers, was to persecute Him, that is, to persecute Christ. From the day he was called, Paul was deeply impressed with the church’s oneness with the Lord. This impression became the basis of his revelation concerning the mystery of the church. From that day Paul knew the Lord and saw that the church was one with Christ, that the church was Christ. Hence, to persecute the church was to persecute Christ and to touch the church was to touch Christ.
The Lord said to Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?” This word reveals that Christ and the church are one Body. It also shows that even though Acts reveals the move of the apostles and the church, it is really a sequel to the biography of Christ. We often say that the four Gospels are biographies of Christ. However, if we would see the significance of the word Me, that is, that the church and Christ are one entity, we would acknowledge that Acts is also Christ’s biography. The four Gospels are a record of Christ’s words and deeds on the earth, and Acts is also a record of Christ’s words and deeds on the earth. The only difference is that the four Gospels are a record of the words and deeds of the individual Christ, but Acts is a record of the words and deeds of the corporate Christ, Christ in the apostles and the church. Although the outward instrument — the man Jesus Christ or the apostles and the church — may be different, the person speaking and acting is the same. The man Jesus Christ who spoke and did things in the four Gospels entered into Peter, John, and numerous other believers in order to speak and do things in them as the church, as recorded in Acts. Therefore, the four Gospels and the book of Acts are His biographies. The words and deeds of Jesus Christ did not end in the four Gospels; they were continued in Acts. Hence, Acts is the continuation of the four Gospels, a sequel to the Lord’s biography. In Acts the Lord continues to move through the apostles and the church and in the apostles and the church.
In Acts the apostles and the church continued and extended the Christ in the Gospels. When we see Peter, John, Stephen, Paul, Silas, and many other believers in Acts, we feel as if we have met Christ. While Stephen was being martyred, he asked for the forgiveness of those who stoned him, in the same way that Christ had asked for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him (7:59-60; Luke 23:34). In Acts Christ was living again in Peter, John, Paul, and many other believers. Hence, when we read concerning the acts of the apostles and the church, we are reading a record of Christ. When we see the acts of the apostles and the church, we see the acts of Christ, and when we see the church, we see Christ, because Christ is moving in His believers, and He is the life and content of the church. The church is the Body of Christ, His continuation, and His extension because the church is one with Christ.
The believers in Acts were a continuation of Christ, they were His extension, and they belonged to the Lord, loved Him, lived Him, and died for Him. Furthermore, the martyrs who have lived throughout church history were also an extension and continuation of Christ. When we read biographies of the martyrs, we sense that they were filled with Christ. We sense Christ in the holy life that they lived and in the martyrdom that they suffered. Throughout the generations those who have stood on the Lord’s side, maintained His testimony, and lived in Him have been His continuation. They were filled with Christ, because for them to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21). In whatever age they lived, they were Christ, and wherever they were, Christ was seen. Hence, the church is the place where Christ is on the earth.
Christ promised that He will be present wherever there is a meeting of the church (Matt. 18:20). He also promised that He would be with the church all the days until the consummation of the age (28:20). The church should always give people the sense of Christ’s presence. The church has a problem if it causes people to sense zeal, excitement, or strength but not the presence of Christ. A church that fails to give people the sense of Christ’s presence has lost the nature of Christ and lacks Christ.
A church that is normal must be full of Christ, full of the Spirit of Christ, and full of the presence of Christ. Those who are in the meetings of such a church will sense not only zeal, excitement, love, and faith but also something mysterious; they will sense Christ’s presence. Those whose hearts are darkened will be enlightened, those who have no way to proceed will find a way, those who are feeble-hearted will find a solid standing, and those who are heavily burdened will have their burdens removed. Those who attend a meeting of the church may forget what they heard, but something mysterious will be added to them because Someone is present with them. Such experiences demonstrate that the church is full of Christ and is filled with the operation of the Spirit. When people touch the church, they touch Christ, and when they touch the Spirit and reality of the church, they also touch Christ. The church on earth is the place where Christ is, because the church is Christ on the earth today. Hence, if we are in the church, Christ must be here. We must not represent anything other than Christ, and we must not be anything other than Christ. We should be the reality of Christ for people to sense and to touch Him, His life, and the Spirit.
Since the church is the Body of Christ, His embodiment, the growth of the church should be the growth of Christ. The growth of the church is not determined by an increase in its strengths or merits but by the increase of Christ. The measure of the growth of the church is not determined by an increase in numbers but by the increase of Christ. God does not measure the church by any criterion or ruler other than Christ. His desire is for Christ to increase and grow in the church and for Christ to become the content and element of the church so that the church would arrive “at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). Only the increase of Christ is the growth of the church; only the increase of the measure of the stature of Christ is the growth of the church.
I would ask the saints in all the localities to consider whether they have had an increase of the element of Christ in the past two years. Has there been an increase of the measure of the stature of Christ? I am not asking whether we have had an increase in love, whether our zeal has been intensified, or whether we have had an increase in numbers. My question is, “Has the element of Christ increased among us? Has the measure of the stature of Christ increased?” This is what God is after. This is His focus. God’s work has been to cause the measure of the stature of Christ to increase in the church. God is expecting the church to grow to the full measure of the stature of Christ, because God’s desire is for the church to be the Body of Christ, His fullness. Only the element of Christ can be the element of the church, and only the growth of Christ is the growth of the church. Only Christ is the reality of the church. Everything related to the church should be Christ.
