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Scripture Reading: Eph. 3:2-11; 1:22-23; 4:10, 13, 4:24; 2:15; Col. 3:10-11; Eph. 5:23-27, 29-32; 2:10
Without the ministry of the apostle Paul we would lack a clear vision not only of Christ but also of the church.
In the four Gospels the church is mentioned only twice, both times in Matthew. In chapter 16 the Lord said that He will build His church and that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (v. 18). In chapter 18 He mentioned the local church (v. 17).
Acts describes the beginnings of the church and how churches were established here and there. As for a definition of the church, it is hard to come up with one based upon what we are told in the book of Acts. Our understanding of what the church is would be quite hazy if we had only the book of Acts to draw on.
The Greek word for church, ekklesia, means “a called-out assembly or congregation.” In olden times when the Greeks in a city gathered together to discuss the affairs of state, that body of citizens was called an ekklesia. God has called out His chosen people and gathered them together: this is the church. Just by understanding the meaning of the word, however, we do not know much about the church.
Paul’s writings are where we find the church presented in the clearest, most thorough way. In this chapter we will cover six ways in which Paul describes the church; then in the next chapter we will go over another six. All twelve are profound and rich in meaning.
In Ephesians 3:4 the church is called the mystery of Christ.
We saw in our previous chapter that Christ is the mystery of God (Col. 2:2). No human mentality can understand God, yet Christ fully defines Him. Christ is also His embodiment and expression. We may say that Christ is the story of God. The story of God is the same as the mystery of God.
Just as Christ is the mystery of God, so the church is the mystery of Christ. Christ Himself is a mystery. Through all these twenty centuries no one has come on the scene who can compare with Him. His name has spread throughout the earth. Surely He must be powerful and wise. Yet who can understand Him? He is a mystery. Over all these years very few have realized who He is. Paul was among these few. Nonetheless, this mystery has a definition, and this definition is the church. The church is the story of Christ. It is His embodiment. To see Christ we must come to the church. Where is God? He is in Christ. Where is Christ? He is in the church. Whoever wants to see God must contact Christ. Whoever would see Christ must come to the church.
Even as we meet here for this training, we are the mystery of Christ. Apparently we are a gathering of people from many different countries. Here we have Germans, French, Italians, Spaniards, Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Dutch, British, Americans, and Orientals. In actuality, however, we are not gathered here as an assortment of different nationalities. We are all part of Christ. We are not like the United Nations. The church is Christ. We are here as Christ. Our nationality is buried. What we are is buried. All that is left in the church is Christ.
As Ephesians 3:2-11 makes clear, the mystery of Christ implies His unsearchable riches. All these riches are found in the church. The church is not the place for American philosophy, Chinese ethics, or German scientific research. There is room only for Christ and His unsearchable riches. Thus, through the church the multifarious wisdom of God is being made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies. All this is according to God’s eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ.
What we are touching here is profoundly great. It is outside the realm of philosophy, religion, or science. This mystery is nothing less than Christ with all His unsearchable riches. I hope that you will go over these verses and pray-read them. You need to realize what they say not by your mental ability but by revelation. This revelation comes to your spirit, not to your mind. If you exercise your spirit and pray over these verses, you will see this mystery: the mystery of Christ, which is the church, containing His unsearchable riches and making known God’s wisdom according to His eternal purpose.
The church is also His Body (1:22-23). Only in Paul’s writings do we find the church described as the Body of Christ. This term is not found in the Gospels or in Acts.
The human body is a marvel. Medical students spend years learning how it is put together. After such a comprehensive study, they surely must admit that some mighty being is behind this universe. There can be no other reasonable explanation for all its intricacies.
The church is even more wonderful. It is a Body for Christ. Christ has a Body. Some Bible teachers think that the Body of Christ is a metaphor, a figure of speech, to help us understand what the church is. I used to teach that myself. The more I studied the Bible, however, the more I realized that the Body of Christ is not a mere figure of speech. It is a fact and a reality.
A body is a living organism. It is not like this stand, which was made of pieces of wood put together in a certain way. A body is not made by attaching bones together; that result would be a lifeless skeleton. Every part of the human body is organic; it has life. Our teeth are organic; only false teeth have no life. Our ears are organic. I knew a brother who had a false ear; he could take it off. His own ear had been removed because of cancer. That prosthetic ear was not organic. My glasses are not organic. They are replacing the lenses that were removed from my eyes when I had surgery for cataracts. Those original lenses in my eyes were organic; these that I wear now have no life whatever.
There is deep significance in the church as the organic Body of Christ. In Christianity today there are many false teeth, false limbs, and mechanical motions! The impression is that of a robot, made of wood or steel. When a living person stands, raises his arm, or bends, all his actions stem from life. He is not a mechanical device put together to seem human. He is living. So is the church. It is Christ’s Body to express Him in a living way. There is no need to perform. This organism is the way it is because of life. The way the brothers and sisters are should be the result of life, not of a performance. The Body of Christ is His expression.
Notice from these verses (vv. 22-23) that Christ has been made “Head over all things to the church, which is His Body.” The church is one with Christ, sharing and enjoying His headship. He has been made Head over all, and as His Body we are one with Him, enjoying His headship.
The church is also “the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (v. 23). This is hard to explain. Suppose we compare two brothers. One is much heavier than the other. The heavier one is fuller than the smaller one. The church is the fullness of Christ (4:13). Because this Christ is so vast that He fills all in all, He needs a great, universal Body. This Body is His fullness, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Consider how great the Body of Christ is. It is spread throughout the earth. It can be found in Europe, in North America, in the Far East, in Australasia, in Africa, and in South America. How vast is this Body!
In 1958 I was staying in London, England. One day a brother there took me to a huge greenhouse to show me the Queen’s vine. That vine filled the whole greenhouse. “Brother Lee,” the brother asked, “Have you ever seen such a great grapevine?” He was proud of that vine belonging to the British queen.
“Yes,” I replied, “I have seen a far greater one than this!” I reminded him of the vine in John 15, where the Lord Jesus said that He is the true vine and the believers are the branches.
Can you tell me how great this vine is? The Queen’s vine is insignificant compared to it. The vine in John 15 is universally great. The whole universe is its greenhouse. What fullness!
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was in only one place at a time. If He was in Samaria, He was not in Galilee. When He was in Bethlehem, He was not in Jerusalem. He was limited in time and in space. After His resurrection, however, all the limitations were done away. Now Christ is the vine that has spread to every corner of the earth. Even while He is here in Germany, He is also in Japan and Africa and everywhere else.
What is the fullness of Christ? It is the church. Sometimes someone will ask me, “Where is your church?” It is hard for me to answer. I want to say that my church is universally great. Does that sound like boasting? Do you realize how great the church is to us in the recovery? This church began in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost and is now spreading throughout the whole earth. This church is the fullness of the One who fills all things (Eph. 4:10).
The church is also the new man (2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10). There is a sense in which the whole human race is just one man. All the different peoples on earth comprise this one man, who in the Scripture is called the old man or Adam. God at the beginning did not create two men but only Adam. This one man was mankind. In Genesis 1:26-27 the whole human race was created.
But on the cross, through Christ and in Him, God created another man, a new man. This man is also corporate; we are included in him. Adam was the old man; Christ with the church is the new man. This new man is not only Christ but also the church. Christ is the Head of this universal man; the church is His Body.
As the body exists for the expression of the head, so the church as the Body of Christ is Christ’s expression. As man exists for the expression of God, so the church as the new man is God’s expression. The whole church is a corporate yet single man. There are many local churches all over Europe, yet altogether they are only one man. Throughout the earth today, this one universal man expresses God. As the Body, the church expresses Christ. As the new man, the church expresses God.
The modern conveniences available to us in the second half of the twentieth century have greatly facilitated the spread of the recovery. Saints from many nationalities can come together, correspond, and even converse by phone. Just recently in one afternoon I received phone calls from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Texas, all within the space of about twenty minutes. What a help these conveniences are for the new man! Even the messages given here are videotaped and can then be quickly sent out to all five continents; soon they will be seen in South America, Africa, Australasia, the Far East, and North America. Even one hundred years ago it took six months for a missionary to travel from the United States to China; some of them died soon after they arrived. Today it is possible to be in Beijing, China, within twenty-four hours and then to be back home within another twenty-four hours. How we praise the Lord for His sovereign rulership! He has arranged all these things for the good of the new man.
How wonderful that the church is a man and, at the same time, a bride (Eph. 5:23-27, 29-32)! Are we male or female?
For expressing God, we must be male. Sisters, I want to speak to you about your tears. As members of the new man, do not consider yourself female. Do not shed tears. They are a sign of the weaker vessel. In all these twenty or so years since I came to the Western world for the ministry, I have never shed a tear. This is because I am a man. Sisters, you must no longer be characterized by tears. You are members of the new man. From now on, no more tears.
When it comes to loving Christ, however, the church is the bride. In this sense, all the brothers are also female and should not act as men. Day by day we are the bride, loving Christ.
Here, then, is our twofold role. As the man, we daily tell God, “Father, we are the man, expressing You on the earth.” As the bride, we then turn to the Lord Jesus and say, “Lord, we want You to know that we love You. We are Your bride.” The man’s position is a matter of expression. The woman’s is a matter of love.
If you consider the first couple, you will remember that God did not create Eve. Eve was made from a rib of Adam. God built a wife for Adam from that bone. She was part of him. The church is likewise part of Christ. The two are one in nature, in life, and in existence. The church is not independent. Eve came from Adam and went back to him; they two became one flesh (Gen. 2:21-24). The church and Christ are one spirit. The church came out from Christ and goes back to Him. This relationship is one of love. Love issues in genuine oneness. If two cannot be one, it is due to a lack of love. The church and Christ are genuinely one, one spirit. This oneness is the expression of their love. The church, then, is Christ’s loving bride.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are His masterpiece.” The Greek word for masterpiece, poiema, can also be translated “workmanship” or “poem.” It conveys the thought of a piece of work that expresses its maker or author. The church is a poem. In the whole universe the church stands out as an expression of God’s wisdom; its design cannot be improved upon. It is like pleasant music or a lovely poem. What a matchless display of divine wisdom! Who can improve on this supreme handiwork of God?
When it comes to the way a building is designed, there can always be changes and improvements made. An architect often modifies his designs as he becomes aware of their shortcomings. But what God designs has no room for improvement. Man cannot imitate it. Any adjustment would be for the worse. Consider the way the human body was designed. What a work of art the facial pattern alone is! The placement of our two eyes, our two ears, our nose, and our lips makes a beautiful appearance. Our body with two shoulders, two lovely hands, and so forth is worthy of admiration. The church is a far greater, more magnificent design than the human body! The church is a poem declaring and demonstrating God’s wisdom and design.
Through Paul’s writings we know that the church is the mystery of Christ, the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all, the new man expressing God, the bride of Christ loving Him and being one with Him, and a poem expressing God’s wisdom and God’s design. How rich is our understanding of the church because of Paul’s completing ministry!
