Search
Date: February 10, 1972
Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:14-16; 4:22-24; Col. 3:9b-11; Eph. 3:16-19
Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians reveals that Christ is the second man, who passed through death and resurrection, becoming the life-giving Spirit (vv. 45, 47) and entering into us to be our life. In this chapter we will consider the third man, the one new man. The third man in the Bible is the church, the corporate one new man. In Christianity few have seen that the church is a corporate man, and even fewer speak of the church in this regard. Although it is common for people to speak about “going to church,” as if the church were a building like a chapel, this is a low and erroneous concept. A chapel is something without life, but the church is living. The church as the Body of Christ is the highest and most spiritual aspect of the church in the Bible. Although there are other designations for the church, such as the called-out ones and the gathering of the called-out ones, these expressions are not as deep as the Body of Christ.
The book of Ephesians shows that the church as the Body of Christ is a man. This is based on 2:14-15, which says, “He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man.” Enmity refers to the law of the commandments in ordinances, and both refers to Jewish and Gentile believers. Christ abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances on the cross, that is, the enmity between men, so that He might create both Jewish and Gentile believers in Himself into one new man. From these two groups, the Lord created one new man in Himself. This proves that the one new man is not an individual but a corporate man.
Verse 16 continues: “And might reconcile both in one Body to God.” Many know that the church is the Body, but few see that the church is one new man. However, verses 15 and 16 show that the one new man in verse 15 is the Body in verse 16, and that the Body in verse 16 is the one new man in verse 15. Chapter 1 speaks of the church as His Body (vv. 22-23), and verses 15 and 16 of chapter 2 show that this Body is one new man. Therefore, the church is not only the Body of Christ but also one new man.
There are distinctions between the Body and the one new man. Because there is life within the human body, our body is a part of us, but the life that we have is also related to a person. We have life, and we are a person. Although a tree is a living entity, we cannot say that a tree is a person. However, human beings are both living entities and persons. Within our body there is life, and within our human being there is a person. A person can experience pain, be angry, and cry out when he is hit by another person, but a tree does not experience pain, become angry, or cry out when it is hit. It has no sense of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy. Neither does it have a preference, a will, or a mind. We cannot say that it is not living, because its growth proves that it is alive. However, it has only life; it has no person. Human beings are different because a human being is also a person. Human beings can be angry, laugh, and think. Similarly, the church is more than the Body of Christ with Christ as its life; it is also the one new man with Christ as its person.
Christ is not only in us to be our life; He is in us to be our person. Hence, Ephesians 3:17 speaks of Christ making His home in our hearts. Making home is a matter related to being a person. When we buy a table and place it in our home, we do not say that the table has made its home in our home. However, if I come to live in your home, this would involve my making home in your home. A wooden table has no person, and consequently, it is unable to make home in our home. Even if it is a beautiful table, it will feel nothing if it is kicked. In contrast, I could live in your home and even make my home in your home because I am a person. Being a person is higher than simply having life. The church is not only the Body of Christ with Christ as its life; the church is also the one new man with Christ as its person.
When the first man failed, God came to be the second man, Jesus. With Him there was no failure related to God’s purpose for man. Jesus expressed God, dealt with Satan, redeemed sinners, became the dwelling place of God, and even became food for us to serve God as priests. Even though He was successful in every way, He was an individual man in His human living. However, God wants a corporate man, not an individual man. Genesis 1:26 says, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them...” In Hebrew man is singular because God created one man, Adam. Although God created one man, the pronoun that refers to this one man in the verse is not the singular him but the plural them. How many men did God create? Acts 17:26 says, “He made from one every nation of men.” This shows that God originally created one man, not many; nevertheless, this man is a corporate man.
Adam is a corporate man; Adam’s descendants were all included in him. If Adam had died of an accident on the second day of his creation, we would not be here. Adam was a corporate man, but the Lord Jesus was an individual man while He was on the earth. However, as a grain of wheat, He fell into the ground and died in order to bear much fruit (John 12:24). As a grain of wheat the Lord Jesus died and rose in resurrection to produce us as many grains. As many grains that have been blended together, we have become a corporate new man in Christ. Individuals cannot accomplish God’s purpose; therefore, God wants a corporate man. God’s purpose cannot be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus as just an individual. Therefore, He passed through death and resurrection in order to bring forth many grains to produce a corporate man in Himself.
In Christ the church is a corporate man composed of all who are saved; hence, no believer can be an independent individual. The church life consists of members of the Body of Christ, not independent individuals. On the surface it seems as if we are complete persons and even independent individuals. For example, I can speak, and you can speak. I can walk, and you can walk. I can hear, and you can hear; whatever I can do, you can do as well. In the church life, however, we are members, each of whom has a respective function, and not all the members have the same function (Rom. 12:4). A hand is a member, an ear is a member, and an arm is also a member. The hand can do only what a hand can do. If it wants to walk, it must depend on the feet. So Brother Hand needs to say to the feet, “Brothers, if you do not walk, I cannot move.” Then Brother Foot may say, “Brother Hand, if you do not take the bread, I cannot receive the supply.” Brother Hand then may say, “Brother Mouth, if you do not eat the bread, we still cannot receive the supply.” Then Brother Mouth will say to the eyes, “Sisters, we want to eat, but if you do not look, we will not be able to eat either.” Every member needs the other members.
Since we are members, we cannot be individualistic. It is easy for sisters to be individualistic. When they are angry, for example, they only want to be left alone. When I was young, I was full of energy and wanted to do everything by myself. I am not this way now. The more a person grows in the Lord, the more he feels a need for the other members. Without other members, many things will be left undone. If I am a mouth, I can only eat and speak; for everything else, I must depend on others.
According to the human life and nature, we all have a need for community. Our nature produces a desire within us to live and have a community life with others. This is a need that God created within man. People flock together by nature and need to live a community life. It is part of human nature to want to live with others in a community. However, because Satan injected his corrupt nature into man through the fall, man has a difficult time getting along with others. It is very easy for us to be in conflict with others. This is possible even among believers. On the one hand, we recognize our need for the brothers and sisters and sense a sweetness when we are with them, but on the other hand, it is easy to judge and criticize them. We need the Lord. His humanity is the meal offering, which is seasoned with salt (Lev. 2:13); the “germ-killing” function of the salt acts as a “spiritual antibiotic.” The more we eat the Lord Jesus, the more the Lord kills our “germs” and removes the negative elements, such as bitterness.
Human beings need to live together in a social setting, but society is filled with all kinds of wickedness because of the corruption in our human nature. However, those of us who eat the Lord Jesus have the church, and in the church these evil “germs” are killed by the “germ-killing” element in the Lord Jesus as our meal offering. If we do not eat the Lord Jesus and do not pray-read the Word, we will have problems in the church. If those who live in the brothers’ and sisters’ houses do not eat Jesus and pray-read the Lord’s Word, problems will quickly arise. When a brother and a sister are married, they should eat the Lord Jesus and pray-read the Lord’s Word together. They must eat the Lord Jesus in order to live the married life. This will kill any “germs.” Since we live in a social setting but have been poisoned by the fall, we must enjoy Christ to let Christ kill the “germs” within us. Additionally, because the Lord Jesus’ life is not an individual life but a corporate life, the more we eat the Lord, the more we will desire to live with the brothers and sisters in the church life.
Satan’s subtlety is to divide men, and he uses ordinances related to our living to accomplish this. Different nations and people have different ordinances related to their living. The greatest distinction in this regard is between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews have numerous dietary regulations that separate them from Gentiles. In addition to the Jews, however, every ethnic group has particular ordinances, and sometimes there are even different ordinances within an ethnic group. For example, in China there are great differences between southern and northern Chinese. The Chinese who live in the south like to eat rice-based foods, while those in the north like to eat wheat-based foods. Those who live in the south regard those who live in the north as barbarians, and those in the north also regard those who live in the south as barbarians. Americans also have different ordinances based on where they live. Those who live in the north look down upon those who live in Texas, and those who live in Texas do not like those who live in the north. Various ordinances related to living cause people to be divided, and it is the same with language. When someone from Foochow meets a fellow countryman abroad who speaks with a Foochow dialect, he has a sweet and friendly feeling toward him. Those who speak with a Shanghai dialect feel quite happy when they encounter someone who speaks the same dialect. In the end, those who speak with a Foochow dialect and those who speak with a Shanghai dialect form separate groups that are divided from other groups. Thus, ordinances related to living and language divide people.
Ephesians 2 tells us that on the cross the Lord Jesus abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances and broke down the middle wall of partition separating Jews and Gentiles, slaying the enmity. This enmity is equal to the ordinances. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, there is no longer any distinction between Jews and Gentiles who have believed into Christ. Similarly, in Christ there are no distinctions between the Chinese who live in the south and those who live in the north and even between Chinese and Japanese. All the differences have been nailed to the cross. The cross has terminated every distinction based on nationality. In order to live the church life, we must see that the ordinances related to our natural living have been abolished on the cross. Since the enmity has been fully slain by the Lord, there should be no separation based on nationality or region, such as Americans or Chinese and southern or northern Chinese. Every separating ordinance has been nailed to the cross.
When the Lord abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances on the cross, He created in Himself one new man out of Jews and Gentiles, Americans and Chinese, and so forth. Today everything natural has been abolished in Him. Consequently, after speaking in chapter 2 of the one new man, verse 22 of chapter 4 says, “Put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man.” We need to put off the old man, which is our former manner of life. All manners of life concern societies and communities. Without a community there is no manner of life; the more we have a social life, the more we will have a manner of life. By ourselves, we have no manner of life. For example, a person does not need to honor his parents if he has none, or rear children if he has none, or love his wife if he has none. Without a community life there is no need for a manner of life. Therefore, our manner of life is a matter of community.
To put off, as regards the former manner of life, the old man, is to put off our old social way of living. Formerly, we were part of a social group with whom we participated in unfit things. That was our old man, as regards our former manner of life. Now that we are saved, we have put off that manner of life. Verse 24 continues, saying, “Put on the new man.” The new man is the church life. We put on the church life by being fellow members with the brothers and sisters, by loving one another, and by singing and psalming with our heart to the Lord (5:19). To put off the old man and to put on the new man are to put off our former social and community living and to put on the church life, to live in the church life. When we live in the church life, we will have no desire to hold on to anything but the church life, and we would be empty and full of bitterness without the church life.
The young people who live in brothers’ and sisters’ houses will always have some trouble living together because our human nature still exists, and it irritates others. Nevertheless, it is truly sweet when all are in spirit and enjoying the Lord together. Therefore, in order to put off the old man and to put on the new man, we need to eat Christ so that He can grow in us. Otherwise, our putting off will be painful rather than enjoyable. When parents discipline their children, it is always a painful matter to the children and even to the parents. Parents often are angry when discipline is needed, and children also resist the discipline of their parents. By eating Christ and letting Christ grow in us, we will spontaneously put off the old man and put on the new man. This is like the transformation of a silkworm into a butterfly. When a silkworm grows, the cocoon is spontaneously shed.
In the church we have to lead people to eat Christ. The more we eat Christ, the more He will make His home in our heart. Furthermore, Christ spontaneously becomes our person as our old manner of life is put off. It is useless to tell others to be humble and overcoming, but if we help them to eat and enjoy Christ, they will spontaneously experience these things. The way that the Lord leads us is practical as well as simple. We have heard many doctrines and tried many methods, but today the Lord has given us the simple way of eating, drinking, and enjoying the Lord. The Lord is edible. He is in the Spirit, and He is in the Word. The Spirit is in us, and the Word is in our mouth. If we pray-read and digest the Lord’s Word every day, the Lord will make His home in our hearts. Thus, the Lord will not only become our life but also our person. As a result, we will see the reality of all the saints being the one new man. We are a part of this new man, and we can apprehend what the breadth and length and height and depth are only with all the saints (3:18). The breadth and length and height and depth are the dimensions of the universe. Christ is the breadth, Christ is the length, Christ is the height, and Christ is the depth. The universe is limitless; no one can say clearly how broad the breadth is, how long the length is, how high the height is, and how deep the depth is. These signify Christ and His boundlessness. Christ is the breadth and length and height and depth of the universe. Even though He is immeasurable, He can be enjoyed by us. When we enjoy Him, we are filled unto all the fullness of God (v. 19), which is the expression of all God’s riches.
Eating, drinking, and enjoying the Lord cause us to be full of Christ, and this is the church. Our being in Adam, in the flesh, and even in our self, that is, in our prejudices, religious concepts, and natural thoughts, has been dealt with in Christ. Now Christ can saturate us to the point that we are filled unto all the fullness of God. This is the one new man, which is the reality of the church life. The one new man accomplishes God’s purpose and will defeat God’s enemy to bring in the kingdom and bring the Lord back so that we can reign together with Him. This is God’s will, and this is the role of the third man — the church as the one new man — in the Bible.
