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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:22-23; 4:13; 3:8; Rom. 10:12; Eph. 3:19; 5:18; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18
I. The church being the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all — Eph. 1:22-23; 4:13:
А. The church enjoying all the riches of Christ, the riches of God — 3:8; Rom. 10:12.
B. The church becoming the fullness of Christ, the expression of Christ and the enlargement of the expression of God in Christ — Eph. 3:19.
II. The believers’ transformation being for the fullness of God:
А. The believers being transformed by being filled in the spirit with the riches of all that God is — 5:18; Rom. 12:2.
B. The issue of the believers’ transformation being the image of God and thereby becoming the expression of the riches of God — Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18.
I would like to add a brief explanation concerning riches and fullness. The words riches and fullness do not refer to an object. Rather, these two nouns describe two different degrees of development. If we use the love of God as an example, the riches of God’s love are in the Father, and the fullness is in the Son. Based on this word, we must see that the love of God is the object and that riches and fullness are used to describe the degree of the development of God’s love. Riches refers to the initial development, and fullness refers to a further degree of development. Thus, in the Father, God’s love is in the degree of riches, and in the Son, God’s love develops from the degree of riches to the degree of fullness.
We must also touch a fundamental truth concerning the Divine Trinity. Our God is one, but He is also three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. This mystery has been preached for two thousand years. Bible expositors, teachers, and translators, as well as those who read the Bible have studied this subject extensively. I myself have spent over fifty years studying this matter, and now I can say in brief that the Father is the source, the Son is the course, the flowing out, and the Spirit is the flowing in. The Father is the source, what flows out from the Father is the Son, and what flows into us is the Spirit. This is a matter of development and can be compared to water flowing from an underground source. There is water at the source, there is water in the waterway, and when the water flows into a well, there is also water in the well. These are not three different kinds of water; there is only one kind of water.
In the previous chapter we did not say that God has three kinds of love, with one kind being in the Father, another in the Son, and still another in the Spirit. Instead, we said that God has only one kind of love. In the Father this love is the riches. When this love flows out in the Son, it is the fullness, and when it flows into us as the Spirit, it is bountiful. Hence, Philippians 1:19 speaks of “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.” When God’s attributes are in the Father, they are the riches, and when they are expressed in the Son, they are the fullness. As a result of what the Son accomplished, the riches flowing in the Spirit are applicable to us. As soon as we apply them, they become our bountiful supply.
The subject of this chapter is the church as the fullness of Christ. The word fullness is used three times in the book of Ephesians. The first time is in 1:22-23, where it says, “The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” The second time is in 3:19, which says, “That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God,” and the third time is in 4:13, which says, “Until we all arrive...at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” If my head is big, but my body is small, thin, and weak, then my body is not my fullness. But I thank the Lord that He gave me a body that is somewhat full. My body is my expression, my fullness.
God gained the fullness of His expression in the universe in the person of Jesus Christ. Before Christ came into the world, man could not see God’s fullness, even though God existed in the universe. Then one day God was incarnated to be the man Jesus Christ. He lived on the earth as a perfect man, and He was the complete God. He was manifested in the land of Judea as the fullness of God. However, the fullness could not be limited to the Lord or to Judea. Therefore, in the Gospel of John the Lord said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (12:24). The Lord likened Himself to a grain of wheat that remains as a single grain unless it dies. The Lord had to die in order to multiply; He died for the producing of His fullness.
The Lord Jesus gained His multiplication by passing through death and entering into resurrection, just like a grain of wheat that is sown into the ground dies and then grows out of the ground to bear many grains. The many grains are the multiplication of the one grain. They are the fullness, the expression of the one grain. In other words, the many grains are the thousands of believers who have believed into the Lord over the past two thousand years, including you and me. We are the multiplication of Christ. We are also the fullness of Christ, just as Christ is the fullness of God.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, some people went to the disciples because they wanted to see Jesus. If some people in Taiwan say that they want to see Jesus, where can we take them? We should not merely take them to the church. In addition, we should learn to say, “My friend, do you want to see Jesus? I have been with you for so long, and you still do not know that I am in Jesus, and Jesus is in me. When you see me, you see Jesus.”
When we were in Chefoo, there was a brother who worked at the telegraph office. He did not hold a high position, but when he contacted his colleagues, he gave them a good impression. As a result, his colleagues called him Jesus. It would be wonderful if the young people could contact their fellow students and their professors in such a way that they would be called Jesus. The kind of impression we give people depends on our appearance, our expression. During my initial time in the United States, because of the burden that the Lord gave me and the doors that He opened, I traveled from the east coast to the west coast and from the north to the south. During this time I was given hospitality in the home of an American who told me that I was neither like a Chinese nor like an American, but he could not say who I was like. Our expression gives people a certain impression.
The Bible says that the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Col. 2:9; 1:19). It also says that we are the fullness of Christ (Eph. 1:23; 3:19; 4:13). This is the highest and the deepest truth in the Bible. Whether in the East or in the West, all men have natural, religious, moral, and ethical concepts. They think that philosophy, religion, and classical writings are for the improvement of human behavior and the cultivation of our character. However, this is not what the Bible teaches. It is a huge mistake for us to understand the Bible in this way. We must set aside every natural, religious, moral, and ethical concept so that we can be like a blank piece of paper. Then the revelation in the Bible can be written on us.
Some may ask, “If the Bible does not speak about the improvement of behavior or the cultivation of character, what does it speak about?” First, the Bible speaks concerning God and His attributes, including life, light, love, kindness, holiness, righteousness, power, forbearance, considerateness, forgiveness, and tolerance. These attributes exist in God as His riches.
Second, the Bible speaks concerning Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God. In Christ the attributes of God develop from riches into the fullness. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the fullness of God; He is the manifestation of God. Jesus Christ and God are not two separate beings. Jesus Christ is the very God; He is the manifestation of God. He has brought all that God is into the realm of fullness for God to be clearly manifested among men.
Third, the Bible speaks concerning the accomplishments of Jesus Christ. Through His death on the cross He dealt with sin. This includes man’s sinful nature and sinful deeds. He also dealt with Satan and his power, the world, the old man, the flesh, and everything of the old creation. Through His all-inclusive death on the cross the Lord terminated all the negative things in the universe. Then He resurrected from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit. In His resurrection the Lord brought all His believers into resurrection and produced the new creation. Today everyone who believes in the Lord has an organic union with Him in their spirit. Jesus Christ, the manifestation of God, is now the Spirit of life in His believers. He is the fullness of God, the development of the riches of God, dwelling in the believers. Therefore, believers do not need to cultivate their character or improve their behavior. Believers are people who contact, receive, and gain the Lord daily. The Lord lives in them as the supply of life.
The Bible is not a book of empty doctrines. It reveals a real person, Christ. He is the real and living Spirit of life within the believers. He is not doctrine, philosophy, or teaching. This Spirit, as the daily inner supply of the believers, is not only rich but is also full. Therefore, believers do not receive messages of doctrine or teachings; we receive the real and living Spirit. As we daily receive Him, He becomes the bountiful spiritual supply within us. This supply is the spiritual element that transforms us metabolically.
If I am sickly and weak and have a pale complexion, I can use powder to change my pale complexion to a rosy complexion. However, my complexion will not be rosy if I do not apply powder every day. This can be compared to cultivating our character, which involves outward self-improvement. The proper way to change our complexion is to eat nutritious food daily so that our metabolism is activated, and our complexion spontaneously becomes rosy. The more nutrients we eat, the more active our blood circulation becomes and the more we are supplied from within.
Some may ask where we can find the word metabolism in the New Testament. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” The Greek word for transformation implies metabolism. As we behold and reflect the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the glorious image of the Lord. Furthermore, we progress from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. This is transformation.
The Bible does not speak about cultivating our character. Character cultivation is the teaching of ancient Chinese philosophers; it is not the revelation of the Bible. The Bible reveals the metabolic process of transformation, and metabolism requires the addition of a new element. If nutrients are not added to our body, metabolism cannot take place. The Bible does not speak about cultivating our character; rather, it tells us that we must take in Christ daily and be filled with Him.
I was born in China and received a Chinese education; therefore, I learned the teachings of Confucius and other Chinese philosophers. I was also influenced by Chinese familial and social traditions. These teachings and traditions are good for improving one’s behavior. When I was a child, my mother constantly taught and exhorted me not to lose my temper, not to speak too much, not to do this, and not to do that. Even though I accepted her exhortations, I was not always able to apply them. I was saved when I was about twenty. After my salvation, I loved the Bible and read it diligently. Whenever I read the Bible, I was filled with unspeakable joy and peace. I also loved to pray, even though I did not know how to pray. I simply said, “Heavenly Father, You love me. Thank You that Your Son Jesus Christ died for me.” Whenever I prayed, I experienced calm.
Through reading the Bible and praying daily, I dropped habits that I had had for more than ten years without others urging me to drop them. Since I was twelve or thirteen years old, playing soccer and watching Peking opera were my two hobbies. I could do without other things, but I could not stop playing soccer. However, because I read the Bible and prayed every day, I stopped playing soccer and watching the opera.
After my salvation I experienced two kinds of Christian life. The first kind was the tradition of self-improvement that I had kept prior to my salvation. Sometimes after being scolded, I lost my temper, but after losing my temper, I would regret and make up my mind never to lose my temper again. However, even the apostle Paul said, “To will is present with me, but to work out the good is not” (Rom. 7:18). The next time my mother scolded me, I would try to endure it, but eventually I would explode. This is the life of cultivating one’s character. The second kind of life was to read the Bible in the morning and pray earnestly. When I did this, regardless of how much I was scolded, I enjoyed the Lord. This is transformation.
The young saints need to see that the Christian life is not a matter of cultivating character. The Christian life is a matter of transformation. To be transformed we need a new element. This element is the real and living Lord. In Him God’s attributes and the riches of all that God is become the fullness. Furthermore, as the Spirit, the Lord has become our bountiful supply. We need to love Him, fellowship with Him, read His Word, pray to Him, and always call on His name, which is to breathe Him in. In this way we receive His element into us. This element will have a metabolic effect within us to transform us.
Through transformation we become the expression of Christ. This means that we are transformed in order to be filled with Christ, and the issue of our being filled is that we become His fullness. Just as Christ is the fullness of God for the expression of God, by being filled with Christ we become His fullness for His expression. This fullness is not individualistic; it is corporate. If you are filled with Christ, I am filled with Christ, and every believer of the Lord Jesus is filled with Christ, then when we gather together, we are the church, the fullness of Christ. This is what Ephesians 1:22-23 says: “The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” The fullness and the Body in verse 23 are one thing; the Body of Christ is the fullness, and the fullness is the Body of Christ.
We belong to Christ, and by our receiving Him daily, He fills us until we are transformed into the fullness of Christ. Then we corporately become the church, which is the Body of Christ and the fullness of Christ for His expression. The expression of the fullness is not the result of cultivating our character. It is the result of our enjoying and receiving Christ. As we daily receive and enjoy Christ, our whole being is filled, saturated, with His spiritual elements. These elements are His essence; they are what He is, His attributes, and His virtues. This is expressed in Hymns, #501: “Thy Spirit will me saturate, / Every part will God permeate.” When every part of our being is permeated with God, we become the fullness of God and of Christ.
This is the Lord’s salvation, not our behavior. This is His transformation, not our improvement. We need to see this great revelation. We need to abandon the natural, religious, moral, ethical, and philosophical concepts and receive this revelation. We have God, we have Christ, and we have the Spirit. We have the Spirit within and the Bible without. We can daily read the Bible and constantly receive the Spirit. We breathe in what God is to allow Him to fill us again and again as the fresh, supplying element. By doing this, we will experience a metabolic process and be transformed in our whole being to become the fullness of Christ for His expression. This expression is the church. Hallelujah! This is salvation, and this is also transformation.
