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Week 12 — Day 1
Eph. 3:9 And to enlighten 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.
1 Cor. 15:45 ...The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Today is the dispensation, the age, of the church. The next age is the age of the kingdom of a thousand years. The church is for now; the church is for today. God’s goal is to have a church today, a church in this dispensation, a church on this earth. Many dear saints throughout the centuries received light on many things in the Bible, but they missed the mark of God’s divine economy and the goal of God’s eternal purpose. The Lord desires to fulfill His purpose and to make His goal so clear to all His loving seekers.167
If you would be a proper Christian, you need to see not only the vision of Christ but also the vision of the church. You need to see that God’s desire is to have the church.... All that God does is for the church, and every kind of work and ministry should be for the church....All other things are secondary. The primary thing is that the church is God’s heart’s desire.168
[In this portion we shall cover the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy — the church, the formation of the church, the two aspects of the church, the intrinsic essence and significance of the church, the building of the church, and twelve descriptions of the church.]
What is a mystery? We may say that a mystery is a mysterious story. A mystery, a mysterious story, was hidden in the eternal God and in His eternal oikonomia [economy; see Introduction, pp. 139-141].169 Ephesians 3:9 talks about...the economy of the mystery, “which throughout the ages has been hidden in God.”...This mystery was hidden in God throughout the ages (that is, from eternity) and through all past ages, but now it has been brought to light to the New Testament believers....God opened up His heart to show the apostles His hidden mystery, especially to the apostle Paul.170 This mystery, this mysterious story, is the church.
God’s eternal economy...is an eternal plan; it is also a purpose....According to Ephesians 3:11, God’s eternal purpose is the “purpose of the ages” [lit.]. The purpose of the ages is the purpose of eternity, the eternal purpose, the eternal plan of God made in eternity past....[Moreover,] God’s eternal purpose is of His will....At this point we need to ask what God’s will is....God’s will is what God wants.... What does God want? God wants the church. God wants us for the church. [In addition,] we need to see that God’s will is according to God’s good pleasure (1:9). God’s good pleasure is His heart pleasure, which we may call the desire of His heart....God’s purpose, God’s will, and God’s good pleasure are interrelated....First, God had a pleasure, a desire. Then He determined [purposed] to carry out this desire, and this became God’s will, what God wants....Furthermore, all this is a mystery, a hidden, mysterious story. This indicates that the church is...God’s desire, God’s good pleasure, [and the mystery in God’s economy].171
We need to realize that none of us is qualified to form the church. Only the Lord Jesus is qualified for this. In Matthew 16:18 He says, “I will build My church.” He is the unique One who is qualified to form the church.
In order for Christ to form the church it was necessary for Him to pass through death and enter into resurrection.172 [Before]...the Lord Jesus...passed through death for man’s sin and...entered into resurrection...He was still in the flesh and could not enter into people to be their life. But in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit [1 Cor. 15:45], and now He can come into the believers to impart life to them.173
Week 12 — Day 2
1 Cor. 12:13 ...In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks...
Eph. 4:4 One Body and one Spirit...
On the day of His resurrection,...after showing the disciples “His hands and His side” (John 20:20), the Lord “breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 22)....[Then] after appearing to His disciples for a period of forty days, the Lord Jesus ascended to the heavens. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, He, having again received the consummated Spirit, poured out this Spirit upon all His disciples.174
The Bible clearly shows us that the Holy Spirit is with us in two aspects.175 In the Lord’s resurrection the Spirit of resurrection life is likened to breath, breathed into the disciples (John 20:22) for their spiritual being and living essentially. In the Lord’s ascension the Spirit of ascension power, poured upon the disciples, is symbolized...by the wind and is for the disciples’ ministry and move economically [Acts 2:2]. The essential Spirit of resurrection life is for the believers to live Christ; the economical Spirit of ascension power is for them to carry out His commission.176
Now we can see that the church was formed by two steps. The first step was the Lord’s breathing the Spirit into the believers for their spiritual existence and being. The second step was the Lord’s pouring out Himself as the consummated Spirit upon the believers, baptizing them into one Body....The outpouring of the Spirit is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. To the Holy Spirit it is an outpouring, but to Christ the Head it is a baptism. The Lord Jesus referred to the baptism in the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:5....This has been accomplished in two sections involving the Jewish believers [on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem (2:1-4)] and the Gentile believers [in the house of Cornelius in Caesarea (10:24, 44-48)]. Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks.” Since the Spirit is the sphere and element of our spiritual baptism and in the Spirit we were all baptized into one organic entity, the Body of Christ, so we should all, regardless of our races, nationalities, and social ranks, be this one Body. It is in the one Spirit that we were all baptized into the one living Body to express Christ.177
The church is formed not only with all the believers as the extrinsic form but also with Christ as the intrinsic constituent....The Christ constituted into us is the church. The church is the constitution of the resurrected Christ, who embodies the reality of the Triune God. Therefore, the church is a living constitution of the Triune God who has been wrought into our humanity.178 In Ephesians 4:4-6 there is a record or a portrait of this constitution. Verse 4 says, “One Body and one Spirit.” The one Body is the structure, the frame, and within this frame there is the one Spirit, who is the essence. The one Lord is the element (v. 5), and the one Father is the source (v. 6)....A group of chosen human beings becomes the very structure, the very frame, of this constitution, and they are constituted with the Triune God as the essence, element, and source. In the universe there is such a wonderful constitution, and this constitution is the church as the organism of the Triune God for Him to move, to act, to fulfill His purpose, and to express Himself.179
In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul addresses “the church of God which is in Corinth.”...In nature [constitution, and content] the church is universal in God, but in [expression and] practice the church is local in a definite place.180 Without the local churches, there is no practicality and actuality of the universal church. The universal church is realized in the local churches.181 Universally, all the churches are one Body, and locally, every local church is a local expression of that universal Body. Therefore, a local church is not the Body but only a part of the Body, an expression of the Body.182
Week 12 — Day 3
John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side...and immediately there came out blood and water.
1 John 4:13 In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.
When we speak of the essence of anything, we are referring to its most intrinsic part. Regarding the church, the most important positive factor is its intrinsic essence. Many in Christianity have made the church something outward. When some speak of the church, they mean a physical building. If they speak of going to church, they mean going to a chapel or cathedral or some kind of sanctuary....While others are somewhat improved in their concept, they still pay too much attention to the outward aspects of the church, such as its organization.183
When God created man, He did not create two persons; He created only one man by the name of Adam....[Then] God arranged for Adam to have an increase. Eve did not come into being separate from Adam or originate outside of Adam. Eve was made from a part of Adam [Gen. 2:21-22].184 Eve is a picture of the church. The church came out of Christ as a part of Christ.185 One day God put Christ to sleep on the cross. According to the Scriptures to sleep simply means to die (John 11:13; Matt. 27:52). When God caused Christ to die on the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His side, and blood and water flowed out (John 19:34).186 Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins (1:29; Heb. 9:22) for the purchasing of the church (Acts 20:28). Water is for imparting life, to deal with death (John 12:24; 3:14-15) for the producing of the church (Eph. 5:29-30).187 [Therefore,] the divine life, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, is the essence of the church.188
[Furthermore,] we need to see what the church is.189 The church is the issue of the Triune God: the Father embodied in the Son, the Son realized as the Spirit, and the Spirit mingled with us.190 When God issues out, He becomes the church....The intrinsic significance of the church, from the entire New Testament, is that the church is God’s total reproduction, God’s continuation, God’s increase, God’s full growth, and God’s rich surplus....Such a high vision of the church needs us to pray, “Lord, give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to see and to know what Your church is.”191
In Genesis 28...Jacob saw a ladder in his dream and heard God’s promise to him. After he woke up, he took the stone, which he had used as a pillow, and set it up as a pillar. Then he poured oil on top of it, saying, “This stone... will be God’s house” (v. 22)....What is the meaning of pouring oil upon the pillar of stone? When we come to the New Testament, we can see its meaning clearly....In the Scriptures oil signifies the Holy Spirit and...a stone denotes a saved person. The Lord Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). In Greek Peter means “a stone.” Peter himself also told us that all the saved ones are living stones being built up as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5a). Hence, we can see that oil being poured upon a stone signifies that God is poured upon man, that God is mingled with man....When God as the Spirit comes upon and into His redeemed people, the two are mingled together. This is the house of God, the dwelling place of God.192 Without man, God is a wandering God, a homeless God. In the same way, without God, man is a wandering man, a homeless man. Therefore, God intends to have a building in this universe in which God is built into man and man is built into God, so that God and man, man and God, can be a mutual abode to each other [1 John 4:13]....God Himself being mingled with man — this is the church....This is the house of God. Here God has a home, and man has a habitation. Here God has a place of rest, and man also has a place of satisfaction. This is God’s building.193
Week 12 — Day 4
Eph. 2:10 For we are His masterpiece...
Gal. 6:16 And as many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them and mercy, even upon the Israel of God.
1 Pet. 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God among you...
The mystery of God in Colossians 2:2 is Christ; the mystery of Christ in Ephesians 3:4 is the church.194 All the “stories” of God are related to Christ, and all the “stories” of Christ are related to the church. The church came out of Christ; the church is also the expression of Christ.195 God is a mystery, and Christ, as the embodiment of God to express Him, is the mystery of God. Christ also is a mystery, and the church, as the Body of Christ to express Him, is the mystery of Christ. This mystery is God’s economy, which is to dispense Christ, as the embodiment of God, into God’s chosen people in order to produce a Body to be the increase of God’s embodiment in Christ, that God may have a corporate expression.196
The Greek word [for masterpiece in Ephesians 2:10], poiema, means something that has been made, a handiwork, or something that has been written or composed as a poem. Not only a poetic writing may be considered a poem, but also any work of art that expresses the maker’s wisdom and design. We, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work, are a poem expressing God’s infinite wisdom and divine design.
The heavens, the earth, and man, created by God, are not God’s masterpiece; but the church, the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (1:23), the corporate and universal new man (2:15), is a masterpiece.197 This masterpiece of God was created in Christ through His death and resurrection with His divine element in its all-inclusiveness. This is why this masterpiece is a poem.198 The phrase “we are His masterpiece” indicates that we are His best; there cannot be any better.199
In the Old Testament God had a people to be His testimony, expressing Him. This was the nation of Israel. In the New Testament the real Israel of God is the church. “Israel of God” is the term Paul uses in Galatians 6:16.
There is today the nation of Israel. This is Israel in the flesh. It is not the real Israel. The real Israel of God today is the church. Thus there are two Israels: the one in the flesh, located in what was called Palestine, and the one in the Spirit, to which we belong. Paul tells us that as many as walk according to the rule of the new creation [which is to walk by the Spirit (5:25)] are the Israel of God.200 They... express God’s image, and execute God’s authority, and are typified by Jacob, who was transformed into Israel, a prince of God and a victor (Gen. 32:27-28).201
We are the Israel of God in spirit. All the blessings promised by God in the Bible are our portion because we are the church.202
[In 1 Peter 5:2,] literally, the Greek word rendered “flock” is “little flock.” This refers to the church of God (Acts 20:28),203 which is little in number (Luke 12:32) compared with the world. The church as the little flock is a little herb for the supply of life, not a big tree for birds to lodge in (Matt. 13:31-32 and notes), not a huge religion like Christendom.204 In today’s Christendom, there are many evil persons, evil things, and evil matters. Christendom has become a big tree producing no fruit, but having become a lodging place for so many evil things....Although Christianity has become a big tree, in Luke 12 the Lord Jesus called His church the “little flock.” We should not be in the big tree, but remain in the little flock.205 [Here] as the Shepherd, He...feeds His flock.206 Here one can find food and rest.207
Week 12 — Day 5
1 Tim. 3:15 ...The house of God, which is the church of the living God...
Eph. 2:19 ...You are fellow citizens with the saints...
1:22-23 ...The church, which is His Body...
[In the New Testament, the word] church (Matt. 16:18; 18:17) in Greek is ekklesia, composed of two words: ek, out, and kaleo, called; the two words put together mean the called out congregation, or the assembly of the called ones. Hence, according to the literal sense of the word, the church is the assembly of those called out of the world by God.208 There must be a great and thorough separation between the church as the ekklesia and the world as the system, the cosmos, of Satan. As the assembly, the church is separated entirely for God so that He may have a means to carry out His eternal purpose.209
In the Old Testament both the tabernacle and the holy temple were called the house of God (Judg. 18:31; 1 Kings 6:1), which was a type of the church. The word house both in the original language and in the English language has two meanings: on one hand, it refers to the household, and on the other hand, it refers to the dwelling place....[As the household of God] the church is the composition of the believers...who are born of God, having God’s life and nature. Hence, they become members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19), the family of God....[As] the house of God, [the church is also] the dwelling place of God on earth, the place in which God can have His rest and put His trust. Hence, the church is the dwelling place of God in spirit (v. 22). In this dwelling place God lives and moves to accomplish His will and satisfy His heart’s desire.210
Ephesians 2:19 affords us the basis for saying that the church today is God’s kingdom.211 Fellow citizens with the saints [in this verse] indicates the kingdom of God. All the believers, Jewish and Gentile, are citizens in God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is a sphere in which He exercises His authority....God’s house is a matter of life and enjoyment; all believers are born of God into His house to enjoy His riches. God’s kingdom is a matter of right and responsibility; all believers born into the house of God have the civil rights of and obligations in the kingdom of God.212
When a person is regenerated and born into the house of God, he enters into the kingdom of God (John 3:5). When he lives a life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit in the church, he is in the reality of the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17). When he labors and works for the church according to God’s intention, he labors and works for the kingdom of God (Col. 4:11). Thus, the church is the kingdom of God.213
The Bible shows us that Christ with the church is one great person. Christ is the Head, and the church is the Body [Eph. 1:22-23].214
God planned the church for the purpose of expressing Christ....The only way for the church to be the expression of Christ is for the church to be the Body of Christ.
The New Testament reveals clearly that the Body is one with the Head, Christ. If we do not have the Head, we cannot have the Body. We must honor Christ’s headship and apply it to the practicality of today’s church life.
The church as the Body implies life and function. The Body is a living organism. If it did not have life, it could no longer be the Body.215 Every part of the Body must have the life of Christ and an organic relationship with Christ.216 It also must have function, the function of all the members. If we are sincere in saying that we are the church, then we must all function as members of the Body. Therefore, the Body of Christ has the three crucial matters of the Head, the life, and the function.217
Week 12 — Day 6
Eph. 4:24 ...Put on the new man...
6:11 Put on the whole armor of God...
Rev. 1:12 ...I saw seven golden lampstands.
The church is also the new man.218 Ephesians 2:14-16 shows us that Christ’s death on the cross abolished the barriers between the Jews and the Gentiles, breaking down the middle wall of partition between them, that in the salvation of the power of His life the two may become one Body, which is the one corporate new man, the church.219 Then in Ephesians 4:22-24 we are told to put off the old man and to put on the new man. This new man is the Body of Christ. To put on the new man means to live a life by the Body....We should put off the old man with the old social life, and we should put on the new man, the church.220 What then is the difference between the Body and the new man?...The Body of Christ is a matter of life, whereas the new man is a matter of person....Both the life and the person are Christ....On the one hand, the church is the Body of Christ, and we take Christ as our life to act, to work, and to bear responsibilities. On the other hand, the church is the new man, and we take Christ as our person to make plans and to decide on how we should live. Whether it is the Body or the new man, whether in working and moving or in living and in deciding, everything is corporate; nothing is individual.221
In his exhortation in Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul presents the church as the counterpart of Christ. This reveals that the church is actually a part of Christ, for the church comes out of Christ and is unto Christ, just as Eve came out of Adam and was unto Adam (Gen. 2:21-23).
The church is the bride, the wife, of Christ, who is the Bridegroom [John 3:29], the Husband....To us He should be the attraction, the pleasure, and the satisfaction....In 2 Corinthians 11:2...we see that Christ is the believers’ Husband, the unique Husband for us to love....Now we should care only for Him, allowing nothing to replace Him in our hearts. Our love for Him should be pure, and our whole being should be focused on Him.222
In [Ephesians] chapter six we see that the church is a warrior to defeat God’s enemy, the devil. In order to fight the spiritual warfare, we need both the power of the Lord and also the whole armor of God. The church is a corporate warrior, and the believers are parts of this unique warrior. We must fight the spiritual warfare in the Body, not individually.223 It is the plural you that must put on the whole armor of God, not the singular you. Satan is not afraid of individuals. He is afraid of the church....We must meet the devil on the ground of the Body. Even in our private prayers we should stand by faith on the ground of the Body.224
The book of Revelation shows us...the golden lampstands, the churches, in chapter one....Every local church is a golden lampstand (v. 20).225 The seed of the revelation concerning the golden lampstand is sown in Exodus 25. Then in 1 Kings 7 it sprouts; in Zechariah 4 it is developed; and finally in Revelation it is harvested....[The picture in Exodus 25] first shows us that the substance of the golden lampstand is pure gold; second, that the one piece of gold is beaten into a golden lampstand with a form; and third, that the golden lampstand has seven lamps. The meaning is this: First, according to biblical typology, gold signifies the nature of God....Second, the form of the lampstand signifies Christ. The incarnated Christ is God’s form, God’s solid expression [Col. 2:9]....Third,...the seven lamps of the golden lampstand in the book of Zechariah are the seven Spirits of God in Revelation [4:5]. Hence, the seven lamps signify the expression and shining of the Spirit....In other words, the testimony of the church is the solid expression of the Triune God.226
1. In the bosom of the Father,
Ere the ages had begun,
Thou wast in the Father’s glory,
God’s unique begotten Son.
When to us the Father gave Thee,
Thou in person wast the same,
All the fulness of the Father
In the Spirit to proclaim.
2. By Thy death and resurrection,
Thou wast made God’s firstborn Son;
By Thy life to us imparting,
Was Thy duplication done.
We, in Thee regenerated,
Many sons to God became;
Truly as Thy many brethren,
We are as Thyself the same.
3. Once Thou wast the only grain, Lord,
Falling to the earth to die,
That thru death and resurrection
Thou in life may multiply.
We were brought forth in Thy nature
And the many grains became;
As one loaf we all are blended,
All Thy fulness to proclaim.
4. We’re Thy total reproduction,
Thy dear Body and Thy Bride,
Thine expression and Thy fulness,
For Thee ever to abide.
We are Thy continuation,
Thy life-increase and Thy spread,
Thy full growth and Thy rich surplus,
One with Thee, our glorious Head.
1. The Church is Christ’s own Body,
The Father’s dwelling-place,
The gath’ring of the called ones,
God blended with man’s race;
Elect before creation,
Redeemed by Calv’ry’s death,
Her character and standing
Of heaven, not of earth.
2. New man of new creation,
Born through her risen Lord,
Baptized in God the Spirit,
Made holy by His Word;
Christ is her life and content,
Himself her glorious Head;
She has ascended with Him
O’er all her foes to tread.
3. Christ is her one foundation,
None other man may lay;
All that she has, as Christ, is
Divine in every way;
Her members through the Spirit
Their death on Calv’ry own;
They’re built in resurrection —
Gold, silver, precious stone.
4. One God, one Lord, one Spirit —
Her elements all one —
One faith, one hope, one baptism,
One Body in the Son;
The triune God is in her,
One Body members own,
By faith they are united,
In hope of glory shown.
5. From every tribe and nation
Do all the members come,
Regardless of their classes
United to be one.
No high there is, nor lowly,
No Jew, nor Gentile clan,
No free, nor slave, nor master,
But Christ, the “one new man.”
6. One Body universal,
One in each place expressed;
Locality of dwelling
Her only ground possessed;
Administration local,
Each answ’ring to the Lord;
Communion universal,
Upheld in one accord.
7. Her local gatherings model
The New Jerusalem;
Its aspects and its details
Must show in all of them.
Christ is the Lamp that shineth,
With God within, the Light;
They are the lampstands bearing
His glorious Image bright.
