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Eph. 3:10-11; 1:22-23; 1 John 1:2; 5:1; Eph. 2:6; Rev. 21:9-10; Col. 3:1-3; Eph. 2:20; 5:25-27
I. God’s eternal purpose being the Church
II. The church being the building up of all God’s chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people, not a physical structure.
III. The church being the organism of the Triune God, not an organization
IV. The essence of the church is of life, not of knowledge
V. The nature of the church being of heaven, not of earth
VI. The foundation of the church being Christ
VII. The church being glorious
In the past four lesson books, our emphasis had been on the side of the individual. This year we are going to emphasize something corporate — the church. God’s full salvation is to redeem, regenerate, and transform His chosen people for the church. The Triune God desires to dispense Himself into His chosen people for the church. Christ’s person and work is to build the church. The Spirit’s regeneration and transformation work is to produce the church. Our knowing and experiencing the divine and eternal life of God is for us to be built up in the church. What God is, what God has, what He has passed through, what He has accomplished, and what He has obtained and attained are all for the church. We who are chosen, predestinated, redeemed, forgiven, washed, justified, reconciled, and regenerated to be sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified are material for the building up of the church. We are not only individual Christians, we are also a corporate entity — the church.
[God’s eternal purpose is to have the church. His purpose is not just to create man, to rescue him from his fallen condition, and to bring him to heaven. Furthermore, God’s purpose is not simply to have us be holy, spiritual, and victorious. Creation, salvation, sanctification, spirituality, and victory are all part of God’s procedure to reach His goal, but they are not the goal itself.]
[Ephesians 3:10-11 unveils the fact that the existence of the church is according to the eternal purpose of God which He purposed in Christ. The church is something of God’s eternal purpose. It did not come into existence by accident, but was planned in eternity. Before time began, in eternity, God purposed to have the church.
The word purpose here in the Scriptures is equivalent to the word plan. God’s eternal purpose is God’s eternal plan. God has a plan which He planned in eternity — He is not purposeless; He is a God of purpose.
What did God plan? He planned to have a church composed of a group of human beings coordinated together as a corporate Body with which He may mingle Himself in His divine nature. In other words, this corporate Body would be a corporate vessel, into which He would put Himself. This is the very thing God planned and this is the very center of His purpose. God planned to have a corporate Body, a corporate vessel, with which he could mingle Himself and all that He is. This vessel is called the church.
The church, therefore, is the center of God’s eternal plan. Why is the church so dear, so lovable, and so precious to God? It is because the church is the desire of God’s heart, which He purposed before time began. God in eternity planned to have the church.]
[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. These are material things constructed of bricks, stones, steel, or wood. What a mistake this is.] Have you made this mistake in the past? If you have, you will not make the same mistake after studying this lesson book.
The church is a building, but the church is not a physical building. The church is a building of all God’s chosen people. He first created His people. His people, as a result of the fall, fell into sin. He then had to redeem them back to Himself. After being cleansed from sin, they needed to be regenerated with the life of God in their spirit. After being regenerated in their spirit they are suitable for the building, but their soul still needs sanctification and transformation. The sanctifying and transforming work is done by the Triune God to produce material for the building of His church. These building materials are living. They are the chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people of God.
The church is the organism of the Triune God. [We need to see that the church as the Body of Christ is altogether organic, absolutely of life, with nothing organizational. The body of Christ is the organism of the Triune God. The Triune God has an organism. An organism and an organization are entirely different. To illustrate this difference, we may compare a living person to a wooden stand. The wooden stand is without life, while a living person is full of life. The wooden stand is an organization of pieces of wood put together, but a living person has many members which are joined together organically. A person is a living, moving, functioning organism, unlike a robot, which is an organization of inorganic parts. The church is not an organization without life, but an organism with life.]
We are born of God into the church. We do not join the church as we would join an organization. Because the church is a living organism ruled by life, there is no need of a hierarchy to organize or rule over the church. There are leading ones in the church. They are not organizational leaders, but ones who are more mature in life to shepherd the younger, the newer, and the weaker ones in life. Praise the Lord for His organic church.
[The divine life, God’s life, the eternal life, the uncreated life, the indestructible life, is the very essence of the church, and this divine life generates the church (1 John 1:2; 5:1).] Anything that is not of life is not of the church.
Man left God in the garden of Eden because he took in knowledge. From there man sinned, developed the world, lived in the flesh, loved only himself, and became separated from one another. Before we were saved, we were alienated from the life of God and were not in the church. When we were saved, we received the life of God into us. This life immediately made us a part of the church. From that point on, we must feed the life in us and grow in this life so that we may be in the church life. Anything other than life does not belong in and is not part of the church. Saints who care for knowledge bring death into the church. They not only deaden themselves they also deaden others. We should never bring anything other than life into the church. We also should stay away from anything that is not life. The best way to be in life is to pray, read the Word, fellowship things of life, and preach the gospel.
Since the source of the church is the Triune God, the nature of the church is of heaven and not of earth. We began by being seated in the heavenlies with Christ (Eph. 2:6). The New Jerusalem, the ultimate consummation of the church, will descend out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:9-10). This tells us that the church is not of earth but of heaven. Therefore, the apostle Paul told us in Colossians 3:1-3, “If therefore you were raised together with Christ, seek the things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things which are above, not on the things which are on the earth; for you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.’’ We should live our life on this earth as a heavenly people, not bound or distracted by earthly things like the unsaved, but to be occupied with the Triune God, His life, and the things above — Christ Himself. As we live this way, we will be good material for the building up of the church.
[The church’s foundation is Christ, revealed and ministered through the apostles and prophets. Ephesians 2:20 speaks of the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This foundation is the very Christ whom they ministered to others. Paul said that Christ was the unique foundation which he had laid. No one can lay another foundation (1 Cor. 3:10-11). The Christ who is the foundation of the church is the unique Christ revealed and ministered by the early apostles, as recorded in the New Testament.] We should lay hold of this Christ. We should not live in ourselves or become distracted by the world.
God [wants a church of glory. Glory is the expression of God and it is altogether different from human morality and behavior. When God filled the tabernacle and the temple, both of them were filled with glory, with the very manifestation of God.] [The only way God can have a glorious church is through Christ’s sanctifying, cleansing, nourishing, and cherishing. As we experience these things in a personal and practical way, the church becomes glorious.]
The church is God’s eternal purpose. The church is the building of all God’s people. The church is the organism of the Triune God. The essence of the church is life, the very life of God. The nature of the church is of heaven. The foundation of the church is Christ. This means the church is a corporate entity that is completely involved with the Triune God; therefore, the church is glorious. It can only express God. Sometimes we may see some problem in the church. Those problems are not part of the church, they are the blemishes and wrinkles the Lord is cleansing in this age. Eventually the church will be “glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things’’ (Eph. 5:27).
We praise the Lord, that by His mercy, He brought us into the church. Let us treasure the church as God treasures her. Do not take the church for granted. The church is according to God’s plan. Christ died for her. The Spirit is transforming her. We should consecrate ourselves — all our time, all that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do — to Christ and the church so that God can accomplish His plan. This is the highest matter in the universe. Let us press on for this.
