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Although it has sixty-six books and many teachings, the entire Bible reveals to us the divine mystery. We need to find out what the central thought of this divine mystery is. Ephesians 5:32 says, “This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.” Christ and the church is the great mystery in the universe. Christ is the Head, and the church is the Body (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23). In order to know the central thought of this mystery, we must ask what Christ is to the church. Although it is true that Christ is the Head, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Lord, and everything to the church, the central thought is that Christ is life to the church. And what is the church to Christ? The church is the expression of Christ as life. Therefore, Christ is life to the church, and the church is the expression of Christ as life.
In the central thought of the Scriptures, Christ is revealed as life. Although Christ is revealed to us as many things, such as the Creator, the Redeemer, the Savior, and the Lord, in the central thought of the Scriptures, Christ is life to us. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ came to be life to us (10:10b). He is life (11:25; 14:6), and life is in Him (1:4). When we receive Him, we receive life. Thus, Christ as life to us is the central thought, but this is only the first part. In the Scriptures Christ is revealed, and the Body of Christ also is revealed.
Although the Body is revealed in the Scriptures, the way to practice the Body life, the church life, is rather difficult to see. After man was created, he was put in the garden of Eden in front of a tree that was called the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9). The tree of life signifies Christ as life to us; it is a symbol of God in Christ as life to us. Immediately after man was created, God brought up the matter of life for man’s consideration. God put man before a tree, the tree of life. Moreover, beside the tree there was a river, and along the flow of the river there were gold, bdellium (a pearl-like material produced from the resin of a tree), and onyx, a precious stone (vv. 10-12). These three materials are the materials for God’s building. They typify the Triune God as the basic elements of the structure of God’s eternal building. Gold typifies God the Father with His divine nature, bdellium typifies Christ the Son with His redeeming and life-releasing death and His life-imparting resurrection, and precious stones typify God the Spirit with His transforming and building work. At the beginning of the Scriptures there is a picture that includes the tree of life with a river and three precious materials, and at the end of the Scriptures there is another picture, the picture of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2—22:5), a city in which the tree of life grows and the river of water of life flows, and which is built with three precious materials — gold, pearls, and precious stones. Thus, the pictures at the two ends of the Scriptures correspond with each other; both pictures portray life and building.
Building is a crucial matter in the Scriptures. Christ is life, and the church is a building. The first time the Scriptures mention the church, it is related to the matter of building. Matthew 16:18 says, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” In this verse the church is clearly portrayed as a building. Life and building are the central thought of the Scriptures. In the first picture in the Scriptures, in Genesis 2, there is the tree of life with a flowing river. The issue of the flow of the river is three kinds of materials for building. In the last picture, at the end of the Scriptures, there is a city built with three kinds of materials. In this city are the tree of life and the river of water of life. Hence, from the beginning of the Scriptures to the end, the central thought is life and building. It is more accurate to say that the central thought is life for building. Life is Christ, the building is the church, and Christ as life is for the church as the building. We must be very clear that the central thought of the Scriptures is Christ coming to us to be enjoyed and experienced as life for the purpose of producing a building. This building is Christ’s Body, the church, which is Christ’s expression.
The pictures at the beginning and the end of the Scriptures may be likened to the beginning and end of an architectural plan. The picture at the beginning of the Bible is like an architectural drawing, a blueprint, that shows the intended building. The picture at the end of the Bible is like a photograph of the finished building. In the entire universe God has a plan to build a divine building. The Bible is a definition of God’s plan. In Genesis 2 there is an architectural drawing, a blueprint, and in Revelation 21 and 22 there is a photograph, a picture, of the completed building.
The picture in Genesis 2 includes created man, but at that time created man was separate from the tree of life, the river, the gold, the bdellium, and the onyx stone. He was merely in front of these items. He only saw these things, but he had nothing to do with them intrinsically. God’s intention, however, was that all these items would be wrought into man. In God’s intention the tree of life had to enter into man to be man’s life, and the river had to flow in man and out of man. Furthermore, man, who was created of dust (v. 7), had to be transformed into precious stone. The Lord Jesus confirmed God’s intention when He changed Peter’s name from Simon to Peter, which means “a stone” (Matt. 16:18; John 1:42). Later, Peter wrote that the believers in Christ are living stones who are being built up into a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).
To change a man of clay into a precious stone requires regeneration (John 3:6; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23) and transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). Our being transformed from clay into precious stone begins with the regeneration of our spirit. At the time we are regenerated, there is a small piece of precious stone in our spirit, but around this piece of stone there is a great deal of clay. All the clay must be changed into precious stone through the process of transformation.
In 1 Corinthians 3 the apostle Paul told us that he was a master builder who laid the foundation, which is Christ, for God’s building, and another builds upon this foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones (vv. 10-12a). In verse 12 silver, signifying Christ’s redemption, is referred to instead of bdellium (Gen. 2:12) and pearl (Rev. 21:21a) because of man’s need of redemption after the fall. In the New Testament the building work is carried out by the Triune God as gold, pearls, and precious stones being wrought into the believers. At the end of the New Testament and of the entire Scriptures, there is a city built up with three kinds of precious material — gold, pearls, and precious stones. Furthermore, the tree of life is growing in this city, and the river of water of life is flowing in it. At this point the tree of life, the river of water of life, and the precious materials have been wrought into and mingled with man. In the final picture, the picture of the New Jerusalem, the tree of life and the flowing river are within man, and man has become precious materials for God’s building. Thus, in the New Jerusalem we can see both life and building.
If we keep the pictures at the two ends of the Scriptures before us as we read the Scriptures, we will see that the entire Scriptures deal with nothing but Christ as life for God’s building. Christ is life for the purpose of producing the materials that will be built up as a spiritual building, a spiritual house. This spiritual house is the Body of Christ as a dwelling place to God and a bride to Christ. In the picture in Genesis 2 we see the tree of life, the flow of the river, the materials for the building, and a woman, Eve, built by God to be a bride for Adam (vv. 21-24). Adam is a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14), and Eve is a type of the church (Eph. 5:31-32). In the picture in Revelation 21 and 22 we again see the tree of life, the flow of the river, and a woman built with the same three kinds of precious materials. This woman, the New Jerusalem, is the wife of the Lamb (21:9-10).
The central thought of the Scriptures is that we must receive Christ as life and experience Christ as life so that we will first be regenerated, then transformed to be the precious materials for the building, and then built up together (Eph. 2:22; 4:12, 16; 1 Pet. 2:5). The ultimate issue of such a process is a building, the holy city, New Jerusalem, which is the tabernacle of God and the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:2-3, 9-10). Once we know the central thought of the Scriptures, we must be responsible for two things. First, we must accept, receive, experience, and apply Christ as our life, and second, we must be transformed. After we have been regenerated, we must be transformed into precious materials. We were created of clay, and we must be transformed into stones. Then we must be transformed further from stones into precious stones and be built up together as a building. This building is the church. In other words, the central thought of the Scriptures is that Christ is life to us to regenerate us and transform us into precious materials for His building. We must be responsible to receive Christ, apply Christ, and appropriate Christ to ourselves as life that we may be regenerated, transformed into precious materials, and built up together with others as the Body of Christ, which is God’s dwelling place and Christ’s bride. If we see such a vision, it will change our concept radically. This vision will revolutionize our entire being and conduct. We will know where we are and what we must do.
By seeing this vision, we will also be qualified, equipped, and in the right position to see and apprehend all the spiritual things in a proper way. The Scriptures and all the spiritual things are like a jigsaw puzzle. If we intend to put a jigsaw puzzle together, we must first see the picture. With the picture in our mind, we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together correctly. Today as they read the Scriptures, many Christians do not have the picture. They put the “head” where the “tail” should be, or they put the “tail” on the “head.” The result is a monster. Often as I was listening to people expound the Scriptures, I said to myself, “Dear friend, you are making the church a monster. It is obvious that you have not seen the picture.” First, we must see the pictures in Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation 21 and 22. If we have these two pictures, we will know the central thought of the Scriptures and will be able to put every piece of the jigsaw puzzle into the right place to eventually form the full picture. We will know where we are and what we need to do. This vision will direct our whole conduct and control our whole thought. The vision is to receive Christ as life that we may be regenerated, transformed, and built up with others. Life and building, or life for building, is the central thought of the Scriptures.
We are transformed by contacting Christ, receiving Christ, and applying Christ again and again. This is the proper meaning of the Lord’s table, which is unto the remembrance of the Lord. As a young Christian who was newly saved, I thought that to remember the Lord was to remember how great, glorious, kind, and gracious the Lord is. Later, I received the light to know the proper meaning of the remembrance of the Lord. When the Lord instituted the table with His disciples, He said, “This is My body which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). The real meaning of the remembrance of the Lord is to receive the Lord by eating Him. To remember the Lord in a proper way, we need to receive something of the Lord into our being. Therefore, whenever we come to the Lord’s table to break the bread and drink the cup, we need to receive the Lord once more by exercising our spirit. The remembrance of the Lord is not merely a human remembrance by using our mind to consider and remember what the Lord is to us. The proper meaning of remembering the Lord is to receive the Lord once again. Whenever we come to the Lord’s table, we must exercise our spirit to receive something of the Lord. The Lord’s table is a testimony, testifying that we live by the Lord (John 6:57). Day by day, morning and evening, and moment by moment we live by taking Christ as our life. This is our way of living. On the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, we come together to testify this to the universe, especially to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
The Christian life is a life of taking Christ as everything. By such a life we are gradually transformed, and our nature is changed from clay into stone and from stone into precious stone. Then we are built up together with others as a spiritual building. This is the central thought of the Scriptures, and this will check us, direct us, and control us in our doing, our living, and our work.
Question: Can you tell us more about the process of transformation?
Answer: Precious stones are not created directly but are formed through the transforming of created materials. For example, a diamond is formed from carbon, a created substance, that is put into an environment of intense heat and high pressure for a period of time. We were originally created of clay, but one day the Lord put Himself into us as a new element in order that we may experience a metabolic change. This metabolic change needs not only the Lord as the new element to replace our old element, but also an environment of heat and pressure. Many times the Lord puts us into an environment of heat and pressure. We need a certain amount of burning and pressing; otherwise, we will remain created material that has not been transformed. In order to be transformed from clay into precious stones for God’s building, we must pass through a process of burning and pressing. We need not be afraid of this, but when we experience it, we should know where we are.
Question: I have realized that Christ is my life and that He is transforming me into a precious stone through trials and tribulations to conform me more and more to be like Him. But as far as the matter of building is concerned, this is something new. Can you say something more about building?
Answer: Most Christians think that they must be spiritual, not realizing that eventually they need to be built up with other Christians. To be genuinely spiritual means to be transformed into a precious stone in order to be built up with others. However, today many Christians merely seek a certain kind of spirituality and do not know anything about being built up. They can be likened to beautiful stones that are exhibited in a museum for others’ appreciation. The purpose of our being transformed is not to be an exhibit. We are transformed to be the materials for God’s building. Individual spirituality does not count for anything. We need to be spiritual in order to be built up with others. Without being tested by the building, we might think that we are spiritual, but when we are put into the building, we are examined as to whether our spirituality is genuine or not. A young brother who is a bachelor and is not related to anyone may dream that he is more spiritual than Martin Luther, but once he has a wife and three or four children, and once he begins to serve together with other brothers in the church life, he will be tested. Then he will know where he is and what he is. He will find that he is a most unspiritual person and that whatever spirituality he thinks he has is false and is simply in his imagination. We need to be built up with others. If we can be spiritual with our wife, with our children, and with the brothers, our spirituality is genuine. We need to be spiritual and to be built up as well. The more individualistic we are, the more it is proven that we are not spiritual.
In the Far East there are a few single sisters who think that they are very spiritual. I knew a single sister who was very nice, who loved the Lord, and who sought the Lord. Everyone admired her and considered her better than an angel. After she married, several times she came to me in tears concerning her husband. Later, she had children. As the children grew up, there were many problems. The husband and the children were all trials to her. After learning all the lessons, she testified, “Dear brothers and sisters, before I was married, my spirituality was absolutely false. Today, after the Lord put me through fire with a husband and children, I can say that there might be something in my spirituality that is really of the Lord.”
Many Christians today remain in the old condition without any transformation. Because of this, there is an urgent need for messages like this one to render help to the Lord’s children. After receiving this kind of help, we will realize the genuine church life, which is not merely to come together but to experience Christ more and more. Christ is life to us, and we, the church, the Body of Christ, are the expression of Christ. God planned in eternity past and has been seeking in generation after generation to be life to man in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that His redeemed and regenerated ones may be transformed and built up together as a corporate expression of Christ.
Question: Is it not true that before the Lord’s coming, it will be impossible for the church as a whole to actually be His Body?
Answer: In the Scriptures, especially related to the matter of the church, there is the principle of the overcomers, the remnant. As a whole, the church has failed the Lord, but today, before His coming back, the Lord is calling the overcomers. This is revealed in the seven epistles to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. There the Lord spoke many things concerning the churches, and at the end of each epistle He issued a call for the overcomers, the remnant. On the one hand, we must expect that all the Lord’s children will be helped in a general way, but on the other hand, we must realize that, according to the prophetic teaching of the Scriptures, before the Lord’s coming back only a comparatively small number of believers will respond to the Lord’s calling and become the overcomers to fill the place that the church as a whole has lost. As a whole the church has failed the Lord, but part of the church will answer the Lord’s call to be the overcomers to fulfill God’s purpose on behalf of the whole church. This is the principle of the overcomers, the principle of the remnant.
In Revelation the New Jerusalem is the wife of the Lamb, Christ. In chapter 12 there is a universal woman who is about to give birth to a man-child (vv. 1-2). The woman symbolizes the totality of God’s people on earth, and the man-child is the stronger part of God’s people. In biblical typology, a male signifies a strong one, and a female, a weaker one (1 Pet. 3:7). The majority of the church, signified by the woman, is weak, and only a small part, signified by the man-child, is strong. This stronger part will shepherd the nations with an iron rod (Rev. 12:5). According to Revelation 2:26-27, those who will shepherd the nations with an iron rod are the overcomers. Thus, the man-child is composed of the overcomers, the stronger part of the Body of Christ. In the eyes of God the whole Body, the whole church, is like a woman, a weaker vessel.
We realize that there is an urgent need because there are many seeking ones in different localities. Although they may not know what they hunger for, we know that they hunger for Christ as life and for the real expression of the church. The Holy Spirit works this hunger into the spirit of the seeking saints. Within the seeking saints is a deep sense which nothing can satisfy. Revivals will not satisfy their hunger, for the more revivals there are, the more hunger they feel. Christ is the satisfying life to be experienced by all His seeking ones. Once they discover the secret of experiencing Christ, they will be satisfied. They are also seeking for a genuine church life, without which they will never be satisfied. This is because they need a family, a home. Life is Christ, and the home, the family, is the church. We must minister Christ as life to these hungry, seeking saints and afford them a spiritual home, that is, the church.
Two and a half years ago I came to this country for the second time. I went to New York and stayed with the church in New York City from the fall of 1960 until the end of the year, a period of two and a half months. In December I came back to the West en route to the Far East. At that time I had a deep and clear sense that the Lord would do something in this country, especially along the West Coast.
I told the brother with whom I was staying my feeling, but he would not believe me and thought that I was dreaming. Even I must admit that I had no intention of coming to America a third time. Yet I was brought, and even forced, by the Lord to come here a third time, and my visit lasted for a whole year. At the end of October, as I tried to leave, the Lord put His hand upon me to keep me here. The Lord closed the door on whatever way I tried to leave. I had prepared everything for my return to the Far East, but the Lord did everything to frustrate me, and I had to submit myself to Him. I told Him, “Even though there is a large work in the Far East, if You want me to stay here, I must go along with You.” At that time I was staying in Seattle. I called a brother in San Francisco, and he was astonished to learn that I was still in America. I asked him to go to Sacramento with me. Then I called a brother in Los Angeles, and he too was astonished, thinking that I had gone back to the Far East already. I told the brothers that I would go to San Francisco, then to Sacramento, and after that to Los Angeles in order to stay there for a longer time. That was the end of November. Consider what has happened since then. In one place the number coming together has increased from six persons to about seventy. Something has happened in Los Angeles, and many things have happened along the West Coast in different cities. Wherever I go, I meet seeking ones who tell me that it is only in the last two or three years that something has happened among them. People tell me the same thing, that is, that if I had come earlier than this, no one would have listened to me. It is only within these two or three years that something has happened. Now after hearing us, they feel that what we minister to them is exactly what they need.
