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The riches of Christ are too profound. He is the Lord who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23). With Him are the unsearchable riches (3:8). God's intention is not for these riches to remain just in Christ but for these profound and infinite riches to become the riches of the church. His intention is that the church would become the fullness of the One who fills all in all (1:23). The church is a vessel to contain the life of Christ. All the riches of the Son of God are deposited in the church. The riches of Christ are the riches of the Body of Christ. No individual could ever contain those riches, nor could a multitude of individuals. It takes a corporate company to hold the riches of Christ. The individual pieces of a crashed tumbler may hold a few drops of water, but it takes the whole tumbler to hold a full glass of water.
The church is not a heap of stones, nor a mass of unrelated individuals, but a "building" in which the stones are "fitted together" so that they become "a dwelling place of God in spirit" (2:21-22). This temple is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (v. 20). In a lesser sense each individual believer is a temple of God, but only the corporate temple can contain all the riches of God.
Ephesians 3:10 tells us that the showing forth of the multifarious wisdom of God to the rulers and the authorities is given to the church, not to any individual. Verses 18 and 19 say that God will cause us to be "full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are and to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ." The love of Christ is so rich that it takes the church to measure it. Christ is not only in each member, but He is also in the Body. No one member of the Body of Christ can contain all the riches of Christ. The riches of Christ that we receive individually are two-dimensional at the most, but the riches of Christ that the church receives are three-dimensional. Only the Body of Christ has the capacity to express the riches of Christ. We need to be in the Body so that we can apprehend the riches which Christ has in His Body. It is not one believer, but "all" the believers together who "arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (4:13). In chapter six we are told to put on "the whole armor of God" that we may wage warfare against the hosts of darkness. However, the equipment for the fight is not given to one believer; it is given to the church. "The whole armor" can only be put on by the Body, not just by one member. Spiritual warfare is in this principle — one will chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight (Deut. 32:30). The so-called church has not defeated the enemy's host, because Christians are living scattered lives instead of functioning in the Body.
Mathematically speaking, if one can chase a thousand, two should only be able to chase two thousand. But in spiritual mathematics, one chases a thousand while two chase ten thousand. The strength of two persons put together is five times that of two who are considered separately. Two is the minimum corporate number. If two persons chase the enemy separately, they will not defeat ten thousand. This is a principle: The strength of the corporate Body is very great. God cares for the corporate Body. He does not care how much strength you have or how powerful you are as an individual. As long as you are an individual and not joined to others, you can only chase a thousand. But if you are joined to others, your strength will be increased fivefold. You have to see that you are only a member. You are limited and short. You need the other members.
"For there Jehovah commanded the blessing:/Life forever" (Psa. 133:3). Where did God command the blessing? He commanded the blessing where brothers dwell in unity (v. 1). When the Body is under the anointing, life flows freely from the Head to all the members. Christ is not the Head of any mission or organization, He is only the Head of His church. The Head is only Head over the Body. Unless we are standing on the ground of the Body, we cannot claim the headship of Christ, and if we cannot claim the full authority of the Head, we cannot know the fullness of life that streams from the Head. The blessing that is commanded whenever brothers are united under the anointing is "life forever," a full, free, unceasing stream of life.
When Paul wrote to a group of believers in Corinth, he said, "Now you are the body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12:27). The Body of Christ is not only universal; it is also local. Every local church is the manifestation of the Body of Christ in that locality. All of the riches of Christ are vested in the local church. The authority of the Head is vested in the local expression of the Body. Apostles and elders in the local church are representative members of the Body, but they are not the Body. The entire company of believers in a locality, not just a section of the believers, constitutes the church in that locality. The church is not one member; it represents the whole Body in a locality. Hence, when we touch the local church, we touch the Body. Participating in the fellowship of the local church is participating in the fellowship of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is not something abstract or unfathomable; the Body of Christ is manifested in the local churches. Anyone who wants to live in the Body in a practical way has to be in the local churches. He should fellowship with the local saints, be edified in the local church, and be built up together in mutuality.
When Christ was on earth He referred to the church two times — in Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. In the first instance, He referred to the universal church, and in the second instance, He referred to the local church. In speaking of the authority of the local church, He said, "If he refuses to hear the church also, let him be to you just like the Gentile and the tax collector" (18:17). This verse shows us that the authority of the church is derived from its representation of Christ. Christ has given His authority to the church and authorized the church to execute His will on earth. The Bible shows us that there are three ways in which a person can receive guidance from God: (1) God's Word — the Bible, (2) the indwelling Holy Spirit, and (3) the church in a locality. The third line is the most important line. The leading of the Bible and the Spirit are individual in nature, but the leading of the local church is corporate in nature. The local church, being the local expression of the Body of Christ, has the headship of Christ and, therefore, can know the mind of Christ, which is always communicated to His Body. The local church declares the headship of Christ. "Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven" (v. 18). A person who sees the Body seeks fellowship and accepts the leading of the church. Often the decision of a church in a rural area is proven to be better than the decision of a church in the city. Such a decision does not originate from man's ability or wisdom but from the corporate seeking in one accord. In order to know God's will and His way, it is not enough for us to read the Bible or pray by ourselves. We have to be in the fellowship of the local church, live the Body life, and follow God's leading in the Body.
In a local church, God has established the elders as representatives of His authority. But this does not mean that they are everything. The elders should not monopolize anything; they are merely the overseers in the church. They stand on the side to guide the saints on, to stop improper activities, and to encourage proper activities so that the whole Body can be activated. Acts 12:5 says, "So then Peter was kept in the prison; but prayer was being made fervently by the church to God concerning him." Today the church should pray fervently for world events and the state of our nation. This kind of prayer involves the exercise of the authority that God has given the Body.
Much revelation has been lost to the church because believers have sought light individually instead of seeking light in the sanctuary. When a man does not see the Body, he loses many blessings. This is a great loss to the church. May the Lord show us what the Body is so that we can live in the Body and receive the riches of the Body. When we are in the Body, we know God's will, have the authority of the Body, and experience the power of the Body.
