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Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:32
Ephesians 5:32, a simple verse from the Scriptures, shows that there is a great mystery in the universe—Christ and the church. In the Bible a number of mysteries are mentioned, but only this mystery, the mystery of Christ and the church, is a great mystery. First Timothy 3:16 says, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” This mystery refers to Christ, on the one hand, and to the church, on the other. Therefore, we can clearly and definitely say that Christ and the church are a great mystery. Although the Bible says that the mystery of God is Christ and that the mystery of Christ is the church, only when Christ and the church are mentioned together does the Bible say that this is a great mystery. We can say that if there were only Christ and not the church, the mystery would not be complete, and if there were only the church and not Christ, the mystery would not be possible. Therefore, this mystery must be constituted with both Christ and the church.
First, let us see what a mystery is. According to common understanding, a mystery is something hidden and generally unknown to people. The meaning of the mystery mentioned in the Bible, however, goes beyond this. Strictly speaking, in the Bible a mystery not only refers to things that are incomprehensible and unknown to men but also to things that are hidden in God’s heart.
For example, the universe with all the things created by God is very evident and therefore not a mystery. However, the purpose of God’s creation of the universe is a mystery. All the people in the world have seen the God-created universe, but from the ancient days to the present time, very few have been able to fathom the purpose of God’s creation. This is because the purpose for the creation of the universe was hidden in God’s heart. It is nearly impossible for man to touch God’s purpose, God’s plan, which is hidden in His heart. Hence, it is a mystery. This is the principle concerning mysteries mentioned in the Bible.
Not only the purpose of God’s creation is a mystery to the world, but even the church and the saints are a mystery to the world. Today people see that there are Christians and there is the church, but very few know why there are Christians and why there is the church. The unbelievers do not know this, and even many of those who serve and work for the Lord do not necessarily understand this, because this is also a mystery.
The church is something hidden in God’s heart. Unless God reveals the mystery hidden in His heart concerning the church, we, like others, cannot know what the church is all about. We may preach the gospel fervently and serve the Lord diligently, but it is quite possible that we do not have any idea concerning what God intends to have in the universe. Hence, we all need to see a vision. The central vision that God wants us to see in this age is the vision concerning Christ and the church.
Today many people pursue to understand the Bible. We know, however, that a person cannot understand the Bible unless he knows Christ. Likewise, a person cannot understand the Bible unless he knows the church. Strictly speaking, we should not pursue to understand and know the Bible; rather, we should pursue to know Christ and His church. The purpose of our knowing the Bible is that through it we may know Christ and the church. God gave us the Bible not merely for us to understand some truths in letter. God’s purpose in giving us the Bible is that through His Word we may know the mystery which has been revealed—Christ and the church. Therefore, unless we have seen the vision of this mystery and thereby know Christ and the church, we cannot understand the Bible.
Hence, I would like to insert a few words here. Because we are touching Christ and the church, the subject of our fellowship, the center of our pursuit, and the content of our conversation are not just some biblical truths. What we treasure, pursue, and fellowship about is nothing other than Christ and the church. Christ and the church are too great! From the Word of God we can see that in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). God puts everything that He is and has into Christ in order that Christ may come into us to be our everything. Hence, Ephesians 3 says that when Christ dwells in us and is touched and experienced by us, the result is that we will be filled unto all the fullness of God (vv. 17-19). Therefore, not only Christ is full, but the church is full. What we are endeavoring to pursue is to know Christ and the church.
We should pursue to know how Christ, in whom is all the fullness of the Godhead, comes into us to be our life. Our pursuit today should not be concerned with how to be fervent, how to do good, or how to be determined; it should be concerned with how to know more about Christ being our life. We must be able to differentiate between our zeal and Christ, between our goodness and Christ, between our love and Christ. Many times when we see a brother who is zealous, well-behaved, and full of love, we think that such zeal, goodness, and love are what God wants. This view is quite problematic. We have to see that what God wants us to know, pursue, and live out is not any of these things but rather Christ Himself.
We must pass through the cross to live out Christ. If we want to have Christ as our life and to have Him live out of us, we have no other alternative but to pass through the cross. To live out our zeal and our love, however, we do not have to go through the cross; we can live them out simply by our natural life. These things are natural and human; they are not Christ. The only way for a person to live out Christ is to go through the cross.
There is absolutely no room at the cross for our natural life. We have often discussed the matter of our natural life. We need to know, however, that only when a person has passed through the cross and allowed Christ to be his life, can he truly be one who knows the natural life. These two, our natural life and Christ as life, cannot exist together at the same time. We must see that the cross has terminated our natural life, on the one hand, and released Christ as our life, on the other. Whenever we live by our natural life, Christ’s life is bound. Whenever we experience the cross, our natural life is eliminated and Christ’s life is released.
Therefore, we should not pay attention to such things as how to improve ourselves and how to do more good deeds and be more zealous. Rather, in everything we do, we should ask ourselves whether our doing is of Christ or of our natural life, whether we are living by Christ or by ourselves. We need to take heed to this way in spiritual things and also in the small things in our daily life. Even when we come to read the Word, we should ask ourselves, “Are the things that I am receiving from the Word causing the growth of Christ’s life in me, or are they nourishing my natural life?” This is a solemn question. It is the case that with some brothers and sisters, their natural life becomes more prevailing even through their reading of the Word. They often have and hold strongly to their views concerning biblical truths. When they meet others who have opposite views, they engage them in strong debates and even quarrel with them. When you contact these ones, you cannot sense that Christ is life to them to any significant extent. Therefore, even in the matter of reading the Bible, we need to go through the cross.
In the beginning in the garden of Eden there were two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In every matter there are also these two trees. In our Christian life we have the possibility of contacting either the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Even while we are fellowshipping and talking with others about the things of the Bible, there is the possibility of contacting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, we have to beware of the stratagems of the evil one. He exploits every crack or loophole he can find. He even tries to sneak into the mutual fellowship of the believers so that unconsciously they are distracted from life and end up touching the things that are outside of life.
Brothers and sisters, the great mystery in God’s heart is Christ and the church. If we have seen this vision, we will not pay attention to or pursue anything outside of Christ and the church. Then we will always be preserved. We will say only this much concerning Christ as our life.
Now let us consider the matter of the church. We have said many times that Christ is our life and that the church is our living. The more we know God’s heart and the more we have His vision, the more thoroughly we will know that God’s intention is for Christ to be our life inwardly and for us to live out the church outwardly. These two matters are clearly revealed in the Epistles written by the apostles. For example, chapter 3 of Colossians, a book on Christ as the Head of the church, has the phrase Christ our life (v. 4a). This shows that the reason Christ can be the Head to the church is that He is our life. Ephesians, on the other hand, is a book on the church as the Body of Christ. Hence, in the entire book there is great stress on the various aspects of the Body life. We know that a person’s living is altogether connected to his body. Without a body a person does not have a living. This is also the case with Christ. How can Christ live Himself out? It is through His Body, which is the church. Christ as the Head is our life, and the church as the Body is our living.
Christians in general usually consider that the Christian life is to live out human virtues such as humility, patience, and love, but this is not what the Bible tells us. It is true that Ephesians 4:2-3 says, “With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.” Yet verse 4 also says, “One Body and one Spirit.” Here we see clearly that the reason God wants us to be lowly and meek is that we may live out the Body.
How regrettable it is that although many Christians pursue lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering, they do not know the purpose for being lowly, meek, and long-suffering. Even the purpose of being lowly, meek, and long-suffering has become a mystery to them. This mystery is the church. God wants us to have lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering so that we can live out the church life.
Therefore, God’s intention is for Christ to be our life so that we can have the church as our living. God’s desire is that our life would be entirely Christ so that what we live out would be entirely the church. If we have such a vision, in everything we do we will ask ourselves, “In doing this particular work, am I living out the church or something of myself? In being so careful to avoid any problem, am I doing this so that my self will be preserved whole or so that the church will be perfected? Am I reading the Word, praying, pursuing, laboring, and serving for my own spirituality or for the building up of the church?” Questions of this kind are a great test. Some only care for their own spirituality rather than for the church life even in their prayers and pursuits. This is due to their lack of such a vision, their not knowing such a mystery.
If a person truly has seen God’s vision, immediately he will realize that God’s intention is not to build up individual spirituality but to build up the church as the Body of Christ. Hence, he will sacrifice and put aside everything that damages the church, regardless of how good it is, including his own spirituality. Therefore, the vision of this mystery is the solution to all the questions. If you were to ask me, “Is it all right for me to go to a certain place to preach the gospel?” My answer would be: “When you go to preach the gospel, will the church there be built up or destroyed?” I know some will say, “Oh, I do not care about this. As long as people are saved, it is good enough.” Please remember, however, that this is not sufficient. Of course, under normal circumstances, people being saved and the church being built up are one and the same thing. The condition today, however, is abnormal. Some of the work of preaching the gospel to save souls not only does not build up the church but actually tears down the building, the oneness, of the church. This is an extremely abnormal situation. Therefore, under the present circumstances it is not enough just to ask whether people are being saved; we also have to ask whether the church is being built up. The principle is the same when we help others to pursue spirituality. Under normal circumstances the pursuit of spirituality builds up the church, but today the situation is rather abnormal. Many pay attention to seeking spirituality, yet they tear down the building of the church. The reason that this happens is that they do not see the vision of God’s mystery. This is a very solemn test to us.
Now I would like to give you some of my personal testimony. I was tested numerous times. In the past there were many good things that I did, things that seemed to others to be very profitable, yet within me I had a question: “If I do this, how will it affect the church?” Often when I asked myself this question, I could not do what I was doing anymore. Because I was under the restriction of the vision of the church, I had to give up many things that were seemingly good. Today I thank and praise the Lord. I have not regretted this one bit. Instead, I worship the Lord. I can testify that the church is not only a test but also a protection and a safeguard. If you pay attention only to whether a certain matter is good and beneficial, and you neglect the church, in the end you will have regret. However, if you care for the building of the church and sacrifice any other thing, even if it seems good and beneficial in your eyes, time will prove to you that God is with you.
Therefore, not only is Christ our test, but also the church is our test. Christ is a test to us to see whether or not we take Him as life and allow Him to live out through us. The church is a test to us to see whether the things we do are for the building up or the tearing down of the church. Both kinds of testing should always be with us. We should always ask ourselves: “Am I living by taking Christ as my life? Am I living by Christ or by my natural life?” Moreover, we should also ask: “Are my living, my walk, my service, and my work for the building up of the church or just for the sake of doing something good?”
May the Lord show us these two matters—Christ is our life and the church is our living. May Christ and the church become our vision so that in everything we are restricted, tested, and directed, as well as delivered and preserved, by this vision. We cannot live by ourselves; instead, we should live by Christ because Christ is our life. Moreover, we cannot live independently; rather, we must live in the church because the church is our living.
Christ and the church are a great mystery, a mystery that we have seen from God for many years now. Today this vision is becoming clearer and clearer. We feel that aside from this we have nothing else to speak and preach. What we preach and speak is just Christ and the church. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we may live in such a vision!
