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Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:4-6; John 20:22; Rom. 8:4, 6, 9-11, 13b; Gal. 2:20a; 1 Cor. 1:2a; John 3:5-6, 29; Titus 3:5; Rom. 12:2a; Eph. 4:23; 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:30; John 17:21a, 23a; 1 Cor. 6:17; 1 Tim. 3:15b-16; John 15:1, 5; John 7:39; Rev. 22:17a; Phil. 1:19; 2 Cor. 4:16; Phil. 3:10a; John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13-15; 1 John 5:6; Rom. 15:16b; 14:17; Eph. 3:16; 1:23
Prayer: Lord, we worship You again from the depths of our being. How merciful You are to us. In Your mercy we are once again gathered into Your holy name to seek after You in Your Word. Lord, how profound Your Word is! We remind You that we need Your revelation, Your light, and, even more, You Yourself to unveil it to us. Lord, we really thank You that in this last age You have again and again opened Your holy Word to us and have brought us into the depths of Your Word. Tonight, Lord, we especially need You to open the understanding of our heart as well as our eyes, to speak to us and to release Your light so that we may really see the mysterious revelation in Your Word. Lord, may You gain the glory, may we receive the blessing, may the evil one get the shame, and may the church be built up. Amen.
We come to the second message. This is a long and deep message concerning the elements, essence, and reality of the Body of Christ. First, we will consider three terms: element, essence, and reality. Element is a kind of constituent of a certain thing. Those who study chemistry know that chemistry is mainly the study of the constituents of matter, and the constituents are the elements. Even this podium has its constituent, which is mostly wood. The Body of Christ is something substantial yet mysterious in this universe. Although it is mysterious, it is nevertheless substantial. Therefore, the Body also has its constituents, and the constituents are its elements. Moreover, within every element or constituent there is a substance. Different constituents have different substances. For instance, steel has its own substance, and wood has its own. This substance is what we call the essence.
For example, the main constituents of lemon tea are lemon, honey, water, and tea. These four constituents all possess different essences. In pharmaceutics certain drugs are produced by extracting particular essences from herbs, which in turn give the drugs their special effects. Hence, the effectiveness of a drug depends on its essence. The church as the Body of Christ also has its own elements or constituents, within which are their essences and substances.
Let us consider the meaning of reality. According to the biblical usage of the word, reality refers to the real condition of men and things. For instance, we may hear of a church which is under much blessing, where all the saints love and fear the Lord, serve with zeal, love one another, and are holy and patient. When we go into their midst and truly witness such a situation among them, we may say that this particular church has much reality and that what we heard about them is real. In reading the Bible, we find that God is our love, light, life, power, righteousness, and holiness. We do not merely agree with this but also treasure His richness and all-inclusiveness. However, these riches are not merely printed words to us; they are both true and real. It is here that the greatest difference between the Bible and the writings of Confucius and Mencius lies. While the books of these men also discuss humility, forbearance, kindness, justice, courtesy, wisdom, and faithfulness, these are matters only in words and not in reality. The Bible, on the other hand, is different. When it says that God is holy, it is not merely words; there is such a reality. We are not required to work out a kind of holiness; rather, it is the holy God Himself who works holiness into our being through His Spirit. In this way God’s holiness becomes our reality. Whatever the Bible says becomes reality in us if we receive it from God.
The Bible says that God Himself is reality (John 1:14-17). If there is holiness, He is holiness; if there is light, He is light; if there is life, He is life; and if there is patience, He is patience. If we believe and receive Him, we will gain the reality of all that He is. If we have only the printed words of the Bible, we possess mere teachings and doctrines without reality. However, we have not only the Word of God but also the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God accompanies the Word of God to work into us as reality what the Bible utters.
Now that we have acquired a clear impression concerning element, essence, and reality, we can apply all three to the Body of Christ. Since the church is the Body of Christ, it must possess its own constituents and elements. The blood, the cells, the skin, the flesh, and the bones are all constituents of the human body, and these in turn have their own essences and substances. What then are the essences and constituents in the Body of Christ? Two essences constitute the Body of Christ. One is the processed Triune God, which is the divine element; the other is the tripartite man regenerated by God, which is the human element. These two elements are two constituents. The constituent of the processed Triune God enters into us to mingle with us, the tripartite man, to produce the Body of Christ. When we were saved and regenerated, God in Christ came into us to be the divine life in us, and this divine life became the divine essence within us.
However, merely to have Christ as the essence of the divine life within us does not result in the church, since the church is the mingling of divinity with humanity, that is, man without and God within. We realize that although the church and a social club are both human gatherings, there is a great difference between them. A club is an association of people who share certain traits, such as a common birthplace. The church is different; it has people from all places. What we have in common is not our birthplace but God. You have God in you; I have God in me; he has God in him—we all have God in us. Whenever God is mentioned, everyone responds. This is the “God-responsiveness” in us. Hence, the church is different from any kind of group, such as professional societies and trade unions. In these associations there are only human beings without God in them. The church, however, is not only men; there is God within. That which has only men and not God is not the church. A single constituent is not enough; there must be both the divine constituent as well as the human constituent. We can say that the church is both man and God. It is the mingling of God and man, the blending of humanity with divinity, a hybrid entity of divinity joined with humanity, with two elements or constituents.
Not only so, within the two elements of the Body of Christ are the essences and substances of each. Thus, besides having the human element with its human essence, the church also possesses the divine element with its divine essence. Human organizations frequently have friction and disputes due to self-interest and self-gain. This is because among them there is only the human essence and not the divine essence. In the church of God there is not only the human essence but also the divine essence. There is no room for man’s natural flesh. On the contrary, since we all have the element of God’s life with the divine essence within us, the church displays an uncommon condition, one that expresses the reality of God.
Now we will follow the outline to get into this present message, which is entitled “The Elements, Essence, and Reality of the Body of Christ.” Let us start with the elements of the Body of Christ. The first item is the processed Triune God, who is the divine element (Eph. 4:4-6). The church is different from all organizations because it possesses the divine element of the processed Triune God. This Triune God passed through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection in order to enter into the members of Christ that they might be the elements of the Body of Christ (John 20:22).
God is holy, righteous, and glorious. In order to enter into us, the filthy sinners, He first became flesh and put on a body of flesh and blood that He might be crucified for us and shed His blood to make propitiation for our sins and satisfy the righteous requirement of God’s law. He also resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit so that He might get into all who believe in Him and call upon Him. When we obtain Him in this way, He becomes our life element and life constituent within us.
Now this Triune God who has entered into us, the members of Christ, has not only become our life element and constituent but also exists together, lives together, and mingles with us who are the members of the Body of Christ (Rom. 8:9-11; Gal. 2:20a). Some of us did have these experiences. Before we were saved and had the divine life and divine constituent in us, we frequently quarreled with our spouse. Such arguments were usually intensified and strengthened by reasonings as they went on. After we believed in the Lord Jesus and the divine element of the Triune God entered into us, He often stopped us just when we were about to start an argument. This is because the Lord Jesus, in whom we have believed, came into us to be our divine element. Whereas once we were a cup full of bitter water, now the bitterness is diminishing, and the water is being sweetened by the addition of the “lemon” and “honey.”
The second item of the elements of the Body of Christ is the tripartite man regenerated by God as the human element (1 Cor. 1:2a). Each one of us who was saved and belongs to the Body of Christ possesses these two elements or constituents, that is, the divine constituent and the human constituent. Moreover, we human beings regenerated by God have three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. First, God comes into our spirit to regenerate it (John 3:5-6; Titus 3:5); then, He spreads into our soul that it may be renewed and transformed (Rom. 12:2a; Eph. 4:23; 2 Cor. 3:18); and finally, He saturates our body that it may be transfigured and glorified (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 8:30). Thus, our tripartite being and the Triune God are fully mingled as one (Eph. 4:4-6). The processed Triune God is the divine constituent, and the tripartite being who has been possessed by God is the human constituent. When these two constituents are mingled, they become the constituents of the Body of Christ.
The mingling of the divine element of the Triune God and the human element of the tripartite man can be likened to the blending of lemon and honey with water to make lemonade. The issue of the Triune God entering into and mingling with us, the tripartite man, is that we become one with the Triune God (John 17:21a, 23a) and are one spirit with the Triune God (1 Cor. 6:17) as a hybrid entity of divinity and humanity blended together. Every saved person is a hybrid of divinity and humanity mingled together. The dual nature of this hybrid is the divine with the human. Though we are human beings, we have God within us. Since God and man have become one entity, we are the God-men. This hybrid entity of God mingled with man is just the Triune God, who possesses divinity with humanity, mingled with the tripartite man, who possesses humanity with divinity (Rom. 8:6, 10-11). Because our God passed through incarnation, He possesses divinity with humanity; and because God entered into us at the time of our salvation and regeneration, we possess humanity with divinity. Whether it is divinity with humanity or humanity with divinity, both include the dual nature of God and man and thus result in a hybrid of divinity and humanity.
Further, the hybrid issuing from the mingling of divinity with humanity is a matter of divinity being begotten in humanity, living in humanity, and being expressed in humanity; it is also a matter of humanity being begotten by divinity, living by divinity, and expressing divinity (1 Tim. 3:15b-16). Divinity being begotten in humanity, living in humanity, and being expressed in humanity refers to the Lord Jesus as God incarnate. Humanity being begotten by divinity, living by divinity, and expressing divinity points to the Body of Christ, which is constituted by persons who have been regenerated by God. This hybrid of the mingling of God and man eventually becomes an organism in which God is life to man and man has God as life (John 15:1, 5). This is the church, the Body of Christ.
Let us now continue with the second major point, the essence of the Body of Christ. The Spirit as the essence of the Triune God has become the essence of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4). Hence, the essence of the Body of Christ is the Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed Triune God (John 7:39; Rev. 22:17a). The Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—are all in this all-inclusive and consummated Spirit. Further, the Spirit, through regeneration, has brought the processed Triune God into the Body of Christ, that is, into us the regenerated persons (John 3:5-6, 29; Eph. 4:5-6). Besides this, the Spirit as the processed and consummated God, containing divinity and humanity, the all-inclusive death of Christ, and His surpassing resurrection, became not only the element of the Body of Christ but also its essence (cf. Exo. 30:23-25). Both the element and essence of the Body of Christ are this all-inclusive Spirit, who is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. The Spirit, who is in the Body of Christ, is the Body’s element on the one hand and its essence on the other hand. This may be likened to the addition of the constituent and element of lemon to water by adding lemon juice into water. Such a particular constituent and element contain an essence, which may be called lemon extract. This essence of lemon extract comes from the constituent and element of the lemon.
The Spirit as the essence of the Triune God has now become the essence of the Body of Christ, and there are certain precious capacities associated with this essence. Each essence has its own capacities. For instance, a lemon has the constituent and element of lemon, and within that constituent and element is an essence called lemon extract. This lemon extract possesses a capacity to soothe our throats. Another example is the various types of antibiotics with their different constituents and elements and thus their different essences. Each essence brings about a different capacity to cure a different disease.
The Spirit, who is the essence of the Triune God as well as the consummated Triune God Himself, became not only the element but also the essence of the Body of Christ. Such an essence also possesses its own capacities. First, the essence of the Body of Christ contains the divinity of the Triune God with the capacity to supply the divine life (Phil. 1:19). The Spirit as the essence of the Triune God becoming the essence of the Body of Christ is able to supply God’s life and nature into us. This is His capacity. Second, the essence of the Body of Christ contains the excelling humanity with the capacity to supply the same excelling humanity to us (2 Cor. 4:16). The humanity of the Lord Jesus is high and excelling. He possesses not only a rich divinity but also a surpassing humanity. We can clearly see this in the Gospels’ record of His feeding the crowd with five loaves and two fish (Matt. 14:14-21). A great crowd gathered in the wilderness one evening and had nothing to eat. After the Lord received the five loaves and two fish from the disciples, He ordered the people to sit down in rows. Then He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the people. After the crowd ate and was full, He charged the disciples to gather the leftovers, which eventually filled twelve baskets. Here we can see that while the Lord richly supplied the people in His rich divinity, He did not waste anything but cherished what God had blessed. What a high and excelling humanity this is! When we were saved, the Lord Jesus not only delivered us from sin; He also entered into us to be our life and to supply us with His excelling humanity in order that our own humanity may be transformed and uplifted.
Third, the essence of the Body of Christ contains the all-inclusive death of Christ, with the capacity to put to death the negative things (Rom. 8:13b). Just as antibiotics possess germ-killing essences, the all-inclusive death of Christ is able to kill all the negative things in us. The redemption accomplished by Christ through His cross two thousand years ago can now be applied to us through His eternal Spirit. The effectiveness of His death is operative in us because the Spirit of His essence contains the all-inclusive death of Christ, and this Spirit is now in us. When He operates in us, this Spirit contains the capacity to kill all the negative things and will put to death all the negative “germs” in us, much like antibiotics.
Fourth, the essence of the Body of Christ also contains the surpassing resurrection of Christ with the surpassing capacity of resurrection (Phil. 3:10a). Although we often feel sorrowful and depressed in our Christian life, whenever we look to the Lord and fellowship with Him, there is a kind of inner surpassing power which simply carries us through our situations. Such surpassing power is the resurrection of Christ in us becoming our surpassing essence. The resurrection of Christ raised Him from Hades, and He ascended into the heavens to be far above all. Now this surpassing resurrection in the Spirit, who has become the essence of the Body of Christ, enables us to participate in its capacity in the same Body.
The third major point concerns the reality of the Body of Christ. We have already indicated that reality refers to the real condition of persons and things. The Body of Christ is the church today, and all of its reality is the Spirit of the reality of the consummated Triune God. The reality of the processed Triune God is His consummated Spirit of reality (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 5:6). The reality of all that the Triune God is, has, and can do is simply this Spirit of reality. The reality of the death and resurrection that the Triune God passed through is also this Spirit of reality.
Furthermore, this Spirit of reality makes everything of the processed Triune God a reality in the Body of Christ (John 16:13-15). It is this same Spirit of reality who makes all the riches of the Triune God, which are just His reality, possible and real in the Body of Christ. All that the processed Triune God is, including righteousness, holiness, life, light, power, grace, and all the divine attributes, are realized by this Spirit of reality to be the real attributes of the Body of Christ (Rom. 15:16b; 14:17; Eph. 3:16). Originally, such righteousness, holiness, life, light, power, and grace were merely God’s attributes; now these attributes have been realized in the church by the Spirit in the Body of Christ. The church therefore possesses the reality of the divine attributes, such as righteousness, holiness, life, light, power, and grace.
Furthermore, all that the Triune God experienced, including incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, are likewise realized by this Spirit of reality to be the real experiences of the Body of Christ. Originally, it was the Triune God who was incarnated, crucified, and resurrected. But when the Spirit of reality came, He made these experiences of the Triune God real in us as our real experiences. Because of this we can live a normal human life on the earth today. We can deal with the negative matters that befall us by the capacity of the death of Christ. We do not lose our temper, nor do we blame or rebuke others, because the death of Christ is realized in us through the Spirit of reality. Moreover, the Spirit with the resurrection of Christ works in us to enable us to love and forgive others. These are all examples of how the experiences of the Triune God Himself have been realized in the church by the Spirit of reality to be the real experiences of the church. This is the Spirit of the reality of the Triune God becoming the reality of the Body of Christ.
Finally, we need to see conclusively that both the essence and the reality of the Body of Christ are altogether matters of the Spirit of the processed and consummated Triune God. Whether essence or reality, it is all a matter of this Spirit. The Spirit is the reality of the essence as well as the essence to which the reality belongs. Essence emphasizes the inward substance, and reality emphasizes the outward realization. Because the Spirit is the inward substance of the Body of Christ, He is also its outward realization. Both the inward essence and substance and the outward reality and realization are of the Spirit. This Spirit is the secret to all that the Triune God is to the Body of Christ. For instance, the secret to God’s loving the Body of Christ, sanctifying it, and strengthening it, is with the Spirit of reality. It is the Spirit of reality who makes God’s love real in the Body of Christ so that it may be sanctified and strengthened. This Spirit of reality is the processed Triune God Himself as well as the totality of all the attributes of the processed Triune God. If we have this Spirit, we have all the attributes of the processed Triune God, such as love, light, mercy, righteousness, holiness, life, power, and grace. Furthermore, the Spirit is also the effectiveness of all the processes of the processed Triune God. Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection all have their effectiveness, and their effectiveness is just the Spirit of essence and reality. The effectiveness of both the death and resurrection of Christ is displayed in us who possess this Spirit of essence and reality.
This Spirit now dwells in our regenerated spirit and is joined to our spirit as one spirit (Rom. 8:9-11a; 1 Cor. 6:17). He is not only in us but also joined with our spirit to become one spirit with us. We must therefore exercise to turn our whole being to this joined spirit and set our mind on it (Rom. 8:6b). Do not place your mind on frivolous matters; set it on the spirit by turning your entire being to this joined spirit. We should also live and walk according to this joined spirit (v. 4). We must speak, do things, treat others, and deal with matters according to this joined spirit. We should talk to our family members in our home life according to this spirit. When we live in this joined spirit, we will be able to live out the Body of Christ and become His corporate expression (Eph. 1:23).
