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From the beginning of the Scriptures to the very end there is a definite line of God’s building. Among the many items of His creation recorded in Genesis 1 and 2, God mentions three precious substances: gold, bdellium (pearl), and onyx stone. Why are these items mentioned at the very beginning, and what are they for? The answer is revealed at the end of the Scriptures. In Revelation 21 and 22 there is a building, a city, called the New Jerusalem. This city is composed of gold, pearl, and precious stones. The precious substances mentioned in Genesis are the materials for the building portrayed in Revelation. At the beginning of Genesis we see the materials, and at the end of Revelation we see the New Jerusalem, composed of these materials.
Then we may ask, what does the portion of the Scriptures between Genesis and Revelation deal with? If we read carefully, we will see the line of God’s building from Genesis to Revelation. But we can also see some building work which is not of God. The whole Scripture is a record of building.
Immediately after the fall of man, mentioned in Genesis 3, we read of the city of Enoch, built by the fallen sons of Adam. Later, another city named Babel was erected, along with a high tower. Then the city of Sodom was built. But in contrast to these cities, God mentions some men living in tents. Noah lived in a tent opposite the city of Enoch. And later Abraham lived in a tent opposite the cities of Babel and Sodom.
Genesis also relates the story of Jacob, a man who had a wonderful dream one night. When he awoke, he set up the stone that he had used for a pillow and poured oil upon it, saying, “This is none other than the house of God” (Gen. 28:17). This is God’s building. A stone will be the house of God.
The book of Exodus relates how Jacob’s descendants, the people of Israel, were taken captive in Egypt. As slaves of Pharaoh, they worked laboriously to build two cities for him. But instead of using building materials of gold, pearl, and precious stones, they used mud. They used something of the earth. Bricks were made from mud hardened by the heat obtained from burning straw. Pharaoh’s two cities were made of earthly things.
God eventually delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and took them to Mount Sinai in the wilderness. There He asked them to build Him a tabernacle. If we could have looked into the tabernacle and observed the priest worshipping in the Holy of Holies, we would have seen him clothed with a breastplate and two shoulder pieces full of precious stones. Surrounding the priest was a scene of gold. There was not any hay, straw, or mud bricks in that building; there were only gold and precious stones. We need to remember also that the tabernacle was the very center of the people of Israel during their history of wandering in the wilderness.
When they entered the good land of Canaan, the essential work of the Israelites was the construction of a temple—another building. But before they could erect this structure, they had to defeat and drive out all their enemies. They had to gain the ground, the site, for the building. On that cleared ground they built the temple, which became the center of the history of Israel.
Years later, after the enemy defeated Israel and took the land, the temple was immediately destroyed. The enemy destroyed their center. But after seventy years of captivity there was a recovery, a rebuilding of the city and the temple. The main item of the recovery was building—the building of the city and the temple. This brings to a close the history of the Old Testament.
The first outstanding event of the New Testament was the incarnation of Christ in human form. The Gospel of John relates that the Lord Jesus “tabernacled among us” (1:14). God Himself was incarnated as the tabernacle, the building. The Lord Jesus was the building portrayed in the four Gospels.
The enemy, Satan, utilized the Jewish people to destroy this building by putting Jesus to death on the cross. But the Lord had already told the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (2:19). This means that the Lord raised up His destroyed body in resurrection and by resurrection. This includes His mystic Body, the church.
In the Epistles we are told that the church is the house of God, the temple of God. Thus, the church is the very building of God. Then, praise the Lord, at the end of the Scriptures there is nothing but a building, a city, the completion of God’s building work throughout the generations. In this holy city, the New Jerusalem, there are the names of the twelve tribes of the Old Testament and the names of the twelve apostles of the New Testament. These two groups represent all the redeemed people of God. This means the New Jerusalem is a composition of all the redeemed ones. But this is not all; in the New Jerusalem, God and man are completely mingled as one building. That is, divinity is mingled with humanity. God is the content, and man is the vessel; God is the life, and man is the expression of that life. This is the ultimate building of God.
We have now briefly covered the entire Bible. Do you see the line, the vision of God’s building, throughout the Scriptures? Remember, at the beginning there were the materials, but at the end there is the finished building composed of these materials. In between are the accounts of the building procedure and, of course, many inserted stories. Briefly, these interesting insertions are the numerous accounts of the serpent, Satan, who crept in soon after the materials were mentioned in Genesis 2. But after the serpent appeared, God immediately foretold that the seed of woman, Christ, would bruise that serpent (Gen. 3:15). The serpent brought in sin and death, but Christ brought in righteousness and life (Rom. 5). Christ Himself destroyed the devil. Eventually the serpent is chased away, cast out by Christ into the abyss and the lake of fire (Rev. 20). That is the end of the insertions. But the building of God stands completed. This sums up a brief sketch of the Scriptures, which are the record of God’s building.
I must point out now that this vision of God’s building is revealed only from the high mountaintop. If we are still on a low plain, our eyes will be veiled. We must be carried away to a high mountain in order to see things clearly and thoroughly. In Revelation the apostle John was carried away in spirit to a great and high mountain (Rev. 21:10). From this place he was shown the New Jerusalem, God’s ultimate building. This city was coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal. In Revelation 4 the appearance of God sitting on the throne was also like a jasper stone. Therefore, this city is the same as God’s appearance. John was acquainted with a temple in ancient Jerusalem, but he did not see a temple in this new city, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Neither did this city need sun or moon, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp was the Lamb. God is the light in Christ, the lamp. John also saw in the center of the city a clear river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. These details are very meaningful and can only be seen from a high mountain.
The main purpose of this chapter is that we may see what is revealed from the beginning of God’s work of creation. Strictly speaking, we are not dealing with God’s creation, as such, but His intention in creation. I believe that all Christians know the creation story. Many of us as youngsters were taught this subject in Sunday school. We know what God made on the first day, the second day, and so on, but have we realized God’s aim and goal in His creation?
Here is the picture in Genesis 1: God created the heavens and the earth. Then, in a sense, the earth was damaged, so it was buried in deep waters. There was waste and emptiness, darkness, deep water, and no life. Then God performed three kinds of separation. On the first day He separated the light from the darkness. Then God separated the waters under the expanse from the waters above the expanse. And finally, He separated the dry land from the waters. Out of this separated, or resurrected, land, God brought forth an abundance and variety of life. There was life of the lowest form and without consciousness, the vegetable life; then there was life of the higher form, the animal life. Finally, man was brought forth as the apex of God’s creation. In Genesis 1 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (vv. 26-28).
Please note carefully four key words from Genesis 1: man, image, dominion, and earth. Image and dominion are very meaningful. Both are vitally related to man, the center of God’s creation. It is God’s intention that man have dominion over all the earth, not merely over the living creatures of this earth. God commanded man to fill the earth, and He also told man to subdue the earth. Subdue is a strong, significant word. It indicates that there is something of rebellion on this earth which must be subdued. Man is to have dominion over everything that moves or creeps upon this earth. Man was made in the image of God and committed with the dominion of God to rule over this earth.
Only a few have paid much attention to the fourth key word, earth. It is a little word, much neglected by Christians today. So many dream and talk about a wonderful place called heaven. However, God’s desire is this earth. Man is to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth, and subdue it. If we could apprehend the real meaning of these four words—man, image, dominion, and earth—I believe we would understand the entire Scriptures.
All good Bible students agree that the eighth Psalm is a continuation of Genesis 1. Notice, the psalmist did not begin this psalm by declaring, “O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the heavens...” No, he did not stress the heavens. Rather, he said, “How excellent is Your name / In all the earth.” I believe that the psalmist was meditating during the night when he wrote this psalm. Being human, as we are, he considered God’s heavens, the moon and the stars. As he beheld the heavens, however, he did not exclaim, “What is an angel, that You remember him?” No, he asked, “What is mortal man?” I do not understand this wonderful reasoning. The psalmist was considering the heavens, yet he quickly reverted to man and to God’s care for man on this earth. I point out these verses only to illustrate that in the thought of the psalmist there was perhaps a place for angels, but in the divine concept, man’s position was much more important. And to God, earth is much more important than heaven. At the end of this psalm, God is again praised for the excellence of His name in all the earth.
Heaven and earth are the realm and sphere of God’s creation, with so many created things as the environment. But the earth, with man as the center, is God’s primary concern. Why does God need man as the center of His creation? It is because man is the expression and the authority of God. If we are acquainted with all the Scriptures, we will clearly see that God’s deep desire is to be expressed and, even more, to be represented through man upon this earth. God exists in this universe, but who has seen Him? God’s deep desire is to be expressed, not through or by Himself but through man. The New Testament uncovers this great mystery: God manifested Himself in flesh, in a man. We know that God is real, yet no man had ever seen Him. However, He has now been expressed through humanity. God is constantly desirous of expressing Himself, using man as His vessel and representative on this earth.
God never ordained anything else to be His representative, holding His authority. Out of the multimillion items of His creation, God ordained only man to be His representative on this earth. This is why man was expressly made in God’s image and committed with God’s authority.
If you bear God’s image, then you express God. You are a photo, a reproduction of God. Man exists for one purpose, that is to express God. But such an expression is only possible when we actually resemble God. When we acquire God’s likeness, we will then express Him and have His authority and dominion. This is God’s intention for us. Later, we will define God’s purpose in being expressed through man and represented by man. Our present aim is to clearly point out that God’s intention in creation is to have man as His expression.
The thought of building is in Genesis 1. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,...and let them have dominion...” God first mentions man in the singular number but follows with the plural pronoun them. Did God then create one man or many men at that time? The answer is that when God created man, He did not create an individual but a collective man, including you! God created you and the entire human race in Adam. Thus, the man God created is collectively singular.
The old man, Adam, failed God. Thus, He had to create another man, a new man in Christ. The question arises again, is this new man one person or many persons? Again, we must answer, the new man is also one. Thus, from God’s viewpoint there are only two men in this universe: the old man and the new man. All who are in Adam belong to that old man, and everyone who is in Christ belongs to the new man. The New Testament says that Christ created in Himself one new man out of two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles (Eph. 2:15). We are further told that this one new man is the Body of Christ (v. 16). Thus, this new man is a collective man.
Are Christians then one or many? First Corinthians 10:17 says that we are many, yet we are one bread, one Body. We are many, yet we are one, collectively one, and we must be built up as one.
God has only one image, and since His image is one, He can only have one expression. There are many thousands of Christians on this earth. How then can so many be just one expression of God? The answer is in God’s building! We must have the building. I do not have words to express what is on my heart concerning this matter. There is a vision open to me continuously day and night. First, on the negative side, it is impossible for any single individual to express God in a full way; then, on the positive side, the proper and adequate expression of God must be a coordinated, corporate expression. Remember, God’s desire and purpose is that He be expressed and represented through man on this earth. But this is possible only when we are being mutually coordinated and built up together. Then God will be fully expressed. We must be built up with other Christians as a corporate expression, representing God. God’s first created man failed to be His one expression, but the principle still holds: the other man created by God—the new man—is to be that all-inclusive, corporate man, God’s real expression on this earth.
Let us be more practical. Christians talk much about being like Jesus, glorifying God, and expressing Christ. But it is impossible for any individual to glorify God or express Christ in a full way if he is not built up with other Christians. We must consider ourselves. All our problems are due to one thing: we are too independent and individualistic; we are disconnected and isolated from others. Thus, we are beset with failures and weaknesses. Do you have a certain besetting sin that you cannot overcome? You will never surmount it or overcome it by yourself. You must forget your own efforts and pay full attention to being built up with others. If we are willing to be vitally related and built up with others, we will find that our weaknesses and shortcomings will disappear. We must learn to pay attention to one thing—being built up with other Christians. In the early years of my Christian life I did not see this building principle. I was struggling and striving, seeking and fighting. One day the Lord opened my eyes. I saw that there was no need for me to struggle, fight, and toil any longer. I need only to abide in the Body. As long as each member of my physical body abides in the body, everything is all right.
Suppose your hand is isolated and separated from your body, yet it continues with great effort to live and function, to be healthy and useful. Suppose someone should ask the severed hand, “What are you striving for?” and it replies, “Oh, I must strive to be healthy, to overcome all the germs, etc., etc.” Such a supposition is absurd in the extreme. Yet this is the case of most Christians today, probably including yourself. Yes, we are Christians, but we are not actually related to one another. We are members of Christ’s Body, but we are not fitly framed together. We are materials, but we are not built up together as God’s building. We must forget our personal struggles and simply abide in the Body. A misplaced, detached hand is not only useless—it is ugly and terrifying. Let us forget our striving and simply pay attention to being vitally related to Christ’s Body. Then the germs will be killed, and we will be living and powerful, healthy and functioning. We will not merely be useful, but fully useful.
Soon after I became a Christian, I read numerous articles concerning the victorious life and how to overcome sin. I tried to apply what I learned, yet the more I tried, the more I failed. I became very disappointed. But one day the Lord opened my eyes to see that Christ is within me as my life, that I am a member of His Body, and that there is no need for me to do anything. Then I deeply appreciated that Christ was my life and that I was in the Body. From this realization I experienced victory continually. There was no need to strive. The whole Body enriched me and strengthened me. I realized I was a member of the new man.
At the end of the Scriptures, as its conclusion, there is one city. And this city is the building, the unique, universal expression of God. God always has only one expression. As in Genesis 1 there is only one man, so at the end of the Scriptures there is only one city, built of gold, pearls, and precious stones. An independent Christian can never be a real, full expression of God. If we cut off our ear, it is an expression only of death. If I come upon a heap of ears, I will be terrified. Yet there are so many Christians today just like this, frightening people away. They are “nice” Christians, but practically speaking they are separated and isolated from the Body.
As Christians, can we point out other definite members of the Body of Christ with whom we are related in a practical way? This is not a matter of doctrine or ethereal spirituality; it is a matter of practical reality. Check yourself. If you are an isolated member of the Body, you are burdened with many problems. The only way to be a victorious Christian is to be a related Christian. When we come to the Body, we find that all the besetting sins are under our feet! The issue is not whether we are a living, healthy, or functioning individual Christian, but are we vitally and practically related to the Body of Christ? It is a pity, but it is a fact that very little is heard today regarding the building of God and the real relatedness of the Body of Christ on this earth. I do hope that we all may see that it is God’s intention to have a corporate man as a building, a unique expression, with so many members fitly framed together, members related and built up as one Body. Then wherever we are, we will enjoy all the riches of the Body.
Now let us consider the fourth key word that is mentioned in Genesis 1—earth. Why must God overrule and subdue the earth? It is because on the earth there is God’s enemy, Satan, the rebellious one. This enemy was in the serpent, the head of the creeping things. God must defeat His enemy and subdue the rebellious earth in order to recover it for Himself.
Christians today, including many spiritual leaders, have a wrong concept. They say, “Let us not talk about the problem of the church. When we get to heaven we will be one.” But if we must wait until we are in heaven to realize oneness, if we cannot have oneness on this earth, this is a shame to God and a glory to Satan. Satan will gleefully clap his hands and say, “Look, look at all of these defeated Christians. They are just waiting to go to heaven. There is not any place for them on earth.” What a shame to God! In Matthew 6 the Lord Jesus prayed that the Father’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As far as God is concerned, there is no problem in heaven, but there is a real problem on this earth. God has to deal with this rebellious earth. All Christians must declare the victory now; they must give present testimony on this earth that they are one. The church must be locally expressed on this earth. If the church is only heavenly, then God is in disgrace. The church expressed locally on this earth, however, is a real disgrace to Satan and glory to God. Whenever a group of saints come together, testifying that they are one in Christ, God’s enemy is put to shame. When God has such a building on this earth, victory is declared. But regardless of the situation, we know that God can never be defeated by Satan.
You may want to go to heaven and see a heavenly church life, but God is waiting and expecting to come down to this earth! In Revelation 21 the Holy Spirit tells us that the apostle John saw a new heaven and a new earth. Many Christians are disgusted with this earth. They are hoping that some day they will be in heaven, and the earth will have vanished away. But John saw not only a new heaven; he also beheld a new earth. We may not like the earth, but God does. God is going to recover this earth.
John also saw a vision of the holy city, the New Jerusalem. However, he did not see the New Jerusalem going up to heaven from this earth. This perhaps is what most Christians read into this verse in Revelation. No! John saw the one and only expression of God, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven as a testimony to the whole earth. I believe the eighth psalm will be completely fulfilled at that time, and you and I will say, “O Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!” Satan will then be put to shame and the earth will be completely subdued and fully recovered.
Today we can have a foretaste of that glorious coming day. We must not be defeated by the wrong concept that it is impossible to have the church life on this earth and that we must wait for heaven. We must cast these negative thoughts beneath our feet and boldly declare that the church must be expressed on this earth today.
God’s intention then in creation is to have a corporate man in His image to express Himself, and this man is to be committed with His authority, using His dominion to subdue and recover the earth. Yet as long as Christians are divided, there is no possibility of recovering this earth for God. What a shame that Christians are so divided. As the children of God, we must learn how to keep the oneness.
The Lord Jesus, on His last night on this earth before His crucifixion, offered one prayer to God—that we all may be one that the people of this earth may know that the Lord is God’s Christ. The building up of the saints into one corporate expression of Christ is the real testimony. Oh, may we defeat the divisions! The severest test among God’s children today is this matter of oneness. It will test and prove where we are. Because we are the children of God and members of Christ, there is no reason and no ground for us to be divided. We must be one and proclaim that we are one. Then we will have the basis to subdue and recover this earth and rout God’s enemy. We must do whatever we can to keep the oneness. I say again, this is a real test, a real cross, a putting to death, and a burying of one’s self.
We must be clear about these two things: God’s intention in His creation is to have a corporate vessel in His image to express Himself in a corporate way and, secondly, to represent Him on this earth, having His authority. Positively, this means there is only one corporate vessel to express God. And negatively, there is only one corporate representative to deal with God’s enemy, and subdue this rebellious earth. This is not to be accomplished in heaven but on this earth. May it be so today.
