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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:4-5, 1:10, 21-23; 3:9-11; Rom. 8:19-21; Rev. 22:1-2; 21:23-24
I am still burdened to speak about God’s purpose concerning the church. In my spirit is a realization that we are not deeply enough impressed with this matter. Perhaps many of us have a little understanding, but we may not have been brought into a full realization. Moreover, we should be able to speak the things we have heard and minister what we have been impressed with.
As we said in the previous chapters, there are three main items of God’s purpose for the church. The first is that the church must have the full sonship (Eph. 1:4-5). The second is that God may show His wisdom to the enemy through the church (3:9-11). Third, God’s purpose is to head up all things in Christ through the church (1:10, 21-23). This utterance is brief, clear, effective, and full. In studying the book of Ephesians, the verses cited above are the most difficult verses for people to understand. Nevertheless, God’s purpose with the church is in these verses. If we do not know these verses, we are blind concerning the main items of God’s purpose for the church. The sonship, God’s wisdom made known, and the heading up of all things are the three main items of God’s purpose concerning the church.
God’s eternal purpose is to work Himself into us, to absolutely and thoroughly mingle Himself with us. The way for God to work Himself into us and thoroughly mingle with us is by being our life and our life supply. Therefore, we first need to be born of Him. By this divine birth, the second birth, we become the children, the sons, of God. By being the sons of God, we have the life and nature of God. Our new birth is the beginning of the mingling of God with us.
As sons of God, however, we need growth. Our human spirit is the base of the divine work of the Triune God; it is the abode that God first takes within us. From the very center of our being—our spirit as the base for God’s work—God spreads Himself to our soul to transform all the parts of the soul. Eventually, He transforms, transfigures, our physical body. In this way our whole being will be saturated by God Himself, permeated by His essence. Our whole being will be transformed and mingled with God to be wholly sanctified (1 Thes. 5:23). To be made holy is to be thoroughly overlaid with God, that is, thoroughly mingled with God. Within every part of our being there will be the essence of God. The essence of God, God Himself, is holiness. When we are thoroughly mingled with God, we are wholly sanctified.
When we are thoroughly sanctified, we will be glorified. This means that our whole being will be brought into the essence of God. To be glorified means that we are fully matured. In this way we will have the manifestation, the full maturity, of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19-21). This will be our full sonship. Sonship begins from the new birth and consummates in glorification and the manifestation of the sons of God.
Sonship is a matter of the new birth, growth, and sanctification. In an all-inclusive sense, sanctification includes regeneration in the spirit, transformation for the soul, and transfiguration of the body. These three things—regeneration, transformation, and transfiguration—together are complete sanctification (1 Thes. 5:23). In this way our whole being, from the center to the circumference, is wholly sanctified. The end of this sanctification is glorification, and glorification is the manifestation of the children of God. Today we are the children of God, but we do not yet have the manifestation of the children of God because we are not yet glorified, and we are not yet glorified because we are not fully sanctified. This is because our soul has not been transformed, and our body has not been transfigured. At the time of the Lord’s coming, our body will be transfigured (Phil. 3:21). Then there will be no need to tell people that we are the sons of God. Everyone will recognize that we are sons of God, because we will have the manifestation, which is glorification, as the end of our sanctification.
Regeneration is the new birth, after which come transformation and finally transfiguration. Included in this complete sanctification we have glorification, and with this glorification we have the manifestation of the sons of God. Then at the manifestation of the sons of God, we will have the full sonship. Sonship begins with regeneration and consummates with the manifestation of the sons of God. When we have the full sonship, whatever God is, whatever God has, and whatever God has accomplished will be ours. We will have the full sonship, and we will be fully in God Himself according to God’s plan. This is very clear in the Scriptures.
We should spend more time considering the meaning of sonship in the New Testament. Sonship includes our becoming a child of God by the new birth all the way to the manifestation of the sons of God. From regeneration to the manifestation of the sons of God there is a process for us to undergo. Many things are involved in this process. If we consider the process itself, we will see a mess. We have compared this process to preparing a feast. Preparing a feast includes shopping in the supermarket all the way to serving the many courses. Between these two points there is a process, and the main part of the process is a mess in which the cook kills, cuts, scrapes, and mashes. We may also compare this process to cutting hair, which requires a number of instruments and also seems to make a mess.
In the early years of my ministry, whenever I saw troubles in the church among the children of God, I was sorry and disappointed. Today, however, if a brother has a failure, we can praise the Lord. Are there any problems? Praise the Lord for the problems! We need them. Without them nothing “delicious” will be cooked. The “potatoes” have to be “mashed.” We have to suffer and undergo many things. We may be sorry over the situation today, but the Lord is never sorry. He is happy, because He knows what He is doing. He is doing the cooking work. One day, sooner or later, He will have the full sonship among His children, and He will have their manifestation in glory.
The problem is that if we do not cooperate well with Him, we will delay Him and prolong the process. However, He is still wise. The more we prolong the time, the better He will do the cooking. I am not saying, “Let us do evil that good may come.” God is wise. He is wiser than we know. We all have to realize that we are under the process. We already have received the new birth, and now the goal in front of us is sanctification, glorification, full sonship, and the manifestation of the sons of God. If we cooperate with Him, we will hasten the time. If not, we will prolong the time a little. However, to the Lord it is the same. Eventually, He will work it out. Eventually, the whole universe will say, “Hallelujah!” And the One on the throne will declare, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). For the sons of God to be new is for them to be matured.
The correct, full meaning of sonship spans the new birth to maturity, from regeneration to glorification. If this will impress us and we are clear about this, the Scriptures will be open to us. Then our reading of the New Testament will be different from what it was in the past. God predestinated us unto this sonship, which starts from the new birth and consummates with maturity. I hope that from this time we all could be clear about this matter.
God created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26). This image is related to the sonship; the sonship is the fulfillment of God’s image. It is by the sonship that eventually we will fully be in the image of God. By the new birth we have the image of God within our spirit, and by transformation our soul will be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Then by transfiguration even our physical body will be conformed to the full likeness of Christ. At that time we will have the likeness, the image, of God fully and thoroughly, from within to without (1 John 3:2).
In His creation of man, God also committed His authority to man in order to subdue and deal with His enemy (Gen. 1:26). Therefore, the second item of God’s purpose with the church is related to the second aspect of God’s creation of man. God’s creation of man was first for man to be in His image and second to have His authority to deal with His enemy. The church was predestinated for the sonship of God and also was destined to subdue the enemy. In subduing the enemy, the church will make the wisdom of God manifest to all God’s enemies (Eph. 3:10).
The serpent first appears in Genesis 3, and he will be cast out in Revelation 20. Before Genesis 3 there are two chapters at the beginning of the entire Scriptures, and after Revelation 20 there are two chapters at the end, but in between there is a long record. On the positive side, this record is full of many good stories concerning the sonship. On the negative side, there are also many victorious stories related to subduing and overcoming the enemy. Finally, in Revelation 20 the ancient serpent will be bound and cast out (vv. 2-3, 10).
The Bible clearly and thoroughly reveals that what God has been doing in the past generations, still is doing now, and will be doing in the future is to fully accomplish His sonship in us and to subdue the enemy, to cast out the serpent. This will be done through the church and by the church. At present, as regards the sonship, we are under a process, and as regards the subduing of the enemy, we are in a battle. We are not only in a process but also in a battle, fighting all the time. Sometimes we are defeated; there is no doubt about this. In fighting sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose. However, do not be discouraged. Sometimes a defeat is for the purpose of a future victory. That is why I said that in the early days when I saw someone defeated, I was sorry, but today when I see someone defeated, I say, “Praise the Lord! This is the preparation for a further victory.”
Eventually, we will not be defeated. We will be victorious. Victory will be ours, not the enemy’s. I have this assurance. Do you think that eventually Satan will be victorious? No, we who are in Christ will be victorious. Do you believe in defeat, or do you believe in victory? In the past years many dear ones have come to me to argue, “Brother Lee, we never see you feeling sorrowful. You always look happy. This is too extreme.” I told these ones, “If you argue for feeling sorrowful, you eventually will lose the case. If you do not lose it today, you will lose it tomorrow. If you do not lose it in this generation, you will lose in the next generation. If you do not lose it in this age, I am sure you will lose it in eternity. When Revelation 21 comes, you will lose the case for feeling sorrowful.” There is no need for us to be sorrowful. We should always be happy and praising the Lord. Even a defeat is a preparation for a further victory. Let the enemy try to defeat us; eventually, he will be defeated.
What kind of Bible do you have? You need to say, “I have a Bible of victory.” This is a book of victory, not a book of defeat. How many books of the Bible do you have? Do you have only sixty-five books, without Revelation? You may show me what is mentioned in 2 Timothy 4 regarding the decline of the church, but I would say, “Look at Revelation.” Again you may show me the poor condition of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, but there are not only three chapters in Revelation; there are twenty-two. Go on from chapter 3 until you get to chapter 21. At that time the universal Hallelujah will come out. The whole universe will cry, “Hallelujah, victory!”
Within this Bible are the Old and the New Testaments. A testament is something that is accomplished and given to us as a will. We simply accept it. Our victory is an item of the testament. In the eyes of the Lord, Satan has been defeated already. This is a matter of fact; it is a settled matter. If we have this foresight and insight, then day by day we will sing Hallelujah. With the church there is no difference between a defeat and a victory. Even a defeat is for a victory. We must tell Satan, “Satan, even your victory is a preparation for our victory. We can never be defeated. Eventually, you will be the one who is defeated. I do not care how much you attack and how much you damage. The Lord Jesus said in John 2:19, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The more you destroy, the more the Lord will build up. Your destroying is just a preparation for His building up.” We need the vision of how much the Lord will use the church to defeat His enemy and to subdue and recover the whole earth. One day this will be accomplished.
The third item of God’s purpose for the church is to head up all things in Christ. This is the greatest item. The first item of God’s purpose, the sonship, is for the church positively. The second item, the subduing of the enemy, is for the enemy negatively. The third item, to head up all things in Christ, is for all the creation universally. The church must have the sonship, Satan must be subdued and cast out, and the whole creation must be headed up. When all creation is headed up, it will be delivered from vanity and from the slavery of corruption, and it will be brought into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God. These three main items—one for the church, one for the enemy, and one for the whole creation—are truly great matters.
The phrase to head up all things in Christ is truly wonderful. All the things in God’s creation were right, but the enemy of God came in and injected himself into the creation. Then death, darkness, and confusion came in, and the whole of creation was brought into vanity under the slavery of corruption. Therefore, even up to this time the whole creation is groaning. This is the situation under Satan’s damage in the whole universe. That even the little mosquitoes bite us illustrates the damage in creation. There will be no need for pest control in the fullness of the times. Today, however, the whole universe is damaged by Satan, because he brought in death, darkness, and confusion.
God’s way to recover His creation is the way of life. Satan injected himself into creation, bringing in death, darkness, and confusion, but now God has imparted Himself into us as life. Since God has come in, life follows, and light follows life. Under the light there is the proper regulation, which brings in harmony and oneness. First, there was Satan, death, darkness, and confusion. Now we have Christ, life, light, and harmony. How can the whole creation be delivered out of vanity and corruption? It is only by God being life to us. When we have God in Christ as life to us, life becomes the shining light. Eventually, the entire environment, the whole universe, will walk in the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:11, 23-24). Under the control of this light, the whole universe, the whole of creation, will be in harmony.
We have the full picture of this situation in Revelation 21 and 22. At the top of the New Jerusalem, Christ is the Head with God in Him as the very content. From Him flows the river of life with the tree of life to supply all His sons, and the redeemed ones as the sons of God are filled with life (22:1-2). The whole city shines out this life as light, and the nations, representing the whole universe, walk in the light of this city. Because Christ is at the top of the city as the Head, all things are headed up in Christ through the Body, the church, which consummates in the New Jerusalem. This picture is very clear. At that time the entire universe will be in a good harmony, and there will be no more death, thus no more darkness and no more confusion. Within, the city is full of life, and without, it is full of light. The whole environment surrounding the city will be under the regulation of this light. Then the whole universe will be headed up in Christ through the church. This will be the full manifestation of Christ being Head over all things to the church, which is His Body.
Have you seen this picture? This picture is often before me. Christ is at the top of the New Jerusalem as the Head, and from Him flows the bountiful life to supply us all. We are filled with this life, and spontaneously we shine out this life as light to the whole environment. Then all the surrounding nations, representing the entire universe, walk in this light and are controlled under this light. Thus, they will have the real harmony. All things will be headed up in Christ through the church. This is the consummation of God’s eternal purpose. At this time the sonship will be fully fulfilled, the enemy will be cast out, and all things will be headed up in Christ through the Body.
Even today this can be realized among us to some degree. When we know how to enjoy the sonship, how to defeat the enemy, and how to be filled with Christ under His headship, light shines out of us, and others are under the enlightening of this light. This is a foretaste and miniature of the coming consummation.
