Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 3:10-17; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; Rom. 12:2
In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul covers the matters of feeding, drinking, eating, planting, watering, and growing. These are all related to life. In 3:9 Paul goes on to refer to the church as God’s farm and God’s building. The farm certainly is a matter of life, and the building is the issue of life. No material building involves anything of life. But the spiritual building mentioned in this chapter has much to do with life. Paul talks about this building not only in 1 Corinthians, but also in Ephesians, Colossians, and Romans. However, the basic points regarding the building are covered in 1 Corinthians. God’s building is altogether a building in life and of life, for it is the building up of the Body of Christ.
Apparently, there is no connection between the farm and the building. According to our natural concept, a farm is a matter of life, but a building is a composition of lifeless materials. Thus, there does not seem to be a proper continuation between the expressions God’s farm and God’s building. However, if we realize that the building here is a life building, a building in life, we shall see that there is a direct connection, an excellent continuation, between the farm and the building. Whatever is produced on the farm is not for the farm itself; it is for the building. The produce grown on the farm is for the building.
Although the produce grown on the farm is for the building, it does not go into the building directly. Rather, we may say that it goes to the church restaurant to be eaten, digested, and assimilated by the saints. Through this process, what is grown on the farm is consumed by the saints and eventually even becomes them.
The farm produces not only vegetables, the plant life, but also livestock, the animal life. Both the plant life and the animal life must be eaten by us in the church restaurant. In 3:2 Paul says, “I gave you milk to drink.” Milk is a product of both the plant life and the animal life. It is produced by cows, which feed on grass. Milk is a product of the mingling of the animal life with the plant life. This mingling of two lives also produces meat. Without the animal life, we cannot have meat. Likewise, without the plant life, we also cannot have meat, for cattle are dependent on the grass for their food. First they eat the vegetable life and then produce milk and meat for us.
I mention this because both milk and meat are figures of Christ as our life supply. In John 6:48 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” Bread is made primarily of flour, which comes from the plant life. However, the Lord goes on to speak of the bread as His flesh: “And the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). This indicates that the composition of this bread is not only of the vegetable life, but also of the animal life; it is flesh-bread. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether Christ as our life supply is of the vegetable life or the animal life. This bread is a product, a mingling, of both lives.
The more we eat of Christ as our life supply, the more we shall be transferred into God’s building. First we are the farm to produce something to eat. By eating what is produced on the farm we are brought into the building.
In order for the food we eat to become our constitution, there must be the process of metabolism. In the Bible this process is called transformation. Transformation involves a metabolic change. Hence, transformation is altogether a metabolic process. First we eat a meal. After a period of time, the food is digested and assimilated. Eventually, the digested and assimilated food becomes the fibers of our being. This is metabolism, transformation.
In order for an infant of seven pounds to grow into a mature man weighing one hundred seventy pounds, there must be a regular eating and a normal process of metabolism. Gradually, the food taken in by an infant will cause him to grow. Eventually, as a result of a metabolic process over a long period of time, he will become a full-grown man. As a mature man, he is a product, a composition, of all the food he has eaten, digested, and assimilated. This illustrates the process of spiritual metabolism. The produce grown on the farm is eaten and digested by us. Eventually, through the process of metabolism, this food supply becomes us and transforms us into material for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The church is a farm to grow Christ. Every item of the produce grown on the farm is Christ. The farm produce includes many different aspects of Christ. Christ is the milk, the vegetables, and the meat. The church grows Christ, and all the saints eat Christ. Eventually, through digestion, assimilation, and metabolism, Christ becomes us, and we become Him. Then we are the proper materials for the building.
Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 3 has a direct connection from item to item. First he refers to feeding, drinking, and eating. Then he goes on to mention planting and watering, after which he tells us that it is God alone who gives the growth. Following this, he says in verse 9 that we are the farm and the building. Therefore, there is a direct connection between all these matters. As we have seen, the farm becomes the building.
In verses 10 and 11 Paul speaks directly and explicitly concerning Christ as the foundation: “According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each one take heed how he builds upon it. For other foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is being laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Here Paul indicates that he had already laid Christ as the unique foundation. In this universe there is just one foundation, and we should not lay another. We must not say that we are of a certain person or a certain thing, that we prefer a certain matter, or that we choose a certain locality for the church life. To speak in this way is to lay another foundation in addition to Christ. Instead of laying another foundation, we need to build upon the foundation already laid.
In today’s Christianity there are many other foundations, but there is virtually no building upon the foundation already laid. The Lord’s recovery must be altogether different. In the recovery we should never lay another foundation; we should simply build on the foundation which was laid more than nineteen hundred years ago. We thank the Lord that, in His mercy, He has recovered this unique foundation. Many years ago, in China, we took a strong stand for Christ as the unique foundation. We had to declare to those in the denominations that we could not have any foundation other than Christ Himself. As a result, many things had to be put aside so that Christ alone would be exalted. Now that the unique foundation has been laid, we should build upon it.
In 3:10 Paul says, “But let each one take heed how he builds upon it.” When we refer to how we do a certain thing, we usually mean the way, not the material used. When referring to the material, we usually say, “What are you building with?” We do not ask, “How are you building?” But in the Bible these two are the same. How we build upon the foundation is equivalent to what we build with. In other words, according to the Bible, the material used in building is the way we build. According to our natural thought, the material is one thing and the way is another. The material refers to a substance, but the way refers to skill or technique. But in the Bible the substance is the technique; the material is the way. Actually, the Bible pays little attention to skill or technique, but devotes much attention to the material. Paul’s concern is not by what way or method we build the church. His concern is what material we use in building.
In verse 12 Paul refers to two ways of building: “But if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble.” The first way is to build with gold, silver, and precious stones; the second way is to build with wood, grass, and stubble. Here we have two categories of building materials. Gold, silver, and precious stones are minerals. Wood, grass, and stubble are related to the plant life. We in the Lord’s recovery all are doing the work of building. Thus, we must take heed how we build. Are we building with gold, silver, and precious stones, or with wood, grass, and stubble?
Paul’s word in 3:12 is not only for elders or co-workers. On the contrary, it is written to every believer. This is included in an Epistle addressed to the church in Corinth, with all those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in every place. Thus, this verse is intended for all of us. It applies to you and also to me.
In the building of the church we ourselves are used as material. Since we are the building material, we need to ask what kind of material we are. Are we wood or gold, silver or grass, precious stones or stubble? Many of us may answer this question by saying that we are in the process of transformation. Therefore, in a sense we are both wood and gold, grass and silver, stubble and precious stones. Using an example from the insect world, we may compare ourselves to a caterpillar in a cocoon in the process of becoming a butterfly. On the one hand, we are still a caterpillar; on the other hand, there are signs that we are becoming a butterfly. The process of transformation has begun, but it is not yet complete. We are all on the way of transformation; we are in the process of being transformed.
In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul says, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (lit.). In order to behold the Lord and be transformed, we need an unveiled face. There should not be a veil between us and the Lord. Experientially speaking, a veil refers to some kind of insulation. No matter how close we may be to the Lord, if we are insulated by a veil, He cannot infuse Himself into us. Insulation is a term often used with respect to electricity. To insulate something is to cover it so that it cannot receive an electrical charge. Even a thin piece of paper can be an insulator. An electrical appliance may be in working order, and electricity may be installed in the room, but electrical power cannot be transfused into the appliance if there is insulation blocking a direct connection.
This illustrates what takes place in the lives of many Christians today. Believers may think that if they love the Lord, are close to the Lord, and walk with the Lord, then everything is all right. They may not realize, however, that they are still under certain veils, and that these veils insulate them from the Lord’s transfusion.
According to Paul’s word, we need to behold the Lord with an unveiled face. There should not be any veils between us and the Lord. If we are unveiled we shall be a mirror beholding and reflecting the glorious image of the Lord. Whenever we behold Him in a direct way without any veil, without any insulation, we experience His transfusion. We are infused with the divine electricity.
Eating the Lord has much to do with being transfused with Him. Actually, to eat the Lord Jesus is to allow Him to get into us by the way of transfusion. This is clearly revealed in the New Testament. According to the New Testament, our relationship with the Lord is altogether a matter of spiritual life. Because it is a spiritual thing, human language cannot describe it adequately. For this reason, Paul uses metaphors. In 1 Corinthians 3 the words feeding, milk, drinking, and solid food are metaphors. The Lord Jesus also used metaphors and parables in His teaching, for example, when He said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). The Lord went on to say that the bread which He gives is His flesh. The Jews “contended with one another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52). To eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us and allow Him to add Himself to us.
Eating is not once for all; it must be repeated day by day. We have been eating various foodstuffs for years, but we still need to eat today. Each time we take food into us, transfusion occurs within us. By eating and by transfusion Christ is added into our being.
Eating is related to transformation. When food is eaten, digested, and assimilated, a new substance is added into our being to replace and discharge the old substance. This is the metabolic process of transformation. The significance of eating is that a new substance is added into us to discharge the old substance in order to produce a metabolic transformation. This crucial matter is very much neglected by Christians today.
Suppose a person’s face is very pale. There is a great difference between applying makeup to change the color of his complexion and having his complexion changed as a result of proper nourishment and metabolism. To apply makeup is to do the work of a mortician. A mortician adds makeup to the face of a dead person because there cannot be any metabolic change in life. In our Christian life, we should not try to color ourselves with spiritual makeup. Instead, we should eat the Lord. Paul’s work was not the work of a mortician. He did not apply makeup to the Corinthians. Instead, he fed them. He knew that if they would eat and drink properly, they would be transformed and have a healthy spiritual complexion.
Paul’s work was very different from that of many Christian workers today. Whereas many carry on the work of “morticians,” Paul fed the saints with Christ. Likewise, the church should not be a place where people buy cosmetics; on the contrary, it must be the Lord’s restaurant where His people can eat. The more we eat of Christ, the more we shall be transformed. Transformation will make us glorious. It will cause us to bear the Lord’s image, His appearance, His glorious expression.
The transfusion of the Lord into us can also be illustrated by the transmission of electricity into a child’s toy. Certain toys move, jump, and even dance when they are powered by electricity. We can be compared to such an electrically powered toy. When Christ is transfused into us, we begin to move. We may even feel as if we could jump or soar in the air. Our Christian life is a life of transfusion; it is a life of continually having the Lord infuse Himself into us.
Transformation and transfusion make us living materials for God’s building. As living materials, we are growing and changing. I can observe a change, a transformation, in the lives of many saints, especially in the lives of those whom I have not seen for a period of time. Praise the Lord that we are being transformed! We are becoming gold, silver, and precious stones for God’s building.
The church is not an organization or society; the church is an organic entity — the Body of Christ. Only transformed persons can be constituted into the Body. Because the Body of Christ is organic, the more we grow and are transformed, the more we are built up as the Body. This building of an organic Body is what the Lord is seeking today.
