Scripture Reading: Eph. 2:15-16; 3:17a; Eph. 4:13-15, 22-24
The book of Ephesians reveals that the church is not only the Body, but also the new man. As the new man, the church must have Christ both as the life and as the person. Only in recent years has the aspect of the church as the new man been recovered. We thank the Lord that He has shown us clearly through the book of Ephesians that the church is the new man.
During the past two centuries, many Christians have seen that the church is the Body of Christ. In particular, the Brethren speak of this aspect of the church. Furthermore, since the end of World War II, many in this country have begun to talk about the Body. Today it is common to hear terms such as Body ministry. However, although the church is the Body of Christ, this is not the highest revelation of the church. We must go on to see the church as the new man.
Eph. 2:15 says that Christ abolished in His flesh the law of commandments in ordinances in order to create the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man. Through His death on the cross, not only did Christ deal with sin, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the Devil; He also dealt with the law of the commandments in ordinances. Many good messages have been given on how the cross of Christ has dealt with sin, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the Devil. But have you ever heard that on the cross Christ abolished the law of commandments in ordinances? Christ did this not for salvation, sanctification, or even victory. He abolished the ordinances in order to create the new man. We freely admit that sin, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the Devil all needed the dealing of the cross, and we praise the Lord that all these negative things have been crucified. But we must go on to see the crucial importance of Christ’s abolishing the law of the commandments in ordinances in order to create us into one new man.
The fact that the Jews and the Gentiles have been created into one new man indicates that the new man is an entity that is corporate and universal. There are many believers, but there is just one new man. All the believers are part of this one corporate and universal new man. The highest revelation of the church given in the book of Ephesians is that of the new man.
To be regenerated is not only to be saved; it is also to be created anew. On the cross Christ abolished the ordinances so that a re-creation could take place. The Jews and the Gentiles were separated by ordinances. But the two peoples have been created in Christ with the divine essence into one new entity, the corporate new man.
Ordinances are the various forms or ways of living and worship. For example, the Jews have their particular way of worshipping God. Based upon this way of worship, they have ordinances that govern their daily living. Other peoples also have their own ways of living and worship. This is true among the denominations in today’s Christianity. The Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and Episcopalians all have different ways of worship. How widespread is this matter of ordinances, and how all-pervading!
God’s intention is not to have a certain kind of worship. His desire is to have the one new man. However, in his subtlety, Satan, the enemy of God, uses ordinances to damage the new man and to keep believers from realizing the new man in a practical way. Satan’s goal is not to keep Christians from heaven or from pursuing spirituality; it is to keep them from seeing and experiencing the church as the one new man.
We thank the Lord that He has made us very clear regarding the ground of the church. But it is not adequate simply to know the church ground. Although the ground of the church is necessary, God’s desire is not merely to have the church ground. He desires to have the church as the new man. Ordinances are the main obstacles to the fulfillment of this desire of God. If we would have the church in the aspect of the new man, we need to lay aside our ways of living. On the cross, Christ abolished all the ordinances. However, He did so not merely for the purpose of eliminating ordinances; He abolished the ordinances in order to create the one new man.
In His wisdom God has chosen us out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9). In the local churches today there are believers from many races and nationalities. Surely the greatest test of whether or not we take Christ as our life and as our person is related to ordinances. For example, it is difficult for the Chinese who have moved to this country from the Far East to realize the church as the new man because it is not easy to set aside their Chinese way of living. When certain Chinese brothers and sisters were in the Far East, they were more useful in the church life than they are now because now they hold on to their Chinese ordinances. To be fair, we need to point out that all of us have the problem of holding on to our ordinances. In the new man there is no room for Jew, Greek, barbarian, Scythian, circumcision or uncircumcision. This means that in the church as the new man there can be no Chinese, American, British, German, or any other nationality. There is room only for Christ. It is crucial for us all to see that more than nineteen hundred years ago all our ordinances were abolished by Christ on the cross.
If we sincerely desire to take Christ as our life and as our person, we must let go of our ordinances. For example, we should not have an ordinance about hair styles. Rather, we should contact the Lord concerning this and pray, “Lord Jesus, I am one of Your members. What kind of haircut do You want to have? I don’t care for any way of worship or living, and I am not concerned about customs or habits. Lord, I only care that You be my life and my person.” Spontaneously the living Lord Jesus will let you know how you should cut your hair. Then you simply act according to what He shows you. This is not an ordinance; it is a practical experience of taking Christ as your person.
Our need today is not doctrinal knowledge, but the practical and daily experience of taking Christ as our person. In 1970 we first began to speak of the church as the new man. At that time we pointed out that in order to have the church in the aspect of the new man, we need to take Christ as our person. Since that time, there has been much talk about the new man and about taking Christ as our person. Even some good hymns have been written along this line. But according to my observation, there is little reality among us of actually taking Christ as our person. We should not be satisfied if others regard us as good people. We must be those who take Christ as our person. May we all go to the Lord and have a thorough transaction with Him concerning all the details of our daily living.
In many respects we are still quite religious. Even the way we preach the gospel and help others to be saved may be carried out in a religious way. We may tell people that they are sinful and that Christ died on the cross for their sins. We may go on to say that if they believe in Him, they will be forgiven, justified, saved, and made ready for heaven. In a sense such gospel preaching is good, fundamental, and even scriptural. However, it may be religious. The important factor in the preaching of the gospel is to help people open to the Lord Jesus and take Him into them. Even if a person has no concept of forgiveness, justification, or heaven, he will have the reality of all these if he takes Christ into him. When we have Christ, we have forgiveness, redemption, justification, salvation, and sanctification.
God’s purpose is not simply to forgive our sins, to justify us, and then to carry us away to heaven. His intention is to work Christ into us. Before the foundation of the world, He chose us in Christ and put a mark on us. Then, in time, He called us. When God called us, His desire was that we focus our attention not on forgiveness or justification, but on receiving His dear Son into us. As long as Christ is living in us, we shall have no problem with forgiveness, justification, salvation, or heaven.
Only by having Christ in us can we become part of the Body of Christ. It is Christ alone who constitutes us a part of Himself. For this, forgiveness, justification, and sanctification are not sufficient. May the Lord grant that we may see that we have not only been forgiven, justified, saved, and sanctified, but also re-created in Christ and with Christ.
Because I have had experience with various kinds of Christianity, including fundamental, Pentecostal, and inner life Christianity, I am familiar with many different religious practices. I can testify that today I am not for any practice, but only for taking Christ as my person in a genuine and living way. My desire is to help others receive and experience the living Christ. He is not a form, religion, regulation, ordinance, or practice — He is the living Spirit. Our need is simply to open to Him and to take Him into us.
Without Ephesians 3, Ephesians 2 would only be doctrine to us. It is a fact that Christ has abolished the ordinances in order to create the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man. But for this to be practical in our daily experience, we must allow Christ to make His home in our hearts (3:17). One way to tell whether or not you still have ordinances is to check whether or not Christ is making His home in your heart. Are you allowing Him to make His home in your heart? If we are honest, most of us would have to say that we do not give Him much opportunity to do this. The reason for this is that we do not care firstly for Christ, but for our own way.
Consider the experience of Peter in Acts 10. As he was praying on the housetop, he “saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth” (v. 11). In this sheet were “all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air” (v. 12). Then a voice said to Peter, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat” (v. 13). However, Peter’s response was, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” (v. 14). On this occasion, Peter did not take Christ as His person. Instead, Peter was his own person.
We should not think that we are more spiritual than Peter. Most of the time we also fail to take Christ as our person. When the Lord speaks something to us, we often respond, “Not so, Lord.” We may say, “Lord, I don’t believe that You would ask me to do such a thing.” Our experience testifies that whenever we refuse to go along with the Lord, we lose His presence and His anointing. However, when we agree with the Lord, we enjoy His presence and experience the inner anointing in a fresh way. We may even be beside ourselves with joy in the Lord.
Let us forget religion, regulations, ordinances, all the different practices of worshipping God, and our own ways of living in order that we may simply allow Christ to make His home in our hearts. Christ has come into us to be our life and our person, and He will not be satisfied until we take Him as our person in a practical way. If we do not take Him as our person, we shall have the sense deep within that, no matter how much we love Christ and the church and no matter how much we are for the Lord’s recovery, we are lacking something. This sense of lack comes from the shortage of Christ as our person.
Our heart should not be the dwelling place of the self, but the dwelling place of Christ. Again I ask, who is the person living within you, you or Christ? In this matter I do not care for doctrine; I care only for reality. Christ has not abolished the ordinances so that we may have other kinds of ordinances. His intention is to make His home in our hearts.
Many married sisters are reluctant to read Ephesians 5 because it speaks about wives submitting to their own husbands. When they read this chapter, they are exposed and realize that they are not submissive. Some may blame their husband or environment for their lack of submission. They may even blame the Lord and tell Him that if He had given them a different husband, they would surely be submissive to him. Sisters, do not try to submit to your husband but let Christ make His home in your heart. If you take Him as your person and allow Him to make His home in your heart, you will surely submit to your husband.
We need to forget about everything religious and simply take Christ as our person. If we do this, we shall have the growth spoken of in chapter four, and we shall put on the new man. This is the proper church life.
God does not want us to try in a religious way to submit to our husbands or to love our wives. His concern is that we take Christ as our person and set aside all ordinances. God wants a people in whose heart Christ is making His home. This is our need in the church life today.
The Lord’s recovery is not a recovery of teaching. In the recovery the unique factor is Christ. To be sure, we honor, respect, and apply the Bible. We keep the Word as much as other Christians do, if not more. Nevertheless, we must be clear that the Lord’s recovery is not simply a matter of following the teaching of the Bible. It is altogether a matter of Christ living and making His home in our hearts, so that in all things we may grow up into Him as the Head. The more we grow up into Christ, the more we put on the new man, the proper and practical church life. Our unique need today is to take Christ as our person for the church life.
