The Intrinsic and Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ – Week 1
The Intrinsic Essence of the Church for It’s Organic Existence
Related Verses
Genesis 2:22
22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.
John 1:12
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name,
John 3:29-30
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Ephesians 1:4-6
4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,
5 Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved;
John 12:24
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
1 Peter 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Romans 8:29
29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;
Romans 12:5
5 So we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Suggested Reading
When we are regenerated, we are made the children of God as the bride of Christ, who is the Bridegroom, for His increase, as typified by Eve as the counterpart to Adam (John 1:12-13; 3:29-30; Gen. 2:21-23). Regeneration makes the believers the children of God.
Individually, we are children of God, but corporately we are one entity, the bride of Christ. In the first part of John 3 the Lord Jesus spoke concerning regeneration. Later in the same chapter John the Baptist referred to the regenerated ones in totality as the one bride of Christ (vv. 29-30)….When the Lord Jesus was put to death,…He did not remain in death; He resurrected. In His resurrection He brought many saved ones with Him and brought them forth to become parts of Him. When all these parts are put together, they become a bride as His counterpart. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” p. 271)
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The church is the bride of Christ, and according to typology, this bride is typified by Eve, who was Adam’s counterpart. Eve was first a part of Adam. While Adam was sleeping, God opened his side and took out a rib. Then God built that rib into a woman by the name of Eve and brought her to Adam to be his counterpart (Gen. 2:21-23)….When he saw Eve, he declared, “This time this is bone of my bones / And flesh of my flesh” (v. 23). Eve is a picture of the church. The church came out of Christ as a part of Christ. The intrinsic essence of the church is the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ. He is the essence of the church because the church was His part. The church is not only composed of children born of God, but the church is also the bride, the counterpart of Christ, a part of Christ as Christ’s increase.
Before Eve came into existence, she was a rib of Adam, a part of Adam. According to this revelation, we can say that before the church came into existence, she was a part of Christ….This is why every believer is a member of the Body of Christ. Just as the members of our physical body are parts of us, the members of Christ are parts of Christ. The divine life, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, is the essence of the church.
Christ became the essence of the church through the release of the divine life….If the divine life had only remained in His Divine Being, concealed in His human body, it could have never been our life. For this life to be yours and mine, it had to be released. The divine life was released by Christ as the one grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying there for His multiplication (John 12:24)….With His death the divine life was released from one grain into many grains.
This released divine life has been imparted into us, the believers of Christ. This took place at the time Christ was resurrected. His resurrection included us (Eph. 2:6). We all were resurrected in Him, with Him, and by Him….In His resurrection He became the firstborn Son with many brothers. Now He is our big Brother, and we are the many sons of God. The divine life imparted into us in Christ’s resurrection is the intrinsic essence of the church, the organic Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 271-273)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 23; CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” chs. 2-3
Corporate Reading of “Truth Messages” Chapter 1 – Sections: Every Church A Police Station And Every Saint A Policeman; The Full Knowledge Of The Truth; Deprived Of The Truth
© Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission
CHAPTER ONE
THE PILLAR AND BASE OF THE TRUTH
TWO ASPECTS OF THE CHURCH
In the two Epistles to Timothy there are a number of unusual expressions not found elsewhere in the New Testament. First Timothy 3:15 says, “I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” In this verse two aspects of the church are covered: the church as the house of the living God and the church as the pillar and base of the truth. According to this verse, the church is the house not of the holy God, the righteous God, or the almighty God, but of the living God. The living God is full of life. If the church is to be the house of the living God, it must be full of life; it must be a house of life. The church is also the pillar and base of the truth. The house is full of life, and the pillar bears the truth. If we are serious about knowing how to behave in the church, we must know that the church is the house of the living God and the pillar of the truth.
Throughout the years of the Lord’s recovery in this country, the church has been a testimony of life. We thank the Lord that the churches in His recovery are full of life. Although the churches are a house of life, there has been a shortage in regard to the pillar in front of the house. At the front of the temple in the Old Testament were two pillars signifying strength. Without the pillars the temple would not have given the impression of strength. Houses with pillars always convey such an impression. The church should be not only a house full of life but also a pillar of truth. My burden in this chapter is to emphasize the fact that the church must have these two aspects, the aspect of life and the aspect of truth.
According to God’s economy, everything has two aspects. If the church has only the aspect of life, the church is not complete. For example, if I had just one leg, it would be rather difficult for me to stand up, much less to walk. But with two legs I can stand and walk normally.
THE NEED TO EMPHASIZE THE TRUTH
From the time the Lord’s recovery came to this country, we have laid great stress on life. For example, the one hundred twenty messages of the Life-study of Genesis are all concerned with life. However, we have not adequately emphasized the truth. I take the responsibility for this. Now we need to emphasize truth as well as life.
TRUTH AS THE SHINING OF THE LIGHT
It is significant that in 1 and 2 Timothy life is not mentioned nearly as often as truth. Truth is spoken of again and again (1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; 4:3; 6:5; 2 Tim. 2:15, 18; 3:8; 4:4). The reason for this is that these Epistles were written during a time of degradation. When the church is degraded, there is darkness; and when there is darkness, there is the need for the truth. Truth is the expression of light, just as grace is the expression of love. Whenever light shines, we receive truth. Light shines in darkness. In 1 and 2 Timothy, two books dealing with degradation, truth is mentioned often because during a period of darkness there is the need for the shining of the light, the expression of the light.
Truth is the shining of light. Wherever there is light, there is God, for God is light (1 John 1:5). When the light shines upon us, it becomes the truth. In Romans 8 Paul encourages us to walk according to the spirit, but in John’s second and third Epistles, also written in a time of degradation, John speaks of walking in the truth. Although in his other writings John emphasizes life, in these two Epistles he speaks much about the truth. For example, in 3 John 4 he says, “I have no greater joy than these things, that I hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Whenever we are in a time of degradation and darkness, we need the shining of the light so that we may know how to walk in the proper way.
PRESERVED
BY THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE
We have pointed out that 1 Timothy 3:15 reveals two aspects of the church—the house of life and the pillar of the truth. During the past sixteen years of the Lord’s recovery, we have devoted our full attention to the aspect of life, paying little attention to the pillar of the truth. For this reason it was possible for certain evil ones to creep in to undermine the recovery. From the first half of 1974, an undermining work has been going on. What deception there has been! Nevertheless, the Lord’s recovery has been preserved because in the past the foundation of life was laid. Because of this foundation, many who had been deceived could quickly turn back to life. If they did not have the foundation of life within them, I do not think they could have turned so fast. Those intent on overthrowing the recovery regard this foundation as the Elden-hall influence. Praise the Lord for the Elden influence! How I appreciate it and love it!
It seems that for a period of time we were carried away to Babylon. This took place in a very subtle way. But now we have been brought back. Hallelujah! We have not been liberated, but we are genuinely free. In less than two months the Lord turned the situation and set us free. Do you know what brought us back from our captivity? It was the foundation of life that had been firmly laid in the past. The enemy touched this foundation, but he could not shake it. Instead, he injured himself. Because in city after city there is the foundation of life, the enemy’s attempt to undermine the churches has not been successful. The churches have been preserved by the foundation of life.