The organic building up of the Body of Christ is the increase of the Triune God in the believers for their growth in Christ. Colossians 2:19 says, “Holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together, grows with the growth of God.” “Grows with the growth of God” may also be translated “grows with the increase of God.” God is increasing in us in essence essentially. It is by this essential increase of God in us that the church as the Body of Christ grows. The church as the Body of Christ grows with some element, with some essence. A person grows with the essence of the food that he takes in. Some may have pointed out that God grows in us in knowledge, but we need to see that God Himself essentially grows in us.
A cup may have water inside of it, but what is the quantity of water within the cup? As the water increases within the cup, the water eventually overflows from the cup. This overflow is the fullness of the water. When the water is overflowing from the cup, the water can be seen. God is within us, but is He overflowing from within us? How much of God is in us? Do we have “two gallons” of God within us, or is God only within us in a small amount? God needs to increase in us. When I was saved sixty-four years ago, I did not know that God was in me. Eventually, I realized that God was in me, but the very God in me was very small in quantity. I have the assurance that I have much more of God within me than I did sixty-four years ago. This is the increase of God. The organic building up of the church is the increase of God in all the believers.
The Spirit of God is God’s divine essence, His divine element. When we receive the Spirit of God, we receive God Himself in His essence. We have received God Himself essentially, but how much of God is within us? God Himself essentially needs to increase in us. This is why we have to be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to receive God essentially, to let God fill us essentially in full. This is to let God increase within us, to let God grow in us. This essential increase of God in all of us is the growth of the Body of Christ, which is the building up organically of the Body of Christ. The building up of the Body of Christ is the increase of our processed Triune God within us in full essentially.
If we have some maturity in life, we can see that new believers are short of God. They have God within them, but they are short of God in their conversation, in their expression, and in their attitude. They may be good brothers and sisters, but when you listen to them speak, you can sense that they are short of God. They do not have that much of God’s element within them, so they need to grow. To grow in life is to have more of God in us.
We need to remember that life is God in Christ as the Spirit. God is life to us in Christ and as the Spirit. When I first met a certain brother, I realized that he was short of God, but today I have the full realization that he has more of God in Christ as the Spirit. Still, this brother needs to grow in life. The growth in life is the increase of God in Christ as the Spirit in us.
We should not have the concept that growth, increase, and building up are three different things. With organic matters such as a tree or a person, growth, increase, and building up are synonyms. They are also synonyms in relation to the organic Body of Christ. They are different terms referring to the same thing. The organic building up of the Body of Christ is the increase of the Triune God in the believers, and this increase is the believers’ growth in Christ.
On the one hand, we are members of the organic Body of Christ, and on the other hand, we are the builders of this Body (Eph. 4:16). We, the members of the Body, are the builders of the Body. The growth of all the members of a man is the building up of this man. If the members of a child’s physical body do not grow, he is not being built up. The growing members are the building members. The members of a person’s physical body are the builders of his body by their growth. Ephesians 4:16 says that all the Body causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself. The Body grows to build up the Body. A little boy builds himself up by growing. The feeding of the mother helps the growth of this boy, and his growth builds him up. Thus, the boy builds himself up by his growth. When his growth stops, there is no more building. This is an illustration of the organic building up of the church, which is a great lack among today’s Christians. If there is no growth in life, there is no building up.