The church is the unique building of God in the universe. This building is not something apart from God, nor is it something apart from man. This building is in God and in man. If we have sufficient understanding of spiritual matters, we will know that God’s building is to build Himself into man and to build man into Himself. Simply speaking, it is to fully mingle God with man and man with God. This word may seem simple, but it includes many things and a process that is not so simple.
The first step of God’s building is to break us, to tear us down. The breaking and tearing down are for the purpose of building God into us. Therefore, even God passed through death. God cannot build Himself into us by being high in the heavens in an exceedingly transcendent position. In order to build Himself into us, God came down to earth and entered into humanity. Later He passed through death. God came down to earth, entered into death, and passed through death. Only after passing through death in such a way could He build Himself into man.
In other words, it is through death that God can enter into man, and it is also through death that man can enter into God. God and man meet each other in death and mingle together in death. For a tree to be grafted into another tree, a branch must be cut off from one tree and the other tree must be cut open. Both trees must be cut, and only in this cutting can the joining take place. If one side remains intact, joining by grafting cannot be accomplished. For God to be joined to man, God must pass through death; for man to be joined to God, man must also pass through death. The union of God with man and man with God is in death.
From the time we were saved, God has been doing a building work in us. He desires to build Himself into us, and He desires to build us into Himself. This process requires a tearing down. Hence, the procedure of the building is the tearing down. God continually does the building work through tearing down and breaking. Without tearing down and breaking, there is no building of God.
The building material that God is using for the building is the fullness of Christ. The issue of God’s building is also the fullness of the One who fills all in all, that is, the fullness of Christ. Hence, the material and the issue of God’s building are the same. The procedure of God’s building is breaking, and the material of God’s building is the element of the fullness of Christ. God is continually doing the building work in us with the element of the fullness of Christ.
The element of the fullness of Christ is Christ Himself, which is just God Himself. Hence, the fullness of Christ cannot be separated from Christ and God. The fact that God builds His church with the element of the fullness of Christ means that God builds the church with Christ Himself and with God Himself. At the time of our salvation God gave Christ to us; that is, He gave Himself to us. Romans 8 shows that every believer has Christ within. Everyone who has Christ has God in him. First John repeatedly says that the anointing in us is God in us (2:20). When we were saved and the Holy Spirit entered into us, we did not receive merely the divine life. This life is God Himself. When this life entered into us, God Himself, that is, Christ Himself, entered into us.
Although God entered into us when we were saved, He has not yet been built into our constitution, into every part of our being. Every believer has God within him, but he may not have the building of God. A person may be saved, but he may not have God in his preferences, thoughts, and opinions. Although he is a saved person, God may not be in every part of his being. His thoughts are merely his thoughts, his preferences are his preferences, his opinions are his opinions, and his person is also his person. Even though God is in him, it seems as if God has nothing to do with his living. Although he has some fear before God and an outward appearance of godliness before men, God cannot be mingled with him in his living.
He is a man of God, and God is in him, but God has no place in his living, in his walk. He is still a person who lives by the self and in the self. He can declare that there is God, confess that he believes in God, and tell people that he fears God. He may give others the impression that he is quite godly and proper before God. However, God has no place in his living. It seems as if he does not make mistakes and is not contaminated by sin, but he is still himself; what he lives out is only himself. Although God is in his spirit and takes his spirit as His dwelling place, God has no place in his walk and living, in the way that he behaves and manages his affairs. What he lives out is merely a good man, a God-fearing man, and a man who is excellent in the sight of others but not a God-man and not a man who is mingled with God. The result is that there is a good man, but there is no church; there is a man who is perfect in the sight of others, but there is no Body of Christ.
We must know how to discern this. We should not suppose that a group of brothers and sisters living together in harmony and behaving properly is the Body of Christ. The Body is the fullness of Christ. The Body is God mingled with man and lived out from within man. It is true that without man there cannot be the Body of Christ; however, if God is not mingled with man, there still cannot be the Body of Christ. The church as the Body is very special; the Body is the mingling of divinity and humanity. To merely have God is not the Body, and to merely have man is also not the Body. The Body is the mingling together of God with man and man with God.
From the moment we were saved, the moment God entered into us, He has been working within us to tear us down so that He may build Himself into us. Many brothers and sisters have a difficult time understanding why everything was smooth and their health was good when they were not that clear in their pursuit of the Lord. This thought arises when problems abound, nothing goes smoothly, and their health deteriorates once they pursue the Lord, pray more, and are quite fearful before Him. It is a natural concept, to think that we only suffer when we are far away from God and do not fear Him, but if we fear and pursue Him, we will prosper in everything. However, this is often not the case. It seems that the more we pursue God, the more frustrations we have, the more difficulties arise, and the more our health fails. What is the cause of this? Whenever we seek God and put ourselves in His hand, we afford Him the opportunity to work in us. God is doing a work of building. Every building work requires the use of tools. If we build with rocks, they need to be hammered and beaten into shape; if we use a piece of wood, it needs to be sawed and planed; if we use concrete, it needs to be stirred and mixed. Every building requires some procedures and the use of tools.
Our concept may be that we should live a God-fearing, peaceful, and secure life after we are saved. In this peaceful life we rise up early in the morning to have morning watch; our prayer is full of enjoyment, our Bible reading has much light, we have God’s presence, and our living throughout the day is easy and smooth. In the evening after dinner, we go to a meeting. We put down our Bibles, close our eyes, and listen peacefully to a message. We feel very comfortable, and we are also “edified” and enlightened. After the meeting we have sweet prayer before going to bed, and we sleep soundly through the night. The next day we are full of vigor, our body is healthy, our wife is submissive, our children are well behaved, our business is prosperous, and everything is truly wonderful. Thus, everyone should want to believe in Jesus. If this was the true situation, God should go back to the heavens and sit on the throne to bless us continually and leave us to enjoy His blessings on earth. Many of us may have this concept. However, this is not God’s work in the believers.
The universe can be compared to a factory where God is building and also to a kitchen where He is cooking. However, whether it is building or cooking, the process is quite troublesome and complicated. Everything is a great mess and very inconvenient when a building is being built. However, when the work is completed, a beautiful building appears. At a restaurant, all kinds of attractive and delicious dishes may be set on a table. However, if we entered the kitchen, we would see that everything is a great mess and in utter chaos. In yet another example, everything that is displayed in the windows of shops on the streets is beautiful and attractive. However, if we went to a factory, we would see many messy and worthless half-finished products. All of these products are in the process of being dealt with, and something still needs to be added to make them beautiful and valuable so that they can be displayed in the window for people to appreciate and purchase.
God’s building is not yet at the stage of being displayed in a window. The appearance of the New Jerusalem will be the time when the building is displayed for all to see. Today we are in the kitchen and in the factory; God is in the process of doing a building work in us. We may never meet a pursuer of the Lord who has no problems in his body, in his home, in his career, or in his environment. Actually, everyone has problems. This shows us that God is stirring and tearing down.
God is a God who creates and also a God who tears down (Eccl. 3:3). With one hand God created things out of nothing, and with His other hand He destroys the things He created. Why does God destroy what He has created? It is for His building. God cannot build up something new if the believers have merely been saved. He must do a work of destruction. He must break us through the people around us so that we are open and so that He can build Himself into us. This is the working together of all things for good to those who love God. In Romans 8:28 good is not related to physical matters. It refers to our being conformed to the image of the Son of God (v. 29). God uses all kinds of environments, persons, matters, and things as the procedure for our conformation.
Every one of our children has been given to us by God, and every one of our children is used by God to deal with us. Every child and every situation are tools used by God to deal with us. We should realize that from the time we are saved, God has no intention of doing anything other than building in us. He desires to build Himself into us by tearing down and breaking. When He tears down a little, He builds up a little. When He breaks a little, He builds up a little more. It is through this kind of tearing down that God does His building work.
A young brother may feel that an older brother is not as skillful as he is in giving a message on Genesis 1. He may also feel that the older brother is not as thorough as he is in giving a message on Revelation 21. Since he is not impressed, he stands up and gives a message whenever there is an opportunity. The message he gives, however, is merely a message. Although the older brother is not as eloquent and clear as the younger brother, those who listen realize that the older brother’s speaking contains Christ and the element of God. His speaking moves and touches people inwardly, supplies life to people, and ministers Christ to people. Although the older brother cannot speak fluently, people touch life, gain Christ, and receive a spiritual supply after listening to him. The young brother is eloquent and clear, but after people listen to his speaking, they feel as if it is only sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. They receive nothing from this clanging. His speaking neither causes people to touch Christ nor gives them a supply of life.
We have all had experiences of being beaten or torn down by the Lord. In this tearing process some gold has been beaten and added into us. We should never stress eloquence more than God’s tearing down. A person may be well versed in the Scripture and eloquent from a young age, but if he does not have Christ and has not been built up within, these things do not have much value. In this matter we need to see the value of the older ones. We are not referring to their being older in terms of age but in terms of the increase of God’s element within them, the increase of Christ’s stature within them. They are “older” because they have been worked on by God and built by God. God’s breaking, God’s tearing down, is within them. Through a great deal of tearing down, the element of God has been added into them and the element of Christ has increased within them. When they give messages, they quote the Scriptures with words that are not merely doctrine. There is something in their words that is God Himself, Christ Himself. Through these words, something is able to touch people in their deepest parts that solves their problems, fills up their lack, and supplies their need. This something is Christ; it is God Himself.
We cannot obtain the portion of these saints by imitating them. Like them, we need to be torn down and built up in God’s hand and be processed in God over a period of time. Regrettably, some people have been saved for ten or twenty years, but they have not been processed in God’s hand, and their speaking remains the same year after year. There is no constitution of God or building of God within them. They do not have many scars and are not very open, because there are not many problems in their environment. Such a person is of little use in God’s hand.