After Eve, a part of Adam, came out of Adam, she returned to Adam. This is indicated in Genesis 2:22b, where we are told that the Lord God “brought her unto the man.” In typology this indicates that the church, which is a part of Christ and which has come out of Christ, returns to Christ. Only that which comes out of Christ can be recognized by Christ. Only that which comes out of Christ can return to Christ and match Him. Only that which comes out of the resurrection life of Christ can be His complement, His counterpart. Only that which comes out of Christ and which is actually Christ Himself can be one with Him as His counterpart.
Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Adam and Eve eventually became one flesh, one complete unit. By this we see that the wife, Eve, was the complement to her husband, Adam. Without Eve, Adam was incomplete. Eve was taken out of Adam and returned to Adam so that the two of them might become one flesh. This is a figure of God in Christ as the Husband and His redeemed people as His counterpart being joined as one. In typology, Adam and Eve became one flesh. In actuality, Christ and the church are one spirit, because he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). According to Paul’s word in Ephesians 5, the marriage union between husband and wife signifies the great mystery concerning Christ and the church.
God’s desire is to be one with man. This goal has been reached through Christ’s death and resurrection, which produced the church. The church represents the proper humanity to match God in Christ as the Husband. In this union, which will last for eternity, redeemed, regenerated, and transformed humanity is one with divinity. The coming New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth will be the ultimate consummation of the union of the processed Triune God with His redeemed people, for the New Jerusalem will be a living, complete unit composed of divinity and humanity.
Together Adam and Eve made a complete unit. In the same principle, Christ and the church make a complete unit. We may say that the church is Christ’s “other half.” Without the Lord, we are not complete. Likewise, without the church, Christ is not complete. It is a marvelous fact that Christ and the church have been joined to make a complete unit.
Because Eve was a part of Adam, having come out of Adam, she possessed the life and nature of Adam. Since Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 are a type of Christ and the church, this signifies that the church has the same life and nature that Christ has.
In the church as the counterpart of Christ, there is no place for our natural life and fallen human nature. The human life and nature are not adequate to match Christ. In order to be His counterpart, we need to be one with Christ in life and in nature. This means that Christ and the church as one unit have the same life and nature. We should not merely know this as a doctrine but see it as a heavenly vision. We need to see why we must receive Christ as our life and partake of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). Because the church is the counterpart of Christ, we who compose the church must experience Christ as our life and partake of His divine nature.
Eve, who had the life and nature of Adam, also had the image of Adam. This indicates that the church bears the same image as Christ. Moreover, in stature Eve was very nearly the same as Adam. This indicates that the church should have the same stature as Christ. If we see this as a heavenly vision, we shall realize why we need to be “transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). We shall also realize why the church must attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Because we are to be Christ’s counterpart, we need to be fully transformed into His image, and we need to be fully grown until we arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The result of Adam’s sleep in which his side was opened to release a rib was that he gained Eve as his counterpart, his complement, to match him. This signifies that the result of Christ’s death with His side pierced to release His divine life was that He obtained the church as His counterpart, His complement. Henceforth, God is no longer alone, for Christ has gained a counterpart to match Him. Therefore, chapters twenty-one and twenty-two of Revelation show us that the New Jerusalem as the consummation of the church will be the wife of Christ for His full complement to match Him eternally.
May we all see the heavenly vision of the church as Christ’s counterpart. The church, the counterpart of Christ, is part of Christ, has come out of Christ, and is built up with Christ. Eventually, the church returns to Christ and becomes one with Him, possessing His life, nature, image, and form. In this way the church becomes the counterpart of Christ, His complement.
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