The building up of the Body of Christ is a matter of constitution. The Body is an organic entity constituted of the element of the processed Triune God. It is through such a constitution that we become the Body of Christ. Therefore, what the Body of Christ needs is not organization but a unique constitution, a constitution which consists of the divine element being dispensed into us and wrought into us. The more the processed Triune God is dispensed into us, the more the divine element becomes our constituent to make us the one Body.

John 2:19-21 reveals that the Body of Christ is the temple. “Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days? But He spoke of the temple of His body.” Satan’s ultimate aim is to destroy the house of God. This is seen in his destroying the body of Jesus on the cross. But what the enemy destroyed the Lord raised up in three days. This means that in His resurrection life the Lord built up what was destroyed by the enemy. From this we see that the enemy may damage and destroy the church, which is the house of God, but the Lord will build it up in resurrection and by resurrection. After the enemy has caused damage, the Lord, in resurrection, will rear up a building on a much larger scale.

When the Lord Jesus was in the flesh, His body was the tabernacle and temple of God, both of which are God’s dwelling place. Because Satan realized that the physical body of Jesus was God’s dwelling place on earth, he did his best to destroy that body, and he did destroy it on the cross through the Jews. After Satan destroyed the Lord’s physical body on the cross, His body was put into a tomb and rested there. When the Lord Jesus arose, He Himself raised up His dead and buried body. Whereas the body of Jesus that was destroyed on the cross was small and weak, the Body of Christ in resurrection is vast and powerful. This means that after the Lord’s resurrection, His Body, that is, the temple, was reared up on a much larger scale. The body the enemy destroyed by crucifixion was merely the body of Jesus. What was raised up by the Lord in resurrection was not only His own body, but everyone who was joined to Him by faith (1 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 2:6). From the day of His physical resurrection, the Lord Jesus has been enlarging His Body in resurrection life. What an immense Body Christ has today in His resurrection. Although it was once possible to measure the size of the physical body of Jesus, it is impossible to measure the immensity of the Body of Christ. The Lord continues to build His Body in resurrection, and Satan keeps on helping this.

The house of God is still increasing in resurrection with the Body of Christ (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:21-22). Today we are still within the “three days,” because the Lord is still working for the building of His Body under the process of resurrection. A great part of the Lord’s Body has been raised, but there are still some members of His Body who have not yet been raised. Therefore, the Lord’s Body is still in the process of resurrection.

All the damage that the enemy does to the church simply gives the Lord the opportunity to enlarge His Body in resurrection. Satan can never defeat the Lord Jesus. The gates of Hades can never prevail against the builded church (Matt. 16:18). The church is still going on and is still growing. Although the enemy may try his best to tear it down, we shall see the victory. We shall see that not only the Lord Jesus Himself is prevailing but that the church, His Body, the temple, also is prevailing.
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