1. “The church, which is His Body” (Eph. 1:22-23; see also Col. 1:24).
The church is not a chapel, a meeting place, or any kind of building. The church is not a mission board or a gospel organization. The church is the Body of Christ. A body is a living organism. Therefore, the church is not a dead, physical building or a dead, formal organization. It is a living organism with life, just as our body is a living organism. Just as our body cannot be separated from us, the church as the Body of Christ cannot be separated from Christ. Our life is in our body, and our body is our expression. In the same way, Christ’s life is in His Body, the church, and the church is His expression.
2. “He is the Head of the Body, the church” (Col. 1:18; see also Eph. 5:23).
The church is Christ’s Body, and Christ is the church’s Head. Therefore, Christ and the church are one Body. They are a mysterious, great, universal Body with one life and one nature. Christ is seated in the heavenlies (1:20-21), and the church is also seated with Him in the heavenlies (2:6). Christ received all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18), and the church shares in His authority (Luke 10:19). Now the life of the church is hidden with Christ in God, but in the future the church will be manifested with Christ in glory (Col. 3:3-4). All that Christ has obtained and attained is available to the church. Christ is the life and content of the church, and the church is Christ’s organism and expression. The church receives everything from Christ, and Christ expresses everything through the church. The two are joined and blended together, abiding in and with each other. Just as the head uses the body to do all things, accomplish all things, and manifest all things, Christ uses the church to do all things, accomplish all things, and manifest all things. This is the reason that the Bible identifies the church, as the Body of Christ, with the Christ (1 Cor. 12:12).
When the Bible speaks of Christ, sometimes it refers to Christ Himself and sometimes to Christ and the church. The Bible joins Christ and the church together and speaks of them as one great mystery. Christ is the Head of the mysterious Christ, and the church is the Body of the mysterious Christ. Together the two are a great mysterious Body, the universal Christ. This great, mysterious, universal Christ is comprised of Christ as the Head and the church as the Body. All believers throughout the ages are the Body of the great mysterious, universal Christ. We must know the church as the mysterious Body of the mysterious Christ.
3. “Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Cor. 12:27; see also Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:11-16; 5:30; Col. 2:19).
The church as the mysterious Body of Christ is composed of all the saved ones who have the life of Christ and who are thus joined together in the life of Christ. All the saved ones who have the life of Christ are members of Christ’s mysterious Body. With respect to us as individuals, we are members, but we are members one of another; with respect to us corporately, we are the Body of Christ. As saved ones, we are members of the mysterious Body of Christ who corporately constitute this mysterious Body. Every saved one is a part of the Body of Christ.
1. “The house of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15).
In one aspect, the church is the Body of Christ, and in another aspect, it is also the house of God. With respect to Christ, the church is a body; with respect to God, the church is a house. A body is the manifestation of a person, whereas a house is the dwelling place of a person. On the one hand, the church is the Body of Christ as His expression, and on the other hand, the church is the house of God as His dwelling place. The former expresses the fact that the church is one with Christ, having Christ’s life and nature; the latter expresses the fact that the church is one with God, having God’s life and nature. The life and nature of Christ are the same as the life and nature of God but are seen from a different perspective.
2. “You are...members of the household of God...a dwelling place of God in spirit” (Eph. 2:19, 22; see also 1 Pet. 2:5).
Since the church is the house of God, those in the church are members of the household of God and are the dwelling place of God in spirit. The members of a man’s family are born of him and out of him. They have his life and nature, and they are part of his house. Similarly, the members of the household of God are born of Him and out of Him. They have His life and nature, and they are part of His house. Since the church is born of God and out of God, having His life and nature, the church is the household of God, the dwelling place of God in spirit.
The word house in both English and Greek has two meanings. One meaning is that of a household, and the other is that of a dwelling place. The church as the house of God reflects these two meanings. On the one hand, the church is the household of God, and on the other hand, the church is the dwelling place of God. When the word house refers to a household in common usage, it does not include the dwelling place itself. With regard to its usage in relation to the church as the house of God, however, house refers to both a household and a dwelling place. The church, which is composed of the members of God’s household, is the dwelling place of God. Believers are the dwelling place, the building, and the house. All believers are living stones. Living things can grow, but dead things cannot. Every believer has the life of God. We are living, not dead. Therefore, we can grow to become a living building, a living house, as God’s dwelling place.
3. “My brothers; in the midst of the church” (Heb. 2:12).
Just as Christ’s Body is composed of all those with the life of Christ, God’s house is composed of all those with the life of God. Those with the life of Christ are those with God’s life. They are members of the Body of Christ, members one of another, and brothers in the house of God, brothers one of another. They are members of the Body of Christ because they have the life of Christ and are out of Christ. They are brothers in the house of God because they have the life of God and are born of God. All those with the life of God are part of the house of God. Individually, they are brothers; corporately, they are the house of God. Together they are God’s house.
Thus, the Bible shows that the church is the Body of Christ and the house of God. The church is the Body, and the church is the house. The church is the Body with respect to Christ and the house with respect to God. The emphasis of the Body is universal, while the emphasis of the house is local. In the entire universe, the church is the Body of Christ, the expression of Christ. In the different localities, the church is the house of God, the dwelling place of God. Of course, in all the localities, the churches are miniature expressions of the Body of Christ, and in the entire universe, the church is completely the house of God, a complete dwelling place. However, the emphasis of the Body of Christ is on the universal aspect of the church, and the emphasis of the house of God is on the local aspect of the church. When we refer to the universal church, we refer mainly to the Body of Christ, and when we refer to the local church, we refer mainly to the house of God. The Body of Christ is a living organism, and the house of God is a living constitution.
Both the Body of Christ and the house of God speak of God coming to live within man, becoming one with man, and mingling with man to form a mysterious union of God and man. Therefore, in 1 Timothy 3:15-16 Paul says, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” The apostle’s word here means that the church as the house of God is the dwelling place of the living God. The living God dwells in the church, and the church expresses all that He is. Thus, the church is the pillar and base of the truth concerning what God is. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth of what God is. All that God is, is in the church, and all that God is, is expressed through the church. Therefore, the church is the great mystery of godliness, an expression of God Himself, manifesting the great mystery of God. This great mystery is God manifested in the flesh; it is God dwelling in redeemed men of flesh and corporately expressing Himself out from them. The true meaning of the church involves the mingling of God and man, the union of God and man, which is a great mystery through which God is expressed in man (Eph. 5:32).
The church is the enlargement of Christ, the magnification of Christ. Christ is the mingling of God and man, and the principle of Christ is God manifested in the flesh, that is, God mingled with man, divinity mingled with humanity to be manifested in and expressed through humanity. The church is the enlargement of this principle. She is the enlargement of the manifestation of God in the flesh, the enlargement of the mingling of God and man. She is the enlargement of divinity mingled with humanity to be manifested in and expressed through humanity. Christ is God manifested in the flesh and mingled with a man, a Nazarene; the church is God manifested in millions of redeemed men and mingled with them. Therefore, the church is the enlargement of Christ from the individual Christ to the corporate Christ. The individual Christ involves the mystery of godliness, and the corporate Christ, the church, involves the great mystery of godliness. The individual Christ was born in Bethlehem, and the corporate Christ was produced on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was the enlargement of Bethlehem in that the living God was mingled with thousands of redeemed people in the flesh and then manifested in these believers. This is the church.
Thus, the church is the mingling of God and man, the addition of God in man. The church has two natures, produced by God being imparted into and mingled with man. If the church had only humanity, it would not be the church, and if the church had only divinity, it also would not be the church. God must be mingled with man and man must be mingled with God in order for the church to exist. The church is the most marvelous thing in the universe because the church contains both the elements of humanity and divinity. The church is both man and God, and God and man. The church has the life of God, which is expressed through the actions of man. The church is God living in man and being mingled with man, moving and living in a way that expresses Himself and accomplishes His purpose. The church is man cooperating with God, taking God as her all and being filled with God (3:19) to be controlled and regulated for the expression of the fullness of the Godhead so that others would say, “Indeed God is among you” (1 Cor. 14:25). This is the proper condition of the church. This is the essence of the church that came into being on the day of Pentecost.
On the day of Pentecost the church was the expression of God. She was the pillar and base of the truth, manifesting God before many people. She was also the great mystery of godliness, because people could sense that God had filled some men inwardly and was dwelling within them, moving and living through them, and manifesting His glory and power upon them. In them God manifested His glorious person and His powerful works. Since the day of Pentecost, whenever the church is in a proper condition, God is manifested because the church is the mingling of God and man. She is the crystallization of the mingling of God and man.