In this message I have a burden to give a concluding word to our fellowship concerning the all-inclusive Christ. In the Gospel of John, the all-inclusive Christ is unveiled in twenty items, from God (1:1) to the consummated Spirit of life (20:22). In His complete salvation, Christ is everything to us. This complete salvation includes His judicial redemption and His organic salvation with its intensified work. The consummation and outcome of this salvation show us where the Lord's heart is and what the Lord desires to have.
The church, the Body of Christ, as the bride, the wife, of Christ is the consummation of His complete salvation by His ministry in three stages with the twenty all-inclusive items of what He is, from God to the life-giving Spirit. The parable of the pearl in Matthew 13:45-46 shows us what Christ desires to have: "Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls; and finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." The Lord surely loves sinners and He desires all men to be saved, but ultimately His desire is to have this pearl of great value spoken of in Matthew 13. This pearl is the church as the consummation of His complete salvation. Christ as the merchant seeking pearls found one pearl of great value and sold all that He had by going to the cross to purchase it. Acts 20:28 says that God purchased the church with His own blood. The desire of Christ in accomplishing redemption and carrying out His organic salvation is that He would gain not merely individuals but the church, which is the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 1 is a long chapter telling us how God operated in His Divine Trinity for His eternal purpose: The Father selected and predestinated us (vv. 4-5), the Son redeemed us (v. 7), and the Spirit seals us and becomes our pledge (vv. 13-14). Moreover, the Son, who is commissioned by the Triune God to carry out God's complete salvation, resurrected and ascended to the heavens to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (vv. 20-23).
The church, which is Christ's Body, is the pearl of great value which He desires to have. This is a great and critical matter. What does our God want? What does the very God whom we are seeking desire? We have to be careful. Otherwise, we will miss Him. What He wants is this great pearl by His ministry in three stages: the stage of incarnation, the stage of inclusion, and the stage of intensification. When we experience the all-inclusive items of what Christ is, we become a part of His increase, which is His Body, the church. This is the issue, the result, as the consummation of His complete salvation by His ministry with all that He is. We are seeking God, but if we do not carefully consider what He desires, we will miss Him.
Christ works to gain His desire first by the judicial redemption accomplished by Him as the flesh in His incarnation (John 1:14).