Ephesians 4 is on the Body of Christ as the development of the Triune God. The Body is mingled with the Triune God because with the Body the Trinity is mentioned in a detailed way. In Ephesians 4:4-6 we have one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God, the Father. Therefore, the Triune God is closely related to the Body.
When Paul speaks of the one God and Father of all in verse 6, he says that the Father is over all, through all, and in all. This points to a mingling of the Triune God with the Body. How is it possible for God the Father to be in three positions, above all, through all, and in all? This is possible because God is triune. Even God the Father is triune. The Father’s position is above all, the Son’s position is through all, and the Spirit’s position is in all. Therefore, God the Father possesses all the positions of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. He is above all as the Father, He is through all as the Son, and He is in all as the Spirit. Hence, the church as the mystical Body is mingled with the Triune God.
With the one Body and the one Spirit, there is one hope (v. 4). At present our body is still in the physical life; it has not yet been transfigured. However, there is the hope that one day our physical body will be transfigured, that is, glorified. On that day the indwelling Christ will be manifested in glory. This glory is a hope to the Body with the Spirit. Thus, we have one Body and one Spirit with one hope. The mystical Body of Christ is wonderful, and the Spirit mingled with this mystical Body is also wonderful.
In Ephesians 4:5 Paul goes on to speak of the one Lord. As long as the Body is mingled with the Spirit, the Body is joined to the Lord. Actually, the Spirit is the Lord (2 Cor. 3:17). We cannot separate the Spirit from the Lord. As we pointed out in a foregoing message, when the Son comes, the Father comes also, and when the Spirit comes, both the Son and the Father come with Him. Now the Body is mingled with the Spirit, and the Spirit cannot be separated from the Son and the Father. We have the Spirit, the Son, and the Father. Therefore, because the Body is mingled with the Spirit, we also have the Lord.
With the Lord we have one faith and one baptism. Faith joins us to the Lord. When we believe in the Lord, we enter into an organic union with Him. In this life-union we are joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). Faith joins us to the Lord because we have believed into Him.
Baptism has two aspects. On the one hand, we have been baptized into Christ; on the other hand, we have been terminated from Adam. We were born in Adam, but by baptism we were transferred out of Adam into Christ. Therefore, negatively, baptism signifies termination, and positively, it signifies union. By faith and baptism we have been transferred out of Adam into Christ. Now we have an organic union with Christ the Lord.
Because we have the Spirit, we have the Lord and also the Father, who is above all, through all, and in all. This is the issue of the divine dispensing.
The Trinity revealed in Ephesians 1 has been dispensed into all the believers, and this dispensing issues in the Body. In Ephesians 4 we see that the Body is mingled with the Triune God who dispenses Himself into us. The Triune God is dispensing Himself into the believers in order to make them an organic Body, which is mingled with the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
As members of the Body we should no longer walk as the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind (v. 17). Instead, we should walk in reality; we should walk as the truth is in Jesus. According to the four Gospels, when the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He never walked in vanity. He always walked in God, who is the reality. Now we should walk in the same God, in the One who has been dispensed into us as grace for our enjoyment and as truth for our reality. Today it is possible for us to have such a life, such a walk, full of enjoyment and reality. Grace and truth are the issue of the dispensing of the Trinity. The enjoyment is God as our grace, and reality is God as our truth. Hence, we may walk in enjoyment and reality. We may enjoy and experience God as grace and reality. If we do this, we shall live in reality, not in vanity. This results from the dispensing of the Trinity into us as life.
Grace and reality, or grace and truth, are both of life. Life is the essence of grace. The divine life, the eternal life, the uncreated life of God, is also the essence of reality. This life is God Himself. This means that the being of the Triune God is life. The Lord Jesus clearly said that He is life (John 11:25; 14:6). Also, God is life. Speaking of God, John 1:4 says that in Him was life. Furthermore, the Spirit is the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). Therefore, life is the being of the Triune God. In contrast, Satan is death. The being of our God is life, but the being of Satan is death.
When God dispenses Himself into us, we have life. On the one hand, this life is our grace for enjoyment; on the other hand, this life is our reality for us to live a real life. Our daily life should not be vain. We should not live in vanity or emptiness, but live in reality, in truth. This truth is the Triune God dispensed into us as our life.