The church is a mystery (Eph. 3:4; 5:32). This mystery was in the Triune God, in the Father, in the Son, and in the Spirit. With the believers there is also an amount of mystery, but not as much as with the church. The mystery of God in Colossians 2:2 is Christ; whereas the mystery of Christ in Ephesians 3:4 is the church. God is a mystery, and Christ, as the embodiment of God to express Him, is the mystery of God. Christ is also a mystery, and the church, as the Body of Christ to express Him, is the mystery of Christ. The divine mystery is much more with the church corporately than with the saints individually. The church is a corporate unit which is produced out of Christ who is the mystery of God. This all-inclusive Christ is a mystery of the mysterious God and such a Christ as the mystery of God produces a unit which is the church. By this we can realize that the church is the continuation of the mystery which is Christ. Mystery surely produces mystery. Whatever you are, you bring forth. Christ, who is the mystery of God, brings forth the church, the mystery of Christ.
To see and to understand such a mystery our human mentality is altogether inadequate. This is why the apostle Paul prayed that God would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17) that we may understand the church which is the mystery of Christ.
The church is nothing more than a pure product out of Christ. This is typified by Eve in the book of Genesis. Eve was fully, completely, and purely produced out of Adam (Gen. 2:21-24). Within Eve there was nothing else but Adam. Besides the Adamic element, there was no other element in Eve. Whatever was in Eve and whatever Eve was was Adam. Eve was a full reproduction of Adam. Adam and Eve are a type of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:30-32; Gen. 2:22-24). The church must also be one element—the element of Christ. Other than Christ’s element there should be no other element in the church. Such a vision will cause us to mourn over today’s situation. Within Christianity today there is very little of the element of Christ. Instead, innumerable elements other than Christ can be seen. In the Lord’s recovery, however, the church must be the pure element of Christ. Anything that is other than Christ is not the church.
After Christ terminated the entire old creation through His all-inclusive death, the church was produced in His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3; Eph. 2:6). The church is an entity absolutely in resurrection; it is not natural, nor is it of the old creation. The church is a new creation created in Christ’s resurrection and by the resurrected Christ. We must see this vision. In addition to seeing that the church was produced in Christ’s resurrection, we must also see where the church is. The church today is in Christ in ascension. Ephesians 2:6 tells us that the church has been resurrected with Christ, and now the church is seated in the heavenlies with Christ. Therefore, the church is absolutely and purely of the element of Christ, absolutely in resurrection, and absolutely remaining in the heavenlies with Christ. The English language does not give us adequate adjective forms for the nouns Christ and resurrection. We must, therefore, invent some new vocabulary words to communicate such a vision of the church. We may say that today the church is “Christly,” “resurrectionly,” and heavenly. These three adjectives describe the fact conveyed in the Bible. The church is of Christ; the church is of resurrection; the church is of the heavens. The church is Christly, resurrectionly, and heavenly. With the church there is no element other than Christ. Such a vision will govern you to the uttermost and will rule out everything that is not Christly (of Christ), resurrectionly (of resurrection), or heavenly (of the heavens). With the believers there is still the flesh of sin, but with the church there is no flesh of sin because the church was born in resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3). The church is a matter in Christ, in resurrection, and in Christ’s ascension in the heavenlies.
The church, outwardly speaking, is a congregation called out of the world unto God for God’s purpose. The Greek word for the church is ekklesia which means a “called-out congregation, a meeting, a gathering, or an assembly, called out for a purpose” (Matt. 16:18; 18:17). It is much better to translate this word ekklesia into assembly. The Brethren teachers insisted on translating ekklesia in this way, so they were known as the Brethren assemblies. The church is God’s ekklesia, which is composed of all the believers as a congregation called out of the world by God for His purpose. This is why we must gather together. We must assemble and meet in order to have a congregation, a composition, for God to work and to move among us. This is the outward aspect of the church.