In previous messages we have seen that our disposition is our inward being, what we are inwardly, and our character is the outward expression of what we are inwardly. In a recent conference we saw four intrinsic matters of the church-its intrinsic essence, intrinsic growth, intrinsic building up, and intrinsic fellowship (see The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God published by Living Stream Ministry). These four intrinsic matters are versus our disposition and character. They are versus our inward being and our outward expression. Without our inward being and our outward expression, there is nothing left in the church but God as the intrinsic element.
The four intrinsic matters of the church are God Himself. The intrinsic essence of the church is the divine life, and the divine life is God Himself. God is the intrinsic essence, the intrinsic growth, the intrinsic building up, and the intrinsic fellowship of the church. The intrinsic element of the church is simply God. This God is not the “raw” God, but the processed and now-dispensing Triune God who is embodied in Jesus Christ (Col. 2:9). God, who is the intrinsic element of the church, is Christ. Christ is the Head of the church (Eph. 1:22), the universal new man, and Christ is also the Body (1 Cor. 12:12; Col. 3:11). First Corinthians 12:12 says, “For even as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body being many are one body, so also is the Christ.” Christ is not only the Head but also the Body. Therefore, Christ as the embodiment of the processed and now-dispensing Triune God is the totality of the church.
Colossians 3:11 says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” Whatever is in the new man is Christ. In the new man there is no Greek, no Jew, no barbarian, no Scythian, no slave, and no freeman, but Christ is all. Christ is you and Christ is me. Christ is everything. In the new man Christ is all, and He is also in all. In Colossians 3:11 “all” refers to all the members who comprise the new man. All the members are Christ. None of the members are Chinese, none are British, none are black or white, and none are male or female. If verse 11 ended with “Christ is all,” we might feel that Christ has replaced the members in the church. However, Paul added, “and in all.” All the members are still in the church, but Christ is in all the members, and Christ even is all the members. The all-inclusive Christ is the church as a corporate entity because the intrinsic essence, intrinsic growth, intrinsic building up, and intrinsic fellowship of the church are the dispensing, processed Triune God who is embodied in Christ.
Christ is the embodiment of God. He is the complete God in His divine Trinity, and He is also a perfect man. Through His death and resurrection, Christ, who is the complete God and the perfect Man, became the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). This very all-inclusive Spirit is the consummation of the Triune God. In eternity past the Triune God was not consummated, but by passing through the processes of incarnation, human living, the all-inclusive death, and resurrection, He was consummated to be the all-inclusive Spirit. Revelation 22:17 says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come!” The Bible ends with the divine, all-inclusive title-“the Spirit.”
Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and the Spirit is the realization of Christ. Ephesians 4:4 says there is “one Body and one Spirit.” This verse indicates that the Spirit and the Body are not two entities but one. The essence, growth, building up, and fellowship of the church are the processed and now-dispensing Triune God who is embodied in Christ, who is realized as the all-inclusive Spirit, the consummation of the processed Triune God.
Home | First | Prev | Next