In the previous chapters we spoke concerning Christ as our life and the truth as our freedom. In this chapter we will consider the church of the living God as our house. This kind of utterance cannot be heard in Christian groups. I was in Christianity for many years, but I never heard this word.
The Chinese Union Version of the Bible translates the living God in 1 Timothy 3:15 as “the everlasting God.” However, the meaning of this word in the original Greek is “living,” not “everlasting.” This word was also used in Matthew 16:16 when Peter said to the Lord, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The church of the living God in 1 Timothy 3:15 is based on the living God in Matthew 16:16.
We all have a physical home that meets our material needs. Hence, we feel that a home is sweet and precious. Without a home we do not have a place to rest when we are exhausted and tired. However, as Christians, we do not only have physical needs, but we also have spiritual needs. Where can we go to find satisfaction for our spiritual needs? The answer is the church. A person without the church is spiritually homeless. We thank the Lord that we have life, freedom, and a home.
The church is universal. The universe encompasses both time and space. It is the totality of time and space. Therefore, every believer from the time of the apostles until now belongs to the church. The church is the sum total of all the believers throughout time and space. In Matthew 16:18 the Lord said, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” This rock refers to Christ, and My church refers to the universal church.
The church is also local. On the one hand, the church is universal, and on the other hand, it is practically expressed in every locality. According to Matthew 18:16-20, whenever two or three believers are gathered into the Lord’s name, the Lord is in their midst, and He hears their prayer. Whatever they bind on earth has already been bound in heaven, and whatever they loose on earth has already been loosed in heaven. However, these two or three are not the church, because when they have a problem, they must “tell it to the church.” This proves that two or three believers gathered into the Lord’s name are not the church. Even though two or three believers can meet together, we cannot say that they are the church simply because the Lord is in their midst. If this were the case, the church would be divided. Two or three gathered together are a part of the church; they are not the church.
According to its universal aspect, the sum total of all the believers throughout the ages is the universal church, but according to its local aspect, the totality of the believers in a city is the church in that locality. For example, the totality of the believers in Taipei is the church in Taipei, and all the believers on the island of Taiwan constitute the churches, the local churches, in Taiwan.
In God’s eyes the church is the house of the living God. Just as we need a home, God also needs a home. I was raised in Christianity and often heard people say, “Heaven is my home.” Many Christians hope that they will go to a home in heaven when they die. For this reason, when a Christian passes away, his friends and relatives often say that he has returned gloriously to the heavenly kingdom or to the heavenly home. Is it even logical to think that Christians who aimlessly wander through their lives would have a glorious return to a heavenly kingdom when they die? In contrast to this thought, the Bible shows different degrees of salvation. According to Peter’s second Epistle, believers must grow and develop in life by advancing through many steps, which are composed of spiritual virtues, toward the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this way an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly and bountifully supplied to them (1:5-11). We should not be foolish and accept what Christianity teaches concerning believing in the Lord and waiting to go to heaven after we die. This is not the way of God’s salvation, nor is it the thought conveyed in the Scriptures.