We must realize that God takes into account the source of things, not whether they are good or evil. Men always ask, "Is this good or bad?" But God asks, "Where does it come from?" That which came from Adam was called Eve; likewise, that which comes from Christ is called the church. Anything which is not out of Christ is not the church. Men ask, "Do you have love?" But God asks, "Where does your love come from?" Men ask, "Are you zealous?" But God asks, "What is the source of your zeal?" We need to solve the matter of origin, not good or evil. The question of good and evil came in after Genesis 3. Perhaps someone would say, "Do I not have some ability? Am I not zealous?" But the problem is, where does your ability and zeal come from?

We often feel that we are quite able to love and help others by ourselves. To love and help others, of course, is good, but "if I deliver up my body that I may boast, but do not have love," Christ's love, "I profit nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). Is it wrong to give ourselves to help others? The issue is still: Where does it come from? Only that which comes from Christ is the church. Anything that is not out of Christ has nothing to do with the church.

In our Christian life, the first lesson and last lesson we need to learn is to discern the source of things. The first lesson is to reject anything that comes from ourselves, and the last lesson is still to reject anything that comes from ourselves. This does not mean that we should not strive or be zealous, but the issue is that our striving and zeal must come from the Lord. We are not saying that we should not work, but we want work which is initiated by the Lord. We are not saying that we should not seek after power, but that we should seek the power which is from the Lord. This is the whole issue: From where does it originate?

In the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus once said, "The Son can do nothing from Himself" (John 5:19). According to the Greek text, the word "from" can also be translated "out of." This means that the Son can do nothing out of Himself. If this was the case with the Lord, then how much more it should be with us! How can we ever do anything from ourselves? We need to see before God that we can do nothing from ourselves. He must bring us to the place where we realize that we truly can do nothing from ourselves—everything must be by Him and out of Him.

When we serve the Lord, it is not enough to be zealous. No, we must do that work which the Lord assigns to us. In Colossians 1:29, Paul said, "For which also I labor, struggling according to His operation which operates in me in power." God is working within us so we can work without. We often do many things outwardly, but not much has been done inwardly. God has not done that much within; most everything has been done by ourselves. This kind of work, even though it may be considerable, is of no use. In the matter of serving the Lord, God must bring us to a place that we do not want anything that is not from the Lord. If the Lord is not moving, then we will not dare move.

Eve was bone of Adam's bone and flesh of his flesh. This signifies that the bones inside and the flesh outside are all out of Christ. Everything on the inside and everything on the outside are of Him; nothing can be from ourselves. Everything of Eve was out of Adam, and everything of the church is out of Christ. No matter how well we may do something, it is absolutely useless in achieving God's eternal purpose. No matter how good something is, it cannot possibly glorify God if it issues from ourselves.

The first woman represents the woman who is after God's heart. There was not only a man who expressed God's heart, there was also a woman. It is not only Christ who satisfies God's heart; it is also the church. Christ satisfies God's heart, because He allows God to be His head. It must be the same with the church. She also must allow God to be her head. When the church reaches this position, the will of God will be done. God intends to have this kind of people on the earth, and when He does, His heart's desire will be satisfied. Let us remember that whatever comes out from man's self is just dust and not worthy of being the material for the help meet. Only that which comes out from Christ is the church.