Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” These verses tell us that the Body of Christ is the fullness of Christ. What is the fullness of Christ? It is important to answer this question because in order to fully understand what the church is, we must understand what it means for the church to be the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 5 gives us a key to understand what it means for the church to be the fullness of Christ. This chapter reveals that the church is to Christ what Eve was to Adam. After God made Adam, He took a rib out of Adam’s side and built that rib into a woman, Eve (Gen. 2:21-22). Eve was a part of Adam, something that had come out of Adam; hence, she was Adam’s counterpart, Adam’s wife, and Adam’s fullness. Previously Adam had been alone and had had no fullness, but when Eve was built from one of his ribs and was given to him to be his counterpart, she became his fullness. Just as Eve was the fullness of Adam, so also the church is the fullness of Christ. In order to take a rib out of Adam, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. Similarly, in order for the church to be produced out of Christ, Christ died on the cross. When Christ was on the cross, His side was pierced, and blood and water flowed out of Him (John 19:34). The blood was for redemption, and the water was for imparting Christ’s resurrection life into His believers to produce the church. Thus, out of the blood and water, the church was produced. The church is a part of Christ and is Christ Himself. The rib taken from Adam’s side was the material for building Eve; likewise, the resurrection life that flowed out of Christ on the cross was the material for the producing of the church. Eve came out of Adam and was a part of Adam; the church came out of Christ and is also a part of Christ. Eve was given back to Adam to be his counterpart; the church will eventually become Christ’s eternal counterpart (Eph. 5:27; Rev. 21:9-10). In all these ways the church today is the fullness of Christ.
In addition to being the fullness of Christ, the church is also Christ’s Body (Eph. 1:22-23). Christ is the Head, and the church is the Body. Actually, the Head is Christ, and the Body also is Christ. My head is me, and my body also is me. No one would ever say that his body is not himself. The Head Christ and the Body Christ form the universal Christ. It is a great revelation to see that the church, the Body of Christ, is entirely out of Christ.
The church is also the new man. Ephesians 2:15 says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” The two parties spoken of in this verse are the Jews and the Gentiles. Out of these two parties the Lord chose many people, and with these chosen ones He created the new man. The new man is the church, the Body of Christ (v. 16). Many Christians think that the new man is something individual, but the Scriptures reveal that the new man is corporate. The new man is a corporate body. In the whole universe there is only one new man; there are not many new men. This one new man is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ.
The real Christian walk is a walk in the church life. This is why Ephesians 4:22 and 24 tell us to put off the old man and put on the new man. We have already seen that the church is the new man. Thus, to put on the new man is to put on the church, the Body of Christ. We seek to be victorious, but we must realize that the victorious life is the church life. If we put on the church life, which is the new man, everything will become easy for us. Whatever we try to do on our own is difficult, but whatever we do in the church life is easy. For example, often when we pray by ourselves to overcome a certain matter, it is very difficult for us to break through. However, when we bring the matter to the brothers and ask them to pray with us, we often break through after a single session of prayer. Suppose you are a person who easily loses his temper. If you try to deal with this matter by yourself, you may try for many years and still be unable to overcome it. If, however, you bring this matter to the brothers, open to them, confess to them that you have this weakness, and ask them to pray with you and to bear your weakness, you will get through. We should never keep things in our own hands; rather, we should bring everything to the Body. This is the practical way to put on the new man, and this is the real Christian walk.
The principle of putting on the church life also applies to spiritual experiences. Suppose you desire to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit. If you seek this experience on your own, it will be difficult for you to obtain it. However, if you seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit together with the brothers in the church, it will be easy for you to obtain this experience. We all need to see that we are a part of the church, which is the fullness of Christ, the Body of Christ, and the new man. Since we are a part of the church, the new man, we must put on the new man by entering into the real church life.
The church is the fullness of Christ, the Body of Christ, and the new man. The church being the fullness of Christ means that the church is something of Christ and something that issues out of the resurrection life of Christ; the church being the Body of Christ means that the church is Christ Himself; and the church being the new man means that the church is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). In addition to seeing all these aspects of the church, we must see that we are part of the church and that we must live the church life. In order to have the genuine Christian life and walk, we must put away the self and the old man and put on the new man, which means that we must put on the church life.
If we have the real church life, we are truly living in the new man. If we have the real church life, we are truly spiritual. If we want to know how spiritual we are, we must consider how much we are in the church. How much do we live and walk in the church? How much of our being, our life, our walk, and our daily living are in the church? The church is the real test. If we put on the new man by living in the church life, we will enjoy and experience Christ in a full way. We all must live by Christ and live in the church. We all must have a Christian life and a church life. If we have both, we will experience Christ in a full way.