The goal of Christ’s heavenly ministry is to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. What God wants is the church. For the church to be realized, two kinds of work are needed. The first is the move in life in an outward way to preach the gospel and bring people to God. The second is the inward growth in life for the building up of the Body.
In the past centuries this first aspect of the work has been largely accomplished. Many zealous Christians have gone forth as missionaries to spread the gospel. Even up till the present, many seeking Christians are still on this line.
When we come to the building up of the Body, however, we find that this aspect has been neglected. Many Christians do not even know what the growth in life is. Very few know that there is the need for the building up of the Body. Millions of people have been brought to the Lord, but because they have so little growth in life, there is very little building. Few Christians have a concern about this fine, inner work. It is my burden that, regarding this aspect of the Lord’s move in the heavens, there may be a finer, deeper correspondence to Him on our part.
Such a correspondence depends upon your holding the Head and growing into Him (Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15). How much you hold the Head and grow into Him is the factor which determines how much you correspond to Him in the inner life for the building up of the Body. Yet these two crucial terms are probably new to you. Has anyone else ever called your attention to them? Have you ever heard a sermon on how to hold the Head, or one on how to grow into the Head? Christ is your Head. He is the Head of the Body. All the members of the Body must hold the Head and grow into Him in all things.
Paul’s Epistles are in two groups. The sequence in which they are arranged in the Bible is quite meaningful. The first seven Epistles, from Romans to Colossians, form one group. His first Epistles are Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians. These three are followed by the four which I have called the heart of the divine revelation—Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. This first group, then, consists of three plus four.
The second group consists of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. These are six. Of course, there is also the Epistle to the Hebrews, whose authorship has caused much argument. I do believe there is ample evidence to say that Paul was the author. These seven Epistles are of four plus three. The two Thessalonians and the two Timothys make up the four, while Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews are the three. This second group of seven will not concern us in this message.
The first set of seven Epistles deals with three main points: Christ living in us, the all-inclusive Christ, and the church. These are the crucial points in Paul’s ministry to complete the Word of God (Col. 1:25). For the completing work to be accomplished, we must experience Christ living in us, we must understand how all-inclusive He is, and we must have the vision of the glorious church. These are the emphases of Paul’s first seven Epistles.
Let us see how Paul’s writings stress these three points.
Romans mentions many different matters in its sixteen chapters. According to Martin Luther, however, its main subject is justification by faith. In actuality, it is more accurate to say that its message is that God has transferred us out of Adam and into Christ. This includes justification by faith. Through our parents we were born in Adam, but when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were transferred out of the first man and into Christ. Romans 6:3 tells us that we have been baptized into Christ Jesus. Now we are in Him. We are no longer in Adam, but in Christ.
First Corinthians tells us that we have been “called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:9). Many Christians have the low concept that God has called them so that some day they might go to heaven. This verse, however, says that we have been called into the fellowship, or participation, or enjoyment, of Christ. He must be our enjoyment. He is the power and wisdom of God (1:24). Because we are in Him, He is to us “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1:30). With such a vast Christ to be enjoyed, Paul “determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (2:2). In 15:22 Paul further says that “in Christ shall all be made alive.” Christ makes us alive because as the last Adam He became a life-giving Spirit (15:45). All these aspects of Christ, presented in this Epistle, are for our enjoyment and are accessible to us because He has become the life-giving Spirit.
Second Corinthians continues this thread that the Lord is now the Spirit (3:17). Our part is to take away the veils that we may behold and reflect Him. “But we all, with unveiled face beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit” (3:18, lit.). As we look unto Him and reflect Him, we are being transformed into His image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit. This term, the Lord Spirit, is a compound title referring to Christ.
Paul warned the Galatian believers that if they tried to keep the law, they would be brought to nought from Christ (Gal. 5:4). He was concerned that they remain in Christ and not be distracted by the law or religion. If they turned back to these, they would be deprived of all profit from Christ and so separated or severed from Him, making Him void of effect. To make circumcision a condition of salvation was to relinquish Christ, who would then profit them nothing.
In Ephesians Paul prayed that the Father would strengthen the believers “with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith” (3:16-17). Our inner man has to be strengthened that Christ may make His home in our hearts. He has to occupy us to such an extent that our whole being becomes His home.
“To me to live is Christ” Paul tells us in Philippians 1:21. Christ was everything to him. In 3:8 he declares how precious this One was to him. “I count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of Whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them refuse that I may gain Christ.” Because of Christ’s surpassing worth, Paul counted everything else loss in order to gain Him.
Colossians tells us further how great Christ is. “And He is the Head of the Body, the church; Who is the beginning, Firstborn from among the dead, that He might have the first place in all things” (1:18). He is all-inclusive, He is the reality of all positive things (2:17), He is now our life (3:4), and He is all and in all in the new man (3:11).
How great was the Christ that Paul saw! We all need such a vision in order to hold the Head.