We must consider the administration of the church with the Scriptures as our basis. First Timothy 3:15 says, “If I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.” Here conduct refers to administration. Paul wrote to Timothy, and Timothy received Paul’s commission to arrange for matters related to the management and administration of the churches. When Paul spoke of knowing “how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God,” he was speaking of how to administrate and arrange matters in the church. Paul said this because he knew that he might be absent for a long period of time, that he might be delayed. Therefore, he wanted Timothy to know how to administrate the church and how to conduct himself in the church. It may seem that Paul was speaking only about being delayed himself, but if we have spiritual insight, we will realize that he was actually referring to the Lord being delayed. Before the Lord comes back, we must know how to administrate the church and how to conduct ourselves in the church. This is the only verse in the entire Bible which clearly speaks of administrating the church and conducting ourselves in the church.
Concerning the matter of administrating and taking care of the church, we first must see what the church is. The church is the house of God. The church is not an organization, a company, a school, a factory, or a hospital; rather, the church is a house—the house of God. We must know this house in a strong and deep way. All matters and their proper order in the universe, such as parents and children in a family and employers and employees in a company, are arranged by God and are of God. All such arrangements have symbolic meaning. The father in a family signifies God as the Father, the children signify the saved ones as the children of God, and the family as a whole signifies the house of God. If we want to know the significance of the church as the house of God, we can understand it by looking at our own family, because God has presented this significance before our eyes through His arrangement of human relationships. Under normal circumstances, everyone should have his own home; a proper home is a symbol of the house of God.
Concerning the function of a family, everyone in a proper family, whether children or parents, all have some understanding. A proper family should at least cause man to have inward and outward rest. Moreover, a family is a place for the multiplication and the continuation of life. There are hardly any couples who feel that they do not need children. Everyone hopes to have many children and grandchildren when they reach an advanced age. The older a person is, the more he longs to see that his children have grown up and the more he likes to speak about his children and grandchildren.
Similarly, God delights in the continuation of His life. The reason that God has a family is because He wants to have children. Although some families do not have children for biological reasons, in fact and in principle, a family is called a family because it is a place where children are produced. Whether we agree or not, this is what God has ordained. Children are the multiplication and continuation of life. Hence, to God the first significance of a family is to enable God’s life to be multiplied and continued. This is the symbolic meaning of a family, showing that God’s house is a place for the continuation and multiplication of life. This is the only place in the universe where life can be multiplied and continued. This is the first significance of a house.
When we touch God’s house, we touch the matter of God’s life, because a family is where life is continued. Chinese people like to have children because they want to transmit life and produce offspring. God needs a household for the continuation of His life. This life is not a hidden life but a generating life. Before we are married, our life is hidden, but once we are married, we begin to generate life. Sixteen years ago when I was in Tientsin, a brother came to my house. Upon seeing my children, he said, “Each one of them is a ‘small Witness Lee.’” Before I was married, there was only one Witness Lee; however, after I was married, there are many Witness Lees. Similarly, one day God will be able to boast in front of His enemy in the universe, saying, “Formerly, there was only Myself, but now I have become so many.” God’s house is where His life is continued.
Some people may say, “This is the definition of a house according to symbolic meaning, but is there a scriptural basis for this?” Yes! First Timothy 3:15 says, “Which [the house] is the church of the living God.” God is a living God. Living denotes a matter of life. Is there a living tree that does not bear fruit? Is there a living animal that does not produce offspring? As long as something is living, whether it is an animal or a plant, it surely will produce offspring and bear fruit. Anything that lives is capable of generating life. We can have children and propagate life because we are living. Our God is not the God of the dead but the God of the living; hence, in His house He wants to propagate His life.