There are two portions in the New Testament that speak of the church; one is at the end of 1 Timothy 3, and the other is at the end of Ephesians 1. In addition to these two portions, it is difficult to find another that speaks of the church in such a high and deep way. Hence, if we want to know the church, we must come to these two portions. In the preceding chapter we have seen the church from the viewpoint of 1 Timothy 3; now we need to see the church from the viewpoint of Ephesians 1.
In 1:19-22, Paul says, “What is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the operation of the might of His strength, which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church.” This shows how the church is produced and how the church exists in the universe. As a concluding word, verse 23 says, “Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” This shows what the church is. The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
The church is produced by Christ’s being raised from the dead, ascending to heaven, transcending the limitations of time and space, overcoming all the enemies, and having all things subjected under His feet. The church is produced through these steps. Thus, we must clearly see that without Christ’s resurrection, there would be no church; without Christ’s ascension, there would be no church; without Christ’s transcending of time and space, there would be no church; without Christ’s overcoming all rule and authority, there would be no church. In Ephesians 6:12, rulers and authorities refer to Satan and his angels. Therefore, the rulers and the authorities spoken of in Ephesians and Colossians do not refer to kings and high officials of the world but to Satan and his authorities (Eph. 1:21; 6:12; Col. 1:13, 16). To be far above all rule and authority means to be far above the power of darkness of Satan. Without this transcendence, the church would not exist. Without Christ’s having all things subjected under His feet, the church would not exist. Without Christ’s being given to be Head over all things, the church would not exist. We must see the six characteristics of the church in order to clearly see how the church is produced.
The church is produced through Christ’s resurrection (Eph. 1:20). Christ came out of death through the power of resurrection; the issue of His resurrection is the producing of the church. Resurrection is the release of the infinite life of God from the shell of the created humanity which Christ entered. When He was incarnated, He entered into a created shell, and the unlimited life in Him was restricted in this created shell. Hence, in Luke 12:50 the Lord said, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed until it is accomplished!” Before He passed through death, He was pressed. When He entered into the created shell, the infinite life in Him was restricted.
The Lord Jesus entered into death so that through death, the unlimited and infinite life in Him could come out from His created shell. This is the meaning of being raised from the dead. Coming out of death enables life to be released (John 12:24). Formerly, this life was in God. Then through incarnation this life entered into a created person. This created One was Jesus the Nazarene; He became a grain of wheat. He died and resurrected so that the infinite life might come out of His finite shell. Through death and resurrection, His life entered into many created ones, including Peter, James, John, and even you and me. Hence, His resurrection produced the church.
The producing of the church is based on Christ’s death and resurrection. The church is an entity that has passed through death and resurrection. The central significance of death and resurrection is that the life of God, which entered into one of His creatures, has been released and has entered into even more of His creatures. Moreover, there is another meaning to death and resurrection. Death delivers man from everything of the old creation, and resurrection ushers man into God’s new creation, into God’s life (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). All of the old creation, which is natural, defiled, and fallen, has been thoroughly dealt with by Christ’s death. This is the reason we can say that Christ’s death delivers man from everything of the old creation, and Christ’s resurrection brings man into the glorious life of God. It is this glorious life that produces the new creation.
This shows that anything that has not passed through death is of the old creation and is natural. However, what is of resurrection is God’s life, is in God’s life, and has entered into the glorious life of God (Luke 24:26; John 1:13; 3:15). The church is produced through Christ’s death and resurrection. Thus, the church is not in the natural life or in the old creation, but in God’s life and in the new creation.