When Christ makes His home in our heart, we will be rooted and grounded in love (v. 17b). By that time we will realize that our Christ is really loving. He is altogether love to us. We will be rooted in love for our growth, and grounded in love for our building up. When we are rooted and grounded in His love, we will know how to be one with all the other saints. Then together we will have the ability and the strength to apprehend four things in the universe—the breadth, length, height, and depth (v. 18). No one can tell how broad the breadth is, how long the length is, how high the height is, or how deep the depth is. These four items are unlimited. These four universal dimensions are the dimensions of Christ. The dimensions of the universe are Christ. Christ is the breadth, Christ is the length, Christ is the height, and Christ is the depth. The very Christ whom we enjoy is marvelous, unlimited, all-extensive, and immeasurable. When we apprehend the dimensions of Christ, we will go on to know His great love, which is knowledge-surpassing. His love surpasses the knowledge in our mind, yet we can know it by experiencing it. Day by day in our experience, we can enjoy His love.

Christ makes His home in our heart, we are rooted and grounded in His love, and then we can apprehend with all the saints how broad, how long, how high, and how deep Christ is. Eventually, we can even experience a great love that is knowledge-passing. The result, the issue, the coming out of all of this is all the fullness of the processed, consummated Triune God (v. 19). The fullness of God is the Body of Christ as the expression of the Triune God to the fullest, to the uttermost. All the fullness of God is the ultimate consummation of the corporate expression of the Triune God, and this ultimate, consummated, corporate expression is the Body of Christ.

We need to realize two items in Ephesians 3. First, the unsearchable riches of Christ should be our enjoyment. Second, Christ as the unlimited and unsearchable One should be settled in us, taking our heart as His home. Then we not only have His riches, including His divine attributes and human virtues, but we also have Himself as the all-extensive, unlimited person making His home in us. This is the church life. If the church life were like this, we could not have any division among us. If the churches were like this, all the criticism would be stopped, all the opinions would be over, and all the disputes would be gone. This kind of church life annuls everything negative. This should be the goal to which we have to attain and the destination at which we have to arrive. This is why I am burdened to speak about the intrinsic view of the Body of Christ.

I have been in the church life in the Lord's recovery for about sixty years, and I have seen turmoil after turmoil among us. These turmoils take place because we are still in the old man, in the flesh, in the natural man, and in the self. When we are in the old man, there is friction among us. Divorce between husband and wife is the result of an accumulation of friction between them over a period of time. When we first come into the church life, this can be considered as the church "honeymoon" time. During this time, everything is wonderful. Later, however, the honeymoon is over. A brother may eventually feel that he does not like anyone in the church. Actually, he does not like anyone except himself. He only loves himself. This is a life in the old man, in the flesh, in the natural man, and in the self. This is a life which has never been crossed out by the crucifixion of Christ and a life which has never been brought into resurrection and uplifted to the heavens. If we live such a life, how can we have a proper church life?

The proper church life comes only from the issue of our enjoyment of the unsearchable riches of Christ. The proper church life is also the issue of Christ personally making His home in our heart to occupy every corner of our inner being. We need to have a church life which is the issue of the enjoyment of Christ's riches and the issue of the unlimited Christ personally making His home in our entire inward being. Then we can have a tranquil church life. Eventually, we will see this fully in the New Jerusalem. We will not quarrel in the New Jerusalem. This is because the New Jerusalem is the ultimate issue of our enjoyment of Christ and of Christ making His home in our hearts. The Body of Christ is the consummation of the believers' enjoyment of the unsearchable riches of Christ and the consummation of the experience of the unlimited Christ making His home in our hearts.