Ephesians 1:22 and 23 reveal that the church, the Body, is the fullness of Christ. This term, the fullness of Christ, is deep and difficult to understand. It is easier to illustrate it than it is to define it. Consider a certain brother who is very large physically. If this brother were small and thin, he would not have much fullness. But because he is physically large, when we look at him, we see his fullness, which is his large body. If this brother had only a head but no body, he obviously would not have any fullness. In like manner, the Body of Christ, the church, is the fullness of Christ. Christ fills all in all. As One who is universally great, Christ certainly needs a large Body, the church, to be His fullness.
No matter how large a certain brother may be today, when he was born, he probably weighed less than ten pounds. However, being a full grown man, he may weigh more than two hundred pounds today. If any brother still weighed the same as he did at birth, he certainly would not have any fullness. What poverty it would be for him to weigh the same year after year! How did a tall and heavy brother grow from being less than ten pounds at birth to being more than two hundred pounds today? He grew by eating the riches of his native land, that is, by eating so much chicken, eggs, beef, and milk. By eating all these riches over a period of many years, he gradually gained weight and grew to be large in stature. This illustrates the fact that the fullness comes out of the riches. To be exact, we need to say that the fullness comes out of the enjoyment of the riches. Without the enjoyment of the riches, we and the riches are not related to each other. But through the enjoyment of the riches, the riches become us.
The book of Ephesians speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul said that he preached among the Gentiles “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” As we have seen, Ephesians also speaks of the fullness of Christ. The riches of Christ are all the many aspects of Christ for our enjoyment. In the messages on who Christ is and what Christ is in His divinity and His humanity, we considered a great many of these aspects, more than sixty items. By eating, digesting, and assimilating these riches of Christ, we become His fullness. This fullness is the church. The church is the issue of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
There is hardly any reality of the church in Christianity today because there is very little enjoyment of Christ. Instead, there is a great deal of knowledge, theological doctrine, and ethical teaching. But there are no practical riches of Christ for the believers to enjoy. Many of you were in Christianity for years. How much of Christ did you enjoy when you were there? Although those you were with claimed to be the church, how much of Christ did they have within them? They might have had the knowledge of the Bible, but they did not have much of Christ digested and assimilated into their being. We do not need to understand Christ. We need to enjoy Him!
For more than seventy-two years, I have been eating foods that I know little or nothing about. When I was in Japan, the Japanese saints served me the best Japanese food. However, I cannot recall the name of even one dish. I simply did not know what it was I was eating. I only know it was good food and that I ate it. When it comes to eating and nourishment, we do not need to know that much. Throughout the years, I have eaten many varieties of food, but to this day I know very little about them. But I do know to eat. The Christ in the Bible is not merely for us to know or understand. Our mentality is too limited to understand Him fully. Hallelujah, Christ is for our enjoyment! Thus, we may say, “Amen, Lord Jesus! You are my God, my Creator, and my Lord. Amen, Lord, You are my life, my light, my power, my rock, my wheat, my door, and my pasture. Hallelujah, Lord, You are my everything!”
If your wife gives you a difficult time and you are about to lose your temper, do not try to overcome it. Take this as an opportunity to say, “Lord Jesus, I praise You! You are my life. Hallelujah, You are my righteousness and my sanctification!” If you do this, your temper will disappear, and you will be transcendent, far above your situation. This is not merely the overcoming of the temper; it is the enjoyment of Christ. It means very little to overcome your temper. What truly matters is that we enjoy Christ.
The fullness of Christ comes out of Christ. In the years to come, I expect to see the fullness of Christ coming out of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. The church today is the Body of Christ. This Body is simply a part of Christ. As a part of Christ, it is also the fullness of Christ. As the resurrected One, Christ has come into us, and as the ascended One, He has come upon us. But this is not all. Day by day, we need to drink of the one Spirit. To drink of Him is to enjoy Him. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit” (Gk.). This verse firstly says that we all have been baptized into one Spirit. Then it says that we need to drink of this Spirit. We need to drink of the Spirit continually. Day by day we must drink of this Spirit, taking in something of the all-inclusive Christ for our enjoyment.
We also need to pray, “Father, grant me to be strengthened in my inner man so that Christ may make His home in my heart, in every part of my inner being, and that I may digest and assimilate more of Christ and have more of Christ constituted into me.”
In this way we shall eventually become mature. Although you may be in the Triune God, may have Christ in you, and may have Christ upon you, you may still be immature. Because you are immature, you cannot function in the meetings. You have the necessary organs, but because you are lacking maturity, you are not yet able to function. Maturity comes from the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. The more you eat of Christ, the more you mature; and the more you mature, the more you function. This is the church. The church is neither an organization nor a formal assembly. Rather, it is a living organism, a living constitution.