Ephesians 2:15-16 clearly shows that the Lord created the Jews and the Gentiles in Himself into one new man through His death. Through His death on the cross He created Jewish and Gentile believers into one Body. There are at least two significant points here. First, the Lord’s death on the cross not only accomplished redemption and dealt with our sins, but it also created two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, into one new man. Second, the new man that the Lord created through the cross is His Body. In Ephesians 1:23 Paul speaks of the church as His Body. Then in chapter 2 Paul indicates that the Body is the new man that the Lord produced on the cross; it was created by Him through His cross.
The church as the Body of Christ is the new man, a new creation, and it was created by Christ through the cross. The new man created by Christ through the cross is a corporate man. There are not many new men; rather, the many believers have been constituted into one new man through Christ’s cross. This new man is the Body of Christ, which is His church.
Colossians 3:9-11 speaks of the new man having the same image as the Lord who created him. Verse 11 says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew...” Where refers to the new man in verse 10. In the new man “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all” (v. 11). This is a very crucial verse. Verse 9 says that those who are saved, who belong to Christ, and who are in the church have put off the old man. Then verse 10 says that we “have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” In other words, the new man and the Lord have the same image.
Verse 11 says that “there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man” in the new man, “but Christ is all and in all.” In other words, the new man is not composed of different people who no longer have certain distinctions; rather, there cannot even be different people. In the church as the one new man, there cannot be the highly educated or the uneducated, and there cannot be slaves or free men, but Christ is all and in all.
The church must be according to the Bible and according to the life in us. From an outward perspective, a church that is on the proper ground blessed by the Lord and on the path under His leading, must be according to the clear teaching of the Bible. From an inward perspective, the church must be according to the sense of life within the saints. Therefore, when we examine and study the condition of a church, we must consider the Bible from an outward perspective and life from an inward perspective. A church that matches the teaching of the Bible and the inner sense of life is a church that is on the pathway of God. This is the most basic principle we must apply when examining a church.
The church is the Body of Christ. She shares the life of Christ, and she is joined and mingled with Christ as one. Therefore, the church is Christ Himself. However, I am afraid that the brothers and sisters may not understand this simple yet crucial word in a deep and thorough way. If we have a deep and thorough understanding, we will realize and see that the church is Christ Himself. For example, because this podium is made of wood, its substance is wood. Because this microphone is made of metal, its substance is metal. Because the church comes out of Christ and is formed by the life of Christ, the essence of the church is Christ. Since this podium is made of wood, its substance is wood. Since the church is constituted with Christ, her essence is Christ.
In the past some have said that the church is an aggregate of all Christians. This means that the church is the aggregate of all those who believe into Jesus. Based on this, it would seem that the church is composed of Mr. Huang plus Mr. Chang plus Mr. Lee plus everyone else who has believed into Jesus. Many people have this impression of the church, but actually this is not true. It may be correct to say that the church is the aggregate of all the Christians, but what is a Christian? This is the crucial matter. Being a Christian is not simply a matter of a title and should not be used lightly. Christian refers to people who have Christ mingled with them. A Christian is one who is mingled with Christ.
According to the Greek text, Christian may be rendered “Christ-man,” but what does Christ-man mean? A Christ-man is one who has been mingled with Christ inwardly. Before tea is added to a cup of water, the water is plain water; however, after tea is added into the cup, it becomes tea-water. It is called tea-water because tea has been mingled with the water. In China there are many tea shops around the region of Nanking and Hankow. These tea shops mainly sell tea-water, yet they are not called water shops but tea shops. Even though people are drinking water, it is called tea because tea is a crucial element in it.
In the same principle, those who believe into Jesus are called Christians. We are Christ-men, but the crucial element in us is Christ. Although we are humans, Christ has been added into us. Hence, we are human, but Christ is the primary element. Our humanity is not the main element. We all need to see that after believing into the Lord, we become Christ-men, and the aggregate of all the Christ-men is the church. In other words, the church is produced by the aggregate of Christ in many people. The church is Christ. The essence of the church is Christ.