Colossians 3:10 tells us that the church is the one new man. In this new man there cannot be this one or that one, but Christ is all. In the church life we often address each other by our surnames, such as Brother Huang, Brother Chang, and Brother Wu, but actually there should be no Brother Huang, Brother Chang, or Brother Wu in the church, because this is all part of the old man. Every saved person should be a Christ-man, a person who is full of Christ inwardly, who is mingled with Christ inwardly, and who is filled with Christ. The aggregate of all the Christ-men is the church. The church is the Body of Christ, which is a mysterious corporate new man. In this new man there cannot be you and I; there can be only Christ. Christ is all and in all. This word may sound simple, but we need to let this word saturate the church. This is not the word of man but the word in the Bible, the word of God.
The essence of the church is Christ. Through His death on the cross Christ released His life to produce His mysterious Body. This mysterious Body is a corporate new man. In this new man there cannot be this kind of person and that kind of person, but Christ is all and in all. The condition of the church is according to the nature and essence of Christ.
Regrettably, the condition of the church today is totally different from the church revealed in the Bible. The condition of the church today is full of man’s element; thus, the church has many things that come from man. We all know that human beings are very troublesome. If a place has never been visited or inhabited by people, it retains its natural scenery. However, once it has been visited and inhabited by people, its condition quickly changes. A certain mountain area may have many trees and flowers and look very beautiful. After people begin to live there, however, it gradually becomes disorderly and different. When people first live there, everything is still quite clean. After a while, however, it becomes messy. The longer people live there, the more it resembles a marketplace that has many things of man. This shows that man is the source of uncleanness, and man is a troublesome problem. Once the church contains the things of man, there will be trouble and disorder in the church. Once man is in the church, the church begins to resemble a market. This is abnormal.
The church is Christ, and the essence of the church is Christ. In today’s so-called church, however, the exact opposite is the condition. This is because man, not Christ, is in the church. The church is filled with man, not Christ. If Christ is in the church, the church is pure, clean, spiritual, heavenly, and full of life. However, today’s church is full of human elements. Human feelings, human thoughts, human views, human ways, and human organization have come into the church, and even the society of the world has come into the church. The things of man, the natural being, and everything attached to man have been brought into the church by man. Thus, there is mixture in the church, and she has lost the essence of Christ.
When Christians speak of the matter of the church, not many of them will take the Spirit as their goal. When they speak concerning the church, they are all mixed with man’s element. Some Christians who truly love the Lord even say, “I am very clear that the place where I worship does not please the Lord, and I do not receive any spiritual help and supply there, but I cannot help but go there. What should I do?” It is better for us not to answer such a question, because they already know the answer. We should not be foolish. What they need to know, they already know, and what they should feel, they already feel. Nevertheless, they cannot do anything because they care for human feelings and human friendships. There is no cross, and there is no Christ. This is the flesh, this is human feelings, and this is the world in disguise.
Such people do not see that human feelings, the flesh, and the world have all been put on the cross. As a rule, those who love the Lord should put all these things to death by the Holy Spirit through the cross; they should be condemned and put to death on the cross.
The church is Christ, and the church is under the cross. Wherever there is the cross, there is Christ, and wherever there is Christ, there is the church. Today the church has lost her reality, and her nature and form have changed because man rejects the cross and does not allow the cross to deal with his feelings, face, and worldly ways. When the things of man remain, Christ is gone, and the church is changed in nature. We need to see that once we touch the church, we must touch the cross. The church is joined to the cross.