[The church is the goal God wants to obtain in His eternal economy. Each one of us who is saved participates in this goal, that God may obtain His heart’s desire according to His good pleasure. Therefore, we must also know the church.]
The Lord Jesus Christ said that He will build His church (Matt. 16:18). [The church is what Christ will build through His death, resurrection, and ascension. The term “church” is ekklesia in Greek, which means the called out assembly. Thus, according to its literal meaning, the church is the congregation called out from the world by God. It is not a church building or any edifice for the worship of God.]
The apostle Paul said, “The church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). [The church is the Body with Christ as the Head; it is constituted for Christ in His life and Spirit with all those who have believed into Him. It is a living organism and not a lifeless organization like the clubs and associations in society.
The body of a man is the fullness of a man to be his expression. Likewise, the church is the fullness of Christ to be His expression. Since Christ is the One who is unlimited and extensive, and who fills all in all, He needs a great Body to be the fullness of Himself who fills all in all to express Him in all things.]
Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” [This word reveals that the church is also Christ’s counterpart. As the Body of Christ, the church receives life from Him for His expression; this is a matter of life. As the counterpart of Christ, the church receives His love for the satisfaction of His heart’s desire; this is a matter of love.]
The Bible also tells us, “That you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). [To Christ, the church is His Body and His counterpart, while to God, the church is His house. On the one hand, this house refers to God’s dwelling place, and on the other hand, it refers to God’s family, God’s household. These two, God’s household and God’s dwelling place, are just one. God’s household is the very house for God’s dwelling (Eph. 2:19, 22). A person’s house is his place of living, residing, and rest. The church, being God’s house, is also such a place to God. Today, the living God is living, residing, and resting in the church on the earth.
God is living, and the church as His house is also living, having the life of God, living, residing, and resting with God. Thus, the living house of God is the pillar and base of all His reality, which is the reality (truth) of the universe. Everything of this living God is the reality in the universe. Without Him, the universe is vain and empty; yet all His reality is being supported and upheld by the church, which is His living house.]
Colossians 3:10-11 says, “And having put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him; where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” [Just as all of mankind is a corporate old man created in Adam, the church is also a corporate new man. Christ, having abolished on the cross all the ordinances which caused discord among men, created this new man in Himself (Eph. 2:14-15). This new man bears the image of its Creator, Christ, who is its life and its content. In this new man, there are no persons of the old creation belonging to any race, religion, culture, or class. Only Christ is all the constituents of this new man and is in all its constituents. The church as the Body of Christ takes Christ as its life for His expression; the church as the new man takes Christ as its person for the fulfillment of God’s will.]
“The church of God...those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). [The church is constituted with all those who have believed into Christ and who possess His life. Any person who has not believed into Christ and has not been saved cannot become a constituent of the church. Without being saved, even our closest relatives are not constituents of the church. Only after they are saved and have the Lord’s life to become saints are they constituents of the church.]