The divine administration is carried out by means of the church under the headship of Christ and of God. Under this headship, the members of the body function with their gifts. This is the operation which carries out God’s administration. This can be done only in resurrection life. In the realm of the divine administration first we have the headship, then the body, then the functions of the members by the gifts, and then resurrection life.
Resurrection is Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit. This Spirit, the reality of the resurrected Christ, is resurrection. Before His crucifixion and resurrection, the Lord Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Resurrection, therefore, is a living Person, the wonderful Christ. In this resurrection the Body functions under the headship to carry out God’s administration.
The last matter dealt with in 1 Corinthians is the collection for the needy saints. As Paul says, the offerings were given on the first day of every week. The first day of the week, the Lord’s day, was a sign, a symbol, of the resurrected Christ. The Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, was a sign of God as the Creator. Now the first day is a sign that the Triune God has been processed in resurrection to become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit.
Today our God is not the God of the seventh day. That is the Jewish God. Our God is the God of the first day of the week. This means that He is God not only in creation, but, much more, He is God in resurrection. Now we have God not only in creation, but also in resurrection. God in creation is for our worship, but God in resurrection is not only for worship, but also for our enjoyment. The Jews know only how to worship God as the Creator. However, we enjoy our Triune God as the life-giving Spirit. The God in resurrection is for enjoyment.
Everything we do in the church life in principle must be on the first day of the week. This means that everything must be done in resurrection. If we live Christ and enjoy Him, experiencing Him, every day He will be resurrection to us. Then every day will be the first day of the week.
The first day does not symbolize a day; it symbolizes the Triune God who, having been processed, has become an enjoyable, all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit. Now we may enjoy this Spirit. By enjoying the Spirit we are on the first day of the week. This is for God’s administration.
I can testify that in my experience I am in the first day of the week. I am in resurrection enjoying the all-inclusive Spirit, the One who is the processed God to be my portion. Hallelujah for such a portion! In our meetings we may now carry out the divine administration in resurrection on the first day of the week, participating in the processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit. Whenever I come to this point, inwardly I am beside myself with joy. Praise the Lord for the marvelous revelation in 1 Corinthians!
First Corinthians is a book that speaks of living Christ for the church, a book that tells us how to live Christ for the church. Throughout the centuries, the Lord’s people have not realized that 1 Corinthians tells us to live Christ for the church. Believers have not had this language because they have not had the spiritual experience that gives rise to it. Language with its words and terms meets the needs of experience. For example, many years ago there was not such a word as computer. But after the invention of a computer, there was the need for a term to describe it. Hallelujah for our new spiritual experience! According to this experience we need to live Christ for the church. I can testify that my entire being is occupied with this. I do not have room for anything else. Every one of my messages issues from this experience. Outwardly I may do many different things, but inwardly I am always occupied with living Christ for the church.
I can testify that before giving this message, I was not clear what I should speak. I prayed like this: “Lord, we are open to You. We have made no decision concerning this message. Lord, we don’t know what You want us to say. Lead us and guide us, Lord. Infuse us with Your thought and feeling.” Then deep within I began to sense that I should speak on the subject of a pattern of living Christ for the church life.
We have emphasized that 1 Corinthians reveals that we should live Christ for the church. But it is in 2 Corinthians that we have the pattern of living Christ for the church. The wonderful and marvelous revelation in 1 Corinthians needs the pattern presented in 2 Corinthians. Therefore, after the first Epistle, Paul wrote the second Epistle for the purpose of showing the believers at Corinth a pattern of one who lives Christ for the church. In the following message we shall consider the details of this pattern.