Furthermore, the book of Ephesians reveals the Triune God more fully than any other book in the Bible. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” This verse speaks of God the Father and Christ the Son. The Spirit is not explicitly mentioned; however, the Spirit is implied in the spiritual blessings. These blessings are blessings of the Spirit and in the Spirit. Hence, in one verse we have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In 2:18 it says that through Him, the Son, we have access in one Spirit unto the Father. Here again we have in one verse the Triune God, the Son, the Spirit, and the Father. Through the Son and in the Spirit we have access to the Father. This is the experience of the Triune God for the church life.
In chapter three we also see the Triune God. Paul prayed to the Father to grant us to be strengthened through His Spirit into the inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts. Here we have the Father, the Spirit, and Christ the Son. Eventually, according to verse 19, we are filled unto all the fullness of God. Therefore, we have the Spirit strengthening us and Christ making His home in us; then we are filled unto the fullness of God. Such a revelation of the Triune God is not found elsewhere in the Scriptures.
In 4:4-6 we also find the Triune God: the Spirit (v. 4), the Lord (v. 5), and God the Father (v. 6). The sequence here is significant. Firstly we have the Spirit, then the Son, and then the Father. In the Body life, the first Person of the Godhead we touch is the Spirit. When we touch the Spirit, we touch the Son. Then, by having the Son, we have the Father who is the origin and source of all. The Father is the source, the Son is the course, and the Spirit is the flow in the course. When we touch the flow, we are in the course, and when we are in the course, we are brought to the source. Here we have the reality of the one Body with the one Spirit, the one Lord, and the one God and Father.
The reason that Ephesians unfolds the Triune God to such a degree is that this book is on the church, the entity composed through the dispensing of the Triune God into humanity. The church comes into being only as the Triune God dispenses Himself into us and mingles Himself with us. In Ephesians we have not only the doctrine of the Trinity, but the practicality of the Trinity for the dispensing of God into man. The Triune God is not for teaching, but for imparting Himself into our being.
We have pointed out that, as the processed God, the Triune God today is the life-giving Spirit. As the Spirit, He can dispense Himself into our being. This makes it possible for us to be filled in our spirit unto all the fullness of God and for Christ to make His home in our heart. Christ is not simply dwelling within us, but is seeking the opportunity to make His home in our heart. This is to mingle Himself with every part of our being. Christ, the Son of God and the very embodiment of God, is the life-giving Spirit indwelling our spirit to spread into all of our inward parts. The result of this is not only holiness, spirituality, and victory, but the marvelous mingling of divinity with humanity to produce the church.
The church that is produced by the mingling of divinity with humanity is the Body of Christ. Certain Christian teachers think that the Body of Christ is merely an illustration. But this is not just an illustration—it is the very expression of Christ. Just as my physical body is the expression of myself, so Christ’s spiritual Body is the expression of Himself. Hence, the church as the Body of Christ is a reality.
Furthermore, the church is the new man with Christ as the life and the person. A body must have life, but a man must have both life and a person. Trees have life, but they do not have a person with a mind, will, and emotion. Since the church is the Body and the new man, the church has Christ as both the life and the person. This understanding of the church is basic.