On the one hand, we are God’s. On the other hand, He is ours. Because we are His, we are sealed and possessed by Him. Because He is ours, we have received the guarantee that He is our portion, our inheritance. Our inheritance has nothing to do with material things; it is God Himself. We have the Holy Spirit as the guarantee, pledge, down payment, deposit, foretaste, and sample, of our inheritance.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” This verse does not speak of the first creation, but of the second creation, the creation of the new man. We all have been created together as God’s masterpiece, God’s poem. The Greek word rendered masterpiece means something which has been made, a handiwork, or something which has been written or composed as a poem. The church is a poem written by God. In the universe nothing is more meaningful than the church. The church, the corporate new man, is God’s masterpiece.
Concerning the church, the word created is used three times in Ephesians. In addition to 2:10, it is used in 2:15, which says that Christ abolished the law of the commandments in ordinances in order to create one new man. In 4:24 we are told that the new man was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. From a human point of view, there are many deficiencies and shortcomings in the church. But from God’s perspective in eternity, the church is a finished product, something already accomplished by God. God is happy and can boast to His enemy, “Satan, no matter how much you try to do, I have already accomplished My work. I have created the one new man.” In the eyes of God the church has already been built up.
Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near in the blood of Christ.” Once we were far off from God and from one another, but in Christ Jesus God has caused us to become near. Before we were saved and brought near, we could not speak of one another as brothers and sisters. But now we have the deep sense that in Christ we are closer to one another than we are to our brothers and sisters in the flesh.
Now let us go on to consider certain items which from God’s point of view have been accomplished, but from the standpoint of our experience are still in the process of being accomplished. The first is the matter of being enlightened. In 1:18 Paul speaks of the eyes of our heart being enlightened, and in 5:14, of Christ shining on us. In a sense, God has already enlightened us. But in another sense, we still need to be enlightened. We may be covered, veiled, by certain things, and need to turn to the light so that the light may shine on us.
If we would be enlightened, we need to turn to the spirit. According to 1:17 and 18, enlightenment is related to receiving a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. If we stay in our natural mind, we shall be in darkness. But if we turn to our regenerated spirit, we shall be enlightened.
I am concerned for those who do not open themselves up in the meetings. To be closed in this way is to be in darkness. We need to open ourselves by uttering something for the Lord in the meetings. When we turn from our reasonings to the spirit, we are enlightened. We rise up, and Christ shines on us. As we stand up to speak, the light shines on us, and we are enlightened. The more we are enlightened, the more we experience the work God has accomplished concerning us.
In chapter three Paul prayed that our inner man, our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit, would be strengthened with power (v. 16). When we are enlightened, we realize the need for our inner man to be strengthened.
Our inner man needs to be strengthened so that Christ may make His home in our hearts (3:17). For Christ to make His home in us means that we are indwelt by Him. Christ, the living Person, desires to dwell in us, to fill every part of our inward being with Himself. All of our inward parts need to be a home for Christ so that we may be fully occupied by Him.