The book of Ephesians reveals that the church is not only the Body, but also the new man. As the new man, the church must have Christ both as the life and as the person. Only in recent years has the aspect of the church as the new man been recovered. We thank the Lord that He has shown us clearly through the book of Ephesians that the church is the new man.
During the past two centuries, many Christians have seen that the church is the Body of Christ. In particular, the Brethren speak of this aspect of the church. Furthermore, since the end of World War II, many in this country have begun to talk about the Body. Today it is common to hear terms such as Body ministry. However, although the church is the Body of Christ, this is not the highest revelation of the church. We must go on to see the church as the new man.
Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ abolished in His flesh the law of commandments in ordinances in order to create the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man. Through His death on the cross, not only did Christ deal with sin, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the Devil; He also dealt with the law of the commandments in ordinances. Many good messages have been given on how the cross of Christ has dealt with sin, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the Devil. But have you ever heard that on the cross Christ abolished the law of commandments in ordinances? Christ did this not for salvation, sanctification, or even victory. He abolished the ordinances in order to create the new man. We freely admit that sin, the old man, the flesh, the world, and the Devil all needed the dealing of the cross, and we praise the Lord that all these negative things have been crucified. But we must go on to see the crucial importance of Christ’s abolishing the law of the commandments in ordinances in order to create us into one new man.
The fact that the Jews and the Gentiles have been created into one new man indicates that the new man is an entity that is corporate and universal. There are many believers, but there is just one new man. All the believers are part of this one corporate and universal new man. The highest revelation of the church given in the book of Ephesians is that of the new man.
To be regenerated is not only to be saved; it is also to be created anew. On the cross Christ abolished the ordinances so that a re-creation could take place. The Jews and the Gentiles were separated by ordinances. But the two peoples have been created in Christ with the divine essence into one new entity, the corporate new man.
Ordinances are the various forms or ways of living and worship. For example, the Jews have their particular way of worshipping God. Based upon this way of worship, they have ordinances that govern their daily living. Other peoples also have their own ways of living and worship. This is true among the denominations in today’s Christianity. The Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and Episcopalians all have different ways of worship. How widespread is this matter of ordinances, and how all-pervading!
God’s intention is not to have a certain kind of worship. His desire is to have the one new man. However, in his subtlety, Satan, the enemy of God, uses ordinances to damage the new man and to keep believers from realizing the new man in a practical way. Satan’s goal is not to keep Christians from heaven or from pursuing spirituality; it is to keep them from seeing and experiencing the church as the one new man.
We thank the Lord that He has made us very clear regarding the ground of the church. But it is not adequate simply to know the church ground. Although the ground of the church is necessary, God’s desire is not merely to have the church ground. He desires to have the church as the new man. Ordinances are the main obstacles to the fulfillment of this desire of God. If we would have the church in the aspect of the new man, we need to lay aside our ways of living. On the cross, Christ abolished all the ordinances. However, He did so not merely for the purpose of eliminating ordinances; He abolished the ordinances in order to create the one new man.
In His wisdom God has chosen us out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9). In the local churches today there are believers from many races and nationalities. Surely the greatest test of whether or not we take Christ as our life and as our person is related to ordinances. For example, it is difficult for the Chinese who have moved to this country from the Far East to realize the church as the new man because it is not easy to set aside their Chinese way of living. When certain Chinese brothers and sisters were in the Far East, they were more useful in the church life than they are now because now they hold on to their Chinese ordinances. To be fair, we need to point out that all of us have the problem of holding on to our ordinances. In the new man there is no room for Jew, Greek, barbarian, Scythian, circumcision or uncircumcision. This means that in the church as the new man there can be no Chinese, American, British, German, or any other nationality. There is room only for Christ. It is crucial for us all to see that more than nineteen hundred years ago all our ordinances were abolished by Christ on the cross.