In the beginning of this chapter I would like to consider the world situation as far as the Lord’s interest is concerned. In many countries of Europe the situation is tragic. In France and all the southern European countries, from Portugal to Greece, there is nearly nothing for the Lord. I visited a number of places in Athens, Greece, but all that I found there was superstition. Concerning Scandinavia, there is something for the Lord in Norway, but it is very shallow. The Pentecostal movement in that country is quite prevailing, and it is better than in other places because it is not so wild. In Denmark, however, there is a deeper work for the Lord. In England, Scotland, and Ireland, although there was something for the Lord thirty years ago, the situation today is pitiful. When I was in Glasgow in 1958, a friend told me that in the district where we were staying, many people did not even know who Jesus was. There is still something for the Lord in England, but not as much as a century ago, when most of the important things of the Lord came from there. In Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany, even though there are quite a number of Christians, there is not much at all for the Lord’s interest.
From this we can learn something. Even though there have been revivals in these places throughout history, none of the revivals lasted very long. For example, even as recently as ten years ago there was a revival in Argentina, and thousands of people were brought to the Lord. But if you go there today, very little is left.
Furthermore, when I visited Turkey and some countries in the Middle East—Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, and Iran—I discovered that there is nothing for the Lord’s interest in these places. In the Far East, China has at least one-fifth of the world’s population. In 1949 there were more than five hundred local churches there and approximately one thousand full-time co-workers. We planned to evangelize the whole of China in ten years, but suddenly, within the space of two years, the country fell into the hands of the enemy. Finally, it is difficult to find anything for the Lord’s interest in Africa.
However, we praise the Lord that today throughout America there are many Christians, and among them a good number are genuinely seeking. They only need to be brought onto the right track. To be on the right track is, first, to know Christ and experience Him as life and everything, not in doctrine or teaching but in daily practice. Moment by moment we need to practice one thing, that is, to apply Christ and appropriate Him in all the events, situations, and conditions in our daily life. Second, to be on the right track is to come together with the seeking ones in the place where we live, without division or any sectarian spirit, to be nothing but “general” Christians. We should not be Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, or Lutheran, but just Christians in general, children of God, who are open to all the believers in Christ and who come together as a living, corporate expression of Christ. The right track, therefore, is to take Christ as our life and everything and then to meet with all the seeking ones purely as a living, corporate expression of Christ. This will bring much blessing from the Lord to His people. The Lord will honor this, and all the positive things that were lost during the past generations will gradually be recovered and experienced by us. We have the assurance that in these last days, before He comes back, the Lord will recover Christ as life and the church as His expression, not by a movement or a revival but by the fellowship of the Body of Christ and the current of life.
In the Scriptures there are two different ways to approach God’s salvation. One way is from our side, and the other is from God’s side. The first way is seen in the book of Romans. This book begins by revealing that we are all sinners under God’s condemnation (1:18—3:20). Then it reveals Christ’s redemption for our justification (Rom. 3:21—5:11). Following this, Romans reveals that not only our works and deeds are sinful, but even our nature, our very being, is sinful. We were all born in Adam, and there is nothing good in our flesh (5:19; 7:18). But this sinful man has been crucified on the cross with Christ (6:6), and now Christ as the Spirit lives within us (8:9-11). Furthermore, while we are walking, living, and doing things in the Spirit, we are members of one wonderful, universal, mystical Body (12:5). Therefore, we must have the Body life (vv. 1-21).
The book of Ephesians, however, is different. Whereas Romans begins with sinners, Ephesians begins with God. The starting point of Ephesians is in the heavenlies, not on the earth, and in eternity, not in time (1:3-4). This book shows us that in eternity past there was within God a desire, a good pleasure (vv. 5, 9). According to His good pleasure God made a purpose, a plan. This plan was made in eternity and for eternity, and thus it is called the eternal plan, or the eternal purpose. It is an eternal plan made in Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and for Christ according to God’s desire and pleasure (vv. 9-11; 3:9-11). After God created all things, He called a number of people according to His selection and His predestination (1:4-5). He redeemed them, forgave them, and regenerated them to make them members of the Body of Christ (vv. 7, 13, 22-23). Now these people must be built up together as a living Body, a corporate vessel, to contain, express, and exhibit Christ to the whole universe (2:21-22; 3:20-21). For this they need to have the Body life (4:1—6:20). Therefore, although the two books begin differently, eventually Ephesians and Romans arrive at the same thing. Romans begins with sinners, and Ephesians begins with God in eternity and in the heavenlies. Both books reveal that God’s plan, His intention, is to manifest and express Himself through Christ, His Son, in a universal, mystical Body composed of many created and regenerated persons. God needs an expression, one that is in Christ and through Christ, and also one that is through a Body of regenerated human beings. Without humanity, God can never be revealed or manifested, for man was created as a vessel for the purpose of revealing, expressing, and manifesting God (Gen. 1:26-27).
This is the reason that God created us with a mind with which to think, an emotion with which to love, and a will with which to make decisions. Without the human mind, God can never be revealed or expressed. Similarly, without the human emotion and will, God can never be manifested. Men were made as vessels for God (Rom. 9:21, 23; Acts 9:15). Many Christians today consider that we are instruments of God, but this is actually a wrong concept. There is a significant difference between a vessel and an instrument. A knife and a hammer are instruments, whereas a cup is a vessel. A vessel is a container. Romans 9:21 says that we are vessels of clay, and 2 Corinthians 4:7 says that we are earthen vessels that contain a priceless treasure. We are containers for Christ and for God.
As vessels we have a mind, a will, an emotion, and a heart. We may use a glove to illustrate this. In order to contain a hand, a glove must have five fingers, because there are five fingers on a hand. Likewise, God created us with a mind, an emotion, and a will because Christ has a mind, an emotion, and a will. The human mind is needed as a container for the mind of Christ, and the human emotion is needed as a container for Christ’s emotion. First Corinthians 2:16 says, “We have the mind of Christ.” If we did not have a mind, we could never have the mind of Christ. Therefore, our mind is a container for the mind of Christ, and our whole being is a vessel for Christ. We are not vessels for milk, eggs, or bread; we are vessels for Christ so that we might contain Him and express Him.
In order to express Christ, we were created by God according to Christ. Man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26), and Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). Hence, to be created in the image of God is to be created according to Christ. Just as a glove is made in the form of a hand so that it can contain a hand, we were created according to Christ so that we might be proper vessels to contain Him. Christ has a heart, and the heart within us is a container for the heart of Christ. Christ has a mind, and the human mind is a container for the mind of Christ. Christ also has a will, and the human will is a container for the will of Christ. Furthermore, we are vessels not merely to contain Christ but also to be filled with Him so that He may be formed in us (Eph. 3:17, 19; Gal. 4:19). We may put a hand in a glove, but the hand may not be formed in the glove. Only when every finger has been fitted exactly inside the glove can we say that the hand is formed in the glove. Christ may be in us but not yet formed in us. We need to be filled with Christ, and Christ must be formed within us.
We need to be impressed that God created the universe in order for Christ to be expressed through His Body. All the things on the earth and in the heavens, with man as the center (Zech. 12:1), are for the purpose of expressing Christ through His Body. This is also the reason that God selected us as the object of His divine grace. He needed us to be a Body to contain, express, and exhibit Christ to the whole universe.