Although it has sixty-six books and many teachings, the entire Bible reveals to us the divine mystery. We need to find out what the central thought of this divine mystery is. Ephesians 5:32 says, “This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church.” Christ and the church is the great mystery in the universe. Christ is the Head, and the church is the Body (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23). In order to know the central thought of this mystery, we must ask what Christ is to the church. Although it is true that Christ is the Head, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Lord, and everything to the church, the central thought is that Christ is life to the church. And what is the church to Christ? The church is the expression of Christ as life. Therefore, Christ is life to the church, and the church is the expression of Christ as life.
In the central thought of the Scriptures, Christ is revealed as life. Although Christ is revealed to us as many things, such as the Creator, the Redeemer, the Savior, and the Lord, in the central thought of the Scriptures, Christ is life to us. The Gospel of John reveals that Christ came to be life to us (10:10b). He is life (11:25; 14:6), and life is in Him (1:4). When we receive Him, we receive life. Thus, Christ as life to us is the central thought, but this is only the first part. In the Scriptures Christ is revealed, and the Body of Christ also is revealed.
Although the Body is revealed in the Scriptures, the way to practice the Body life, the church life, is rather difficult to see. After man was created, he was put in the garden of Eden in front of a tree that was called the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9). The tree of life signifies Christ as life to us; it is a symbol of God in Christ as life to us. Immediately after man was created, God brought up the matter of life for man’s consideration. God put man before a tree, the tree of life. Moreover, beside the tree there was a river, and along the flow of the river there were gold, bdellium (a pearl-like material produced from the resin of a tree), and onyx, a precious stone (vv. 10-12). These three materials are the materials for God’s building. They typify the Triune God as the basic elements of the structure of God’s eternal building. Gold typifies God the Father with His divine nature, bdellium typifies Christ the Son with His redeeming and life-releasing death and His life-imparting resurrection, and precious stones typify God the Spirit with His transforming and building work. At the beginning of the Scriptures there is a picture that includes the tree of life with a river and three precious materials, and at the end of the Scriptures there is another picture, the picture of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2—22:5), a city in which the tree of life grows and the river of water of life flows, and which is built with three precious materials—gold, pearls, and precious stones. Thus, the pictures at the two ends of the Scriptures correspond with each other; both pictures portray life and building.
Building is a crucial matter in the Scriptures. Christ is life, and the church is a building. The first time the Scriptures mention the church, it is related to the matter of building. Matthew 16:18 says, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” In this verse the church is clearly portrayed as a building. Life and building are the central thought of the Scriptures. In the first picture in the Scriptures, in Genesis 2, there is the tree of life with a flowing river. The issue of the flow of the river is three kinds of materials for building. In the last picture, at the end of the Scriptures, there is a city built with three kinds of materials. In this city are the tree of life and the river of water of life. Hence, from the beginning of the Scriptures to the end, the central thought is life and building. It is more accurate to say that the central thought is life for building. Life is Christ, the building is the church, and Christ as life is for the church as the building. We must be very clear that the central thought of the Scriptures is Christ coming to us to be enjoyed and experienced as life for the purpose of producing a building. This building is Christ’s Body, the church, which is Christ’s expression.
The pictures at the beginning and the end of the Scriptures may be likened to the beginning and end of an architectural plan. The picture at the beginning of the Bible is like an architectural drawing, a blueprint, that shows the intended building. The picture at the end of the Bible is like a photograph of the finished building. In the entire universe God has a plan to build a divine building. The Bible is a definition of God’s plan. In Genesis 2 there is an architectural drawing, a blueprint, and in Revelation 21 and 22 there is a photograph, a picture, of the completed building.
The picture in Genesis 2 includes created man, but at that time created man was separate from the tree of life, the river, the gold, the bdellium, and the onyx stone. He was merely in front of these items. He only saw these things, but he had nothing to do with them intrinsically. God’s intention, however, was that all these items would be wrought into man. In God’s intention the tree of life had to enter into man to be man’s life, and the river had to flow in man and out of man. Furthermore, man, who was created of dust (v. 7), had to be transformed into precious stone. The Lord Jesus confirmed God’s intention when He changed Peter’s name from Simon to Peter, which means “a stone” (Matt. 16:18; John 1:42). Later, Peter wrote that the believers in Christ are living stones who are being built up into a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).
To change a man of clay into a precious stone requires regeneration (John 3:6; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23) and transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). Our being transformed from clay into precious stone begins with the regeneration of our spirit. At the time we are regenerated, there is a small piece of precious stone in our spirit, but around this piece of stone there is a great deal of clay. All the clay must be changed into precious stone through the process of transformation.
In 1 Corinthians 3 the apostle Paul told us that he was a master builder who laid the foundation, which is Christ, for God’s building, and another builds upon this foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones (vv. 10-12a). In verse 12 silver, signifying Christ’s redemption, is referred to instead of bdellium (Gen. 2:12) and pearl (Rev. 21:21a) because of man’s need of redemption after the fall. In the New Testament the building work is carried out by the Triune God as gold, pearls, and precious stones being wrought into the believers. At the end of the New Testament and of the entire Scriptures, there is a city built up with three kinds of precious material—gold, pearls, and precious stones. Furthermore, the tree of life is growing in this city, and the river of water of life is flowing in it. At this point the tree of life, the river of water of life, and the precious materials have been wrought into and mingled with man. In the final picture, the picture of the New Jerusalem, the tree of life and the flowing river are within man, and man has become precious materials for God’s building. Thus, in the New Jerusalem we can see both life and building.