In these messages, we can say that we are touching some of the deepest matters in the New Testament, and we can say that these are matters that Christianity has not touched for centuries. The church is the Body of Christ. The term Body has been used many times in the writings of Christianity, but the writers have not touched the particular points concerning the Body, nor have they seen the vision of the Body. We thank the Lord that over these past years God has clearly revealed this vision to us from His Word. However, those of us who are to receive this vision need a preparation or condition beforehand. In previous years we did not see that there was this condition and preparation needed. Now in this training, however, I feel that there is the right kind of condition; therefore, this is the time for these messages to be released.
The vision, the revelation, concerning the Body is very deep. Therefore, when we speak of it, we must speak very accurately. It is true that the Body is the church, but this is not an objective matter. The Body is the riches of Christ constituted into us to make us the fullness of Christ. The riches of Christ are what Christ is to us. It is not that the fullness of Christ is what Christ is to us; rather, the fullness of Christ is what we are to Christ. Christ is our riches, and we are Christ’s fullness. To us, Christ is the riches; to Christ, we are the fullness. This fullness, however, is not constituted by ourselves or with ourselves. It is true that the fullness is what we are to Christ, but this fullness is constituted with the element of Christ; that is, it is the riches of Christ worked into us that constitute or make us His fullness. Therefore, when you touch this matter, you must be very accurate in your speaking.
At this time we must go on to see that the Body of Christ is for the new man in the New Testament. In the New Testament there is a new man. From my youth I was taught in Christianity to know that before we were saved, we had an old man, and that after we are saved, we have a new man; every saved person has a new man, so there are many new men. For the past twenty or thirty years this impression has been with me. However, one day the Lord opened my eyes and showed me through the book of Ephesians that the new man is not plural. Rather, the new man is uniquely one. There is only one new man in the universe.
Ephesians 2:15 says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man.” There are ordinances in the law, and these ordinances are a barrier between people. When Christ was on the cross, not only did He take away our sins, crucify our old man, and destroy the devil, but He also abolished the ordinances. On the cross, when Christ removed the barriers between people by abolishing the ordinances, He created the two, the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers, in Himself into one new man. I certainly saw a vision in this verse. I saw that today there are not many new men; rather, there is only one new man. We are not individually new men; instead, you are a part of the new man, I am a part of the new man, and all the saved ones are also parts of the new man. The new man is uniquely one, yet this new man has millions of parts. There is only one Body, and there is only one new man-one Body and one new man. Ephesians 2:15 says, “That He might create the two in Himself into one new man.” This is sufficient proof that the new man is corporate, not individual.
Then verse 16 says, “And might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity by it.” The creation of the one new man is in verse 15, and the one Body is in verse 16. This shows us that the one new man in the former verse is the one Body in the latter verse, and it also shows us that the Body and the new man are absolutely related.
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