As we have said before, on the one hand, the church is the Body, and on the other hand, the church is the new man. In the Body we are members one of another, but in the new man what are we to one another? I cannot say for sure, but you must understand that in the new man all of us are simply one man. This requirement is as high as the heavens. Loving one another is a basic requirement, being members one of another is a requirement that is somewhat higher, but the requirement that everyone be only one man is exceedingly high. Consider this: If we were merely a group of people, it would be enough for us simply to love one another, yield to one another, be kind to one another, and take care of one another. But if we are a Body, loving one another is not enough; we must also be members one of another. Today, however, we are not only one Body but also one new man.
God has an eternal purpose, which is to obtain the church. To the Father, the church is His house; to Christ, the church is His Body; with respect to God’s move in the universe, the church is a new man. It is very pitiful, however, that Christianity has never presented this to people. All that Christianity has presented is a religion with an object of worship and a set of related teachings to make people revere and worship God and to teach people according to their worship. This is too far off from God’s purpose. If it is religion that God wants, then the Chinese culture would be good enough. What God wants, however, far surpasses religion. What God wants is the church that is composed of regenerated persons. These regenerated ones are also reconstituted ones, or according to the biblical expression, transformed ones. The purpose of regeneration, reconstitution, and transformation is that we may become the church. This church is the Body of Christ that moves on the earth, and this church is also the new man who lives out God’s economy on the earth. This is something missing in Christianity today. We thank God that in these days He has opened up His Word to us.
Over the past few years, God has repeatedly shown us this matter. I can say that I have been waiting for an opportunity to speak about this matter because it is very deep and very high, and it is beyond what we can imagine. This matter is the church as the Body of Christ to be His fullness and concerning the church as the new man. In the Body, Christ is our life; in the new man, Christ is our person. Our moving is according to the Body with Christ as our inward life, and our living is according to the new man with Christ in it as our person.
In this training I hope that you will learn to speak accurately about the Body, the fullness, and the new man. I also hope that you will learn to speak the high things. Here there is no male or female. We know what it is that we are speaking. The church is the Body of Christ, and this is the fullness of Christ. In this fullness there is only Christ; there are no brothers and no sisters. In this new man there are not even any members because members are a matter of the Body, not a matter of the new man. The new man is not about members; the new man is about the person. Who is your person? Is it you or is it the Lord Jesus? The Lord Jesus is your person.
In this message we must go on to see that in Ephesians, when the apostle Paul was writing this Epistle, within him he could not forget these two things: the Body and the new man. At the end of chapter one he referred to the church as His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Then in chapter two he said that Christ had slain the enmity between the Jews and Gentiles and created the two in Himself into one new man. Then he went on to say that through the cross both were reconciled to God in one Body. Therefore, you can see that the apostle always spoke of the Body and the new man together. When he mentioned the one, he could not forget the other; when he spoke about the other, he had to speak also about the one. Hence, it is always the Body and the new man.
The clearest example of this is in 4:13 where the apostle Paul put the two into one verse, saying, “Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man.” This full-grown man refers to the new man that has become full-grown. Then he said, “At the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Therefore, you can see that at the end of 4:13, Paul in his speaking put the Body and the new man together, but this time he first mentioned the new man and then the Body. The new man here is a full-grown man, and the Body here is the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Here we must continue to speak about these two things: the Body and the new man. It is hard for us to say which should be first and which is second. In some places we see that we need the new man first, and in other places we see that we need the Body first.
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