We have seen the purpose of God in chapter one, and we must now see the expression of Christ. God planned the church for the purpose of expressing Christ; thus, the church is the expression of Christ. But how can the church be the expression of Christ? In what way can the church express Christ? The only way is by the church being the Body of Christ.
If you consider yourself, you will realize that your body is your expression. Without a body, we cannot express ourselves. In like manner, there is no way for Christ to be expressed by the church except by it being His Body. And in saying that the body is the expression, we must realize that the body is always one with the head in life and in nature. Our body is one life and one nature with our head. This tells us that the church is one with Christ in life and nature. In other words, according to life and nature, Christ is the church. Christ is not only the Head, but He is also the Body, because the Body’s life is Christ and the Body’s nature is Christ. The Body is Christ, and Christ is the Body.
In the Bible there is an excellent type regarding Christ and the church. It is the type of Adam and Eve. Strictly speaking, God did not create a man and a woman; He only created one man. Then how did the woman come into being? The wife was just a part of the husband. God put Adam to sleep, broke his side, and took out a rib. This was a part of Adam, and this part became his wife.
What, then, is Eve? Eve is only a part of Adam. Therefore, it is absolutely right to say that Adam is Eve, because Eve is a part of Adam. We all know, according to Ephesians 5, that this is a type. Christ was the last Adam, and God put Him to sleep on the cross. His side was broken, and out of His side came blood and water (John 19:34). Blood signifies redemption and water life. Both are needed to produce the spiritual Eve, the spiritual bride, which is the church.
We need this vision and revelation to see what the church is. The church is simply the counterpart of Christ. The church is a part of Christ, a product of Christ. She is something that came out of Christ, something produced of Christ and something which is a part of Christ. The Body can never be separated from the Head. A complete person has both a head and a body.
Today the church is simply the Body to Christ, a Body that is produced out of Christ and a Body that is part of Christ. This is why Ephesians 1:22-23 tells us that the church is the Body, and the Body is the fullness of Christ. Christ is the One who fills all and in all. He is universally great, and this universally great Christ needs a Body to be His fullness, His expression.
In Ephesians 1:23, we have “the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” This means the fullness of Christ. Then in Ephesians 3:8 we see “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” What is the difference between the fullness of Christ and the riches of Christ? It is not difficult for us to realize the meaning of the riches of Christ. This must be all the items of what Christ is. As God, He is the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the Lord, the Christ, and other items. As man, Christ is the Apostle, the Teacher, the Leader, etc. He is really much more than all this. He is the light, the life, the air, the water, the food, the clothing and the lodging. He is all of this and more to us. There are countless items of the riches of Christ.
What then is the fullness? The fullness is the issue of the enjoyment of all the riches of Christ. When all the riches of Christ have been enjoyed and assimilated by us, then we will have the issue of the enjoyment of Christ’s riches. The issue is the fullness of Christ.
I have used the riches of America to illustrate this many times: the milk, the cows, the eggs, the chickens, the peaches, the plums and many other things are the riches of America. But the fullness of America is the issue of enjoying these riches.
For example, consider some men who are physically very large. In a sense they are not the riches of America, but the fullness of the riches of America. How could they be so large? It is because they are composed of so many American chickens, cows, eggs, milk, and so forth.
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