Since the church is the Body of Christ and our service is the service of the church, we have the realization that the service of the church is the service of the Body, the service in coordination. When we come to the meeting hall, you may sweep the floor, I may arrange the chairs, and another brother may clean the door. This kind of coordination is the service of the Body, the service of the church. One time at the meeting hall we saw that many saints were busy cleaning and tidying up the meeting hall. One brother marveled and said, “Look, what a beautiful scene! Some are sweeping the floor, some are arranging the chairs, and some are cleaning the windows.” This is an example of the service of the Body of Christ being realized by us.
What is the Body of Christ? Before His resurrection, Christ did not have a Body. He was an individual. It was after His resurrection, ascension, transcending over all things, and becoming the Head of all things and of the church that He gained a mystical Body. The church as the mystical Body of Christ is the fullness of the One who resurrected, ascended, transcended over all things, who is above all things, and who fills all in all. The Body, the church, the mystical Body of Christ, is something that has been resurrected, has ascended, and is now transcendent over all things and above all things. The church was produced after the resurrection of Christ. From Ephesians we know that the church is something very high and that the procedure through which the church was produced is marvelous. The producing of the church was not that simple.
In short, the church, the Body of Christ, was produced after Christ resurrected, ascended, transcended over all things, and was made Head over all things. Christ’s resurrection, ascension, transcending over all things, and being Head over all things are all for the church. What is the church? The church is His Body. It was in Christ’s resurrection and ascension that He became the Head of the church, and it was at this time that Christ, the Head of all things, obtained a Body. This Body is the church.
From this we see that the church was not produced from a low situation. Christ was incarnated and born in a manger, but it was not possible for the church to be produced in this way. Christ in His incarnation was born in the lowest position, but the church was not produced in the same way. The birth of the church was very high. The church was produced in the highest realm—in the realm of His resurrection, His ascension, His transcending over all things, and His being Head over all things. The status of the church is very high, and the position of the church is very noble. In other words, the church was produced in resurrection, and it was produced starting from resurrection and ending with His transcending over all things and being Head over all things. It was at that time that the Body, the church, was produced.
Without resurrection, there would be no church. The church came out of resurrection and must also pass through resurrection. This is what Ephesians 1 says. If we do not see that resurrection was the realm in which the church was produced, we cannot understand the prayer in Ephesians 1. At the end of the prayer there is something mystical—the fullness of the One who fills all in all, which is the church. The church did not exist before resurrection. Before resurrection there was only Christ, and His body was finite, not mystical. It was after Christ’s resurrection, ascension, transcending over all things, and becoming the Head over all things that a mystery emerged. This mystery is the Body of Christ, which is the church.
The church, the Body of Christ, is of resurrection. The church began with Christ’s resurrection, proceeded with His ascension to the heavenlies to be far above all things and to be the Head over all things, and was eventually brought forth. Hence, the church began with resurrection and was produced from resurrection.