The Gospel of John speaks repeatedly about how we should have subjective experiences of the Lord. He became flesh for the purpose of working Himself into us. He became the living water that we may drink Him, the bread of life that we may eat Him, and the breath of life that we may breathe Him. Nothing can be more subjective than the subjective experiences produced when water, bread, and breath get into us. We have to receive the Lord into us so subjectively that it is like receiving water, food, and air into us.
However, we have to see that these subjective experiences are for the producing of the church. All the subjective experiences that are linked to the Spirit and are hinged on life are for the producing of the church. The issue of our receiving the Lord into us is that we become constituents of the church. To be sure, in the Gospel of John we are shown the subjective experiences. Though the term church is not used, we should not overlook the fact that this book speaks of how the constituents of the church are produced.
In the Scripture reading above, five crucial points are presented. First, the Lord said that He was a grain of wheat. This grain of wheat fell into the ground and died, and it bore much fruit (12:24). These many grains are the increase of Christ, the reproduction of Christ. Originally it was one grain; then this grain died and grew up to become many grains. Christ was the one grain, and we are the many grains. We were not the many grains by our human birth. When the Lord’s life came into us and the Lord dispensed Himself into us, we were regenerated to become the many grains to be made into one bread. Even though we are many, “there is one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). Originally the many grains were grains individually, but now they have been ground to powder and blended together to become one bread. This one bread signifies the church. Every time we break the bread at the Lord’s table we testify that the church is uniquely one. This bread is one Body, and this one Body is the church.
Here we must see that the church is not a composition originated by human will; it is not an organization worked out by a group of people. That is not the church; that is a society. A society is organized by people, whereas the church is produced out of Christ. The church is an issue of His dispensing into us through His death and resurrection to make us grains of wheat. When we as the grains of wheat are blended into one, we become the one bread, and this one bread signifies the one Body. Therefore, we have to see here that the church is produced by Christ’s entering into us. In other words, the church is produced by our subjective experience of Christ. If Christ did not enter into you, you would remain only of the Adamic race; you would not be a part of Christ. However, because Christ entered into you, He as the one grain of wheat made you a grain of wheat also. This is how the church is produced.
Second, in John 20, after His resurrection, the Lord said to Mary, “Go to My brothers and say to them...” (v. 17). Before His death and resurrection, when the Lord was on earth, He never called His disciples brothers. He called them friends, but He never called them brothers. Why? It was because at that time the Lord’s life had not yet entered into the disciples. It was through resurrection and in resurrection that His life entered into the disciples. Now since they had His life, they became the Lord’s brothers. According to Hebrews 2:12, these brothers are the church. There it says, “I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the midst of the church I will sing hymns of praise to You.” What is the church? The church is the composition of the Lord’s many brothers. Individually, we are the Lord’s brothers; corporately, we are the church. The church is the composition of the firstborn Son and the many sons of God. Hallelujah!
But how can we become the Lord’s brothers? We must see that we are not the Lord’s foster brothers; we are the Lord’s own brothers. We are His own brothers because we have His life and His nature. We are just like Him. Just as He has the life of God, we also have the life of God. Just as He has the nature of God, we also have the nature of God. He is the firstborn Son of God, and we are the many sons of God. Therefore, we are His many brothers. In aggregate we, the many brothers, are the church.
One cannot become a constituent of the church merely by being baptized and “joining the church” yet without receiving the Lord into him. In my youth every Sunday morning I went to a chapel for Sunday worship. At a certain point in time the pastor and elders considered me quite good and therefore baptized me one Sunday morning. In this way I became a member of their “church.” However, the fact is that I did not pray or confess my sins, nor did I read the Bible. Would you consider that to be the church? No. Today you and I have to be clear that the church is a composition of the Lord’s brothers. The Lord Jesus is God’s firstborn Son, and we are God’s many sons. Every one of us, the sons, has the life and nature of God the Father, and when we are put together, we are the church. The church is realized when we experience the Lord in such a subjective way.
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