The second item of the elements of the Body of Christ is the tripartite man regenerated by God as the human element (1 Cor. 1:2a). Each one of us who was saved and belongs to the Body of Christ possesses these two elements or constituents, that is, the divine constituent and the human constituent. Moreover, we human beings regenerated by God have three parts: the spirit, the soul, and the body. First, God comes into our spirit to regenerate it (John 3:5-6; Titus 3:5); then, He spreads into our soul that it may be renewed and transformed (Rom. 12:2a; Eph. 4:23; 2 Cor. 3:18); and finally, He saturates our body that it may be transfigured and glorified (Phil 3:21; Rom. 8:30). Thus, our tripartite being and the Triune God are fully mingled as one (Eph. 4:4-6). The processed Triune God is the divine constituent, and the tripartite being who has been possessed by God is the human constituent. When these two constituents are mingled, they become the constituents of the Body of Christ.
The mingling of the divine element of the Triune God and the human element of the tripartite man can be likened to the blending of lemon and honey with water to make lemonade. The issue of the Triune God entering into and mingling with us, the tripartite man, is that we become one with the Triune God (John 17:21a, 23a) and are one spirit with the Triune God (1 Cor. 6:17) as a hybrid entity of divinity and humanity blended together. Every saved person is a hybrid of divinity and humanity mingled together. The dual nature of this hybrid is the divine with the human. Though we are human beings, we have God within us. Since God and man have become one entity, we are the God-men. This hybrid entity of God mingled with man is just the Triune God, who possesses divinity with humanity, mingled with the tripartite man, who possesses humanity with divinity (Rom. 8:6, 10-11). Because our God passed through incarnation, He possesses divinity with humanity; and because God entered into us at the time of our salvation and regeneration, we possess humanity with divinity. Whether it is divinity with humanity or humanity with divinity, both include the dual nature of God and man and thus result in a hybrid of divinity and humanity.
Further, the hybrid issuing from the mingling of divinity with humanity is a matter of divinity being begotten in humanity, living in humanity, and being expressed in humanity; it is also a matter of humanity being begotten by divinity, living by divinity, and expressing divinity (1 Tim. 3:15b-16). Divinity being begotten in humanity, living in humanity, and being expressed in humanity refers to the Lord Jesus as God incarnate. Humanity being begotten by divinity, living by divinity, and expressing divinity points to the Body of Christ, which is constituted by persons who have been regenerated by God. This hybrid of the mingling of God and man eventually becomes an organism in which God is life to man and man has God as life (John 15:1, 5). This is the church, the Body of Christ.
Let us now continue with the second major point, the essence of the Body of Christ. The Spirit as the essence of the Triune God has become the essence of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4). Hence, the essence of the Body of Christ is the Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed Triune God (John 7:39; Rev. 22:17a). The Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Spirit-are all in this all-inclusive and consummated Spirit. Further, the Spirit, through regeneration, has brought the processed Triune God into the Body of Christ, that is, into us the regenerated persons (John 3:5-6, 29; Eph. 4:5-6). Besides this, the Spirit as the processed and consummated God, containing divinity and humanity, the all-inclusive death of Christ, and His surpassing resurrection, became not only the element of the Body of Christ but also its essence (cf. Exo. 30:23-25). Both the element and essence of the Body of Christ are this all-inclusive Spirit, who is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. The Spirit, who is in the Body of Christ, is the Body’s element on the one hand and its essence on the other hand. This may be likened to the addition of the constituent and element of lemon to water by adding lemon juice into water. Such a particular constituent and element contain an essence, which may be called lemon extract. This essence of lemon extract comes from the constituent and element of the lemon.
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