Beginning with this message, I hope that the Lord will grant us grace that we can see the Body of Christ. This is something that has never been talked about in human history or human culture outside of the Bible. We need to see the vision of the Body of Christ. A vision is a view, but it is not common. Rather it is extraordinary, unusual, something that man does not ordinarily see, nor is able to see. Every one of us who is saved, especially every one who loves the Lord, follows the Lord, and learns to live to Him and serve Him, needs to see such a vision.
Such a vision does not exist among the Gentiles. Neither is there such a vision found in the Gentile books, even in the so-called classical writings. Confucius’ philosophy was very proper. Besides the Bible, it is the most respectable philosophy among all the philosophies, without much mixture or fables or unclean things. Although he did not say much about God, Confucius nevertheless had some words expressing his viewpoint concerning God. He definitely believed that there is a Supreme Being in the universe. However, he had not received any revelation to see Christ, nor had he received any vision to see that Christ has a Body in the universe. Such a wise and pure one as Confucius did not even speak concerning this matter; even the more, there is no need to mention other classical writings.
When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, although He mentioned the church in Matthew chapter sixteen, He did not speak concerning His Body because He knew that the time was not ripe yet. When the Apostle Paul was raised up by the Lord, he began to receive revelation to see the vision of the Body of Christ, and he released some unique messages based on this vision. Not only was he different from the prophets in the Old Testament, but he was also different from the other apostles in the New Testament. The focal point of the uniqueness of the messages he released was the one Body of Christ. There were more than forty writers of the sixty-six books of the Bible, but only this writer Paul spoke concerning the Body of Christ. This expression was created uniquely by Paul. His usage of the expression “the Body of Christ” was very deep, emphatic, and profound.
Some Bible teachers consider the Body of Christ spoken of by Paul as an illustration or a figure of speech. But according to the important verses in the New Testament concerning the Body of Christ as cited in this message, we can see clearly that the Body of Christ is not a figure of speech, but a reality. In the universe, there is definitely a Body—not your body or my body—but the Body of Christ. This is a fact. Hence, 1 Corinthians 11:29 says, “Not discerning the body.” The Bible translators in early days did not understand the meaning. Therefore the Chinese Union Version added the word “the Lord’s” to make the translation read, “Not discerning the Lord’s body.” Actually, it should be translated as, “Not discerning the body.” What Paul meant to tell us here is that there is something unique in the universe that we need to discern, that is, the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is a unique thing; it is not a figure of speech, but a reality, an existing fact.
I once pointed out that the Bible mentions four great persons. First, the Old Testament mentions God. God is the unique and foremost great Person in the Bible. All the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament talk about God. Second, in the New Testament the four Gospels begin to speak of Christ. Third, the book of Acts and the Epistles talk about another great person, the church. The church is the Body of Christ, and Christ is the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23). He is so great that even if you add together the different words used at all times and all places for describing greatness, such as grandeur and magnificence, they are still not adequate for describing Christ. The greatness of Christ is unspeakable. Therefore, in the prayer in Ephesians chapter three, Paul prayed that God would enable us to apprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the universe (v. 18). The height of the universe is unlimited, and its breadth and length and depth are also unlimited. The measurements of this unlimitedness are Christ. Christ is the One who fills all in all, yet the church is His Body.
Therefore, in the universe, there is such a One whom no modifiers can describe. First, He is God, then He is Christ, and then He is the Body of Christ. The embodiment of God is Christ. Outside of Christ you cannot find God. God has embodied Himself in Christ, and Christ also became the church. The church is the embodiment of Christ. Hence, in his Epistles in the New Testament Paul says, “The mystery of God, Christ” (Col. 2:2). Paul also says that the mystery of Christ is the church (Eph. 3:4, 6). Finally, at the end of the New Testament, there is the fourth great person, the bride, which is also the New Jerusalem.
Today, we are neither in the Old Testament, nor in the Gospels. And we are not yet in Revelation. We are in the Epistles. The first stage, which occupies the entire Old Testament, is God. The second stage, which occupies the four Gospels, is Christ. The last stage, which occupies the last book, Revelation, is the bride, the New Jerusalem. Today we are in the third stage, the stage of the Body of Christ. This occupies the twenty-two books from Acts to Jude.