The Bible clearly reveals that God’s purpose is to work Christ into His chosen people so that they might be the members of His Body, which, in this age, is expressed in many localities. If we have a heart to mean business with the Lord, then we must have a clear vision concerning Christ and the church. When we speak of a vision concerning Christ, we do not mean Christ in a doctrinal or theological way; we mean Christ in our experience. We must see a vision of the Christ whom we can experience fully in a very subjective way. We do not need messages concerning the doctrine of Christ; we need Christ in our daily experience.
Do you know what religion is? Religion is something that is related to the things of God yet is without the experience of Christ. Anything related to God and to the worship of God that does not have the experience of Christ is religion. In a sense, religion is quite good. It is not related to Satan, to sin, and to the world, but is related to God and even to the worship of God. There is nothing wrong with Judaism. However, Judaism has a great lack—the lack of the experience of Christ. Today’s Christianity must also be categorized as a religion because it is related to God and to the worship of God yet in it there is very little experience of Christ. If you still cling to things that are good, scriptural, and related to God but that do not have in them the proper experience of Christ, then these things are a religion. God does not want religion. What God desires is Christ and something in Christ. Are not the orthodox Jews worshipping the true God? Certainly they are, for they worship God according to their Scriptures. Nevertheless, God rejects their worship because Christ is not in it. Only the Christ experienced by us in our worship and service will make our worship and service acceptable to God. In Christianity today there is a great deal of work and service, but there is very little Christ. As a result, the work and service in Christianity are not so acceptable to God. In His eyes, it is not of much value. Whatever we are, whatever we do, and whatever work we engage in must be with Christ. Without Christ, they mean nothing. If we do not have Christ in our life, our life is empty. If we do not have Christ in our service and worship, they are valueless to God. We must have Christ, not in doctrine or teaching, but in our experience. If we have Christ in our experience, then whatever we are and do will be valuable in the eyes of God.
God’s purpose is to work Christ into His chosen people so that they might become the members of Christ. Being a member of Christ requires life. Every member of my body certainly shares the life of my body. Any part of my body that does not share the life of my body is not a member of my body. To say that we are the members of Christ means that we have the life of Christ and that Christ is in us. The very Christ who is in us makes us His members. If we lack Christ, we may be members of a society or of Christianity, but we cannot be members of the living Body of Christ. Every member of the living Body of Christ has Christ in him. The Christ in us is not the Christ on the cross or the Christ in the heavens, but the subjective Christ.
According to God’s governing principles and laws, everything in this universe has an issue. If we experience Christ in a subjective way, the issue will be the church life. No chapter of the New Testament is stronger than Ephesians 3 in speaking of the Christ in our experience. In verse 8 Paul says, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Paul does not say that he received grace in order to preach the doctrine of Christ, the theology of Christ, or the teaching of Christ. Rather, he received grace in order to preach the riches of Christ. Without experience, we cannot taste of or participate in the riches of Christ. We can only share in these riches by our experience. The riches of Christ need our experience.
In verse 17 Paul says that the Christ who is unsearchably rich is making His home in our hearts. Is this not a matter of experience? The Christ of the unsearchable riches is making His home in our hearts. What is the issue of this? It is the church, which, at least twice in this chapter, is mentioned after Christ. Verse 10 says, “To the intent that now to the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” This indicates that the riches of Christ produce the church. The experience of the riches of Christ issues in the proper church life. Furthermore, after speaking of Christ’s making His home in our hearts (v. 17), Paul says that we shall be filled with all the fullness of God and that unto Him will be glory in the church (vv. 19, 21).
The church is the issue of the experience of Christ and comes out of the experience of Christ. Even our limited experience of Christ verifies this. When we have a little experience of Christ, not in doctrine but in reality, we desire fellowship with other Christians. This fellowship is simply the practical church life. I have never met a Christian who has experienced Christ and yet who does not seek fellowship with other Christians. But I have met hundreds and even thousands of believers who, after having had some experience of Christ, are eager to be with other saints. If I meet Christ in the morning, this experience will send me to the church meeting in the evening. Many Christians today do not care for the church life because they do not have the real, genuine, and practical experience of Christ. I was born, raised, and educated in Christianity. Everything I was taught came from Christianity. But before I was saved and had the real experience of Christ, I had no desire to talk to the other so-called church members. However, from the day I was saved and Christ came into me, I enjoyed having fellowship with others about the Lord and the Word. I liked talking with them and praying with them. This was the desire for the church life. The more we experience Christ, the greater will be our desire for the church life.