We have been saved
by grace
through faith
to be God’s masterpiece,
through which God’s multifarious wisdom
is made known to
the rulers and the authorities
in the heavenlies:
The Greek word for masterpiece
is poiema,
which means
“something that has been made,”
“a handiwork,”
or “something
that has been written or composed
as a poem.”
Not only a poetic writing
may be considered a poem,
but also any work of art
that expresses
the maker’s wisdom and design;
we, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work,
are a poem
expressing God’s infinite wisdom
and divine design.
We, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work,
are an absolutely new item in the universe,
a new invention of God;
we were created by God
in Christ
through regeneration
to be His new creation:
God’s masterpiece
is absolutely new
because it is
the mingling of God and man;
His masterpiece, His greatest workmanship,
is the working of Himself
into man
and the constituting of man
into oneness with Him
to produce the church.
The church
is God’s poem
that speaks forth His wisdom;
according to Ephesians 3:10,
God’s multifarious wisdom
will be made known
through the church.
Hymns express
the wisdom of the hymn writers;
in the ages to come,
in the millennium and in eternity,
there will be
a unique hymn, the church,
which will express
the wisdom and design of God.
When we see the New Jerusalem,
we may extol God
for the beauty, wisdom, and design
manifested in this marvelous production;
the New Jerusalem
will be God’s poem, His masterpiece.
“Of Him
you are in Christ Jesus,
who became wisdom to us
from God:
both righteousness
and sanctification
and redemption”
(1 Cor. 1:30):
Christ was made wisdom to us from God
as three vital things
in God’s salvation:
righteousness (for our past),
by which we
have been justified by God
that we might be reborn in our spirit
to receive the divine life;
sanctification (for our present),
by which we
are being sanctified in our soul,
that is, transformed
in our mind, emotion, and will,
with the divine life;
and redemption (for our future),
that is, the redemption of our body,
by which we
will be transfigured in our body
with His divine life
to have His glorious likeness.
Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
are not only related to
our past, present, and future;
daily
we need Christ
as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption:
When we believed into Christ,
God put us into Him;
then
Christ “became” wisdom to us;
the expression to us from God
indicates something
present, practical, and experiential
in the way of transmission;
Christ should continually flow
from God to us
and be
our present and practical wisdom
in our experience.
Wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1:30
is equal to the way in John 14:6;
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
are the materials
used in the construction of the freeway
in our Christian life:
When we exercise our spirit
and call on the name of the Lord,
we become righteousness.
Day by day
and hour by hour,
we should not live in the soul, in the self,
but live in the spirit,
exercising the spirit
to call on the name of the Lord Jesus;
in this way
we not only become righteousness
but are also sanctified,
separated from what is common
and from being common ourselves.
Redemption includes
three matters:
termination,
replacement,
and being brought back to God;
when God redeems us,
He terminates us,
replaces us with Christ,
and brings us back to Himself;
this is
the actual process of transformation
in which our old element, our old constitution,
is terminated
and replaced with
a new element, a new constitution
—Christ Himself in resurrection.
The rainbow around God’s throne
also signifies
that Christ became wisdom
to us from God:
both righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
The three primary colors of the rainbow
are blue (the color of the sapphire throne,
which signifies God’s righteousness),
red (the color of the sanctifying fire,
which signifies God’s holiness),
and yellow (the color of the glowing electrum,
which signifies God’s glory):
God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory
are three divine attributes
that keep sinners away from God:
The sword for killing
indicates God’s righteousness,
the flame
signifies God’s holiness,
and the cherubim
signify God’s glory.
These attributes of God
placed requirements
on sinful man;
since sinful man
was unable to meet these requirements,
he was not permitted
to contact God
as the tree of life,
until Christ fulfilled the requirements
of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory
by His all-inclusive death on the cross
to open a new and living way
for us
to enter into the Holy of Holies
and partake of Christ
as the tree of life.
Christ died on the cross
to satisfy the requirements
of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory
and was resurrected
to be
our righteousness,
holiness (sanctification),
and glory (redemption).
Christ Himself,
signified by the rainbow
of righteousness, holiness, and glory,
is the covenant of God
given to His people.
Christ is wisdom
to us from God,
transmitting Himself into us
as righteousness
(that we might be reborn
in our spirit),
sanctification
(that we might be transformed
in our soul),
and redemption
(that we might be transfigured
in our body).
In eternity
as the New Jerusalem
(a city whose foundations
have the appearance of a rainbow),
we will be a rainbow
to testify of God’s faithfulness
to carry out His new covenant
in making us
exactly the same as He is
as righteousness, holiness, and glory;
this will display Christ
as God’s multifarious wisdom
through us
to the whole universe.
The spiritual reality of this rainbow
should be manifest
in the church
today
—we need to allow God
to fill us with
His presence of righteousness
by giving Him
the full opportunity
to work in us
as the fire of holiness
for His splendor of glory
through us.
The rainbow
is a sign of God’s faithfulness
in keeping His covenant
that there will be
no more judgment of death;
we must live
under the new covenant
and not believe in
any failure, weakness, darkness,
or negative thing;
we are the covenanted people,
and we have a verse of promise
to meet every situation.
Christ being made wisdom to us from God
as righteousness and sanctification and redemption
and manifesting Himself
as the multifarious wisdom of God
through us
in His complete salvation
is also seen in Ephesians 5:25-27:
Ephesians 5:25 says
that Christ loved the church
and gave Himself up for her
—this is Christ
as our Redeemer
accomplishing God’s judicial redemption
to satisfy
the requirements of God’s righteousness
so that we
might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
Ephesians 5:26 says
that He might sanctify her,
cleansing her
by the washing of the water in the word
—this is Christ
as the life-giving Spirit
carrying out God’s organic salvation in us
to make us holy
by His organic sanctification.
Ephesians 5:27 says
that He
might present the church to Himself glorious
—this is Christ
as our Bridegroom
presenting us to Himself
as His glorious church
through the redemption of our body in His life
-dispensing glorification.
Through the church
God’s multifarious wisdom
is made known
to the rulers and the authorities,
and the enemy
is subdued:
God’s creation of man
was first for man
to be in His image
to express Him
and second
to have His authority
to deal with His enemy
to represent Him;
the church was predestinated
for the sonship of God
and also was destined
to subdue the enemy
by making God’s multifarious wisdom
known through the church.
If there were not
such an evil one in the universe,
God’s wisdom
would not need to be manifested;
it is through all the troubles
rendered by Satan
that God has the opportunity
to show forth His wisdom.
Every damage from Satan
is a good opportunity
for God to display His wisdom;
the more troubles there are,
the more opportunities there are
to display the Lord’s wisdom.
The Lord Jesus
told the opposing Jewish religionists,
“Destroy this temple,
and in three days
I will raise it up” (John 2:19);
their destroying
simply gave the Lord the opportunity
to build up something
greater than what was destroyed.
The built-up church
is the goal of God
and the target of the enemy.
The Bible clearly and thoroughly reveals
that what God
has been doing in past generations,
still is doing now,
and will be doing in the future
is to fully accomplish His sonship in us
and to subdue the enemy, to cast out the serpent;
this will be done
through the church and by the church.
As regards the sonship,
we are in a process,
and as regards the subduing of the enemy,
we are in a battle.
In the eyes of the Lord
and in our experience of living the church life,
Satan has already been defeated.
There is
no need
for us to be sorrowful;
we should always be happy
and praising the Lord
because even a defeat
is a preparation
for a further victory;
ultimately,
the Bible, especially the book of Revelation,
is a book of victory,
not a book of defeat.
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Prophecy note, 4 January 2015
Now,
as believers,
we are in Christ,
and He has become
our righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Because we are in Christ,
in the sight of God
we look like righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Even the New Jerusalem
has the appearance of a rainbow.
This rainbow signifies
that the city
is built upon and secured by
God’s faithfulness
in keeping His covenant.
This rainbow
will declare for eternity
that when God judged sinners
according to His righteousness,
He did not destroy everyone
but saved many from destruction
as a testimony of His faithfulness.
In eternity
we, the aggregate of the saved ones,
will be a rainbow
testifying forever
that our God
is righteous and faithful.
Although this rainbow
will be manifested in eternity,
the spiritual reality of this bright rainbow
should be manifest in the church today.
In the church life
we need to allow God
to work in us
and we need to receive grace
to the extent
that everything becomes
pure, just, and holy.
This means
that God’s holy fire
must burn away everything
that does not match God
so that God’s nature
is manifested as bright gold
in and through the humanity
of the brothers and sisters.
Then
the church will be filled with
God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory.
These three characteristics
will combine and reflect one another
to form a bright rainbow
expressing God
and testifying for Him.
Day 6
In Ephesians 1
there is the positive side,
the positive aspect of the church,
while in chapter 3
there is the negative side
related to the enemy.
Through the church
God’s multifarious wisdom
is made known to
the rulers and authorities,
and the enemy is subdued.
If there were not
such an evil one in the universe,
God’s wisdom
would not need to be manifested.
It is through all the troubles
rendered by Satan
that God has the opportunity
to show forth His wisdom.
This whole universe
has been damaged,
but God is willing for it
to be damaged,
because He has His purpose.
Every damage from Satan
is a good opportunity
to display God’s wisdom.
We should never be afraid of
troubles or damage in the church.
Whenever there is
a troubling to the church,
we must go to God and say,
“God, we praise and thank You.
Here is a good chance
for You to show forth something.”
Eventually,
we will see
that a glorious church
will come out.
Praise the Lord,
the more troubles there are,
the more opportunities there are
to display the Lord’s wisdom.
God’s wisdom is made manifest
through, by, in, and with all the problems.
The Lord Jesus told the Jews,
“Destroy this temple,
and in three days
I will raise it up” (John 2:19).
Their destroying
simply gave the Lord the opportunity
to build up something
greater than what was destroyed.
God’s creation of man
was first for man to be in His image
and second to have His authority
to deal with His enemy.
The church was predestinated
for the sonship of God
and also was destined
to subdue the enemy.
In subduing the enemy,
the church
will make the wisdom of God manifest
to all God’s enemies.
The Bible clearly and thoroughly reveals
that what God
has been doing in the past generations,
still is doing now,
and will be doing in the future
is to fully accomplish His sonship in us
and to subdue the enemy, to cast out the serpent.
This will be done
through the church and by the church.
At present,
as regards the sonship,
we are under a process,
and as regards the subduing of the enemy,
we are in a battle.
We are not only in a process
but also in a battle,
fighting all the time.
Sometimes we win,
and sometimes we lose.
However,
do not be discouraged.
Sometimes a defeat is
for the purpose of a future victory.
Eventually we will not be defeated.
We will be victorious.
Victory will be ours,
not the enemy’s.
There is
no need
for us to be sorrowful.
We should always be happy
and praising the Lord.
Even a defeat
is a preparation
for a further victory.
Let the enemy try to defeat us;
eventually
he will be defeated.
What kind of Bible
do you have?
You need to say,
“I have a Bible
of victory.”
This is
a book of victory,
not a book of defeat.
In the eyes of the Lord,
Satan has been defeated already.
This is
a matter of fact;
it is
a settled matter.
If we have
this foresight and insight,
then
day by day
we will sing Hallelujah.
With the church
there is
no difference
between a defeat and a victory.
Even a defeat
is for a victory.
We must tell Satan,
“Satan, even your victory
is a preparation for our victory.
We can never be defeated.
Eventually
you will be the one
who is defeated.
I do not care
how much you attack
and how much you damage.
The Lord Jesus said in John 2:19,
‘Destroy this temple,
and in three days
I will raise it up.’
The more you destroy,
the more the Lord will build up.
Your destroying
is just a preparation
for His building up.”
We need the vision of
how much the Lord will use the church
to defeat His enemy
and to subdue and recover the whole earth.
One day
this will be accomplished.
Day 5
Through the work of the Spirit of life,
a change is taking place
in our very nature.
It is a metabolic change,
a change that sanctifies and transforms us.
Thus,
Christ is
not only our righteousness
but also our sanctification.
Furthermore,
we are daily being redeemed,
and eventually
we shall be glorified.
Christ is
our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
not only in an objective way,
but in a very subjective way,
in the way of
mingling and changing us metabolically.
All this
is a testimony
to God’s multifarious wisdom.
Many aspects of God’s wisdom
are manifested in His making Christ
our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Our experience of Christ in these matters
is according to God’s manifold wisdom.
Ephesians 5:25-27 presents Christ to us
in three stages.
Verse 25 says
that Christ loved the church
and gave Himself up for her.
Here
we see Christ
in the stage of the flesh.
Verse 26 speaks of Christ
sanctifying the church,
cleansing her
by the washing of the water in the Word.
In this verse
we have Christ
in the stage of the life-giving Spirit.
Finally,
a third stage of Christ
is revealed in verse 27,
which speaks of Christ
presenting the church to Himself
in His coming back.
Hence,
in this stage
Christ will be the Bridegroom
receiving His bride.
The first of these three stages
was in the past,
the second
is in the present,
and the third
will be in the future.
In the first stage
Christ was the Redeemer;
in the second,
He is the life-giving Spirit;
and in the third,
He will be the Bridegroom.
If Christ had not put on human nature,
it would be impossible
for us to receive Him into us.
The very Christ
we take as our person
is the God-man.
It is impossible
for us to take in God directly.
Only after God has become the God-man
can we take Him into our being
to be our life and our person.
Christ gave Himself up for the church
so that “He might sanctify her,
cleansing her
by the washing of the water in the word”.
After the Lord Jesus
gave Himself for us in the flesh,
He was resurrected
and in resurrection
became the life-giving Spirit.
As the life-giving Spirit,
He is the speaking Spirit.
Whatever He speaks
is the word that washes us.
The Greek word rendered word in Ephesians 5:26
is rhema,
which denotes
the instant word,
the word
the Lord presently speaks to us.
As the life-giving Spirit,
the Lord is not silent;
He is constantly speaking.
If you take Him
as your person,
you will discover
how much He desires to speak within you.
Idols are dumb,
but the indwelling Christ
is always speaking.
If there is no speaking, no rhema,
then in our practical experience
the Spirit is absent,
for the Lord’s speaking
actually is the Spirit.
As long as we have the Lord’s present word,
we have the Spirit, the life-giving Spirit.
This Spirit is the water
that washes us.
The more the Spirit speaks,
the more we are washed, cleansed.
This cleansing is a metabolic cleansing
that removes what is old
and replaces it with what is new.
It is by the inward, metabolic cleansing
that we have transformation.
Because such an inward transformation
is taking place within us,
there is no need
for outward correction
in the church life.
Through the Lord’s speaking within us
as the life-giving Spirit,
we are becoming
a glorious church,
a church holy and without blemish.
Today
we are waiting for the Lord’s coming back,
knowing that when He comes,
He will present us to Himself
a glorious church,
holy and without blemish.
At that time,
we shall experience Christ
in the third stage
as the Bridegroom
coming for His bride.
Day 4
In order to understand
the significance of the rainbow
in Ezekiel 1:28,
we need to remember
the rainbow at the time of Noah.
A flood had destroyed the whole earth,
and only eight people
were spared from that judgment.
After that,
when people saw storm clouds in the sky,
they might have been afraid of
being destroyed.
Therefore,
God made a covenant
in which He promised
never again to destroy all living things
by a flood,
and He set the rainbow in the cloud
as a sign of this covenant
[Gen. 9:13-16].
In the rainbow
there are
several different colors,
but the basic colors
are only three
—red, yellow, and blue.
When these colors
are shining and blending,
they produce other colors,
such as orange, green, and violet.
It is very significant
that the three primary colors of the rainbow
are red, yellow, and blue
because they correspond to
what we have already seen in Ezekiel.
The throne
looks like a blue sapphire stone,
the electrum is yellow,
the fire is red.
By their shining and refracting,
these three colors
combine to make a rainbow.
Now
we need to see
the spiritual significance
of these three colors.
Blue signifies
the throne.
According to Psalm 89:14
the foundation of God’s throne
is righteousness.
This indicates
that the blue throne
signifies the righteousness of God.
Fire signifies
the sanctifying, separating, and consuming fire.
This means
that red here
refers to God’s holiness.
Yellow signifies
God’s glory
in the glowing electrum.
Therefore,
here we have
God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory
signified by the colors
blue, red, and yellow.
God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory
are three divine attributes
that keep sinners away from God.
But the Lord Jesus came,
died on the cross
to satisfy the requirements
of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory,
and was resurrected,
and He is now
our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
He is also now
our glory.
In ourselves
we are short of God’s glory,
we are under God’s righteous judgment,
and we are kept away
by God’s holiness.
But now,
as believers,
we are in Christ,
and He has become
our righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Because we are in Christ,
in the sight of God
we look like righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Even the New Jerusalem
has the appearance of a rainbow.
The foundation stones of the New Jerusalem
are of twelve layers,
with each layer
being a different color.
The twelve layers
of the foundation stones
have the appearance
of a rainbow in color.
This rainbow signifies
that the city
is built upon and secured by
God’s faithfulness
in keeping His covenant.
This rainbow
will declare for eternity
that when God judged sinners
according to His righteousness,
He did not destroy everyone
but saved many from destruction
as a testimony of His faithfulness.
In eternity
we, the aggregate of the saved ones,
will be a rainbow
testifying forever
that our God
is righteous and faithful.
Although this rainbow
will be manifested in eternity,
the spiritual reality of this bright rainbow
should be manifest in the church today.
In the church life
we need to allow God
to work in us
and we need to receive grace
to the extent
that everything becomes
pure, just, and holy.
This means
that God’s holy fire
must burn away everything
that does not match God
so that God’s nature
is manifested as bright gold
in and through the humanity
of the brothers and sisters.
Then
the church will be filled with
God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory.
These three characteristics
will combine and reflect one another
to form a bright rainbow
expressing God
and testifying for Him.
The appearance of the man on the throne
has two aspects:
from His loins upward
He has the appearance of electrum,
and from His loins downward,
the appearance of fire.
The upper part of a man, from his loins to his head,
is the part of feeling, of sensation,
signifying his nature and disposition.
According to His nature and disposition
the Lord Jesus on the throne
has the appearance of electrum,
signifying the redeeming God.
The lower part of a man’s body
is for moving.
The appearance of fire from the loins downward
signifies the Lord’s appearance in His move
with God’s burning and sanctifying power.
When the Lord comes to us,
He comes as fire
to enlighten, search, and burn.
Then
through the fire
He becomes electrum to us.
After all the negative things
have been burned out of us
by the Lord as the consuming fire,
the electrum, the redeeming God,
will remain in us.
Day 3
The expression “to us from God”
in 1 Corinthians 1:30
indicates something
present, practical, and experiential
in the way of transmission.
The words “to” and “from”
indicate
that a present, living,
and practical transmission
is taking place
from God to us.
Paul composed verse 30
in the way he did
to indicate to the believers in Corinth
that Christ
should continually become wisdom
to them from God.
Christ as wisdom
should unceasingly flow
from God to them.
Paul does not say,
“Christ is God’s wisdom,”
or “Christ is your wisdom.”
He says,
“Christ became wisdom
to us from God.”
This indicates
that Christ should continually flow
from God to us
and be
our present and practical wisdom
in our experience.
In 1 Corinthians 1:24 and 30
the wisdom of God
denotes the divine way.
If we have wisdom,
we shall know the proper way
to do things.
In order to have the best way,
we must have wisdom.
Wisdom in these verses
is equal to the way in John 14:6.
Apart from Christ as the way,
we do not have access to the Father.
If we would enjoy Him
and participate in Him,
we must have a way,
and this way is God’s wisdom.
As wisdom to us from God
as God’s way,
Christ is
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Actually,
these are
three steps of the way.
Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
are the materials
used in the construction of the freeway
in our Christian life.
Have you ever realized
that wisdom is our way, our freeway,
and that righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
are the materials
used in making this freeway?
Whenever we enjoy Christ and experience Him,
we first have God as our righteousness.
This means
that when we exercise our spirit
and call on the name of the Lord Jesus,
we become righteous.
We are also sanctified.
The more we exercise the spirit
to call on the name of the Lord Jesus,
the more we are separated
from what is common
and from being common ourselves.
Day by day
and hour by hour,
we should not live
in the soul, in the self,
but live in the spirit,
exercising the spirit
to call on the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then
Christ will become
our enjoyment, nourishment, support, and supply
in a very practical way.
The result is
that we become righteous.
Instead of condemning others
and blaming them,
we know
only to condemn ourselves
and blame ourselves.
We see
that we are wrong with others
in many ways.
Hence,
we become righteous and fair.
We are no longer common;
instead
we are separated,
sanctified,
and even special.
This is
sanctification.
First,
to be redeemed
is to be brought back to God;
second,
it is
to be terminated
by the Lord.
Redemption includes termination.
The Christ
who dwells in us,
who supplies us,
and who becomes our nourishment
also terminates us.
The more we call on the Lord’s name,
the more we shall gradually come to realize
how much we are still in the old creation.
We shall hate ourselves
and confess that we
need to be terminated.
Redemption also includes
being replaced by Christ.
When Christ terminates us,
He replaces us with Himself.
This is transformation;
it is also transfiguration.
This is more than sanctification,
which separates us
and makes us different from others.
This is
the actual process of transformation
in which our old element, our old constitution,
is terminated and replaced with
a new element, a new constitution
—Christ Himself in resurrection.
When we are replaced,
we are transformed
and reconstituted of Christ.
When we experience Christ
as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
we truly have Him
as wisdom
to us from God.
Day 2
Christ was made wisdom to us from God
as three vital things
in God’s salvation:
righteousness (for our past),
by which we have been justified by God,
that we
might be reborn in our spirit
to receive the divine life;
sanctification (for the present),
by which we
are being sanctified in our soul,
that is, transformed
in our mind, emotion, and will,
with the divine life;
and redemption (for the future),
that is, the redemption of our body,
by which we
will be transfigured in our body
with His divine life
to have His glorious likeness.
It is of God
that we participate in
such a complete and perfect salvation,
making our entire being
—spirit, soul, and body—
organically one with Christ
and making Christ
everything to us.
It is
altogether of God,
not of ourselves,
that we may boast and glory in Him,
not in ourselves.
After we believe in the Lord Jesus
and are justified,
we need to live
a holy life, a sanctified life.
The subjective experience of sanctification
implies transformation, a process
which takes place in our soul.
The redemption of our body
will occur in the future.
Thus,
we were regenerated in our spirit
when we believed in the Lord,
we are in the process
of being transformed, sanctified, in our soul,
and, in the future,
our body will be redeemed, transfigured.
Although this understanding is correct,
we must point out
that this is
an interpretation of 1 Corinthians 1:30.
Because it is an interpretation,
we should not allow Paul’s meaning here
to be limited by it.
Yes,
for a sinner to be fully saved,
he must pass through three steps:
regeneration in the spirit,
sanctification in the soul,
and transfiguration, redemption, in the body.
When this process is complete,
we shall be the same
as the Lord Jesus.
According to 1 John 3:2,
we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him
as He is.
Today
we are not like the Lord in our body.
But when our body
is transfigured, fully redeemed,
we shall be wholly like Him.
Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
are not only related to
our past, present, and future.
Every day
we need to be righteous,
we need to be sanctified,
and we need to be redeemed,
not only in one matter
but in all matters.
For example,
in dealing with their children,
some parents
may still behave in an old way.
Thus,
these parents
need to be righteous, holy, and redeemed
in relation to their children.
Redemption includes three matters:
termination,
replacement,
and being brought back to God.
When God redeems us,
He terminates us,
replaces us with Christ,
and brings us back to Himself.
With regard to everything
in our daily life,
we need to be terminated,
replaced with Christ,
and brought back to God.
The way we deal with our children,
if it is still the old way,
needs to be terminated,
replaced with Christ,
and brought back to God.
Then
we shall be redeemed
as far as the matter of dealing with our children
is concerned.
In the church life
we also need redemption
because in many matters
we are still very natural.
Some may dislike
a certain brother
or a certain sister.
Others may lack
a proper care
for the young people
or for the older ones.
Still others may have
a preference for a particular elder.
All these are related to
the natural life
and point to
the need for redemption.
Thus,
in the church life
we need to be terminated,
replaced with Christ,
and brought back to God.
In all things
we need to be righteous,
sanctified,
and redeemed.
When Christ becomes wisdom to us from God,
eventually in everything
He will be
our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
How deep and profound
is Paul’s thought here!
Day 1
We have been saved
by grace
through faith
to be God’s masterpiece.
The Greek word for masterpiece, poiema,
means
something which has been made,
a handiwork,
or something which has been written or composed
as a poem.
Poetry does not consist
only of poetic writing;
any work of art
that expresses the maker’s wisdom and design
may be considered a poem.
We, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work,
are the highest poetry,
expressing God’s infinite wisdom
and divine design.
God has made many things,
but none of them
is as dear, precious, valuable, and desirable
as the church.
The church
is God’s masterpiece.
Writers, composers, and artists
often attempt to achieve
a masterpiece, an outstanding work.
God created the heavens and the earth,
but neither the heavens nor the earth
is God’s masterpiece.
Likewise,
God created man,
but not even man is God’s masterpiece.
Only one item of God’s work in this universe
is His masterpiece,
and this masterpiece
is the church.
As God’s masterpiece,
the church is
the Body of Christ,
the fullness of the One
who fills all in all.
What could be
a greater work than this?
Furthermore,
the church as God’s masterpiece
is the corporate and universal new man.
Because we see things
from the side of
the messed-up “kitchen” of the church life,
we may not realize
that the church
is such a masterpiece.
But eventually
we shall see
that we are
both the Body and the new man,
God’s masterwork.
As the masterpiece of God’s work,
we, the church,
are an absolutely new item
in the universe,
something newly originated by God.
We have been created by God
in Christ
through regeneration
to be His new creation.
God’s masterpiece
is absolutely new
because it is
the mingling of God and man.
We may also say
that the church is
a hybrid,
the blending together
of two lives.
Our opposers
accuse us of teaching
that the church is God.
However,
we do not say this.
But we do say
that the church is
the mingling of God and man.
God’s masterpiece, His greatest workmanship,
is the working of Himself
into man
and the constituting of man
into oneness with Himself
to produce the church.
This masterpiece
is a poem, an artistic work
that expresses the wisdom, design, and beauty
of the maker.
The church is God’s poem
that speaks forth His wisdom.
According to Ephesians 3:10,
God’s multifarious wisdom
will be made known
through the church.
Hymns express
the wisdom of the hymn writers.
In the ages to come,
in the millennium and in eternity,
there will be
a unique hymn, the church,
which will express
the wisdom and design of God.
When we see the New Jerusalem,
we may extol God
for the beauty, wisdom, and design
manifested in this marvelous production.
The New Jerusalem
will be God’s poem, His masterpiece.
When we behold this masterpiece of God
in the midst of the new heaven and new earth,
we may say,
“This is
the best hymn
ever written in the universe!”
This was Paul’s concept
in writing Ephesians 2.
The good works
for which God created us
are not the good things
according to our general concept,
but the definite good doings
which God pre-planned
and previously ordained
for us
to walk in.
These good things
must be the doing of His will
to live the church life
and bear the testimony of Jesus,
as revealed in
the following chapters of this book.
Therefore,
we need to do God’s will,
live the church life,
and bear the testimony of Jesus.
These are
the good works
prepared beforehand by God
for us, His masterpiece,
to walk in.
Therefore,
2:4-10 reveals
that we have been saved by grace
to be God’s masterpiece
that we may walk in the good works
prepared before by God.