Each chapter
of the book of Ephesians
unveils the mystery of the Body of Christ
as the organism of the Triune God
from a particular point of view;
we must pray for
a spirit of wisdom and revelation
so that we
may see the Body of Christ
as the top revelation of the Bible.
Ephesians 1
reveals that the Body of Christ
is the issue of
the dispensing of the processed Trinity
and the transmitting of the transcending Christ:
The Father’s dispensing
in His choosing and predestinating
issues in His many sons
as His house
in sanctification.
The Son’s dispensing
in His redeeming and saving
issues in the believers
as God’s inheritance
in transformation.
The Spirit’s dispensing
in His sealing and pledging
issues in God
as the believers’ inheritance
unto their perfection.
The transcending Christ’s transmitting
in His rising and ascending
issues in His Body
as His expression
unto the believers’ consummation.
Ephesians 2
reveals that the Body of Christ
as the new man
is the masterpiece
of the Triune God:
The Body of Christ
as the one new man
is God’s masterpiece, His poem,
created in Himself
through His death and resurrection
to express
His infinite wisdom
and divine design.
On the cross
Christ created
the new man
in Himself
by abolishing in His flesh
the law of the commandments in ordinances,
all the forms or ways
of living and worship
that divide mankind.
The worldly people
regard cultural differences
as a source of prestige,
but in the Body of Christ
as the one new man,
we have lost this prestige;
now our only prestige
is Christ and the genuine oneness.
In the one new man
there is
only one person
—the all-inclusive Christ;
this one new man
has one mouth
to speak the same thing
in one accord.
Ephesians 3 reveals
that the Body of Christ
is the fullness of the Triune God
by our being supplied
with the riches of Christ
and by Christ’s making His home
in our hearts:
God has an economy
to distribute
the unsearchable riches of Christ
into our being
so that we
become His fullness, His expression.
Paul prayed
to the Father
as the source
that He
would strengthen us
through the Spirit
as the means
into the inner man
that Christ, the Son,
would move and work
to make His home
in our hearts,
issuing in our becoming the Body of Christ
as the fullness of the Triune God.
We need to pray daily
to be strengthened
into our inner man
so that the Triune God
may carry out
His unique work
to build Himself
in Christ
into our hearts
for Him
to become our intrinsic constitution
for the mutual abode
of God and man.
Ephesians 4 reveals
that the Body of Christ
is the mingling
of the processed Triune God
with the regenerated believers
and that this one Body
is built up
by the one ministry:
The one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father
are mingled together
with the believers
into one entity
to be the organic Body of Christ.
The oneness of the Body of Christ
is the oneness of the Spirit,
and the oneness of the Spirit
is the Spirit Himself,
who is
in our spirit;
in order to keep the oneness,
we must stay
in our mingled spirit.
The Body of Christ
is built up
by the one ministry,
which perfects us
to grow up
into Christ, the Head,
in all things
and to function out from Him
in order to supply the Body
for its building up in love.
Ephesians 5 reveals
that the Body of Christ
is composed of
the children of light
to be the bride of Christ
for the satisfaction of Christ:
We were
once not only dark
but darkness itself
because we were
one with Satan;
now we are
not only the children of light
but light itself
because we are
one with God
in the Lord.
The lampstand signifies
that the church
as the reproduction
of the Triune God
is a living, golden tree,
blossoming with resurrection life
as the shining light,
which is
the fruit of the light
for the full expression
of the Triune God.
As children of light,
walking in love and light,
we will be prepared
to be Christ’s glorious bride
by the life-giving Spirit’s
sanctifying us,
cleansing us
by the washing of the water
in the word.
Ephesians 6 reveals
that the Body of Christ
is the corporate warrior
of the Triune God
for the defeating
of God’s enemy:
Spiritual warfare
is not an individual matter
but a matter of the Body;
the church as the Body
is a corporate warrior,
and only the corporate warrior
can wear
the whole armor of God.
All warfare
has its source
in the conflict
between Satan’s will and God’s will;
we must have our will
subdued and transformed
by Christ
through sufferings
so that it
is submitted
to the headship of Christ
to choose God’s will
and to be rich
in the defending power
of Christ
in resurrection.
Prayer is
the unique, crucial, and vital means
by which we
apply the whole armor of God,
making every item
of the armor of God
available to us.
We fight the spiritual warfare
by being empowered
in the Lord, God the Son,
putting on the whole armor
of God, the Father,
and wielding the sword
of the Spirit;
this is
our experience and enjoyment
of the Triune God
even in spiritual warfare.
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Prophecy note, 5 February 2017
We may have enjoyed Christ
in His riches,
but we need to enjoy Him more.
…Because of God’s heart’s desire
for the church
to be constituted
with the riches of Christ,
Paul prayed for the church.
…Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16
is that we
would be strengthened
according to
the riches of the Father’s glory.
We need to be strengthened
with power
through the Spirit
into the inner man
that Christ
may make His home
in our hearts.
The phrase “make His home”
is only one word in Greek,
katoikeo.
Kata, the prefix of this word, .
means down.
Christ is making His home
deep down in our hearts.
Christ is in us,
but is He settled in us?
…Christ does not want
to be a guest
in our hearts
by being limited
to certain rooms.
He desires
to settle down
in our hearts,
to make His home
deep down
in our hearts.
Christ
has to be added
into us.
The very Christ
who is in us
has to increase
within us.
As Christ
makes His home
in our inward parts,
we are filled
with His untraceable riches
resulting in
all the fullness
of the Triune God
—the Body of Christ
as the full expression
of the Triune God.
Paul’s prayer reveals
that we
are supplied and filled
with the unsearchable and untraceable riches
of Christ
unto, or resulting in,
the fullness of God.
In other words,
these riches
will become
the very fullness of God
in us
through our experience and enjoyment
of Christ.
First,
Paul prayed
to the Father
as the source.
Then
the Father
strengthens the believers
through the Spirit
as the means, the channel.
Then
Christ
moves and works
to make His home
in the believers’ hearts.
Eventually,
the issue
of the moving
of the Father and the Spirit,
and of the Son
making His home
in our hearts
is the fullness
of the Triune God.
The Father
is the source,
the Spirit
is the means,
the Son
is the object,
and the fullness
of the Triune God
is the issue.
The source
is the Father,
the means
is the Spirit,
and the aim, the goal,
is the Son
because the Son
is the center.
Whatever the Triune God does
is for the Son
as the center,
out of the Father
as the source,
and through the Spirit
as the means.
Paul prayed
to the Father
as the source,
asking the Father
to strengthen the believers
through the channel
of the Spirit
that a goal
might be reached.
The goal
was that Christ
would make His home
in the hearts
of the believers.
Day 6
Eph. 6:10-12
Finally,
be empowered
in the Lord
and in the might of His strength.
Put on
the whole armor of God
that you
may be able to stand
against the stratagems of the devil,
for our wrestling
is not against blood and flesh…
In the universe
there are
three wills:
the divine will,
the satanic will,
and the human will.
If we
would know
how the church
can be God’s warrior
to engage in spiritual warfare,
we must know
these three wills,
these three intentions.
All warfare
has its source
in this conflict of wills.
Before the satanic will
rose up
to contradict the divine will,
there was
no war
in the universe.
The controversy
in the universe
began with
the rebellion of the archangel
against God.
That rebellion
was the beginning
of all the fighting
that is now taking place
among nations, in society,
in the family, and in individuals.
…All the different kinds of warfare
have their source
in the controversy
between the divine will and the satanic will.
…Although there were
three wills,
the controversy
involved just two parties
—God and Satan.
The crucial issue
was whether man
would choose
the divine will or the satanic will.
If the human
will stood with the divine will,
then
God’s will
would be accomplished.
But if the human will
took sides with the satanic will,
Satan’s will
would be carried out,
at least temporarily.
Through repentance
man can turn
from the satanic will
to the divine will,
from Satan’s side
to God’s side.
…Any sinner
who desires to be saved
must…repent to God,
believe in the Lord Jesus,
and be baptized in water.
To repent
is to have a turn
from the satanic will
to the divine will.
The whole armor of God
is for the entire Body,
not for any individual member
of the Body.
The church
is a corporate warrior,
and the believers together
make up this unique warrior.
Only the corporate warrior
can wear the whole armor of God;
no individual believer can.
We must fight
the spiritual warfare
in the Body,
not individually.
…Although God
can empower us,
we
still must exercise our will
to cooperate with Him.
In the same principle,
we must cooperate with
God’s command
to put on the armor.
The modifier
“by means of all prayer and petition”
in Ephesians 6:18
is related to
all six items of the armor
covered in verses 14 through 17.
…Whenever we
are about to put on the armor
or to take up any item of the armor,
we need to pray.
…Prayer is
the unique way
to apply the armor of God.
It is prayer
that makes the armor
available to us
in a practical way.
For example,
we may have
the helmet of salvation,
but it is
prayer
that makes this helmet
available and prevailing. Therefore,
prayer is
crucial and vital.
All six chapters
of the book of Ephesians
are constructed with
the Triune God.
In Ephesians 6
the Divine Trinity
is moving
for the defeating of His enemy,
for dealing with His opponent.
For the Triune God
to defeat His enemy,
we need to be empowered
in the Lord [the Son]
and in the might of His strength.
Then
we
need to put on
the whole armor of God [the Father],
that we
may be able to stand
against the stratagems of the devil.
Finally,
verse 17 says
that we
need to receive
the sword of the Spirit
which [the Spirit] is
the word of God [the Father].
Through the Divine Trinity,
we receive
the power and strength,
we have
the armor,
and we also have
the sword.
If we
did not have
the power or the strength,
we could not fight.
For this
we need to trust in the Son.
We also need a covering
to protect us.
This is
the armor,
and the armor
is of the Father.
Then
we need
an offensive weapon
against the enemy.
This is
the Spirit
as the sword.
The Son
is the power
and the strength
for our fighting,
the Father’s armor
is our covering,
and the Spirit’s sword
is our offensive power.
This shows
that even in the spiritual warfare,
we need
the Divine Trinity.
Day 5
Eph. 5:8-9
…You
were once darkness
but are now light
in the Lord;
walk as children of light
(for the fruit of the light
consists in
all goodness
and righteousness
and truth).
Eph. 5:25-26
Husbands,
love your wives
even as Christ
also loved the church
and gave Himself up
for her
that He
might sanctify her,
cleansing her
by the washing of
the water in the word.
According to Ephesians 4,
we need grace and truth
for the life
that qualifies us
to participate in
the building up
of the Body of Christ.
Chapter 5 of Ephesians
is higher and deeper
than chapter 4.
It goes on
to show us
that we
need to walk
in love and light.
We were
once not only dark
but darkness itself.
Now
we are
not only the children of light
but light itself.
As light is God,
so darkness is Satan.
We were darkness
because we were
one with Satan.
Now
we are light
because we are
one with God
in the Lord.
Today
the believers,
as children of light,
are the light of the world,
shining
in the midst of
a crooked and perverted generation.
Eventually,
the New Jerusalem,
as a composition of
all the saints,
will be the light-bearer,
shining forth God
as light
over the nations
around her.
The life
of the children of light
qualifies us
to participate in
the preparation of
the bride of Christ.
Revelation 19:7 says,
“Let us
rejoice and exult,
and let us
give the glory to Him,
for the marriage of the Lamb
has come,
and His wife
has made herself ready.”
When the wedding of the Lamb comes,
we, the children of light,
will be
a bride
to satisfy the One
who loves us.
To be ready
requires preparation.
The way
to prepare ourselves
to be the bride of Christ
is to be the children of light
always walking and working
in love and light
as our Savior did.
We
can imitate our Father God
and take Christ
as our pattern
to walk and work
in love and light.
As light in the Lord,
we should walk
as children of light.
God is light,
and when we
are in Him,
we are in light.
As those in the light
we become
children of light.
Verse 15
tells us
to walk
not as unwise
but as wise.
Foolishness
is a kind of darkness.
When we
walk foolishly,
we are walking
in darkness.
When we
walk wisely,
we are walking
in light.
The children of light
should walk,
not as unwise
but as wise,
redeeming the time
because the days
are evil.
To redeem the time
is to live
in the church
by Christ,
to live Christ
in the church life.
If we
do not live
the church life,
we will waste
our time.
As children of light
walking in love and light,
we will be prepared
to be
the bride of Christ.
…Christ
loved the church
and gave Himself up
for her.
Because He
loved the church,
Christ
gave Himself up
for her
for the purpose of
sanctifying her,
not only positionally
but also dispositionally,
from without
and from within.
He
sanctifies us
by entering into us
to be
the sanctifying life
and the holy nature
that saturates us,
cleansing us every day,
even every moment,
by the washing of
the water in the Word.
In the Word, the Bible,
there is
the water.
We know this
by our experience.
When we
get into the water,
it washes us.
Every morning
we need to wash
in the Bible.
Christ
sanctifies the church
that He
might present the church
to Himself
not only holy
but also glorious
for expressing God.
Glory
is God expressed.
A holy church
is to express
God, the holy One.
A glorious church
is to glorify God,
to show God
to others.
Christ
will present the church
to Himself
glorious,
not having
spot or wrinkle or any such things.
Wrinkles
are a sign of oldness.
To have no wrinkles
is a sign of youth.
Spots
represent wounds.
Only the life from within
can wash away
the wrinkles, spots, and any such things.
Verse 27 says
that the church
should be
holy
and without blemish,
as a gem
which bears
a beautiful expression
and has
no foreign particles,
or blemishes.
Day 4
Eph. 4:4-6
One Body and one Spirit,
even as also you
were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all
and through all
and in all.
Eph. 4:16
Out from whom
all the Body
…causes the growth of the Body
unto the building up of itself
in love.
God the Father,
who is over all,
through all,
and in all,
is the origin, the source,
of the entire view
of the Body of Christ.
He is
the origin of the Body.
God the Son,
who is
the Lord
and the embodiment of the Father,
is the element.
The Son
is mingling Himself with us
by faith and baptism.
God the Spirit,
who is
the realization of God the Son,
is the essence.
The Spirit
is being mingled with us
with a hope
that one day
we all
will be thoroughly transformed,
conformed to the image of the Son,
and glorified in Him.
This is
the working Divine Trinity
mingling Himself
in a thorough way
with His chosen people
as the Body.
…Ephesians 4:4-6
reveals a group of four persons
—the one Body, one Spirit,
one Lord, and one God and Father—
mingled together
as one entity
to be the organic Body of Christ.
This divine mingling
is the reality
of the church life.
The members
need to be perfected
by the gifts
to do the work
of the New Testament ministry
for the building up
of the Body of Christ.
When we
are being mingled
with the Triune God,
we are so happy
with the Lord.
We love Him,
and we want to do something
for Him.
We desire
to be very useful and helpful
in the church life.
How can we do this?
We need to be perfected.
The Lord as the Head
perfects us,
not directly
but indirectly
through His gifts
—the apostles, prophets, evangelists,
and shepherds and teachers.
According to our experience,
this perfecting
takes place
mainly in the group meetings.
Every church
needs group meetings.
The Body, the Spirit,
the Lord, and God the Father
are a group.
They are grouped together
to fellowship,
to have a “group meeting.”
…There should not be
too many saints
in a group meeting.
It is better
if from twelve to fifteen
can come together
in each group meeting.
…In the group meetings,
all of us
can receive the perfecting
from the mutual asking and answering
of questions.
Ephesians 4 says
that the saints
are perfected
that they
may do the work
of the ministry,
the New Testament ministry,
and this ministry
is to build up
the Body of Christ.
In the group meetings,
everyone can speak.
Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 14
that when the church
comes together,
we can all prophesy
one by one.
To prophesy
is to speak for the Lord,
to speak the Lord forth,
to minister the Lord
to others
by our speaking.
This perfects the saints.
It is
by this perfecting
that the church
will be developed.
Then
the church
will be growing up
to have the measure
of the stature
of the fullness of Christ,
the Body of Christ.
We
will eventually be full-grown.
We
will no longer be little children
who are tossed
by waves
and carried about
by every wind of teaching.
We
will hold to the truth
in love
that we
may grow in everything
into the Head, our Christ.
Out of Him
the whole Body
will grow
through the functioning members,
that is,
through the joints of supply
and through every part
that functions
in its measure
to build up the Body.
Then
the Body
will be built up
not by big preachers,
but by every member
of the Body.
This means
that all the Body
will cause
the growth of the Body
unto the building up of itself
in love.
The one Body, one Spirit,
one Lord, and one God and Father
are grouped together
and are being mingled together.
While this mingling
is going on,
we all
are being perfected
to do our work
to build up
the Body of Christ.
Then
the Body
will be built up
by itself
through its functioning members.
This is
the intrinsic view
of the Body of Christ
in Ephesians 4.
Day 3
Eph. 3:16-17
That He
would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened
with power
through His Spirit
into the inner man,
that Christ
may make His home
in your hearts
through faith,
that you,
being rooted and grounded
in love.
Eph. 3:19
…That you
may be filled
unto all the fullness of God.
In Ephesians 3
is God’s dispensation,
which is His hidden plan.
This chapter
also tells us
of the “stewardship
of the grace of God”
which was given
to Paul (v. 2).
The Greek word oikonomia
may be translated
into “economy,” “dispensation,” or “stewardship.”
With God
it is
an economy, or a dispensation.
But with Paul
it was
a stewardship.
His ministry
was a stewardship.
…God made
a plan
as a dispensation
within Himself.
This plan
was hidden in God
until the New Testament age.
God raised up apostles
whom He commissioned
to carry out
His distributing plan,
and this commission
is the stewardship.
The apostles’ stewardship
is to distribute
to His chosen people
what Christ is,
what Christ has done,
what Christ is doing,
what Christ will do,
and what Christ has attained and obtained.
This stewardship
is the stewardship of grace
to dispense, to distribute,
the riches of Christ.
The distribution
of the riches of Christ
results in the church.
The apostles’ commission
is to distribute
the unsearchable riches of Christ
to God’s chosen people.
We may have enjoyed Christ
in His riches,
but we need to enjoy Him more.
…Because of God’s heart’s desire
for the church
to be constituted
with the riches of Christ,
Paul prayed for the church.
…Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16
is that we
would be strengthened
according to
the riches of the Father’s glory.
We need to be strengthened
with power
through the Spirit
into the inner man
that Christ
may make His home
in our hearts.
The phrase “make His home”
is only one word in Greek,
katoikeo.
Kata, the prefix of this word, .
means down.
Christ is making His home
deep down in our hearts.
Christ is in us,
but is He settled in us?
…Christ does not want
to be a guest
in our hearts
by being limited
to certain rooms.
He desires
to settle down
in our hearts,
to make His home
deep down
in our hearts.
Christ
has to be added
into us.
The very Christ
who is in us
has to increase
within us.
As Christ
makes His home
in our inward parts,
we are filled
with His untraceable riches
resulting in
all the fullness
of the Triune God
—the Body of Christ
as the full expression
of the Triune God.
Paul’s prayer reveals
that we
are supplied and filled
with the unsearchable and untraceable riches
of Christ
unto, or resulting in,
the fullness of God.
In other words,
these riches
will become
the very fullness of God
in us
through our experience and enjoyment
of Christ.
First,
Paul prayed
to the Father
as the source.
Then
the Father
strengthens the believers
through the Spirit
as the means, the channel.
Then
Christ
moves and works
to make His home
in the believers’ hearts.
Eventually,
the issue
of the moving
of the Father and the Spirit,
and of the Son
making His home
in our hearts
is the fullness
of the Triune God.
The Father
is the source,
the Spirit
is the means,
the Son
is the object,
and the fullness
of the Triune God
is the issue.
The source
is the Father,
the means
is the Spirit,
and the aim, the goal,
is the Son
because the Son
is the center.
Whatever the Triune God does
is for the Son
as the center,
out of the Father
as the source,
and through the Spirit
as the means.
Paul prayed
to the Father
as the source,
asking the Father
to strengthen the believers
through the channel
of the Spirit
that a goal
might be reached.
The goal
was that Christ
would make His home
in the hearts
of the believers.
Day 2
Eph. 1:19-20
…The surpassing greatness
of His power
toward us
who believe,
according to the operation
of the might
of His strength,
which He caused
to operate in Christ
in raising Him
from the dead
and seating Him
at His right hand
in the heavenlies.
Eph. 1:22-23
And He
…gave Him
to be Head
over all things
to the church,
which is
His Body,
the fullness of the One
who fills all in all.
In Ephesians 1:
(1) The Father’s dispensing
in His choosing and predestinating
issues in His many sons
as His house
in sanctification.
(2) The Son’s dispensing
in His redeeming and saving
issues in the believers
as God’s inheritance
in transformation.
(3) The Spirit’s dispensing
in His sealing and pledging
issues in God
as the believers’ inheritance
unto their perfection.
(4) The transcending Christ’s transmitting
in His rising and ascending
issues in His Body
as His expression
unto the believers’ consummation.
The issue here
is the church, the Body of Christ,
and this issue
is of the dispensing
of the processed Trinity
and of the transmitting
of the transcending Christ.
The Trinity
has been processed
for His dispensing.
Also,
Christ today
is in the highest place
in the universe
as the transcending One
to transmit Himself
to the church, His Body.
There is
a kind of heavenly, spiritual transmission
going on
all the time
from and by the transcending Christ.
Ephesians 1 shows
that God
has blessed the believers
with a threefold dispensing
—first by the Father,
second by the Son,
and third by the Spirit.
Eventually,
this dispensing
will be carried out
by the transmitting
of the transcending Christ.
The Father’s dispensing
in His choosing and predestinating
issues in many sons
to form God’s household
in sanctification.
The Son’s dispensing
in His redeeming and His saving
issues in a heritage to God,
a treasure to God,
as God’s private possession.
That means
all the many sons
who issued from the Father’s dispensing
will become
a treasure to God
as His heritage.
…Then
the Spirit’s dispensing
in His sealing and pledging
issues in God
as the believers’ inheritance
unto their perfection.
The issue of God’s triune dispensing
is the many sons,
God’s possession,
and our inheritance.
But there is
no church
until the transcending Christ
comes in
to transmit
the totality of God’s dispensing.
The many sons,
God’s heritage,
our inheritance,
and the transmitting
of the transcending Christ
culminate in
the church, the Body of Christ.
Such a dispensing work
made us
the masterpiece of God.
…In Ephesians 2:10
the Greek word
for “workmanship” [KJV]
is poiema,
which can also be translated
into “poem” or “masterpiece”.
A poem
shows the wisdom and design
of the composer.
We, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work,
are also a poem,
expressing God’s infinite wisdom
and divine design.
…We have to see
the divine fact
that Christ is in us
and that we are in Christ.
In Christ
we have been made alive,
raised up
from among the dead,
and seated in the heavenlies.
Now
we are
God’s masterpiece
because God
has dispensed His very Being
into our being.
There is
Someone
within us
more precious and wonderful
than anything in the universe.
We have
God
in us.
This makes us
wonderful,
and this makes us
God’s masterpiece.
We must see
that we are
a corporate Body,
and we are
a corporate new man.
Our living
is corporate,
and our moving
is corporate.
In our moving
we take Christ
as our life,
and in our living
we take Christ
as our person.
In the Body,
Christ is our life,
and in the new man,
Christ is our person.
In the Body
we are members
one of another,
and in the new man
we all
have one mouth
to speak the same thing.
This is
the church.
Day 1
Eph. 1:22-23
And He
subjected all things
under His feet
and gave Him
to be Head over all things
to the church,
which is His Body,
the fullness of the One
who fills all in all.
Eph. 5:29-30
For no one
ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it,
even as Christ also
the church,
because we
are members of His Body.
What is
the top revelation
in the holy Word?
We know
that the Bible
has sixty-six books
and that they
were written
over a period of
at least sixteen hundred years.
These sixty-six books
cover a lot of things
from eternity past
to eternity future.
They cover
creation, salvation, and many other things.
Bible students and Bible teachers
have picked up
a lot of subjects
from the Bible,
but we all
have to see
that the Body
is the top point.
Among all the thousands of words
in the Bible,
the Body
should stand out to us.
The biggest word in the Bible
is the Body.
The most missed and neglected and lost point
in the Bible
is that the church
is the Body of Christ.
…Besides [Christ’s] personal body,
He has
a mystical Body.
Ephesians tells us
that the church
is the fullness of Christ,
the new man,
the household of God,
the commonwealth,
that is, the citizenship of God,
and the habitation of God.
The church
is also the bride and the warrior.
But you
have to realize
that the basic item
is the Body,
and all the other items
are subsidiary.
Actually,
Ephesians
does not talk about
the new man;
it talks about
the Body
as the new man.
It does not talk about
the fullness of Christ;
it talks about
the Body
as the fullness of Christ.
…The basic term
is only one
—the Body.
The Body
is the house of God.
The Body
is the commonwealth of God.
The Body
is the bride.
The Body
is the warrior.
It is
not so good
to turn it around
and say
that the warrior
is the Body
or that the house
is the Body
or that the new man
is the Body.
The Body
is the main point,
and all these other terms
are subsidiary.
The book of Ephesians
tells us
that the called ones of God
as a congregation
are the church, the assembly,
and that this church
is God’s kingdom, God’s family,
and God’s temple, His dwelling place.
Moreover,
the church
is the Body of Christ
and the new man.
Eventually,
the Body of Christ
and the new man
become the bride of Christ.
The assembly and the kingdom
apparently are not something organic.
But the family, the Body, the new man,
and the wife, the bride,
are all organic.
For the church
to be the Body of Christ
there is
the need of life.
In the Body
the most crucial matter
is life.
When life
is gone,
the Body
is finished.
For the church
to be the new man
there is
the need of a person.
A man
must have a person,
and the person of the new man
is Christ Himself.
Furthermore,
for the church
to be the bride of Christ,
there is
the need of love.
For a wife, a bride,
the most important thing
is love.
Christ is
our love
because He
is our husband.
He is
our life, our person, and our love.
Each chapter
of the book of Ephesians
unveils the mystery
of the Body of Christ
as the organism
of the Triune God
from a particular point of view.
Chapter 1
shows us
that the Body of Christ
is the issue
of the dispensing
of the Divine Trinity.
Chapter 2
shows us
that this Body
is a masterpiece
as the new man.
In chapter 3
Paul unveils
that we
are supplied with
the riches of Christ
to be the fullness
of the Triune God.
In chapter 4
is the one Body
built up
by the one ministry.
In Ephesians 5
Paul goes on
to tell us something
further concerning the Body of Christ
from another angle or point of view.
…This chapter
reveals the children of light
for the preparation of
the bride of Christ.
The children of light
and the bride of Christ
are the two crucial matters
in Ephesians 5.
To be the children of light
who walk in love and light
is to be prepared
to participate in
the bride of Christ.