THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Church
Message One—God’s Eternal Purpose Concerning the Church
Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:3-6; Heb. 2:10-11; 1 Thes. 5:23
I. There are three main items of God’s purpose for the church—Eph. 1:4-5; 3:10; 2:10; Eph. 1:10, 19-23:
A. The church must have the full sonship—Eph. 1:4-5.
B. Through the church God’s multifarious wisdom is made known to the enemy; the church thus becomes God’s poem, His wise exhibition of all that Christ is—3:10; 2:10; 1 Cor. 1:30.
C. God’s purpose is to head up all things in Christ through the church—Eph. 1:10, 19-23.
II. The choosing of God’s people for them to be holy is for the purpose of their being made sons of God, participating in the divine sonship; in eternity past God the Father “chose us…to be holy…unto sonship”—Eph. 1:4-5:
A. Holy means not only sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common; only God is different, distinct, from all things; hence, He is holy, and holiness is His nature.
B. The divine sonship is accomplished by our being mingled with God (the Holy One as the Holy Spirit) unto full sanctification—Eph. 4:30; 1 Pet. 1:15-16.
C. God’s chosen ones are made His sons by His sanctifying Spirit (Rom. 15:16; Gal. 4:6); this is why Ephesians 1:3 calls this a spiritual blessing, a blessing by the Spirit.
D. God’s chosen ones become holy and without blemish before Him and are predestinated unto sonship “in love”—Eph. 1:4; cf. 3:17; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2; 6:24; Rev. 2:4.
III. 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—Eph. 2:10; 3:10:
A. 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 master-piece of God’s work, are a poem expressing God’s infinite wisdom and divine design.
B. We, the church, the masterpiece of God’s work, are an absolutely new item in the universe, a new invention of God (2:15); we were created by God in Christ through regeneration to be His new creation (2 Cor. 5:17):
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
IV. “Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him”—Eph. 1:10:
A. The economy, or dispensation, that God, according to His desire, planned and purposed in Himself is to head up all things in Christ at the fullness of the times.
B. This is accomplished through the dispensing of the abundant life supply of the Triune God as the life factor into all the members of the church so that they may rise up from the death situation and be attached to the Body.
C. The times refers to the ages, and the fullness of the times will be when the new heaven and new earth appear after all the dispensations of God in all the ages have been completed:
1. Altogether there are four ages: the age of sin (Adam), the age of the law (Moses), the age of grace (Christ), and the age of the kingdom (the millennium).
2. This dispensation will continue through the millennium until the fullness of the times; the ultimate, the consummate, dispensation will be the dispensing of the Triune God into the whole city of the New Jerusalem—Rev. 22:1-2.
D. God made Christ the Head over all things (v. 22); through all the dispensations of God in all the ages, all things will be headed up in Christ in the new heaven and new earth; that will be God’s eternal administration and economy.
E. The believers participate in this heading up by being willing to be headed up in the church life, by growing in life and by living under Christ’s light—John 1:4; 8:12; Eph. 5:8-9; Rev. 21:23-25.
F. The heading up of all things in Christ takes place through the dispensing of the abundant life supply of the Triune God into us; the more the factor of life is ministered to us, the more we rise up and become attached.
G. When everything is headed up in Christ, there will be absolute peace and harmony (Isa. 2:4; 11:6; 55:12; Psa. 96:12-13), a full rescue out of the collapse; this will begin from the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21).
Ministry Excerpts:
In Ephesians 1:10 and 3:9, the words dispensation and fellowship should be translated “economy.” They are both the same word in the Greek. The church is something of God’s economy, and this word economy is very important. It means “dispensation,” “arrangement,” “stewardship,” and “administration.” God has something to dispense, so He needs an arrangement and an administration in order to carry out this dispensing. The very substance that God is going to dispense is Himself. God is going to dispense Himself into man, so He arranged and administered the church. The church is the central matter in God’s economy. Putting it into human terms, the church is God’s business.
TO EXPRESS GOD THROUGH THE SONSHIP
There are three main items concerning the church in the economy of God. The first is that the church might have the sonship and that God might be expressed through this sonship. Ephesians 1:5 says that God predestinated us unto sonship. What does this word sonship mean, and what does it include? Briefly, it means the birth, plus the growth, plus the birthright. First of all, we must be born of God. By this divine birth we become the sons of God because we have the life of God. This is the very beginning of God’s mingling with us. But it is only through the growth of this life that we can enjoy the birthright. Birth is one thing, but the birthright is quite another. Esau and Jacob both had the same birth, but only one obtained the birthright. Esau had the life of the son, but he did not have the sonship for the sonship includes both the birth and the birthright. We may have the birth but not the birthright. In Romans 8:14-17, there is a real difference made between the children and the heirs. The children are the ones who have only the birth, but the heirs have not only the birth but also the birthright. First of all, we must become the children of God; then through growth we will become the heirs. We may be a child without the birthright and therefore not have the full sonship.
Whether we will enjoy the birthright or not depends upon our growth in life. It depends upon the transformation. If we live in the soul, which means to live in the self, we may lose the birthright. But if we forget about ourselves, deny the soul, and live in the spirit, then the Lord will have the opportunity to transform us. From within our spirit He will spread outward to saturate our soul. Through the transforming of our soul, we will have the real growth to enjoy the birthright, the full enjoyment of all that God is and all that He has planned and accomplished.
The sonship, then, is just a matter of life. God predestinated us unto sonship that we may be His sons, having Christ as our life, that we may grow in this life, and that we may have and enjoy the full birthright with this life. By this sonship, by begetting us as sons sharing His life and as sons matured in His life to enjoy all that He is, God makes us His corporate expression and expresses Himself through us. This is the first item of God’s purpose for the church—to express Himself through many matured sons.
TO MAKE GOD’S WISDOM KNOWN TO THE ENEMY
The second item of the purpose of God for the church is to deal with His enemy. In chapter one of Ephesians there is the positive side of God’s purpose for the sonship, and in chapter three there is the negative side against the enemy, that the enemy may be subdued and come to know God’s manifold wisdom. God is not sorry that there is such an evil one as Satan, because without such a one, God’s manifold wisdom could not be manifested. It is through all the troubles originating from Satan that God has a chance to show forth His wisdom. Suppose you have a car, and this car never gives you any trouble. If this is the case, no one could know how wise you are. A car without problems would not demonstrate your wisdom. But if you have a car which needs wisdom to handle, your wisdom will be brought to light, and all of your passengers will marvel. It is a problem car, but what a wonderful driver! The whole universe has been damaged by Satan, but God needs such a one in order that His wisdom might be shown.
The best translation of Ephesians 3:9-11 is: “And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things, in order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church, according to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The words to enlighten all that they may see in verse 9 really mean in Greek “to bring to light.” God wants to bring to light to all His creation the economy of His mystery which before the creation of the world was known only by Himself. This economy was hidden in God as a mystery, but now God wants to bring to light this economy, in order that His multifarious wisdom might be known to the rulers and the authorities through the church. This is according to the eternal purpose, the eternal plan, which God purposed and planned in Christ.
TO HEAD UP ALL THINGS IN CHRIST
The third main aspect of the church in God’s economy is the heading up of all things in Christ. We have seen that the first item of the sonship is for the church positively. The second item is that the church might make known to the rulers and the authorities the multifarious wisdom of God, in defeating the enemy negatively. Now the third item is the heading up of all things in Christ universally. The church has to have the sonship, Satan has to be subdued and cast out, and the whole creation has to be brought into the proper order and oneness.
In Ephesians 1:10, the phrase gather together in one is best translated “head up.” It is God’s eternal purpose that in the economy of the fullness of the times He might head up all things in Christ. This verse must then be connected with verses 22 and 23 of the same chapter. “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.” The little word to in verse 22 signifies the identification and oneness of the church with Christ. Christ is the Head over all things to the church, which is His Body.
These verses in Ephesians are closely related to Romans 8:17-21. Here we read of the manifestation of the sons of God. There are many sons of God today, but the manifestation of the sons of God has not yet come. In verses 20 and 21 of this chapter, we read that the whole creation was made subject to vanity and waits to be delivered from the slavery of corruption. All of creation was subjected to the slavery of corruption, so the whole creation is in vanity, waiting for deliverance. At the manifestation of the sons of God, creation will be delivered from the slavery of corruption in vanity into the freedom of glory. Glory in verse 21 is not an adjective but a noun, so the best translation is “the freedom of the glory,” not “the glorious freedom.” It is not the freedom of the children of God, but the glory of the children of God in which there is freedom. We have mentioned that, when our bodies are transfigured, we will be glorified, and this glorification is the manifestation. The manifestation of the sons of God is the very glory of the sons of God. We must also read Hebrews 2 along with Romans 8. Romans 8 tells us that the whole creation is waiting for the glory of the sons of God, and then Hebrews 2 says that God now is going to bring many sons into glory. When we are brought into glory, that will be the fullness of time when the whole creation will be released and delivered from the slavery of corruption in vanity. Then all creation and all things which are in heaven and on the earth will be headed up in Christ with His Body.
CHRIST VERSUS SATAN, LIFE VERSUS DEATH,
LIGHT VERSUS DARKNESS, AND ORDER VERSUS CONFUSION
God’s way to recover the oneness among His creation is to impart Himself into us as life. Satan injected himself into us as death, but God imparts Himself into us as life. When life comes, there is light. John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Then in John 8 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (v. 12). When God comes in as life, there is the light that shines within us as the light of life. This life swallows death, and this light expels the darkness. When we are in the life and under the light, then we are delivered out of confusion and brought into order, harmony, and unity. God’s way of recovery is Christ versus Satan, life versus death, light versus darkness, and order versus confusion. When we are filled with Christ, we will be full of life and completely under the light. Then we will have the harmony and the unity. If we are not filled with Christ as life, then, at least to some extent, we are in darkness. As long as there is some part under darkness, there is confusion and no order or harmony. When everyone is full of Christ as life, we all are under light, and there is no need of outward control. Spontaneously everyone is controlled by this light of life, and there is unity and harmony.
Before Satan came into God’s creation, there was unity and harmony, but Satan injected the factor of death into creation, bringing in darkness and confusion. God’s way of recovery in redemption is not the same as His way in creation. In creation God created all things by His power, but in redemption God recovers everything by life. This is why it seems that God does not do anything today. Under this confusion God is so silent, so seemingly unresponsive. It seems that there is no God, but we know that God is working in a silent and living way.
LIGHT BRINGING IN THE CONTROL,
AND UNDER THE CONTROL THERE BEING THE ORDER,
THE BUILDING UP OF ONE ANOTHER UNDER THE HEADSHIP
When we receive God into us as life, He comes into us as the very light, and under this light we are controlled in unity. Should we be under the control of the policeman or the government? In a sense we are, but strictly speaking, we should be controlled by the light of life. There is something living within us, shining all the time, and under this light we are fully controlled in a joyful way. If we do not follow the light, there is no joy within us. We are under this light because we have the life. Spontaneously there is oneness in us, and this oneness comes from light, and the light comes from life, and this life is God Himself. Light brings in the control, and under the control there is the order. The order is the building up of one another under the headship. By the Triune God as life, the light shines, and under this light all things will be brought into order under the headship of Christ. So eventually, all things will be headed up in Christ.
THE COMPLETE ONENESS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THIS LIGHT OF LIFE, THIS ONENESS BEING THE REAL BUILDING
It is God’s eternal purpose that through the church, Christ should head up all things, but this can only be accomplished through the building up of the church. This is the unity, the oneness, and the harmony. This harmony can only be realized by life. Simply adopting the term, “the New Testament Church,” will not work. Even the way of the New Testament cannot build up a church. The church must be built up by experiencing Christ as life, and in this life there will be the light under which everyone will be controlled. We may work out a formula from the New Testament and say that this is the scriptural, New Testament way to have a proper church, but it will never work. The church can never be built up in this way. We may have the formula, but we do not have the life. Even if we have the proper, scriptural formula, it will never work because we do not know how to be filled with Christ, how to be dealt with by the cross, how to take Christ as life, and how to experience Him. We will only fight one another. I have seen a lot of this in the past. But suppose by the mercy of God our eyes have been opened to see that God’s economy is to work Himself into us as life. We learn to love Him and fellowship with Him and live by Him. Spontaneously within us and among us there will be the shining of the light of life. There will be no arguments or divisions or fightings or jealousies but complete oneness under the control of this light of life. This oneness is the real building, and it is the very thing for which Jesus prayed in John 17. By this building, God can head up all things in Christ. (God’s Purpose for the Church, ch. 1)