Message Five The Church as the Consummation of the Essence Revealed in the Bible

THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE

Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church

Message Five
The Church as the Consummation of
the Essence Revealed in the Bible

Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5; Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9

I. The Lord’s recovery is a recovery of the truth and of life so that He may have the church; the truth brings in life, and once we have life, we become the church—John 18:37; 10:10; 1 Cor. 10:32:

A. The church is the house of the living God—1 Tim. 3:15:

1. As the house of God, the church is the dwelling place of God—the place where God can have His rest and put His trust—Eph. 2:21-22.

2. The church as the house of God is the Father’s house, the enlarged, universal, divine-human incorporation—John 14:2; 12:23; 13:31-32.

B. The church is the supporting pillar and the holding base of the truth—1 Tim. 3:15:

1. Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church—Matt. 16:16, 18; Eph. 5:32.

2. As the pillar, which bears the truth, and the base, which holds the pillar, the church testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ as the mystery of God and of the church as the mystery of Christ—Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4.

C. The church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh; the great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16:

1. God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh—v. 16; Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14.

2. God is manifested in the church as His enlarged, corporate expression in the flesh—Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23.

II. The church is the house of the living God—1 Tim. 3:15:

A. The house of God is the household of God—Eph. 2:19:

1. The household of God is composed of the many sons of God as the many brothers of Christ, the firstborn Son of God—Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:10-12.

2. The Father is not a separate member of His household but is in all the children—Rom. 8:10; 12:4-5; 2 Cor. 6:16.

B. In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul refers to God as the living God—1 Tim. 3:15:

1. The living God, who lives in the church, must be subjective to the church and not merely objective—1 Cor. 3:16.

2. Because God is living, the church as the house of God is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him; a living God and a living church live, move, and work together—Matt. 16:16; 1 Tim. 3:15.

C. As the house of God, the church is the dwelling place of God—the place where God can have His rest and put His trust—Eph. 2:22:

1. In this dwelling place God lives and moves to accomplish His will and to satisfy the desire of His heart—1:5, 9, 11; Phil. 2:13.

2. In the church as His dwelling place, God expresses Himself; all that He is and all that He is doing are expressed in the church—1 Cor. 3:16; 14:24-25.

III. The church is the pillar and base of the truth—1 Tim. 3:15:

A. The Lord wants His church to know Him as the truth and to receive and enjoy Him as life—1 John 1:1-2, 5-6; John 11:25; 14:6; 18:37b.

B. Truth means reality, denoting all the real things revealed in God’s Word, which are mainly Christ as the embodiment of God and the church as the Body of Christ—1 Tim. 2:4; Col. 2:9, 19.

C. The content of the church must be the growth of Christ in us as truth and life—v. 19; 3:4.

D. The church is the supporting pillar and the holding base of the truth—1 Tim. 3:15:

1. The truth is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God—Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5.

2. Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy—Matt. 16:16, 18; Eph. 5:32.

3. The church bears Christ as the reality; the church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality—John 1:14, 17; 14:6.

IV. The church is the manifestation of God in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16:

A. God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh—v. 16; Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14.

B. First Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness.

C. When a church is taken care of according to what is written in 1 Timothy 1—3, the church will function as the house of the living God for His move on earth and as the pillar and base of the truth, bearing the reality of Christ and His Body—3:15; Eph. 5:32:

1. Such a church becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God.

2. This is God manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation—God entering into man and mingling Himself with man to make man one with Himself—1 Cor. 7:40; Gal. 2:20; John 15:4-5.

V. The desire of the Lord’s heart is to gain the church; thus, we should treasure the church and love the church, even as the Lord does and as Paul did—Matt. 16:18; 13:44-46; Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:5, 9; 5:25-27; 2 Cor. 12:14-15.

Ministry Excerpts:

THE CHURCH BEING THE HOUSE OF THE LIVING GOD, THE PILLAR AND BASE OF THE TRUTH, AND THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD IN THE FLESH

In chapter 3 the crucial point of the truth is the function of the church in verses 15 and 16. In these verses the church is the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, and the manifestation of God in the flesh. The church functions as the house and household of the living God for His move on the earth, as the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth, bearing the divine reality of Christ and His Body as a testimony to the world, and becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh. This is the great mystery of godliness—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” ch. 9)

The House of the Living God

First Timothy 3:15 says, “If I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” As God’s dwelling place, the church is both God’s house and His household, His family. In the Old Testament the temple and God’s people were two separate things, but in the fulfillment in the New Testament the dwelling place and the family are one. According to God’s New Testament economy, God’s family is His house.

In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul specifically refers to God as the living God. The living God who lives in the church must be subjective to the church rather than merely objective. An idol in a heathen temple is lifeless. The God who not only lives but also acts, moves, and works in His living temple, the church, is living. Because He is living, the church is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together. The living church is the house and the household of the living God. Therefore, in our meetings, service, and ministry we must give people the impression that the living God is living, moving, speaking, and acting among us.

The church, the house of the living God, is living in the Father’s name and in the Father’s life. This means that the church is living in the Father’s reality. God’s house is a living composition of His many children in the Father’s life and reality. Where the house of God is, there is the family of God, and where the family of God is, there is God the Father with His life and reality. This is similar to the church being the Body of Christ. Christ is not separate from the members of the Body, for, as the Head of the Body, Christ indwells all the members. Christ should not be counted as a separate member of the Body, because He is in all the members of the Body. The principle is the same with the church as God’s house and family. The Father is not a separate member of the household but is in all the children.

The Pillar and the Base of the Truth

In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul tells us that the church of the living God is “the pillar and base of the truth.” The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is such a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. In this verse truth refers to the real things which are revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church.

God’s New Testament economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of the reality of God’s New Testament economy. As the pillar which bears the truth and the base which upholds the pillar, the church testifies the reality, the truth, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ.

We may also say that the truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 denotes the divine realities, the realities of our God. These divine realities are revealed in particular in chapters fourteen through sixteen of the Gospel of John. According to these chapters, the truth, the reality, is revealed especially as the truth of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Spirit of all the divine realities. Today as the pillar and base of the truth, the church holds the realities of the divine Being. God’s realities are testified by the church as the pillar and base of the truth.

God’s Manifestation in the Flesh—the Mystery of Godliness

First Timothy 3:15 and 16 indicate that the church is also God’s manifestation in the flesh—the mystery of godliness. God is manifested in the church, the Body of Christ, as the enlarged, corporate expression in the flesh. First Timothy 3:15b and 16 say, “The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness, who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” In Greek, the antecedent of “who” is omitted but easily recognized, that is, Christ, who was God manifested in the flesh as the mystery of godliness. The transition from “the mystery…” to “who” implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20). This mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church, and such a living is also the manifestation of God in the flesh. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 161)

THE CHURCH BEING THE HOUSE OF GOD

Three verses which reveal that the church is the house of God are 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:6; and 1 Peter 4:17. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul says, “If I delay, that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” As God’s dwelling place, the church is both God’s house and His household, His family. In the Old Testament the temple and God’s people were two separate things, but in the fulfillment in the New Testament the dwelling place and the family are one. According to God’s New Testament economy, God’s house is His family.

Another verse that speaks of the church as the house of God is Hebrews 3:6. This verse refers to “Christ, as a Son over His house, whose house we are.” In Old Testament times, the house of God was the house of Israel (Lev. 22:18; Num. 12:7), symbolized by the tabernacle or the temple among them (Exo. 25:8; Ezek. 37:26-27). Today the house of God is the church. The children of Israel, as people of God, are a type of us, the New Testament believers (1 Cor. 9:24— 10:11). Their history is a prefigure of the church.

The Household of God

The church is a composition of the believers, and the believers are children of God, born of Him and having His life and nature. Thus, they become members of the household of God.

In Ephesians 2:19 Paul says, “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.” Both the Jewish and the Gentile believers are members of God’s household. God’s household is a matter of life and enjoyment; all believers were born of God into His household to enjoy His riches. The members of God’s family added together become the household of God, which is the house, the dwelling place, of God. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 208)

God the Father Having a Great Family of Many Sons

The Body of Christ is the household of God (v. 19b). This is the household of the faith—the universal family of God (Gal. 6:10), composed of God as the Father and the believers in Christ, the many sons of God. God the Father has a great family of many sons. The Father is God, and the sons are “small gods” in life and nature but not in the Godhead. If a father is a man, are not his sons men? Since the father is a man, the sons all must be men. In the divine family the Father is God, so all the sons are gods, the many God-men, in life and nature but not in the Godhead. First Timothy 3:15-16 reveals that the church is the manifestation of God in the flesh. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures,” msg. 6)

God’s dwelling place is His household, His family, and His family comes into being by God’s begetting. If we had not been begotten of God, God could not have a family. But God does have a great family, the largest family in the universe, composed of those who have been born of Him to be His children. Eventually, God’s children will grow up to be His mature sons, and then they will become heirs.

The Father Being Not a Separate Member of the Household,
but Being in All the Children

The church, the house of the living God, is living in the Father’s name and in the Father’s life. This means that the church is living in the Father’s reality. God’s house is a living composition of His many children in the Father’s life and reality. This means that where the house of God is, there is God the Father with His life and reality. This is similar to the church being the Body of Christ. Christ is not separate from the members of the Body, for, as the Head of the Body, Christ dwells in all the members. For this reason, Christ should not be counted as a separate member of the Body, because He is in all the members of the Body. The principle is the same with the church as God’s house. The Father is not a separate member of the household, the house, but is in all the children.

The first characteristic of the status of the church is that it is an assembly called out of the world. The second characteristic is that the church is God’s house composed of those who have been born of God. This second characteristic is a matter not merely of separation but of a spiritual, divine birth. In order to be the assembly, we need to be sanctified, that is, separated from the world. But to be a component of the house of God, we need to be born of God. Anyone who has not been born of God cannot be part of His house, part of His family.

A Living God and a Living Church Living, Moving, and Working Together

In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul specifically refers to God as the living God. The living God who lives in the church must be subjective to the church and not merely objective. The God who not only lives but also acts, moves, and works in His house, the church, is living. Because God is living, the church is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together. The living church is the house of the living God. Therefore, in our meetings, service, and ministry we should give people the impression that the living God is living, moving, speaking, and acting among us.

The Dwelling Place of God Being in the Believers’ Spirit

Ephesians 2:22 tells us that God’s dwelling place is in the believers’ spirit. Here Paul says that we are “being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” This refers to the believers’ regenerated human spirit indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit is the Dweller, not the dwelling place. The dwelling place is in the believers’ spirit. God’s Spirit dwells in our regenerated spirit. Therefore, the dwelling place of God is in our spirit. Our spirit is the place of God’s habitation.

We all need to see clearly that God’s dwelling place is in our spirit, not in our heart or in our mind. Realizing that we have a spirit and that God dwells in our regenerated spirit is crucial. If we do not know how to exercise our spirit, it will be impossible for us to understand anything concerning God’s house, because this house, the dwelling place of God, is in the believers’ spirit.

Because the church is God’s dwelling place, the church is where God expresses Himself. A house is always the best place for a person to express himself. The kind of person you are is expressed by your house. Hence, if you look at a person’s house, you will be able to tell what kind of person he is, because a person’s house is his expression. The principle is the same with the church as the dwelling place of God. In His house, His dwelling place, God expresses Himself on earth. This is the reason 1 Timothy 3:16 reveals that the church is God’s manifestation in the flesh. God not only desires to make home in the church and to have a resting place there; He also wants to express Himself in the church. He wants to practice His New Testament economy, speak forth His desire, and manifest His glory in the church. All that He is, all that He is doing, and all that He wants to obtain are to be manifested, expressed, in the church as His dwelling place.

Growing and Being Transformed for the Building up of God’s Spiritual House

First Peter 2:5a says, “You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house.” The word “spiritual” here denotes the qualification of the divine life that lives and grows (v. 2). The house of God subsists mainly by the divine life; hence, it is a spiritual house.

As believers in Christ, we need to grow and be transformed for the building up of God’s spiritual house. God’s goal in the believers is to have a house built up with spiritual stones, not separated and scattered stones, not even a pile of stones merely gathered together, but stones built up with one another. Hence, feeding on Christ by the nourishing milk in the word of God (vv. 2-3) is not only for growing in life but also for building up. Growing is for building up. Although the nourishing milk of the word is for the soul through the mind, it eventually nourishes our spirit, making us not soulish but spiritual, suitable for building up a spiritual house for God. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 208)

A Divine and Human Incorporation Being Constituted of the Processed and Consummated God with His Redeemed, Regenerated, and Transformed Elect

The Father’s house is a divine and human incorporation of the processed and consummated God constituted with His redeemed, regenerated, and transformed elect. The Father’s house is not only a constitution; it is an incorporation.

In 14:2a the Lord Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many abodes.” All the believers in Christ, redeemed through His blood, regenerated with His life by His Spirit, and transformed with the divine element by the life-giving Spirit, are the “abodes” in the Father’s house. In our houses we have rooms. As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we all are rooms, abodes, in the Father’s house.

The Father’s house is built up by the constant visitation to the redeemed elect of the Father and the Son with the Spirit who indwells the redeemed elect to be the mutual dwelling place of the consummated Triune God and His redeemed elect. In 14:23 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” Verse 2 tells us that in the Father’s house there are many abodes, and in verse 23 we see that these abodes are built up by the Father and the Son’s visitation to those who love Him. The Spirit is not explicitly mentioned in verse 23 but rather is implied, for the Spirit dwells in the regenerated spirit of all those who love the Lord Jesus.

From our experience we know that the Father and the Son pay us a constant visitation. In our daily life the Father and the Son often come to visit us. We may be at home, at school, or at work, but wherever we may be, the Father and the Son come to visit us to do a building work in us, making an abode that will be a mutual dwelling place for the Triune God and for us. This is the building up of the Father’s house through the constant visitation of the Triune God.

In this building, Christ is making His home in the hearts of the believers strengthened into their inner man by the Father according to the riches of His glory with power through His Spirit unto the fullness (the expression) of the consummated Triune God (3:16-19).

For the Satisfaction and Rest of the Processed and Consummated Triune God

The purpose of the Father’s house is first for the invisible and mysterious Triune God to have a visible and solid manifestation—the church—among men on the earth (1 Tim. 3:15-16).

Second, the purpose of the Father’s house is for the satisfaction and rest of the processed and consummated Triune God.

The purpose of the Father’s house is also for the eternal and purposeful Triune God to carry out His eternal economy to consummate the New Jerusalem as His eternal goal for His eternal expansion and expression. The house of God, which is God’s dwelling place, eventually will be the New Jerusalem, God’s eternal goal for His eternal expansion and expression. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory,” msg. 4)

THE CHURCH BEING THE SUPPORTING PILLAR
AND HOLDING BASE OF THE TRUTH

In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul tells us that the church as the house of the living God is “the pillar and base of the truth.” The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. Here truth refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 208)

The Truth Being the Triune God

The truth borne by the church is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God (Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5). The truth, the reality, is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of God. The church bears Christ as the reality. The church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality (1:14, 17; 14:6). As the pillar and base of the truth, the church bears the reality of the Triune God. The church stands not for doctrine but for the truth, the reality of the Triune God. (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 363)

Christ Being the Mystery of God and the Church Being the Mystery of Christ

Being Solid, Strong, Clear, and Rich in the Truth

In 1 Timothy 3:15 the apostle Paul says that the church is not only the pillar of the truth but also the base of the truth. A pillar, which is a standing column, needs a solid base. The Greek word for base in this verse actually means a bulwark, a solid structure that upholds the pillar. As the pillar of the truth, the church must also have a solid base, a strong bulwark. A bulwark affords protection and defense, especially during a time of war. The church must be so solid in the truth that it will be a bulwark of the truth during times of fighting. This bulwark should be so solid that nothing, not even the “bombs” of the enemy, can shake it. The pillar rests upon such a bulwark. In order to be the pillar and base of the truth, we all must be solid, strong, clear, and rich in the truth. Every local church must be a solid bulwark and a high pillar. In every locality the pillar must be built up higher and higher to testify the truth to the whole universe. (CWWL, 1978, vol. 3, “Truth Messages,” ch. 2)

GOD BEING MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH

In 1 Timothy 3:15-16 Christ is presented as God manifested in the flesh. This is one of the greatest aspects of Christ for our experience and enjoyment. Not only was the Lord Jesus the manifestation of God in the flesh in the past; the church today should also be the manifestation of God in the flesh.

God’s Manifestation Being First in Christ as an Individual Expression in the Flesh

In verse 16 Paul says, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” The word godliness in this verse means “God-likeness.” Hence, this verse indicates that human beings may have the appearance, the expression, and the manifestation of God. In the context of this verse, the phrase the mystery of godliness means that God in His mystery can be manifested and expressed in the flesh, in human beings. Godliness is God manifested in the flesh; the mystery of godliness is God manifested in human beings. The transition from the mystery of godliness to He implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20).

God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 2:9; John 1:1, 14). The New Testament does not say that only the Son of God was incarnated. Rather, it reveals that God was manifested in the flesh, indicating that the entire God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—was incarnated. Therefore, Christ in His incarnation was the entire God manifested in the flesh.

According to the Gospel of John, the Word, who is God, became flesh (vv. 1, 14). The God who the Word is, is not a partial God but the entire God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. The Word is God’s definition, explanation, and expression. Hence, the Word who became flesh—God manifested in the flesh—is God’s definition, explanation, and expression in the flesh (v. 18). God was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

Through incarnation and human living (vv. 1, 14), God was manifested in the flesh. The expression in the flesh means “in the likeness, in the fashion, of man” (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7-8). Christ appeared to people in the form of man (2 Cor. 5:16), yet He was God manifested in a man.

God desired to become a man, and one day He became a man in the person of Christ, living on earth as a God-man. Christ lived in His humanity on the earth to express God for thirty-three and a half years. He is God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). He is the faithful Witness of God (Rev. 1:5), and He witnessed God.

Living a Human Life Not by His Humanity but by His Divinity

When He lived on earth as the God-man, He did not live by His human life but by His divine life. He lived a human life not by His humanity but by His divinity. He lived as a God-man yet not by the life of man but by the life of God. Hence, His human living was not lived out by the human life but by the divine life. He lived by always rejecting His human life, by always putting His human life under the cross. From the first day He lived on earth, He lived a crucified human life, not by His human life but by His divine life. His human living did not express humanity but divinity in the divine attributes becoming the human virtues. This is what Paul meant in 1 Timothy 3 when he spoke of Christ as God manifested in the flesh (v. 16).

The incarnation of Christ produced a God-man who lived on the earth not by His human life but by His divine life. All of His days on earth, He put Himself on the cross. He remained on the cross to die so that He might live by God, not to express man but to express God in His divine attributes becoming man’s virtues. This was the life of the first God-man as a prototype. Since today we are His reproduction, we should live the same kind of life.

To Follow Jesus Being to Live the Life of a God-Man

To follow Jesus is to live the life of a God-man, not by the human life but by the divine life, in order that God may be expressed, or manifested, in the flesh in all His divine attributes becoming the human virtues. This is the intrinsic significance of what it is to follow Christ. As God-men, we need to live a life not by ourselves but by another One, not by our human life but by His divine life, not to express ourselves but to express His divinity in His divine attributes which become our human virtues.

God being manifested in the flesh is God living a human life. We should not try to be angels, because God is not manifested in the angels but in the flesh. This means that God is living a human life. The Lord Jesus was a real, perfect man to express the complete God. He was God manifested in the flesh to express the eternal, infinite, invisible, glorious, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God through the mortal, finite, visible, inglorious man, limited in power, knowledge, and presence. Mortal is versus eternal, finite is versus infinite, visible is versus invisible, and inglorious is versus glorious. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere, but man is limited in power, knowledge, and presence.

The Church as the Body of Christ and the House of God
Being the Manifestation of God in the Flesh

First Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness. According to the context, godliness in verse 16 refers not only to piety but also to the living of God in the church, that is, to God as life lived out in the church. Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh. The church life is the expression of God; therefore, the mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church (1 Cor. 14:24-25). God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ—as His enlarged corporate expression in the flesh (Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23).

The manifestation of God in the flesh began with Christ when He was on earth (John 14:9). The manifestation of God in the flesh continues with the church, which is the increase, enlargement, and multiplication of the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16). Such a church becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God. This is God manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation (1 Cor. 7:40; Gal. 2:20). The principle of incarnation is that God enters into man and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself (John 15:4-5). The principle of incarnation means that divinity is brought into humanity and works within humanity (1 Cor. 6:17; 7:40; 1 Tim. 4:1). The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh (Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Eph. 4:24). (Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 363)

TREASURING THE CHURCH AS GOD DOES

Let us read Acts 20:28 again: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.” Here, in His charge to the elders of the church in Ephesus, Paul speaks both of the Holy Spirit and of God’s own blood in order to indicate his feeling concerning the preciousness of the church. According to Paul’s understanding, the church is altogether precious. The church is under the care of the Holy Spirit, and the church has been bought by God with His own blood. Hence, the church is a treasure in the sight of God. Paul treasured the church even as God does.

In 20:28 Paul charged the elders to treasure the church as God does and he did. The fact that God purchased the church with His own blood indicates the preciousness of the church in His sight. Having paid such a price for the church, the church surely is dear to Him. Moreover, the church is under the care of the Holy Spirit. According to Paul’s word in verse 28, the elders should consider the church very precious, regarding it as a treasure in the sight of God. The elders, in shepherding the church, should have the same feeling about the church that God has. (Life-study of Acts, msg. 54)