THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
Message Five—The Great Mystery of Christ and the Church
Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:18-25; Eph. 5:23-32
I. Christ and the church are a great mystery—Eph. 5:32; cf. 1 Tim. 3:15-16a:
A. God is a mystery, and Christ, as the embodiment of God to express Him is the mystery of God—Col. 2:2.
B. Christ also is a mystery, and the church, as the Body of Christ to express Him is the mystery of Christ—Eph. 3:4.
C. Christ and the church as one spirit, typified by a husband and wife as one flesh, are the great mystery—1 Cor. 6:17.
II. Ephesians 5 reveals that the first couple in the Bible, Adam and Eve, present a significant and complete picture, a mysterious type, of Christ and the church—Gen. 2:21-24; Eph. 5:23-32:
A. Adam is a type of God in Christ as our Husband, who is seeking a wife for Himself—Rom. 5:14; John 3:29; Matt. 9:14-15; 2 Cor. 11:2:
B. Just as it was not good for man to be alone, it was not good for God to be alone, showing that God needed to have a complement, a counterpart—Gen. 2:18-20; Isa. 54:5.
C. A husband and a wife as a complete unit are a marvelous picture of Christ and the church as one entity—Gen. 5:2; Eph. 5:28-32.
III. Ephesians 5:25-27 reveals Christ in three stages so that the church may be produced and built up to become His bride; this is seen typologically with Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:18-25:
A. In the past the incarnated Christ, the last Adam, died on the cross as our loving Redeemer in accomplishing God’s judicial redemption for the purchasing of the church—Eph. 5:25; Cor.15:45b; Heb. 9:22; Acts 20:28:
1. God becoming man, the last Adam, was typified by the creation of man, the first Adam—Gen. 1:26; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
2. God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; his sleep is a type of Christ’s death for producing the church through the accomplishment of God’s judicial redemption—Gen. 2:21; 1 Cor. 15:18; 1 Thes. 4:13-16; John 11:11-14.
a. The forgiveness of sins—Luke 24:47.
b. The washing of sins—Heb. 1:3.
c. Justification by God—Rom. 3:24-25.
d. Reconciliation to God—Rom. 5:10a.
e. Positional sanctification unto God—Heb. 13:12.
B. In the present Christ as the sanctifying life-giving Spirit is saturating us for our organic salvation with Himself as the flowing, divine, unbreakable life for the building of the church as the real Eve—Eph. 5:26; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 5:10:
1. The Lord’s pierced side was prefigured by Adam’s opened side, out from which Eve was produced—Gen. 2:21-22; John 19:34:
a. The blood out of the Lord’s side was for purchasing the church; the water out of His side is the flow of His divine life, which produces, builds up, and prepares the church to be His bride—Zech. 13:1.
b. The rib out of Adam’s side typifies the unbreakable, resurrection life that is signified by the water flowing out of Christ’s side—Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4; John 19:31-33.
c. Just as God built a woman with the rib of Adam, God builds up the church with the resurrection life of Christ—Gen. 2:22; Matt. 16:18.
d. This life flows within us, transforms us, and builds us up to be the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem as the ultimate Eve—Rev. 21:2.
2. The church comes out of Christ, as Eve came out of Adam; it has the same life and nature as Christ and becomes one with Him as His counterpart, even as Eve became one flesh with Adam —Gen. 2:21-22, 24.
a. Only that which came out of Adam could return to Adam as his counterpart; in like manner, only that which comes out of Christ can return to Christ to be His bride—1 Cor. 12:12; Col. 3:10-11.
b. The church is a pure product out of Christ; the church is a part of Christ and is nothing less than Christ Himself—cf. Eph. 5:28-30.
3. The church is being beautified through the process of sanctification by Christ as the life-giving Spirit cleansing us by the washing of the water as the flowing life of God in the word—Eph. 5: 26.
a. The cleansing by the washing of the water of life is in the word of Christ; this indicates that in the word of Christ is the water of life.
b. The Greek word rendered “word” in verse 26 is not logos, the constant word, but rhema, which denotes the instant word, the word the Lord presently speaks to us.
c. Christ’s speaking is the Spirit; it is the very presence of the life-giving Spirit—John 6:63; Eph. 6:17.
d. The indwelling Christ as the life-giving Spirit is always speaking an instant, present, living word to metabolically cleanse away the old and replace it with the new, causing an inward transformation.
e. Through such a washing process, we are saturated with Christ and transformed by Christ to be His holy, beautiful, God-expressing bride, a bride without blemish or imperfection—Rev. 19:7; cf. S. S. 6:13; 8:13-14.
C. In the future Christ as the holy Bridegroom will present us to Himself as His counterpart for His marriage just as God presented Eve to Adam as his counterpart for his marriage— Eph. 5:27, 31-32; Gen. 2:22-24;Rev. 19:7-9:
1. Ephesians 5:27 reveals the beauty of the bride, saying that Christ will “present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish”:
2. The beauty of the bride comes from the very Christ who is wrought into the church and who is then expressed through the church—Rev. 19:7.
3. The Lord’s recovery is for the preparation of the bride of Christ, who is composed of all His overcomers—Rev. 19: 7-9; Gen. 2:22; Matt. 16:18.
Ministry Excerpts:
In his exhortation in chapter five, the apostle presents the church as the Bride of Christ. This aspect of the church reveals that the church comes out of Christ as Eve came out of Adam (Gen. 2:21-22), that she has the same life and nature as Christ, and that she, as His counterpart, becomes one with Him as Eve became one flesh with Adam (Gen. 2:24). The church as the new man is a matter of grace and truth, whereas the church as the Bride of Christ is a matter of love and light. The apostle’s exhortation in chapter four is focused on the new man with grace and truth as its basic elements, but his exhortation in chapter five is focused on the Bride of Christ with love and light as its basic substances. In grace and truth we should live as the new man, and in love and light we should conduct ourselves as the Bride of Christ.
Many Christians know that husband and wife are a type of Christ and the church. However, most know this type only in a superficial way. Their knowledge of this mysterious type does not touch their being or affect their living. We need to get into the depths of this type in order that our being and our life may be changed by it.
A COMPLETE PICTURE OF CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
The first couple in the Bible, Adam and Eve, present a significant and complete picture of Christ and the church. According to the book of Genesis, God did not create man and woman at the same time and in the same way. Firstly, God formed man’s body from the dust of the ground. Then He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). After God created man, He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). The animals and the fowl were brought to Adam, and Adam named them. But for Adam “there was not found a help meet for him” (Gen. 2:20). Within Adam there was the desire to have a counterpart, to have someone to match him. Among the cattle, the beasts, and the fowl, there was no counterpart to Adam. In order to produce such a counterpart, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” (Gen. 2:21). While Adam slept, the Lord took one of Adam’s ribs and used it for the building of a woman (Gen. 2:22, Heb.). In life, nature, and form the woman was the same as the man. Therefore, when God brought the woman to Adam, Adam exclaimed, “This time it is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23, Heb.). Adam knew that at last he had found his counterpart.
Genesis 2:24 indicates that a man and his wife are one flesh. We should regard a husband and wife not as two separate persons, but as one complete person, as two halves of a whole unit. A husband and a wife as a complete unit are a marvelous picture of Christ and the church as one entity.
Because there was no counterpart for Christ in the created universe, God caused Christ to die on the cross. As He slept there, His side was opened, and blood and water came forth (John 19:34). Because in Genesis 2 the problem of sin had not come in, that chapter mentions only the rib that was taken out of Adam; it says nothing about blood. But John 19 speaks of blood, which solves the problem of sin. The water signifies the flowing life of Christ, the eternal life, which produces the church. This life is also typified by the rib. According to John 19, not one of the Lord’s bones was broken when He was on the cross. This was a fulfillment of the Scripture which said, “Not a bone of him shall be broken” (Psa. 34:20). The unbroken bone of Christ signifies Christ’s unbreakable eternal life. Hence, Adam’s rib typifies the unbreakable eternal life of Christ. It is with this eternal life that the church is built up as the Bride, the counterpart prepared for Christ. In this building up of the Bride, Christ gains the church as a match for Himself.
We have pointed out that Eve had the same life and nature that Adam had. This signifies that the church has the same life and nature that Christ has. Furthermore, just as Eve had virtually the same image as Adam, so the church bears the same image as Christ. Moreover, in stature Eve was very nearly the same as Adam. This indicates that the church has the same stature as Christ.
A COMPLETE UNIT
Together Adam and Eve made a complete unit. In the same principle, Christ and the church make a complete unit. The church is Christ’s other half. Adam and Eve became one flesh, but Christ and the church are one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). We can say to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, without the church, You are just a half. You are not complete. Likewise, without You, we are not complete either.” Praise the Lord that when Christ and the church are joined as one, they make a complete unit!
In the church there is no place for our natural life and fallen human nature. The human life and nature are not adequate to match Christ. In order to be His counterpart, we need to be one with Christ in life and in nature. This means that Christ and the church as one unit have the same life and nature. Furthermore, Christ and the church have the same image and stature. We should not merely know this as a doctrine, but see it as a heavenly vision. We need to see why we must receive Christ as our life and partake of His divine nature and, furthermore, be transformed into His image from glory to glory. We also need to see that we must attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ because we are to be Christ’s counterpart. If we see this vision, we shall be able to understand the type of Christ and the church in chapter five of Ephesians.
CHRIST NOURISHING THE CHURCH
At this point we need to go on to consider how Christ nourishes and cherishes the church. When we are nourished, something enters into our being to meet our need. Nourishment, therefore, must come out of a supply. Without a supply, it is impossible to have nourishment.
Christ nourishes the church with all the riches of the Father. Christ is the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead. Hence, all the riches of God are in Him, and He enjoys these riches. Then He nourishes the church with the very riches of the Godhead that He Himself has enjoyed.
This is proved by John 15. In this chapter the Lord Jesus says that He is the vine and that the Father is the husbandman. The Father is the cultivator, the planter, the farmer. We, the believers in Christ, are the branches. The vine nourishes the branches with what the vine absorbs from the soil. God the Father is the soil, the water, and everything to Christ as the vine. The vine absorbs the riches from the soil and the water, digests them, and then transmits them to the branches. This is the nourishing. Christ nourishes the church with the riches of the Father which He has absorbed and assimilated. By nourishing the church, Christ meets the inward need of the church.
It is correct to say that Christ nourishes the church with His life and with His word. But neither life nor His word is the source. The source is the Father. What Christ receives of the Father becomes the life and the life supply which are embodied in the Word. For this reason, the Word is the word of life, even the bread of life or the supply of life. If we would be nourished by Christ today, we need to abide in Him to absorb His content into our being as life and the life supply. In order to experience this in a practical way, we daily need to contact the living Word, for the Word is the embodiment of life and of the life supply. The more we abide in the Lord and contact the Word, the more we experience His nourishing. This is the way Christ nourishes the church.
All the members of the church need to practice abiding in the Lord. There should be no insulation, no separation, between us and the Lord and no detachment from Him. As soon as we are detached from Him, the supply of nourishment is cut off. Along with abiding in the Lord constantly, we must daily come to the Word and take it in as our life and life supply. Then we shall receive nourishment. Furthermore, all the meetings of the church should be meetings of nourishment. Morning watch and our fellowship with the saints should also be times of nourishment.
As we are nourished by the life and the life supply, we grow and we are purified. In the following message we shall see that the nourishing word is also the washing word, the cleansing word. The water we drink cleanses the fibers of our inner being. As we abide in the Lord to receive the riches of the Father and as we contact the Word to receive the life and the life supply, we are nourished by Christ. In this way Christ nourishes the church He loves.
CHRIST CHERISHING THE CHURCH
According to the New Testament, Christ’s care of the church has two aspects. The inner aspect is the nourishing, and the outer aspect is the cherishing. To be nourished is to have something imparted into us inwardly, whereas to be cherished is to be warmed and comforted outwardly. Cherishing is related to environment. In our environment or circumstances the Lord Jesus is often real to us as a warm, tender breeze blowing upon us. As this warm breeze comes upon us, we have the sense of being soothed tenderly. Although this takes place in the environment, it is something more than the environment itself. It is even something that surpasses the Lord’s presence. When the Lord’s presence becomes a gentle breeze, we experience His cherishing. This cherishing includes soothing, comfort, and rest.
In the environment of the church life, we often experience the Lord’s cherishing, although we may not even be conscious of it. However, if for any length of time we are in an environment where there is no church, we sense that the climate has changed and that the environment is different. Then we begin to sense that we have lost something, that the tender, warm breeze is no longer blowing upon us. We may have everything necessary for our material existence, but we know that something we formerly enjoyed is missing. When we return to the church life, we immediately and spontaneously enter into the environment and atmosphere of the Lord’s cherishing. Once again we are warmed, soothed, and comforted. This is cherishing.
Just as a child is cherished by the very presence of his mother, so we are cherished by the Lord’s presence. My little granddaughter often desires simply to be intimately in her mother’s presence. Simply to be in the presence of her mother is a comfort to her. The presence of her mother provides a tender, warm atmosphere. In like manner, the Lord’s presence produces an atmosphere of tenderness and warmth to cherish our very being.
We experience such an atmosphere in the church meetings. I am saddened whenever there are saints who do not care for the meetings, but prefer simply to have fellowship in their homes. No matter how enjoyable the fellowship may be in your home, the atmosphere there is not nearly as cherishing as the atmosphere in the meetings. How pleasant is the spiritual climate in the gathering of the saints! As soon as we enter this atmosphere, we are cherished by the Lord’s presence. It is by the atmosphere produced by the Lord’s brooding presence that the Lord cherishes the church. To be in this climate, this atmosphere, this environment, gives us rest, comfort, healing, cleansing, and encouragement. No atmosphere can compare to the atmosphere of the church meetings. For this reason I do not want to miss even one meeting of the church.
Nourishing and cherishing go together. Through the nourishing we enjoy the supply of life inwardly, and through the cherishing we experience the soothing, comforting atmosphere outwardly. Whenever we are in an atmosphere of cherishing, we can absorb every word of the ministry. This indicates that under the cherishing we receive nourishing. A church that is nourished and cherished in such a way will be strong and healthy.
The nourishing and the cherishing are the church’s portion, and they should be found in every meeting. If there is no nourishing and cherishing in the meetings, then there is a problem. The problem, however, may be with you and not with the church. If you are proper, normal, and healthy, you will enjoy the cherishing atmosphere of the Lord’s presence in the church and in this atmosphere receive the nourishing supply of life. Praise the Lord for the way He cares for the church! The church people have the privilege of enjoying the Lord in such a fine, tender, intimate, real way.
CHRIST’S INCREASE
As Eve was Adam’s wife, so the church is Christ’s Bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9). Furthermore, Eve was Adam’s increase, and the church is Christ’s increase (John 3:30). When John the Baptist was told of the many who were coming to Christ, John said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (John 3:29). Then he went on to say, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30). The increase in verse 30 is the Bride in verse 29. For the Lord to increase means that He must have the Bride. All the following must go to Him. All those who believe in Him should follow Him to be His increase. Although John spoke a clear word regarding this, he was not willing to practice it. This was the reason that God allowed him to be imprisoned and later beheaded. Eventually, John the Baptist received nothing, and all the increase, the Bride, went to the Bridegroom to be His increase. Just as Eve was Adam’s increase, so the church as the Bride of Christ is Christ’s increase.
THE MARRIED LIFE AND THE CHURCH LIFE
If we are impressed with the various aspects of the mysterious type of Christ and the church unveiled in this chapter of Ephesians, we shall have not only a proper church life, but also a proper married life. The wives will know what their responsibility is, and the husbands will know their responsibility. Paul’s burden here was to cover both married life and the church life at the same time. In his writing he did not separate married life from the church life. Rather, he blended the two together, for he knew that married life is actually part of the church life. Without the married life being proper, it is difficult to have a proper church life. We thank the Lord that through the proper church life our married life also can become proper. How wonderful! This is a mysterious type of Christ and the church. (Life-Study of Ephesians, msg. 53)
CHRIST PRESENTING THE CHURCH TO HIMSELF
It is such a glorious church that Christ will present to Himself at His coming back. Glory is God expressed. Hence, to be glorious is to be God’s expression. Eventually, the church presented to Christ will be a God-expressing one. Such a church will also be holy and without blemish. To be holy is to be saturated and transformed with Christ, and to be without blemish is to be spotless and without wrinkle, with nothing of the natural life of our old man.
The church that comes out of Christ will go back to Christ just as Eve came out of Adam and went back to Adam. As Eve became one flesh with Adam, so the church which goes back to Christ will be one spirit with Christ.
The church presented to Christ will be glorious; it will be the expression, the manifestation, of God. For the church to become glorious means that the church becomes God’s expression. Because the nourishing, the cherishing, and sanctifying will cause the church to be saturated with essence of God, the church will eventually become the Bride to express God. Every local church today must be God’s expression. The only way for us to become His expression is to be continually saturated with the divine essence. If we would experience this saturation, we need Christ’s nourishing, cherishing, and sanctifying.
We have pointed out that the glorious church, the church that expresses God, will be holy and without blemish. To be holy is to be separated to the Lord from common things and then saturated and permeated with the divine nature, with all that God is. The church that has become holy in this way will also be without blemish. Blemish here is like a defect in a precious stone. This defect comes from mixture within the stone. If we would be pure, we must be without mixture; that is, we must not have anything other than God in our being. One day, the church will be like this. It will be not only clean and pure, but also without blemish, without mixture. The church will be the expression of God Himself mingled with a resurrected, uplifted, and transformed humanity. This is the glorious church, the church that is holy and without blemish. In the future such a glorious church will be presented by Christ to Himself. Today, however, the church is undergoing the process of Christ’s nourishing, cherishing, and sanctifying. (Life-Study of Ephesians, msg. 54)