We need to give the Lord the freedom and the permission to touch us, enlighten us, and speak a direct word to us concerning the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
We may have seen a vision of God’s building and we may have realized that the building is the highest test of our spirituality, but are we built up with the saints in the Body? We may have realized that the building up of the church as the Body of Christ is through the inner experience of the indwelling Christ, but how much do we see the Body and care for the Body?
The Lord promised He will return quickly, but it has been more than 2000 years since He left and, because His Body is not built up and the Bride is not prepared, the Lord is delayed in His coming.
We need to be open to the Lord as our real Teacher and Trainer to be perfected and edified so that we may realize that the building up of the Body of Christ is by the growth in the divine life. We build up the church as the Body of Christ by growing in the divine life, and the growth of the Body is the increase of God within all the members of the Body.
As human beings we develop from a single cell into full-grown people by the miraculous normality of growing in the human life. In the Christian life we develop from receiving the seed of life to being built up into the Body of Christ, the one new man, by growing in the divine life.
The Body of Christ is NOT an organization but an organism, and the Lord is building up the Body as the organism of the Triune God by growing in all the members of the Body of Christ daily.
We need to hold to Christ, the Head, in all things, and out from Him something will come to supply us for our growth in life (Eph. 4:15-16). When all the Body of Christ holds Christ as Head, the supply from the Head causes the Body to grow and be built up. Our growth in the divine life by holding the Head is the growth of God, and God increases in all the members of the Body for the building up of the Body in love.
The Body of Christ as the Church of God is an Organism and not an Organization
We need to realize that the church of God as the Body of Christ is not an organization of human beings but an organism, the organism of the Triune God (see John 15:1-5). An organisation is something orderly produced through hierarchy, but an organism is something wonderful and orderly produced by life.
The Body of Christ is NOT an organization composed of believers in Christ in a set hierarchy in which Christ is the Head and there are some “bishops”, “reverend”, “pastors”, etc that rule over the believers to make sure everything is in order. On the contrary, the Body of Christ is an organism where we see a miraculous normality: all believers receive the divine life in their spirit and this life grows in them in a normal way unto maturity for the building up of the Body of Christ.
It is normal because the divine life grows normally day-by-day, and it is miraculous because the result is a built up Body for God’s corporate expression in humanity.
This is similar to how things happen in the human realm with us: we started as a single cell, and there is a lot of growth until we become mature grown-ups who can do so many things. In the spiritual realm, all believers have the seed of the divine life in them and this life grows in them day by day.
The building up of the Body of Christ doesn’t take place primarily by human work and activity – although there must be a great deal of human work and activity to produce believers, raise up local churches, care for the saints, edify the believers, etc; rather, the building up of the Body is by the growth in the divine life of all the believers in Christ.
What the enemy has been doing in his subtlety is to interfere with the proper growth in life of the saints throughout the ages, and thus he delayed the building up of the Body of Christ.
Since the Body of Christ is the organism of the Triune God composed of the many believers in Christ who have the divine life within them, the building up of the Body is the growth in life of the many members of the Body.
This is why in the New Testament when the church and the Body are mentioned we are told of being baptized into one Spirit and being given to drink of the one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), holding the Head to grow with the growth of God (Col. 2:19), and growing up into the Head in all things as we hold Christ as the Head (Eph. 4:15).
Also, just as in our human body we have the circulation of life by the circulation of the blood, so in the Body of Christ, there’s the circulation of the divine life, the fellowship of the divine life, which blends all the members together in spirit.
The church as the Body of Christ is the organism of the Triune God, the universal vine tree where Christ is the vine, we are the branches, the Spirit is the flowing of life in the Body, and the Father is the husbandman taking care of the vine (see John 15:1-5).
Lord Jesus, we open to You to see a clear vision of the church as the Body of Christ being the organism of the Triune God in humanity. Save us from making the church an organization with a man-made hierarchy to establish order among the believers. Lord, cause us to see the Body, know the Body, and care for the Body. May we realize that we are members of the organic Body of Christ growing in the divine life day by day for the building up of the Body of Christ!
The Organic Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ is the Growth in Life of all the Believers
Since the church as the Body of Christ is an organism, the building up of the church is the organic growth of all the members of the church.
Every living organism is built up by its growth in life, and with the life there’s the life essence, the life power, the life law, and the life shape. Through regeneration we have received the divine life, and this life has the essence of life which is Christ as the Spirit, the power of the divine life to grow in us and transform us, the law of life which operates in us to conform us to God’s image, and the shape of life which is the image of the Firstborn Son of God (Rom. 8:29).
The law of life directs the growth and development in the Body and produces all the functions in the Body, maintaining everything in order. What the Lord desires to do is to build up the church organically, since the church is the organic Body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:12-13; Eph. 1:22-23).
The organic building up of the church as the Body of Christ is actually the growth in life of all the believers in Christ. Paul planted, Apollo watered, but God causes the growth; our growth in life comes from God’s life within us (1 Cor. 3:6-9).
As we hold to truth in love we grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16).
How much organic building up in the Body we have experienced depends upon how much growth in the divine life we have had. We have been put in the Body of Christ as members to hold Christ as the Head, and out from the Head comes the supply for us to grow in life and build up the Body (see Col. 2:19).
On the one hand we hold the Head and receive the life supply; on the other hand, we are rooted and grounded in Christ as the soil to receive the rich nutrients and grow in the divine life. When we hold Christ as the Head, we are rooted in Him and we receive the life supply to grow in life and build up the Body of Christ.
Our growth in the divine life is the growth of God (Col. 2:19); in Himself God is complete and perfect eternally, with no need to grow; but in us, His Body, Christ needs to grow and be added to us for His growth in humanity.
May we cooperate with the Lord for the building up of the church as His Body by growing in life every day through holding Christ as Head and being rooted in Christ as the soil to receive our growth from Him!
Lord Jesus, we hold You as the Head to receive the life supply from You so that we may grow in life for the building up of the Body. Lord, give us today’s portion of grace for our growth in life in the Body. Cause us to grow in the divine life unto maturity so that the Body of Christ may be organically built up! Oh Lord, we pray for all the saints to grow in life by holding You as the Head to receive the supply, so that the Body may be built up!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msg. 44, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Vision, Practice, and Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, week 9 / msg 9, The Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ (3) – The Organic Building by the Growth of Life and the Mingling of God and Man and the Lord’s Need of Overcomers to Care for the Body and Build Up the Body.
- Hymns on this topic:
# The living vine, a reality / Of God and man, one organically / Mutual abode, organism sweet. / Expression full, mingling complete. / When we abide, there’s a flow within. / As branches we—are expressing Him. / Our God needs us, we depend on Him. / To bear much fruit, to bring others in. / Father, Cultivator—Husbandman, / The source is He. / Soil, sunshine and the air— / Nutrients complete. / Son, the living vine is— / The embodiment of God. / And the Spirit makes Him real— / As the life juice sweet! (Song on the Organism of the Triune God)
# But holding to truth in love / We may grow up in all things / Into Him who is the Head / Christ is the Head / Out from Whom all the Body / Being joined together and / Being knit together through / Ev’ry joint of the rich supply / And through the operation / In the measure of each one part / of each one part / Causes the growth of the Body unto the / building up of itself in love, / in love, in love. (Song on Eph. 4:15-16)
# To the Head fast holding ever, / That we may together grow, / From the Head supplies incoming / Thru us to the Body flow. (Hymns #913)
About aGodMan
Now that the Body of Christ has been formed, this Body needs to grow. Its growth is by the increase (growth) of the Triune God within all its members, who grow into the Head, Christ, in everything (Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15)….First Corinthians 12:13 says that we were all baptized in one Spirit into one Body. Then it says that we were all given to drink one Spirit. Now that we have been baptized in one Spirit into one Body, we need to drink the one Spirit so that the Body may grow. The one Spirit is the supply that we need to grow in this Body. (1993 Blending Conference Messages concerning the Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, p. 69)