The Church as the Body of Christ is the Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh

Not only Christ Himself as the Head but also the Church as the Body of Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh; God is manifested in the flesh not only through Christ but also through the church, which is the continuation and duplication of Christ.

If we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, from His incarnation to His human living, death, and resurrection, we see that He expressed God and manifested God in everything He was and in everything He did.

In Christ as a Man all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell; in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

We cannot even comprehend what the fullness of the Godhead is, but what the Bible says is that this fullness first dwelt in the Word of God – Christ as the eternal Word – and then it dwelt in Christ bodily.

Christ embodies and contains all the fullness of the Godhead, not just the riches of the Triune God; this is mindblowing.

How can the fullness of the Godhead, which requires the ever-expanding universe to contain and express, be embodied in a man, the body of the man Jesus?

We don’t know how, but we know that the entire Triune God was embodied in Him.

It was not just the Son of God, the second of the Divine Trinity, that was embodied in Christ; it was the entire Triune God with all His fullness that was embodied in Him, and the living of such a One was the manifestation of God in the flesh.

The infinite God, the One who was from eternity and is for eternity, this One was incarnated in the man Jesus; in Christ, the infinite God and the finite man became one.

God was manifested in the flesh in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is quite interesting to see that the Bible doesn’t say that “God was manifested in a human being” but that God was manifested in the flesh.

This flesh, the flesh of Jesus, was without sin; it was, however, a mortal, frail flesh which was subject to death and sickness, and in this flesh God was manifested.

And this One went through death and entered into resurrection, and in resurrection He was enlarged, duplicated, multiplied, and increased in His believers, which form the church; now the church is the manifestation of God in the flesh.

We are the embodiment of God – God was born in us, He is growing in us, and He lives in us; whenever we live by the mingled spirit, we are part of the manifestation of God in the flesh.

May the Lord continue to unveil us concerning Christ, the manifestation of God in the flesh individually, and may He grow in us, expand in us, grow in us, and live in us for the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

The Church as the Body of Christ is the Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh

1 Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also the church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the mystery of godliness.

We see from John 1:1 and 14 that Christ is God incarnated to be a man, and this One is the manifestation of God in the flesh.

He went through death and resurrection and, in resurrection, He became the Head of the Body, and all the believers were regenerated to be the many members of the Body of Christ.

Just as Christ as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh, so the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

If we read 1 Tim. 3:15-16 we may think that these verses speak of Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh, but actually, the context is the church, and these verses speak both of Christ and the church being God manifested in the flesh.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He expressed God in man; the divine attributes of God were expressed through His human virtues, and this was the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Those around Him saw a man, and He was quite despised based on how He looked and where He was from, but He was nonetheless God manifested in the flesh.

For example, after He fed the five thousand, there were many leftovers; we may have let them all “biodegrade” but the Lord who was the manifestation of God in the flesh, asked His disciples to gather the broken pieces so that nothing would be lost (John 6:12).

The result was that everything was clean and in order. This is not just something human but the manifestation of God in man, the living of One in resurrection (11:25).

After He resurrected, He left everything in order in the tomb, and this was a testimony of His resurrection to the disciples (20:7).

As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we should also live in resurrection, denying the self and putting our flesh aside, so that God may live in our living.

When we do this, He expresses His divine attributes through our human virtues for God to be manifested in the flesh.

We all need to live in resurrection by denying ourselves and putting our flesh to death so that Christ may live in us; then, we will be part of the church, the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness; this mystery is not merely a living in piety but the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Just as the Head, Christ, was the individual manifestation of God in the flesh, so the church, the Body of Christ and the house of God is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

When we live in resurrection, we express God, and we become the mystery of godliness; the living of the proper church is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh in a corporate way (1 Cor. 14:24-25).

Today God manifests Himself in the church as His enlarged corporate expression in the flesh (Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23).

When we see this, when we realize that Christ lives in us and we need to live Christ so that, just as the Head, Christ, manifested God in the flesh, so we, the Body of Christ, would manifest Him in the flesh, we will put ourselves aside and choose to live in resurrection.

This is the truth that we must uphold and support, that the church life is the expression of God, for the church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

Lord Jesus, we choose not to live by the flesh but in resurrection so that God may live in our living. Amen, Lord, make us the same as You are in Your divine attributes as our human virtues for the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh. We give ourselves to You, dear Lord, to no longer live in ourselves or by ourselves but in the spirit and by the divine life for God to be expressed through us. May You gain a corporate living and expression of Christ in the church so that God would be corporately manifested in the flesh for the glory of God! Amen, Lord, may the manifestation of God in the flesh continue with the church today – even with us!

The Great Mystery of Godliness is that God became man so that man may become God in Life and Nature to produce a Corporate God-man for the Manifestation of God in the Flesh

When we look at the incarnation, human living, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ, we are amazed; His living was so wonderful yet so mysterious, for somehow God was manifested in the flesh.

Here we have a Man who was mingled with God, and in this Man, God was expressed to the uttermost.

The manifestation of God in the flesh began with Christ when He was on earth (John 14:9), but it did not stop there.

Christ Himself was the mystery of godliness, for He lived not merely in a pious or godly way but in a way that manifested God in the flesh.

Furthermore, the church continues the manifestation of God, for the church is the increase of Christ, the enlargement of Christ, and the multiplication of Christ to be the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh. Wow!

When Christ is lived out in the believers in Christ, this is the manifestation of God not only in a man but in many men, according to the New Testament principle of incarnation (1 Cor. 7:40; Gal. 2:20).

God today is moving and is doing all things in the principle of incarnation, that is, God is entering into man to mingle Himself with man and make man one with Him (John 15:4-5).

In this organic union between God and man, God can do things in an unhindered way, and He can be manifested in the flesh.

Everything God does today is in the principle of incarnation; according to this principle, divinity is brought into humanity and works within humanity.

We are joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), and we simply need to abide in Him, taking Him as our home and allowing Him to make His home in our heart.

When we do this, we become the great mystery of godliness!

The great mystery of godliness is simply that God became 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).

This is what God is after, and He will gain this. He wants to impart Himself into man and make Himself one with man and man one with Him.

Through regeneration, He comes into us and makes us one spirit with Him; then, through transformation, He works Himself into our soul so that we may think as He does, love what He loves, and choose what He chooses.

Furthermore, through glorification, He will transfigure our body to make it the same as His glorious body so that He can be fully expressed through every part of our being.

God desires to be manifested in the flesh in a corporate way; He doesn’t want to be manifested by the flesh, that is, for the flesh to try to manifest God, but that He would work Himself into man so that the many men in the flesh become the corporate manifestation of God.

This is what we become and this is what we will be; this is the highest truth in the Bible, and we as the church uphold this truth and support this truth, for we experience this and will become this.

We as men in the flesh are learning not to live by the flesh but exercise our spirit to live by the divine life in resurrection, and we become the great mystery of godliness – God manifested in the flesh in a corporate way.

The key to carry out God’s manifestation is not the flesh but our spirit; it is in our spirit that we are joined to the Lord, and whenever we live in the spirit, we express God corporately, manifesting Him in a corporate way.

Thank You, Lord, for coming into us to be joined to us and make us one spirit with You. Hallelujah, we are joined to the Lord as one spirit, and He lives in us today! We turn to You, dear Lord, and we take You as our life and person. We refuse to live by the flesh or in the self; we choose to live one spirit with You today! Mingle Yourself more with us today and live in us for the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh. Amen, Lord, make us part of the great mystery of godliness in the universe – God being manifested in the flesh in a corporate way in and through the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. James Lee for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (pp. 3664-3665) by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing the Truth, being Absolute for the Truth, and Proclaiming the Truth in this Present Evil Age (2021 Memorial Day Weekend Conference), week 5, Upholding the Truth and Testifying to the Truth that the Church is the Pillar and Base of the Truth and the Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory. / And confessedly, / Great is the mystery, / The mystery of godliness: / And confessedly, / Great is the mystery, / The mystery of godliness. (Scripture song)
  – Lord, we see Thy glory, / Shown in human beauty, / Full of splendor, manifested / In humanity. (Hymns #62)
  – Live through me, Lord; let self no longer bind Thee; / Remove all traces of its hold on me. / Be magnified in every word and action; / In me, Thy living manifested be. (Song on, Live Through Me, Lord)