Church is the House of the Living God; the Living God and the Living Church are One!

When Paul spoke of the church as the house of God, he said that God is the living God, and the church is the house of the living God; the living God lives in the church and is subjective to the church, and a living God and a living church live and move together as one.

Amen, we are the church, the house of God, even the house of the living God!

For us to live and serve God in the church according to the vision of God’s economy concerning the church, we need to see what is the church and what is the function of the church.

The church is not only the gathering of the called-out ones.

The word church in Greek is ekklesia, which denotes a gathering of the called-out ones; the church, however, is much more than this.

The church is the house of God.

The church is of God; God Himself is the source, element, and essence of the church, and the church is of God and in God.

We need to see what is the church and what is the function of the church; may the Lord have mercy on us and enlighten us to see the church as He sees it.

The church is composed of God mingled with man, and anything that is not of God cannot be in the church, for the church is of God.

Furthermore, the church is the house of God and the household of God.

This means that the church is both the place where God dwells with man (the house of God) and the family of God, the folks of God, those who belong to God’s species to be God’s family.

On one hand, we are the temple of God, the house of God, for God to dwell in us and for us to dwell in God.

On the other hand, we are the family of God, for all believers in Christ as components of God’s house are regenerated with the life of God to be part of God’s family.

How wonderful it is to know that we are part of God’s family!

A family is not an organization or a social club; a family is an organic entity, a collection of people who share the same life and the same family values.

We believers in Christ share the same life of God, the same nature of God, and we even share the same Triune God, being one in God and with one another to be the church as the house of God and the household of God. Hallelujah!

We are children of God, having His life and nature, to be one in His life. We partake of the nature of God, the divine nature of our heavenly Father, and we are one in His nature.

Furthermore, we enjoy and partake of the Triune God dispensing Himself in Christ as the Spirit into us, and in the dispensing Triune God, we are one. Praise the Lord!

The Church is the House of the Living God: the Living God Lives in the Church Subjectively

In 1 Tim. 3:15 Paul spoke of the church as the house of the living God; our God is living, and we are the church of God, the house of the living God.

On one hand, the church is God’s house; on the other hand, the church is God’s household, His family.

Heb. 3:6 says that Christ is the Son over God’s house, whose house we are.

We believers in Christ are the house of God in the New Testament; in the Old Testament, the house of God was the house of Israel (Lev. 22:18; Num. 12:7), as symbolized by the tabernacle or the temple among them (Exo. 25:8; Ezek. 37:26-27), but in the New Testament, the church is God’s house.

Actually, the children of Israel as God’s people in the Old Testament are a type of us, the New Testament believers (1 Cor. 9:24-10:11).

Hallelujah, we as the church are the Body of Christ and the house of God, even the house of the living God!

To Christ, we are the Body of Christ; to God the Father, we are the house of God.

The church is the Body of Christ, an organism for the Head to move, express Himself, and live.

The church is the house of God as a living entity, a living house; the church is the house of the living God.

1 Pet. 4:17 also says that the church is the house of God.

It is from His house, the church, that God begins His governmental administration by His disciplinary judgment over His own children, so that He may have a strong ground to judge those who are disobedient to His gospel and rebellious to His government.

God’s house, His household, is composed of us, the many believers in Christ. Our God is a living God.

He is not a doctrine, a teaching, or a concept; our God is living. He is full of life; He even is the source of life.

Without God, there is no life, and because He is, we all have life.

We believers in Christ do not only have the human life in our body but even more, we have the life of God in our spirit, for we were born of the Spirit in our spirit to be children of God, having the life of God (John 1:12-13; 3:6).

The living God, who lives in the church, must be subjective to the church, not merely objective.

We are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us (1 Cor. 3:16).

We are the temple of God not only personally or individually but much more, corporately, together.

The church is the temple of God, the place where God dwells.

The church is the sanctuary of the living God, and the church is built with God and man; the church is built with the Triune God and the redeemed and transformed humanity.

Our God is living and, because He is living, we as the church are the church of the living God. He is subjective to us.

God is not something objective to us, something in the heavens that we worship and await His leading by a miraculous means.

God is subjective to us, for the living God who lives in the church is subjective to the church.

We enjoy God, we partake of what He is, and we fellowship with Him; therefore, we are living in Him, with Him, and by Him.

We believers in Christ are a living people worshipping and being one with our living God.

Because God is living, we are living. He is living in us. The church as the house of God is living in God, by God, and with God. Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord, the church is the house of the living God! Amen, Lord, thank You for coming into us to be our life and our everything to make us the church, the house of God. Praise the Lord, we believers in Christ have a living God, and we are the living people of our living God! Amen, Lord, You are our living God, and You are so subjective to us. We come to You in our spirit to fellowship with You, contact You, and receive Your leading and guidance. We come to You again and again to just enjoy You and fellowship with You in spirit. Thank You for being so subjective to us. We can enjoy You and apply You in all the details of our daily living. Amen, Lord, thank You for coming into us to dwell in us and make us the temple of God, the dwelling place of God! Hallelujah, the church is the house of the living God so that the living God may live, move, and do everything in the church, one with the church, and through the church!

The Living God and the Living Church Live, Move, and Work Together. Hallelujah!

Because our God is living and we are the church as the house of God, the church is the house of the living God.

A living God and a living church live together, move together, and work together.

As we live the church life, we do not merely follow some outward rules, regulations, and customs; we live one spirit with the Lord and we do all things in Him and with Him.

Our God is living, He is subjective to us, and we live in Him, by Him, and with Him.

When others come among us, they should not only see a good arrangement, lovely singing, and great sermons; what they should see is the living God and the living church living, moving, and working together.

In our meetings, in our service, and in our ministry, we need to be one with the Lord so that others may see that the living God is living, moving, speaking, and acting among us.

We do not put on a show nor do we deliberately do this or say that; we simply live one spirit with the Lord for Him to be expressed through us.

The church is the house of the living God; think about it, is the church where you are living?

This doesn’t mean that there should be lots of activities, lots of singing and shouting, etc; it simply means that we all need to be vital and living, one with the Lord.

We need to help one another to contact our beloved Lord Jesus in a living way so that we may be the living church matching and being one with our living God.

Like Paul, we should realize that we have been crucified with Christ and it should be no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20).

Every morning we need to rise up and contact the Lord, partaking of His riches and being nourished with Him in His word.

Then, throughout the day we need to have a revived living, a living in which we are overcoming by contacting the Lord so that we may be the church as the house of the living God.

May we be those who are revived every morning and live an overcoming life every day.

Is God living to us? Does He speak to us? Does He reveal to us what He wants from us?

We need to daily contact the Lord in spirit in a personal way so that we may have His appearing, receive revelation from Him, and have Him living in us and to us.

Especially these days, as we live toward the end of this age, we need to take His word into us in a living way so that we may receive and be infused with spirit and life (John 6:63), and we need to be vital and living persons in the church life.

God is the living One, the moving One, and the working One; He is always living, moving, and working, and we as the house of the living God need to match Him by being one with Him.

What we need is not better methods or more teachings; we need to touch the Lord in a living way, contacting Him again and again, so that we may be vital persons.

We need to be delivered from the deadness of Sardis and the lukewarmness of Laodicea; we need to be full of life by contacting the living One and full of love toward Him by loving Him to the uttermost.

Are we dead as we practice the church life?

Are we lukewarm when it comes to contacting the Lord and being in the meetings with the saints?

Do we consider ourselves as being old and with much experience in the church life, so now we don’t have to be fresh and new with the Lord? Oh, Lord Jesus!

There are no such things as “old branches in the vine” who do not bear fruit (because they are so old) but rather hold the younger branches, who in turn bear fruit.

There are only branches abiding in the vine (John 15:1-5) bearing fruit by enjoying the riches of the vine.

Amen, may we be those who abide in the Lord by maintaining a constant fellowship with Him throughout the day so that He as the living One would live in us and be expressed through us to make us the church as the house of the living God!

He as the vital One lives in us, and we turn to Him, contact Him, remain in His presence, and abide in Him, so that the living God would live, move, speak, and act among us.

May the Lord really gain this among us in the church life the reality of this matter.

May the living God and the living church live, move, and work together for all to see the expression of God in the church!

Lord Jesus, we come to You to contact You every morning; revive us every morning as we come to Your word. Amen, Lord, we want to have a fresh contact with You every morning and live an overcoming life every day so that we may be living and vital persons! We open to You. We come to You as we are, opening all the inner parts of our being to Your divine shining, dispensing, enlightening, judging, and infusing. Infuse us with all that You are. May the living God be infused into and mingled with the church to make the church the house of the living God. Amen, Lord, because God is living, we as the church also are living in Him, by Him, and with Him. Amen, Lord, may a living God and a living church live, move, and work together. Live in us today. Work in us and move in our moving today. Lord Jesus, make the church Your duplication in a full way for You to gain Your glory in the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 161 and 363 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 8, entitled, The Function of the Church (1) The House of the Living God and the Pillar and Base of the Truth.
• Similar articles on this article:
  – My Sweet Experience of Growing up in the Church Life, article via, Living to Him.
  – The church in Ephesians, a portion from, Four Crucial Elements of the Bible, The—Christ, the Spirit, Life, and the Church, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – Have You Seen the Heavenly Vision of Christ and the Church? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The church as the household of God in Ephesians, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The house of the living God, a portion from, Life-Study of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – The subjective God – the Trinity in Christian experience, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Body of Christ – The Church of God as the Manifestation of God in the Flesh, a portion from, The God-Men, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I love Thy kingdom, Lord, / The house of Thine abode, / The Church our blest Redeemer bought / With His own precious blood. / I love the Church, O God! / Her walls before Thee stand, / Dear as the apple of Thine eye / And graven on Thy hand. (Hymns #853 stanzas 1-2)
  – The church is the house of the living God; / The church is the pillar and base of the truth. / And great is the myst’ry of godliness; / That God was manifested in the flesh. (Scripture song)
  – Christ to me is so subjective, / In my spirit dwelleth He; / Christ to me is all-inclusive, / As the Spirit one with me. / So subjective is my Christ to me! / Real in me, and rich and sweet! / All-inclusive is my Christ to me! / All my needs He fully meets. (Hymns #537 stanza 1 and chorus)