In order for the one new man to become perfect functionally, we all need to experience Christ so that He may be wrought into us to be our everything; as Christ saturates us, we as His members are joined and knit together, and we function in our measure for the building up of the Body.
On the one hand God has already created the one new man in the body of Christ on the cross; He has put together the Jewish and the Gentile believers to be one new man by tearing down the middle wall of partition, wiping the handwriting in ordinances, and removing any difference between us (Eph. 2:15).
On the other hand, the one new man who was created by Christ (and which is complete organically) has to become perfect functionally so that the new man would become a full-grown man that expresses God and represents Him on earth.
For the practical existence of the one new man we need to grow in life day by day; it is of utmost importance for all the saints to grow in life so that the new man would come into existence.
The perfecting of the new man is through the growth in life, and this perfecting brings about the function of the new man.
Just as a newborn babe has all the necessary organs for living and existence, so the one new man is complete organically; however, for it to be perfect functionally, we all need to grow in life unto maturity, and our growth has to be in the Body and for the Body.
The way the Body grows is not by more teachings, more doctrines, or better organization; the Body of Christ grows and is built up in life, by the growth in the divine life of all the members of the Body of Christ.
As Christ cherishes us and nourishes us, we grow in life (Eph. 5:29); as we learn to cherish and nourish others in Christ, they are helped to grow in the divine life and develop their spiritual function.
The Body of Christ needs to grow in life, and the one new man has to be a full-grown man; the way is through cherishing and nourishing for the growth in life.
Even though this sounds so simple and normal, we need to be reminded of this again and again: we need to grow in the divine life every day for the practical existence of the one new man.
We need to daily cooperate with the Lord and allow Him to work Himself into us so that we may function in the Body and be in practicality the one new man God desires to gain.
The more the one new man grows through receiving the proper nourishment, the more he will function normally, and he will get to be perfect functionally. It is not too much to daily ask the Lord,
Lord Jesus, grow in me today for the building up of the Body and the perfecting of the one new man! For Your heart’s desire to be accomplished and Your purpose to be fulfilled, give me the growth in the divine life for today. Amen, Lord, I am here for Your purpose, and I give myself to You to grow in life through the proper nourishment so that the Body may be built up, the new man would be perfected, and You would have a way to come back for Your prepared bride!
Cooperating with Christ by Being Nourished to Grow in Life and Function in our Measure for the Body and the New Man
On the one hand, Christ gave some gifts to the Body – the apostles, prophets, shepherds and teachers, and evangelists; these do not replace the members of the Body to function in their stead, but they perfect the saints to build up the Body.
On the other hand, the perfected members of the Body of Christ function each in their measure together with the joints of the rich supply to build up the Body of Christ.
But where in Christianity do we see such an organic functioning of all the members of the Body? Many times in Christianity we see believers coming together and sitting to listen someone speak or perform something, and then they go home.
The reason for no functioning is the lack of proper nourishing that leads to growth and issues in function. We need to cooperate with the Lord by being nourished to grow in the divine life and function in our measure in the Body for the one new man to be perfect functionally.
We need to return to the beginning, to what the word of God says; Paul testified that we need to be richly fed and nourished with Christ in His word, and this will issue in our growth in life, which results in our functioning as members of the Body.
We need to take Christ in day by day until we are saturated with Him; in this way we will become functioning members of the Body, even gifts constituted by Christ who has been crucified and resurrected, and who has ascended and descended.
From the time that Christ has been ascended, He has been working as the Head of the Body to regenerate many believers, and then perfect them by saturating them with Himself so that they would be functioning members of the Body.
We were all enemies of God, but one day Christ defeated us, and we became vanquished foes and members of the Body of Christ; now He gradually fills us and saturates us with Himself so that we may function in the Body and for the one new man.
He uses many gifts to perfect us by nourishing and cherishing us, so that our organic function in the Body would be manifested.
He sanctifies us, purifies us, and transforms us to become functioning members in the Body, so that the whole Body would be joined and knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part (see Eph. 4:12-13).
Our functioning in our measure in the Body will cause the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love, and this will cause the one new man to be perfect functionally.
We today need to cooperate with Christ by first being nourished to grow in the divine life and function in our measure in the Body and for the new man.
Then, we need to cooperate with Christ as the Head of the Body to nourish and cherish the fellow members of the Body for their growth in life that they may function in their measure for the Body and the one new man.
Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with You by being nourished and saturated with You to grow in life and function in our measure in the Body for the one new man to be perfect functionally! Fill us and saturate us with Your life until we are sanctified, purified, and transformed to become functioning members in the Body of Christ. Lord, release the function of all the members of Your Body through their normal day-by-day growth in the divine life for them to function in their measure!
Experiencing Christ to Grow in Life and Function for the New Man to be Perfect Functionally
For the growth of the corporate new man, we all need to experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ, so that the all-inclusive Christ would be wrought into our being to be our everything.
The result of this process is that the organically perfect new man will become perfect functionally. We need to let Christ make His home in our heart so that He may work Himself into us and saturate us with Himself (Eph. 3:16-17).
The all-inclusive Christ needs to be wrought into our being to be our everything so that the one new man may become perfect functionally.
How can the one new man be perfected? it is not by teaching or doctrine but by the nourishing for the growth in life. IN a sense, teaching may even hinder or frustrate the growth in life, for when we focus on teachings, we may know many things but we may not allow Christ to grow in us and be wrought into us.
The way the one new man is perfected so that it may become perfect functionally is through growth in life, and our growth in life comes through the experience of Christ.
We need to experience Christ day by day; we need to experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ, that is, experience and enjoy Christ as the life-giving Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God.
As we experience Christ and enjoy Him as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, we can minister Christ to others, and they can be nourished to grow and function in the Body.
Christ was crucified, resurrected, and ascended, and He is now working in us all to constitute us into functioning members of the Body of Christ.
He carries out this work mainly by making His home in our heart and by saturating us with Himself; this leads to us being sanctified, purified, nourished, cherished, and transformed, and we become perfect functionally.
We need to daily be saturated with Christ and filled with Him, and we need to let Him make His home in our hearts through faith; then, as He saturates us and permeates us, we become in reality parts of the Body with a particular measure of function.
What comes out of us will be the function that we have in the Body, and the Body will grow by building itself up in love. This will cause Satan – God’s enemy – to tremble, and it will hasten the Lord’s coming back.
May we be those who daily experience Christ so that we may grow in life and function in our measure for the one new man to be perfect functionally and thus hasten the Lord’s return!
Eventually, this new man will be a full-grown man, and he will become the prepared bride to bring the Lord back. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we all may pursue the growth in life that the Lord may come back.
Lord Jesus, we want to experience You daily that we may grow in life and function in our measure in the Body for the new man to be perfect functionally and thus hasten Your return! May we experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ so that the all-inclusive Christ would be wrought into us to be our everything! Amen, Lord, have mercy on us that we may all pursue the growth in the divine life to have our function developed and bring the Lord back soon!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message given by the brothers for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 93 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Goal of the Lord’s Recovery – to Bring Forth the One New Man (2018 ICSC), week 2, Being Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind for the Practical Existence of the One New Man.
- Hymns on this topic:
# By Thy Spirit daily strengthened / In the inner man with might, / I would know Thy love surpassing, / Know Thy breadth and length and height; / Ever of Thy riches taking, / Unto all Thy fulness filled, / Ever growing into manhood, / That Thy Body Thou may build. (Hymns #840)
# Holding Christ, as members growing, / Each his function must observe; / Christ receiving, Christ partaking, / To His Body Christ we serve. (Hymns #912)
# To the Head fast holding ever, / That we may together grow, / From the Head supplies incoming / Thru us to the Body flow. / Lord, anew we give our bodies; / May we be transformed to prove / All Thy will, to know Thy Body, / And therein to serve and move. (Hymns #913)
About aGodMan
The new man is not perfected mainly by teaching. Teaching may actually be a frustration to our growth in life. Before the new man could be created, all the ordinances had to be abolished….Ordinances are obstacles to the formation of the new man, and doctrines are frustrations to the growth of the new man….Growth only comes through the experience of Christ. The degree to which we can minister Christ is in direct proportion to our experience of Christ….As we minister Christ, others will be nourished.
The very Christ who was crucified and resurrected and who has ascended to the third heaven is now working within us to constitute us into functioning members of the Body. He carries out this work by making His home in our hearts and by saturating us with Himself. As He saturates us, we are sanctified, purified, nourished, cherished, and transformed. The result is that we become perfected functionally. In this way the Body grows and builds itself up. The Body is not built directly by the Head or by the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11; it is built up directly by those members who have been perfected by the gifted ones.
The more we are saturated with Christ, the more we become in reality parts of the Body with a particular measure of function. Then wherever we may be we shall function properly, and the Body will grow. This will cause Satan, the enemy of God, to tremble. It will also hasten the coming back of the Lord Jesus. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 773, 775-776, by Witness Lee)
Amen Lord Jesus