Fellowship is the Circulation of the Divine Life in the Body of Christ

What a wonderful thing to realize that fellowship is the reality of the church life, for fellowship is the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ, just as there’s a circulation in our human body!

This word, fellowship, has been taken for granted by most of us, for both in the world and in the church life it is very much used. But we need to see a higher definition of what fellowship is to realize that fellowship is the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ.

Fellowship — the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ — is the reality of the church life, and this circulation of the divine life brings all the members of the Body of Christ into oneness. Hallelujah!

In the genuine church life – the real church life as revealed in the New Testament – there are problems, just as in the genuine local church in Corinth there were many problems. This may surprise us, for we may think that, since we’re in the genuine church life, there shouldn’t be any problems.

There are many problems in the church life because there are many people – every one of us are a problem! It is easy to see the problems in the church life (and in the book of 1 Corinthians), but we need to focus on Christ.

The book of 1 Corinthians is not just full of problems but also full of Christ. We need to focus on Christ and enjoy this wonderful all-inclusive One by means of fellowship. The Lord wants to renew our mind concerning the genuine church life.

When our mind is renewed concerning the Body of Christ, we can touch the reality of the Body and have the feeling of the Body.

We need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2), and we need to go further to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep; we need to have the feeling of the Body, to be in the genuine church life with a consciousness of the Body.

Fellowship is the Circulation of the Divine Life in the Body of Christ

What is fellowship? This word, which is very much used both in Christianity and in society, has been lowered down to mean merely some kind of communication, social interaction, charitable society, and supplying of financial needs.

These all are included in the fellowship, but they are just the first layer of the skin of the onion – the part you don’t eat; there are many layers of the onions, and fellowship is a great mystery.

If we say we know what fellowship is, then we actually don’t know, for fellowship is the mystery issuing from a mystery. The divine life given to us through regeneration is a great mystery, and within the divine life there’s a capability called, fellowship.

This fellowship is really a mystery: we may touch it and enjoy it, but it’s not easy to explain it. We need to open to the Lord and receive something new concerning this mystery.

The best illustration we can use for this fellowship is the circulation of the blood in our human body. In our body there’s a circulation of blood reaching every member, and blood always moves and flows between the members; this flow is a type of fellowship.

The circulation of the blood is the reality of our physical life, for if this circulation stops, even for a short time, our physical life stops. If the circulation of blood is interrupted and damaged, our physical life is damaged.

If the circulation of blood to the brain stops for even a short time, we have a stroke, for oxygen is no longer supplied to the brain. If the circulation of blood to the heart stops for a short time, we have a heart attack. Having a stroke or a heart attack are the most serious things that can happen to our physical life.

Fellowship is the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ; for us to take care of the Body is for us to take care of the flow, the circulation. Without knowing it, in our spiritual life we already had a stroke, for we may have not allowed the Spirit to flow into our mind; also, when we don’t allow the Spirit into every part of our heart, we suffer a spiritual heart attack.

We need to come to the Lord as our Physician so that He may restore the flow of life – the circulation of the divine life – to every part of our being. Fellowship is not just a good idea, something we ought to do, or something we remember.

If our physical body must be reminded to flow the blood to every part, we have a serious problem. We may say, I forgot to fellowship, sorry… – this is as if we would say, My blood forgot to take oxygen to my brain or pump it into my heart, sorry…If we need to be reminded or taught concerning fellowship, we lack some consciousness that should be there in the Body of Christ.

Most of the problems in our physical body can be solved if there’s a proper circulation of the blood, because when the blood flows, in it there’s the supply and also there are the antibodies, who seek to latch and get rid of the negative things in our body.

In the compound Spirit which flows in the Body of Christ – the circulation of the divine life – there are “spiritual antibodies” – the cross – which is included in the supply.

The Spirit that flows is like the blood in the Body of Christ, and when He flows in and among us freely, He brings with Himself the supply with all the positive things, and He also brings in the spiritual antibodies.

Such spiritual antibodies are anti-division, anti-opinion, anti-preference, etc – and all these are included in the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ.

The solution to all the problems in the church life is Christ and His cross; when Christ as the Spirit flows, the cross is included, and He solves all the problems. Christ and the cross are included in the fellowship.

Christ today is the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and He is flowing in the Body; this flow includes the effectiveness of His death.

How can we solve all the problems in the church life? It is by fellowship; real fellowship solves every problem in the church life.

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to realize that fellowship is the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ. Keep us in this circulation, this flow, of all that God in Christ as the Spirit is, so that we may receive all the divine riches, the divine supply, and the cross. Oh Lord, save us from trying to solve the problems in the church life. Keep us in the circulation of the divine life in the Body, so that the enjoyment of Christ and the application of the cross would solve all the problems in us and in the church life!

Fellowship – the Circulation in the Body of Christ – is the Reality of the Church Life

We need to be adjusted in our thought and realization concerning what fellowship is. Just as there’s a circulation of blood in the human body, so there’s a circulation in the Body of Christ, a circulation that the New Testament calls fellowship; this fellowship is the reality of the church life (1 John 1:3, 7).

Fellowship is a common participation, a joint participation; for us to have fellowship means for us to have a corporate participation in something (Phil. 4:14; 2:1). Fellowship is the issue of the eternal life, and it is actually the flow of the eternal life within all the believers.

When we are born again, we touch this flow, but we have no idea what’s going on; we sense that the divine life is flowing in us, but we’re not able to describe it. The divine life flows in us and among us in the church life; we can’t see it, but it so real!

Fellowship is one of the innate capabilities of the divine life – it is a function in the divine life and within our human spirit. In order to have this unique fellowship, however, we must live by the divine life and behave in the divine life, not in our natural life (Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11).

This fellowship is unique – in Acts 2:42, the first place it is mentioned – it is called the fellowship of the apostles.

The source of this fellowship is God Himself; the apostles enjoy the fellowship with the Father and the Son, and through their fellowship we are also brought into the same fellowship, the unique circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ.

To have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles fellowship, we need to put aside our private interests and join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God’s purpose (see Acts 2:42; 1 John 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:9).

God’s purpose in this age is to recover the genuine church life – not the doctrine or teaching of the church, but the genuine church life as the reality of the Body of Christ, the reality of the one new man.

For us to have fellowship with Him and the apostles – which work out His interest – we need to set aside our interests and purpose, and be joined to the Lord and the apostles to carry out God’s eternal purpose.

Lord Jesus, we want to live and behave in the divine life – not in the natural life – so that we may keep ourselves in the fellowship of the apostles, the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ! We want to keep the one way for the one goal to stay in the fellowship by living in the divine life in our daily life. Amen, Lord, may the flow of Your divine life in us reach every part of our being and flow unceasingly. We put aside our private interests, and we want to be joined with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God’s purpose!

Christ and His Cross are the Solution to All the Problems in the Church Life

Our God is faithful, through whom we all were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9).

If we read the book of 1 Corinthians, we may see many problems…our natural inclination is to talk about the problems, dissect them, and analyze them. But Paul said, God has called us into the fellowship of His Son. If we remain in the fellowship we may not even have to talk about the problems.

In 1 Corinthians Paul deals with eleven problems, some of which are related to the human life, marriage, and God’s administration in the church life.

Related to the human life, in the church in Corinth there was the problem of division, lawsuits, incest, gross immorality, the abuse of freedoms concerning eating and marriage, marriage itself, eating things sacrificed to idols and the damage to the conscience of others.

What would be our solution to these problems?

Then, there were even more difficult problems related to the church life, such as rebellion against the headship of Christ, problems regarding the Lord’s table, improper exercise of the spiritual gifts, not following the apostles’ teaching regarding resurrection, and material offerings.

We may not have much to say about these issues, but Paul’s solution was Christ and His cross. The solution to all the problems in the marriage life, family life, church life, service, and work is Christ and His cross. Paul realized that all these eleven problems are not the real problem; they were all symptoms.

Paul was a good spiritual doctor: he didn’t just deal with the symptoms, but he looked at the source of the sickness, which is the lack of the enjoyment of Christ with His riches and the cross.

He realized that, when the circulation of the divine life is restored, all the problems are solved. To deal with the problems in Corinth, Paul presented nineteen aspects of the all-inclusive Christ as our enjoyment.

His prescription was that we enjoy Christ as God’s power and wisdom, Christ as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, Christ as the Lord of glory, Christ as our passover, Christ as our unleavened bread, our spiritual food, our spiritual drink, and as the rock.

We just need to enjoy Christ!

How can we enjoy Him? It is by means of the fellowship, the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ. Christ today is in resurrection as the life-giving Spirit, which is the reality of the flow of every item of the all-inclusive Christ.

When we call on the name of the Lord, He infuses us with all that He is, and He applies the cross to our being. Whenever we call on the name of the Lord, we touch the Spirit, and we are restored to the circulation of the divine life. We need to call on the name of the Lord in every place! Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, keep us calling on Your name in every place and at every time so that we may remain in the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ. Save us from looking at the problems in the church life or trying to deal with them – keep us enjoy You as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit with the cross, so that Christ and the cross would become the solution to all the problems. Lord, may the circulation of the divine life be restored in the saints and among the saints.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1987, vol. 2, “The God-ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy,” ch. 17, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Genuine Church Life (2017 Thanksgiving Conference), week 4, Fellowship — the Reality of the Church Life.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The flowing of life divine, / In spirit so sweetly flows— / The overflowing life divine, / Nourishing my spirit so— / Bringing the Triune God’s fullness, / In spirit operates and moves, / Bringing me all of His supply— / Life as my supply. (Song on, The flowing of the divine life)
  # Now Thy flowing life, Lord, / Doth enlighten me, / Bringing in the spirit / Fellowship with Thee; / All my need supplying, / Making Thy demand, / Leading me to cleansing / And in Thee to stand. (Hymns #841)
  # Righteous Father, You are faithful / Through Whom we were called to be / In the fellowship of Jesus / Christ our Lord, known inwardly, / In the oneness of the Spirit / By the power of the cross, / Your unique divine solution, / Every other way a loss. (Song on, God’s Faithfulness)