There is only one Body of Christ in this universe, and all the local churches are the local representations of the Body of Christ, as the Lord has ordained. In the same way, there is only one new man on the earth, and all the churches are part of the one new man.
Christ created one new man in His flesh on the cross, and He destroyed the ordinances and differences between peoples so that in Christ all the believers would be one. This has been accomplished – it is done!
However, what about our daily living? Do we live in the church life today with a consciousness of the one new man? Do we have the reality of the new man being lived out among us? When we take decisions and are about to do things, do we check with the Lord and with the Body?
Do we ask, Lord, how do the saints feel about this? How do the churches feel about this? What is the feeling in the one new man about what I am about to do?
We need to admit that in our living we have at the most reached the standard of the Body of Christ, checking mainly with the brothers and the sisters and taking care of the feeling of the Body when we are about to do something….but what about the reality of the one new man?
Are we like Paul, full of feeling about the saints in the churches and also for all the churches? Do we realize that, in our natural man, we don’t have a place in the new man? Are we conscious more of the cultural differences between us and others than of the Christ who makes us one and who matters most?
How much we need to be uplifted in our realization of the new man, so that in our daily living and in the church life we would be conscious of the new man.
All the Local Churches in Different Countries are One New Man
photo credit: World Map – Many Countries. Many Local Churches. One New Man!
If we have a clear vision of the one new man, if we see that all the local churches on earth are the one new man, we will be delivered from anything other than Christ and we will be kept in oneness.
In the aspect of being a lampstand shining with the Triune God as light, each local church is a shining lampstand, the local expression and testimony of the Triune God in humanity (Rev. 1-3, see the seven lampstands = seven local churches).
In the aspect of the Body of Christ, the local churches are the local representation and expression of the one unique Body of Christ. But in the aspect of the one new man, the local churches are not “the local one new man” – rather, all the churches on earth corporately are the one new man!
It is divisive to say that the local churches should be separate and autonomous from the other local churches. It is narrow to say that each local church has its own jurisdiction and autonomy, and no one should interfere with this.
In 1 Thes. 2:14 Paul recommends the saints in Thessaloniki for following and imitating the churches of God which are in Judea. He also encouraged the saints in different churches to participate in the grace of giving material possessions to cover the need of churches that are in need, and he directed this in the same way in all the churches (see 1 Cor. 16:1-3).
To Paul, the one new man was not local but universal, and all the local churches were part of the one new man (see Col. 3:10-11; 4:15-16). In the Lord’s recovery the Lord is recovering the truth, the enjoyment of the Lord, and the proper way to practice the church life.
However, can we say that if the Lord were to come among us, He would find the one new man in reality? It’s not about each local church being the one new man, but all the churches on the earth being the one new man.
We need to pray for one another and ask the Lord to gain the reality of the one new man on all the earth in all the churches.
Lord, shine on us, expose us, and uplift our experience of Christ as our life and person! Lord, gain the reality of the one new man in all the local churches. Release the blending among the saints and among the churches. Release the fellowship unto the gospel and the circulation among all the local churches. Gain the one new man in practicality on the earth! Lord, this is Your desire – do it!
Considering the One New Man in our Daily Living
Living in the church life with all kinds of people and cultures is not easy – it is even impossible.
However, we can live the church life spontaneously and effortlessly when we realize that in the one new man there’s no place for my natural man, my culture, my preference, and my race. In the church as the new man there is place only for Christ, and since He has received all the believers, we also should receive them and be one with them.
In the church life as the practical one new man Christ is all and in all. We need to consider the one new man in all the decisions and things in our daily life.
When we are about to go somewhere or take a decision, we should take into consideration not only what the Lord feels about it and what the saints in the church life feel about it, but also how would the churches all around the world feel about it.
This is a higher requirement than being conscious of the church and of the Body, and this will limit us and uplift us. I like what brother Lee says on this topic,
When you are deciding about a certain matter and living a certain kind of life, as you fellowship, pray, and consider together, do you think about the churches on the whole earth? Have you ever thought of the churches in Australia or in New Zealand? Have you thought of the churches in Germany, England, and other places in Europe? Have you thought of the church in Ghana, Africa? Moreover, have you thought of the churches in Brazil, South America, and the churches in Canada and the United States, North America? Have you ever thought about them in this way? I would dare to guarantee that you have never thought anything like this. At most you have thought about the brothers and sisters in [your locality], and you have considered how the brothers and sisters in [your locality] would feel about your decisions. Although this too is a requirement, it is not a very high one. However, when you put yourselves into the new man and realize that the new man is not only the church in [your locality] but includes all the churches on the whole earth, you will see that the requirement is extremely high as you consider your decisions and your living. (One Body, One Spirit, and One New Man, pp. 72-73)
The Apostle Paul practiced this – he encouraged the churches in one part of the world to follow what the churches in other parts of the world were doing, he was intimately concerned about the situation of the saints in different churches – and they were also concerned of his situation, he was thankful to the Lord for Prisca and Aquila for risking their necks for him (and all the churches were also thankful), and he was daily being pressed upon by a crowd of cares – the anxious concern for all the churches (see 1 Thes. 2:4; Rom. 16:4; 2 Cor. 11:28).
Even though he was in prison, outwardly very limited, Paul lived his Christian life with the consciousness of the one new man.
In our daily living we also need to consider how would the churches feel if we would do this or that, or how would all the churches on earth feel if we would go here or there.
On the one hand there’s the matter of the different cultures of the saints in the church life (and taking Christ as our person to be replaced by Him – only He can live in the church as the new man), and on the other hand we need to always be conscious of all the churches on the earth when we take a decision, when we do this or that, and in all the matters of our daily living.
We are not only believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ – we are part of the one new man, a living person, who will fulfill God’s eternal purpose!
This limits us, governs us, controls us, and restricts us, and at the same time it edifies us, keeps us one, enlightens us to see only Christ in all the saints, and rescues us from all other things or persons than Christ.
Lord Jesus, uplift our consciousness of the universal one new man. Thank You for the local churches. Thank You for Your universal Body. Lord, go on in gaining the reality of the new man. Replace us every day so that You may live in us and we may see only Christ in others. We don’t want to live a “compromise church life” in which we outwardly accept others – we want to let Christ live in us so that we may see Christ and minister Christ to others! Lord, may we consider the one new man in our decision-making. Grant us a vision of the new man that will govern us. Uplift our consideration, awareness, fellowship, and praying when making decisions!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Andrew Yu’ speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, The One New Man (pp. 25-26), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Entering into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, week 9 / msg 9, Arriving at a Full-grown Man (3) Carrying Out the Stewardship of God to Present Every Man Full-grown in Christ and Practicing the Church Life in the Consciousness of the One New Man.
- Further reading: recommending chs. 2-4 from, The Problems Causing the Turmoils in the Church Life (by Witness Lee).
- Hymns on this topic:
# For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord; / All the members self forsake, / And of the Body-Christ partake. / We in Christ as one new man / Now come forth to take this land. / For this cause Your Person, Lord, / We take and stand in one accord.
# So, Lord, I give my heart to Thee today, / That it may be Thy home in every way, / A place for Thee to come and settle down, / And all Thy grand recovery work to crown / In one new man.
# Now in Christ He has become my peace; / By the blood of Christ I am released. / I am one with all the saints, since He’s / Broken down the middle wall. / He has died creating one new man. / Thus fulfilling God’s eternal plan. / With all saints together, let us stand, / Shout and sing and praise the Lord!
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