Living in the Resurection Life of Christ for the Building up of the Body of Christ

The church as the Body of Christ is an organism absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ, and in the church life we experience the principle of resurrection until everything we say, do, and are in the church if is an expression of Christ in resurrection.

This week is our last on the topic of, Knowing Life and the Church, and the may subject is, Living in the Resurrection Life of Christ under the Unique Headship of Christ and Growing Up into the Head, Christ, in All Things for the Reality and Building Up of the Body of Christ.

Just as in the human life, we all are at different stages of growth and experience of life, so the matter of the Body of Christ is lived out and experienced by us at different stages.

The word of God comes to us wherever we are, in the principle of incarnation, and speaks to us to uplift our appreciation and experience of Christ for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ.

We first begin with learning the basic objective truth of the Body as it is mentioned in the Bible, and then the light of life shines on these truths to make them truth and reality to us; now we touch something of the Body.

Then, a vision comes, which is the accumulation of the unveiling to see the revelation; gradually, the vision of the Body becomes the governing factor in our life, dethroning us, directing us, motivating us, and empowering us.

Finally, we will know the Body through the experience of life in the fourth stage of its experience. We need to know that the divine life we received through regeneration, which is Christ Himself, is the life of the Body.

This life is in our regenerated spirit, and this life knows the Body, senses the Body, and is conscious of the Body. In its earliest stages in us, the divine life is covered over by layers of the flesh, the self, and the natural life with its constitution.

Therefore, we need to pass through the stages of dealing with sin and the natural life, we need to consecrate, and we will begin to know the teaching of the anointing.

Then we enter into the stage of the cross, and as the cross is applied, it touches all the layers. First we deal with the flesh, the living of the old man, then we deal with teh self – the soul life mingled with the satanic element and expressed through the opinion, and then we deal with the natural constitution.

Finally, under the discipline of the Holy Spirit and our cooperation, our outer man is truly broken.

Now Christ as the life of the Body with a consciousness of the Body emerges, and we just know the Body – the Body is a reality, and we are now in another universe, in another realm, in which we realize that we can’t live without the Body, we can’t pray or be a Christian without the Body, and we can’t exist without the Body; we simply cannot be independent anymore.

Lord Jesus, give us the experiences we need for us to see the Body, know the Body, and live dependent on the Body. Unveil us to see the vision of the Body, and may this vision govern us, direct us, motivate us, and empower us to live in the Body. Lord, we want to cooperate with You for our natural being, our flesh, and our self to be dealt with and removed by the cross, so that we may live in the reality of the Body in resurrection, no longer independent of the Body!

The Church as the Body of Christ is an Organism Absolutely in the Resurrection Life of Christ

It is one thing to know about the Body of Christ, and it is another to live in the reality of the Body of Christ; we all have to admit that we have seen something of the Body, but in our living we may not live in the reality of the Body.

In the church life we may have some good fellowship and coordination, but we may not absolutely live in the resurrection life of Christ. The church as the Body of Christ is an organism absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ (Col. 1:18; John 11:25; Acts 2:24; Rev. 1:18; 2:8; Phil. 3:10).

When we coordinate and fellowship together, do we do this in our natural life with our preferences and opinions, or do we do this in resurrection? Paul sought to know the power of Christ’s resurrection so that he would be conformed to His death, and attain to the out-resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:10-11).

We all need to be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection so that our daily living would be in the resurrection life of Christ and not in our natural man, our flesh, or our self.

Anything in the church life that is carried out even scripturally and in a good and orderly way, but it is done in the natural life and not in the resurrection life of Christ, is not in the reality of the Body of Christ.

The principle of resurrection is that the natural life is killed and that the divine life rises in its place (2 Cor. 1:9). This is a law of the Body in the church life.

Our experience is that, as we come into the church life, we consecrate to the Lord, we clear the past, and we open to Him in fellowship, and then all kinds of things happen. We don’t how or why and what’s going on, but there are many things taking place, for there’s a process of resurrection taking place.

All the members of the Body of Christ need to pass through the process of resurrection, sooner or later, until we all live in the resurrection life of Christ. The church is not a “happy place” where we have enjoyment in a soulish way; in the church life we are under the principle of resurrection.

In our natural life and in the old creation, we are not the Body; we are the Body of Christ only in the new creation germinated by Christ’s resurrection (Eph. 1:19-23). Only when we live in our spirit, our regenerated being, are we in the Body of Christ.

We can be in the local churches practically and yet not live that much in the resurrection life of Christ. The principle of the Body is that it rejects anything natural, anything of the self, and anything of the flesh; anything that’s not Christ or the resurrection life of Christ is rejected by the Body.

There is the need for us to endeavor to be absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ.

Lord Jesus, keep us in the process of resurrection until our whole being is in the resurrection life of Christ. Save us from doing things in a natural or fleshly way in the church life. Save us from living in the flesh, in the self, or in the natural man. Oh Lord, we want to endeavor to be absolutely in the resurrection life of Christ so that our living and work would build up the Body of Christ. May we be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection so that we may live in the resurrection life for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

Living in the Resurrection Life of Christ for the Building up of the Body of Christ

What does it mean to be in the process of resurrection, and what does the application of Christ’s resurrection entail in our experience? To be in the resurrection life means that our natural life is crucified and that the God-created and redeemed part of our being is uplifted to be one with Christ in resurrection (see Rom. 6:4, 6; 8:2; Gal. 2:20).

It is a fact that our old man has been crucified with Christ – we all were crucified with Him at the same time. But through that crucifixion, our God-created being was redeemed; the fallen part was terminated, but God regenerated our spirit, and He is now resurrecting the things He put in us by creation which He can use for the building up of the church.

Our natural life has to be put to death, and in resurrection every part of our being created by God will be resurrected. The Body of Christ cannot accept the display and exercise of our natural ability.

The Lord will take us through the process of resurrection until, hopefully in this age – if not, in the next, we will match the New Jerusalem, the city in resurrection, the holy city.

We need to be sober-minded and give ourselves to the Lord, placing ourselves in His wise hands now so that He can gain us in this age, so that we may useful in His hands to be channels of life to the saints.

When we live not by our natural life but by the divine life within us, we are in resurrection, and the issue of this is the Body of Christ.

What the Lord is after is not our behavior, which is something deliberate either to please someone or to meet a certain standard; He wants to gain our living, our spontaneous and daily living. The Lord wants to gain and increase the group of people living in the resurrection life of Christ so that He may gain a corporate expression of Himself in His Body.

The leadership among God’s people must be Christ Himself as the resurrection life that buds, blossoms, and bears almonds (see Num. 17:8). The leadership in the church life is not by voting or merely appointing, but it is in the resurrection life, with the budding rod; when rivers of living water flow from us, authority flows too, and the Lord will have a way to shepherd His people and bring them on.

Everything that we say, everything that we do, and everything that we are in the church life as an expression of the Body of Christ must be in resurrection.

We shouldn’t “try to be in resurrection” but rather present ourselves to the Lord and let Him work in us until everything we say, do, and are in the church life will be in the resurrection life of Christ.

We are under the constant transmission of Christ, the Head of the Body, and we need to enjoy all that He has accomplished, attained, and obtained; at the same time, we need to let the cross operate in our being to eliminate anything of the self, the flesh, and the natural man.

The church, the Body of Christ, is an entity altogether in resurrection and ascension with both the natural element and the old creation terminated. We need to live in the resurrection life of Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Lord, we put ourselves into Your wise hands: our desire is to know You and the power of Your resurrection. Give us the experiences we need for our natural life to be crucified and the God-created and redeemed part of our being to be uplifted and be one with Christ in resurrection! Amen! We want to live not by our natural life but by the divine life within us so that we may be in resurrection and build up the church as the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, may everything we say, do, and are in the church life be in the resurrection life of Christ!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Practical Points concerning Blending, ch. 2 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing Life and the Church, msg. 6 (week 6), Living in the Resurrection Life of Christ under the Unique Headship of Christ and Growing Up into the Head, Christ, in All Things for the Reality and Building Up of the Body of Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Living out His resurrection, / Dying to the flesh and soul-life. / Living by the mingled spirit, / Natural man we will deny. / Now we’re living in the Body, / Every day we’re overcoming, / Striving for the peak of Zion, / Watching for our Lord’s appearing. (Song on God calling us for His purpose)
  # Lord Jesus, take me, break me; I’d hold nothing back from Thee; / Fill me till it is no more I that live; / That by Your resurrection life, we would Your testimony be. / We would be the church You long for, testimony of Jesus on the earth. (Song on The Local Churches as the Testimony of Jesus)
  # Here, Lord, we give ourselves to Thee; / Receive us into Thy wise hands; / Bend, break, and build together in Thee / To be the house to meet Thy demands. (Hymns #837)