The Body of Christ is an organic matter, and for us to be organic in the Body is to be organically united with Christ, and the actuality of the Body is the remaining in this organic union we have with Christ.
Our relationship with Christ is not only of dependence on Him, love toward Him, and worshipping Him, but even more, it is an organic union, something related to life.
When we received the Lord Jesus in our heart, we were joined to Him in spirit, and our whole being was organically united with Him. Through faith we receive Him, and through baptism we are grafted into Him, so that we may grow with Him in the likeness of His death and live with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.
The relationship of God’s people with God is that of being joined to Him organically. The Lord became the Spirit, and this Spirit came into our spirit to be mingled with our spirit and make us one spirit with the Lord.
This organic relationship and organic union that we have with the Lord is very mysterious, for we cannot liken it in full to any other relationship in the physical realm.
Because of their disobedience, unbelief, and rejecting of Christ, the people of Israel have been temporarily cut off from Christ, and we, the ones who believe into Christ, are grafted into Him through faith and baptism.
Actually, God created us, human beings, in His image and according to His likeness, and we possess His image inwardly and His likeness outwardly.
This means that our virtues – the God-created human virtues in our humanity – are in the likeness of God’s attributes, and the divine attributes can fill our human virtues to make them real and genuine.
For instance, God has four main attributes – love, light, holiness, and righteousness, and these have corresponding virtues in our being. If we were to look at our love, our natural love is not real but rather selfish and temporal.
But when we touch the Lord Jesus and live in the organic union with Him in the mingled spirit, our human virtue or love is filled with the divine attribute of love, and any negative elements are being discharged and eliminated.
We might be able to love a person for a little while, but then familiarity breeds contempt, and love turns to hatred. Oh Lord Jesus!
With our fallen love there’s a mixture of the human virtue and the fallen element, so we need to abide in the Lord, remain in the organic union with Christ, so that what He is would be infused into us, and what is of the old and negative element would be removed.
We have believed into the Lord and have received Him as the divine life into us, but now we need to daily remain in the organic union with the Lord in the divine life so that we may grow in Him, and be transformed into His likeness.
When we live in the organic union with the Lord, we will live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is the Organism Produced by the Union in Life we have with Christ
The focus and center of the Christian life is the Body of Christ, and the highest point of God’s revelation and the ultimate item of God’s continual working is also the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12, 27; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30; Col. 2:19).
We can say that the book of Romans is a sketch of the Christian life, but the focus of the Christian life is the Body of Christ. The focus of our Christian life is not merely justification or sanctification but the Body of Christ.
We are saved for the Body, we are being sanctified for the Body, and we are being transformed for the Body of Christ.
The top item that God is working to produce in the universe is nothing else but the Body of Christ. God has been working throughout the generations to obtain, produce, and build up the Body of Christ.
The Head of the Body is Christ Himself, and the Body of the Head is the church composed of all regenerated by the Lord. We should ask ourselves this question,
Lord, is the Body the focus and center of my Christian life? Do I care for God’s goal and His principal focus in this age? Oh Lord, make the Body the focus and center of my Christian life! Amen!
We need to realise that we are one Body in Christ, having an organic union with Him. We are many members, but we are one Body in Christ. Amen! “In Christ” implies the fact of being organically one with Christ.
This organic union makes us one in life with Christ and with all the other members of the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is not an organisation of Christians, a society of believers, or a gathering of followers of Jesus; the Body of Christ is an organism produced by the union in life that we have with Christ (1 Cor. 6:17; 12:27).
As the Body of Christ, we are joined to Christ to be one spirit with Him. When we believed into Christ and are baptised into Him, we are joined to the Lord and become one with Him organically.
Just as a branch is grafted into the tree, we are grafted into Christ and are joined with Him.
When we are joined to the Lord, we are joined to Him not only in spirit but our entire being is joined to Him. Our spirit, soul, and body are joined to the Lord, and this is a spiritual reality. Because we don’t see this spiritual reality, we have problems with the oneness in the church life.
Whenever we get out of the organic union with the Lord, whenever we don’t live in the organic union with Christ in our mingled spirit, we have problems. The reason we cannot keep the oneness and are not in one accord is that we have left the organic union with the Lord.
We may try to keep the oneness, and it may work for a little bit, but problems always arise when we leave the organic union with Christ. We may know about our organic union with the Lord, but we may not live in it too much…
What exposes our not living in the organic union is that we may argue with others, we may have different opinions, and even in arranging the chairs in the meeting we may disagree with the way it is done.
We may have some sort of human cooperation, but if we don’t live in the organic union with the Lord, we will not be in the oneness. Oh Lord Jesus!
Lord Jesus, cause us to see that we are organically joined to You to be one spirit with You. Amen, Lord, may we realise our organic union with You, and may we abide in You by remaining in the mingled spirit. Lord, keep us in the organic union with You and with all the saints so that we may live in the reality of the Body of Christ. Hallelujah, we are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another! Praise the Lord for the Body of Christ, the organism of the Triune God!
To be Properly Organic in the Body is to be Organically United with Christ
The Body of Christ in reality is a matter of our remaining in the organic union with Christ, and for us to be properly organic in the Body is to be organically united with Christ and live in this organic union.
When we live in the organic union with the Lord, when we live one spirit with Him being organically united with Him, we are in the Body; when we don’t live in the organic union, we are practically and experientially out of the Body.
We may still meet with the brothers and the sisters, and we may still have the divine life in us, but when we don’t live in the organic union with the Lord, we are not in reality in the Body of Christ.
The proper life and bearing fruit in the Body comes out of our abiding in the Lord. Christ is the vine and we are the branches; we need to abide in the Lord, simply remaining organically united with Christ, and we will actually be living in the Body.
But if we say something or do something not in the organic union with the Lord, when we speak by ourselves and apart from Christ, and when we do something without being organically united with Christ, we have left the Body in reality. Oh Lord Jesus!
When we gossip, talk freely, and have a loose conversation with others, we do not live in the mingled spirit, and therefore we are not in reality in the Body.
Simply coming together with other believers doesn’t mean that we’re the Body of Christ in reality; the Body is something that is held together in the organic union with Christ.
Whether we are at home or at work, travelling or resting, working or relaxing, we need to exercise our spirit and remain organically united with Christ, so that we may live in the reality of the Body of Christ.
We need not only to know that we are one spirit with the Lord but live in the organic union with Him, having a thorough realisation that we are organically one with Christ in life.
The way for us to live in the Body in reality is to live in the organic union. This is a big point, a very crucial matter; for us to live in the Body of Christ, we need to live in the organic union with the Lord.
As soon as we leave the organic union with the Lord experientially, we have left the Body in reality. This is why there are so many Christians all over the earth who cannot be distinguished from the unbelievers in the way they live, walk, talk, dress, and eat.
When we are in the organic union with the Lord, our living, talking, doing, and walking are all done by being organically united with Christ. May the Lord save us from being in the Body of Christ only positionally but not experientially in reality and practicality!
May we realise that the actuality of the Body is the remaining in the organic union with Christ (John 15:4-5).
Apart from the Lord we can do nothing; outside of the organic union with Christ we can nothing! Our Christian life is an all-or-nothing life – if we’re in the organic union with the Lord, we have everything, but if we’re not, we have nothing!
Lord Jesus, cause us to see that apart from You we can do nothing. Keep us in the organic union with You in the mingled spirit. Oh Lord, we treasure our union with You, and we want to be in the actuality of the Body by remaining in the organic union with Christ. Amen, Lord, may we be in the Body in reality by living, speaking, moving, walking, and doing everything organically united with Christ! May we realise that without You we are nothing, and apart from the organic union we can do nothing!
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, The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3105-3106, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Reality of the Body of Christ (2018 Thanksgiving Conference), week 3, Being in the Reality of the Body of Christ by Living in the Organic Union and in the Mingled Spirit and by Being Conformed to Christ’s Death.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Living in the Body, / Body life is known, / Living by the Spirit / Christ is fully grown; / By organic union / Members cultivate / Body-conscious living, / Age to consummate. (Song on, The Central Line of the Bible)
# As I dwell in You, Lord You’re flowing through. / Lord, You’re filling me, overflowing too. / Here we all are one and expressing You. / Here our joy is full as we dwell in You. (Song on, Just to be in You)
# Abide in Me, and I in you, / As the branch cannot bear fruit / Of itself unless / It abides in the vine, / So neither can you / Unless you abide in Me. (Song on, Abide in Me, and I in you)
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