In all spiritual things, our seeing is our knowing and entering in. If you see the Body of Christ, you know the Body and you enter into the Body life in practicality. We need to see a vision of the Body of Christ in the same way that Paul saw it, and then we will surely know the Body.
The story of Paul’s conversion is a remarkable one, even though there are not many believers that were saved by the Lord’s direct speaking. The Lord Himself met Paul (when he was Saul, zealous for the law of Moses and ardent persecutor of those “of the Way”, Jesus’ disciples) and asked him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? (see Acts 9:3-5) Saul was seemingly persecuting the “heretics” following Jesus the Nazarene, and in doing so he thought he was serving God.
However, he realized that the God whom he thought he was serving is the very Jesus whom he was persecuting! Jesus Christ the Lord is the Head of the Body and all the genuine believers in Christ are the many members of the Body.
This means that we need to be properly related to each and every member of the Body and not offend them or persecute them. Also, as Paul was sent and told to wait for a member of the Body to come and tell him what to do, so we need the other members of the Body to help us see what we are, what we need to do, and how can we go on.
How wonderful to be a part of the great corporate “Me”, the corporate Christ, the Body of Christ!
How Paul Saw a Vision of the Body of Christ
Before he became Paul, Saul was a zealous young man who loved God and loved the law of God, and he persecuted those who were considered heretics. He approved Stephen’s stoning, and later he obtained letters from the high priest to go to Damascus to bind and bring to prison the followers of Jesus the Nazarene, the Lord’s disciples, whom he considered as heretics.
However, a light shone on him while on the way and struck him to the ground, and a voice said to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul thought that he was persecuting people on earth, but there was Someone in the heavens that was identifying Himself with His disciples on earth.
The voice didn’t say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My followers / disciples?” – this shows that when Saul was persecuting the believers on earth, he was persecuting Christ because the believers on earth were organically joined to the Head in the heavens!
Saul responded to the voice he heard, “Who are You, Lord?” and the voice said, “I am Jesus, whom you persecute.” Wow. Right at the time of his conversion, Saul saw not only a vision of Christ but also a vision of the Body of Christ. He saw that every believer of the Lord Jesus is one with the Lord, and Christ as the Head is one with every member in His Body.
He was shocked – he thought he was serving God by persecuting “these heretics”, but he was actually persecuting the very God whom he thought he was serving! Paul saw that the Lord Jesus together with His believers are a great corporate “Me”, a wonderful person, the Body of Christ as the one new man – the Lord Jesus mingled with all the members of the Body.
This affected Paul in his ministry, and he was the only one to speak of “the Body of Christ”, and he wrote much concerning the great mystery, Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32). The day that the Lord revealed Himself to Saul was the day that he saw the Body (see Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19).
We need to see such a vision of the Body of Christ, realizing that we need to be careful how we think of, speak about, touch, and deal with the other members of the Body of Christ (no matter how immature or grown up they are) because all the saints are members of Christ.
May we see that in Jesus Christ God passed through the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, to be the exalted Head of the Body of Christ. Jesus is God, and all believers in Christ are the members of His Body – when we touch the Body negatively, we touch the Head negatively.
Lord, show us a vision of the wonderful “Me” that Paul saw! May light shine on us and cause us to be blind to any other things but the heavenly vision of the Body of Christ! Cause an appreciation toward every member of the Body of Christ to rise in us as we see that all the saints are members of Christ!
Realizing our Great Need for the Body of Christ
At the time of our regeneration we were plugged into, grafted into, and organically connected to the wonderful “Me”, the Body of Christ. Whether we see it or not, we need the Body of Christ.
Even though Paul was saved by the Lord directly, he was also instructed, “But rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do” (Acts 9:6). The Lord told Saul to go and wait for another member of the Body to come and tell him what to do.
The Lord saved Saul directly, but for him to receive his sight and to receive some directions for his future, he had to wait for a member of the Body to come to him. And this member was Ananias (Acts 9:10), a little member in the Body who was not mentioned in any other situation. After such a high revelation of Christ and the Body of Christ, the Lord did not instruct Saul directly about what to do – He sent him to the Body of Christ.
The Lord committed Saul to the Body through a small member of the Body (Ananias) so that Saul would be initiated into the identification with the Body of Christ. The first thing that Saul heard from a member of the Body was, Saul, brother (Acts 9:17) – this ushered him into the Body of Christ, filled him with the Holy Spirit, and brought him under the anointing.
For us to receive help and clearly see what’s going on, we need the Body of Christ. For us to receive help concerning our direction in life, we need not only the Lord but also the other members of the Body. We need to go to the Lord, open to Him, and under His leading go to other members of the Body that we may be helped and made clear.
Don’t be spiritually proud and say, I receive instructions on what to do only from the Lord Himself! Many times, the Lord uses some ordinary brothers and sisters He puts us with to help us to see things, have a direction for our future, and go on with the Lord. It is Christ who helps us, but He does so through the members of the Body.
We need the Body of Christ just as we need Christ. Praise the Lord for putting us in His Body, where He takes good care of us by Himself and through all the members!
Lord Jesus, show us our need for the Body of Christ. Thank You for bringing us into an organic union with You. Thank You for mingling Yourself more with us every day. Lord, keep us open to You as the Head of the Body, and keep us open to the members of the Body You put us with so that we may receive help from You. Lord Jesus, we need You, and we need the other members in the Body! Speak to us, direct us, help us go on with You, and fill us with Your Spirit by our interaction and fellowship with the other members of the Body, our fellow brothers and sisters!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration (besides the Word of God and my Christian experience): bro. Ed Marks’ speaking in this message and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ,” (ch. 104), 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 2 / msg 2, The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (1) – Knowing the Body.
- Further reading on this topic: recommending Acts 9:4 and footnote 1, v. 6 footnote 1, and v. 11 footnote 1 (in the Recovery Version).
- Hymns on this topic:
# As members of the Body / Christ we would manifest, / Each learning how to function / His fulness to express; / We would not be spectators / But each as members move, / None bringing death or damage / But each our profit prove.
# Not the individual Christians, / but a corporate entity— / God must have it for His full expression now; / Not just individual churches but the Body corporately— / Hallelujah, we are in the Body now!
# Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today, / Oh, to see Thee in Thy members, / ’Tis for this I long and pray. / No more just to know Thy headship / In an individual way, / But to see Thee incarnated, / As the Body-Christ, I pray.
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