The reality of the Body of Christ is the highest peak in God’s economy and the top revelation of the Bible, and it is revealed through a spirit of wisdom and revelation; when we see it, we enter into it.
This week in our morning revival we come to the topic of, Entering into the Intrinsic Significance of the Reality of the Body of Christ — the Highest Peak in God’s Economy and the Top Revelation of the Bible.
This is such a big subject, with great and weighty matters; we need to enter not only into the truth or knowledge of the Body of Christ but the reality of the Body, even into the intrinsic significance of the reality of the Body of Christ, which is the highest peak of God’s economy and also the top revelation of the Bible.
In Eph. 3:3-5 Paul speaks of the revelation of the mystery; the Body of Christ and the reality of the Body are mysterious matters, and they can be revealed to us only in spirit through revelation.
The revelation of such a mystery was made known to Paul, and he wrote in brief, so that we may perceive his understanding of the mystery of Christ, which is the church.
The book of Ephesians is on the subject of the church; the mystery of God is Christ, the mystery of Christ is the church, and the great mystery is Christ and the church.
Such a mystery was not made known in times past in other generations, but praise the Lord, it has been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit. Amen!
Paul was the top apostle to receive such a revelation; none of the other apostles – Peter, John, James, etc – referred to the church as the Body of Christ.
In His fourteen epistles, four of them mention the church as the Body of Christ – Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians.
This mystery and the revelation of this mystery is something that God must have known, and He wills to make known to His believers, to us as His elect in the church age.
God’s purpose is fulfilled by the church, not merely by individual saints, not even just by gifted saints, but by the church comprising all the members of the Body of Christ, those who have been redeemed, regenerated and transformed and built up by Him, the church as the Body of Christ.
The church in its utmost revelation, in its top revealing, is the Body of Christ; for us to see the church we need to see the Body of Christ. It is a fundamental matter, a prerequisite, and a requirement that we all see the church, what the church is to God, and in particular we must see that the church is the Body of Christ.
This Body of Christ is not merely a metaphor or a picture; the church is not “like the Body of Christ” but rather, the church is the Body of Christ.
Just as we have a body which is us, our enlargement and expression, so Christ has a Body, and this Body is He Himself, His extension, His enlargement – and the Body is Christ, just as the Head is Christ. May we have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ and the church, the Body of Christ.
Having a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Full Knowledge of Christ and the Church, the Body of Christ
How can we see and enter into the reality of the Body of Christ? The only way we can see the Body and enter into its reality is by having a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
The reality of the Body of Christ is not something simple or easy to be grasped; it is the highest peak in God’s economy, and it is the top revelation of the Bible.
For us to see the reality of the Body of Christ and enter into it, we need to have a revelation, for this reality is revealed through a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17, 22-23).
We need revelation in order to know the reality of the Body of Christ and to enter into the realm and intrinsic significance of the reality of the Body of Christ, for this reality is God’s heart’s desire and His ultimate purpose (Eph. 1:5, 9-11, 22-23; Rom. 12:1-2).
This has to do with the carrying out of His heart’s desire; He wants us to see and receive this revelation by the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
In the spiritual realm, our seeing of something is our entering into the reality of that thing. When we see our co-crucifixion with Christ, our co-resurrection with Him, our co-ascension and co-enthronement with Him, we will enter into the reality of this.
When the Spirit of wisdom and revelation is granted to us and our inner eyes are opened, we have not only understanding but a spiritual seeing, and we realize that we were crucified with Christ, we died when He died, and we were resurrected, raised, ascended, and enthroned with Him! Wow!
When we have a revelation, a vision, we will be brought into the reality of what we see.
Just as the Lord said in John 3 that unless we are not born anew, born of the water and the Spirit, we cannot see or enter the kingdom of God; seeing is entering.
In Eph. 1:17 Paul prayed that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him; he knew that, when we see Christ and the church as the Body of Christ, we will enter into the reality of Christ and of His Body.
We need to have seeing after seeing; revelation after revelation.
We need to see this vision repeatedly, and this vision should be expanded and grow, for the more we see it, the more we plunge into it, the more we enter into it, and the more we become it.
It is only a revelation from God that will usher us into the realm of the reality of the Body of Christ; only when we have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ and the church as His Body we can enter into the Body of Christ in reality in our experience (Acts 9:1-5, 15; 26:18-19; Eph. 1:17-23; 3:3-5, 9; 1 Cor. 12:12).
Only a real seeing can afford us an entrance into this reality. Brother Watchman Nee said that spiritual Christians may speak about the Body, teach about the Body, and preach about the Body, but they themselves may not be in the reality of the Body.
It’s like talking about a table and describing it, but there’s no table, no real construction, and there’s no testimony of the table – yet we talk about it. Oh, Lord!
It is not easy to see, but we need to pray with a single and pure heart for the Lord to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ and the church, the Body of Christ!
The secret of seeing the heavenly vision of God’s ultimate purpose is our willingness to pay the price for it; our heart needs to be pure and clean, and we need to be willing to pay the price to see the vision and enter into it (Matt. 5:3, 8; 6:22; Psa. 25:9, 14; Rev. 3:18).
The Lord counsels us to come to Him to buy eyesalve to see; we need to pay a price to enter into the reality of the Body, and the secret is to obey – the more we obey the vision, the more we enter into it.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we all have the pay a price and not be disobedient to the heavenly vision but see it and remain in it.
Father, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ and the church as the Body of Christ! May we see and enter the reality of the Body of Christ, the highest peak in God’s economy. Save us from thinking we know it, we understand it, and we get it; may we have a revelation – even an increased revelation and vision – of the reality of the Body of Christ so that we may enter into it. Oh Lord, for God’s heart’s desire and His ultimate purpose, grant us a vision of the reality of the Body of Christ and bring us into this reality! May our heart be pure in seeing the heavenly vision, and may we continually see this vision until we enter into it and become it!
Seeing that the Body of Christ as the Continuation and Corporate Expression of Christ is a Reality
As human beings, we are not just a head but a head with a body and our body is a continuation, an expression, and an increase of the head.
Just as we as men need a body to express all that we are, so Christ needs a body to express Himself. Just as our body is our fullness for our expression, so the Body of Christ is His fullness for His expression.
Just as we cannot be expressed fully by one organ of our body such as our ears, mouth, eyes, hands, or feet, so Christ cannot be fully expressed merely through one or two members of His Body.
Christ cannot manifest His personality in full through only one or two members of His Body; it takes the whole Body to manifest Him.
The Body of Christ is Christ, it is Christ manifested, expressed, and continued on the earth.
Christ spent more than thirty years on earth to manifest Himself individually, and then, after His resurrection and ascension, He has reproduced Himself into His many believers, so that they would be the Body of Christ to express Him.
The Body of Christ is the continuation of Christ, the extension of Christ, and the corporate manifestation of Christ.
What God is after today is not some individuals that are very gifted and can function in a great way to express Him; He is not choosing a few zealous and consecrated believers to work for Him individually, but a corporate Body to express Him.
Individual believers can’t fulfill God’s goal and plan; He needs the church as the Body of Christ as the continuation and corporate expression of Christ to express Him in full. If the members of our body would act independently, they cannot express the head; when they work together in harmony and coordination, the head is expressed properly.
It is impossible for Christ to fully depend on a leg or an arm in His Body to be expressed; the whole Body is needed.
Every believer is a member of the Body of Christ; every believer is needed as an absolutely indispensable member of the Body for the corporate expression of Christ.
The Body of Christ is a reality; the church life is a reality, for the church is the Body of Christ.
However, for us to be part of the Body of Christ and thus express Him as His corporate expression, we need to realize that nothing of our natural man can fit in the Body.
Anything in us that’s not a part of Christ cannot express Him, cannot be part of the Body, and even frustrates our inner knowledge of the Body of Christ.
May we realize that we are members of the Body of Christ; may we see our position in the Body, and may we enter into the reality of the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is not a teaching or a doctrine; it is a realm we enter in and life, a living.
What we need is not more knowledge or understanding – we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full subjective knowledge of Christ and the church as the Body of Christ.
Only a revelation from God will usher us into the realm of the Body; only a revelation from God by the spirit of wisdom and revelation can bring us into the reality of the Body of Christ, and only then can the Body of Christ become our experience.
For example, if we look at Acts 2, we see that, after the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples as power, Peter preached the gospel, and three thousand were saved and baptized.
However, it wasn’t just Peter who spoke and all were saved – Peter stood with the other disciples, and he preached the gospel in the Body; actually, it was the Body who preached the gospel, and the preaching was not of an individual but of the Body.
May we be saved from our independence and individualism, and may we be brought into the reality of the Body of Christ more and more!
Lord Jesus, grant us the revelation of the church as the Body of Christ so that we may enter into the reality of the Body. May we see that the Body of Christ is not a teaching or a doctrine but a realm and a life. Thank You Lord for placing us in Your Body to be members; may we see our position and function in the Body, and may we function in our measure for the building up of the Body and the corporate expression of Christ. May the Body of Christ become our reality. May we be saved from independence and individualism, and may we be brought into the reality of the Body by seeing the vision of the Body! Amen, Lord Jesus, may we have such a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ and the church as the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 44, “The Mystery of Christ,” pp. 793-795, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 6, Entering into the Intrinsic Significance of the Reality of the Body of Christ — the Highest Peak in God’s Economy and the Top Revelation of the Bible.
- Hymns on this topic:
– O Father of glory, now grant unto me / A spirit of wisdom, a spirit to see; / O give unto me the full knowledge of Him, / Enlight’ning the eyes of my heart deep within. (Hymns #1133)
– As for the church, I need / Thy revelation more, / The Body-life to know, / Thy wisdom to explore. / I long to be unveiled, / In everything made clear, / No more to be deceived / Or to my pride adhere. (Hymns #426)
– When all Thy members self forsake, / Thy glorious Body, Lord, is known; / When of Thy Person we partake, / The one new man is shown. / The church life is the one new man / In every local church expressed; / Thy Body is a corporate man, / One Person manifest. (Hymns #1220)
