Taking Christ as our Head and being Transformed for the Church as the Kingdom of God

We need to be those taking Christ as our Head and being transformed into precious stones to be built up in the great and high wall for the church as the kingdom of God today.

For us to build a great and high wall around the church for the safeguarding and protection of God’s interests, we need to take Christ not only as our life but also as our Head, and we need to be transformed so that we may be separated from anything that is common.

We thank the Lord that He has brought us back to the genuine ground of oneness so that we may build up the church as the house of God.

He had mercy on us and called us out of any divisions, denominations, and free groups, and He brought us into the splendid church life.

Here we eat the Lord, drink Him, and partake of His riches not only individually but together with all the saints.

Here we dwell on a high mountain, slaking our thirst at the fountain, partaking from such a rich store.

It is so wonderful to be in the church as the house of God, for here we enjoy the Lord both personally and with the saints, and the Spirit as a river of water of life is flowing.

Here we are learning to be built up together as we fellowship and coordinate, and we are learning to do all things through the cross and by the Spirit for the building up of the church.

All this is wonderful. The Lord wants to gain a dwelling place on earth, and here we are, giving ourselves to the Lord and to the church life to be the home, the dwelling, the habitation of God.

Isn’t it so good to be here, on the ground of oneness, to be the church as the house of God, even the house of the living God? Amen!

But there is something more to God’s purpose.

If He had no enemy, the house would be enough; but God has an enemy, who may allow us to be built up and to enjoy the Lord, but he trembles at the kingdom of God.

The enemy knows that, when there’s a great and high wall around the church life, when we are built up and also under the headship of Christ, he is finished.

The enemy can just walk in through the broken down walls, the burnt and broken walls – as the enemies did in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra; but he cannot prevail against the built church as the kingdom of God.

We need to realize the need to build the wall, the need for there to be protection and safeguarding around the interests of God.

This doesn’t mean that we’re exclusive and we don’t talk to anyone else but keep everything to ourselves as a secret; rather, we stand on the word of God, we declare the truth, and we take Christ as our Head and King.

We want to have the church life not only as the house of God but even more, as the kingdom of God.

In the kingdom of God we don’t have only eating and drinking but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).

May the Lord enlighten us to see the need for the building up of the church as the kingdom of God by having a great and high wall in the church life today.

Taking Christ as our Life for the Church as the House of God and taking Christ as our Head for the Kingdom of God

How we thank and praise the Lord for showing us how to take Him as our life! Christ is not only our Lord and Savior; He came into us to be our life.

Christ is in us, and He is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

He is our life within today, hidden and concealed in our inner being, but one day when He’s manifested, we will also be manifested with Him in glory (Col. 3:4).

As we take Christ as our life and live by Him and because of Him, we express Christ, and we become the church as the house of God.

But when we take Christ as our Head (Col. 1:18), being headed up in Christ in all things, we become the church as the kingdom of God, the city of God on earth.

The consummation of all that God is doing throughout the ages in His economy is the New Jerusalem, the holy city, as seen in Rev. 21-22.

In the city, we see a throne, out of which flows the river of water of life with the tree of life growing on either side.

The life that we will enjoy for eternity will be proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

If we want to enjoy Christ as life and live because of Him, we need to have a throne set up in the center of our being.

We need to know the headship, the authority, the kingship, and the lordship of Christ.

It’s easy for us to realize Christ as our life, but it’s not so easy for us to realize Him as our Head.

We can simply turn to the Lord, call on His name, and turn our heart to Him, and He as life is right there within us, supplying us with everything we need to live Christ for His magnification.

But what about taking Christ as our Head? What about realizing the headship of Christ? Christ is not only our life but also our Head.

In the gospel of John, we see how Christ is our life in many aspects and in many ways; He’s the light of life, the tree of life, the water of life, the bread of life, and the breath of life.

We can enjoy Christ as life simply by coming to Him as we are; as we come to Him, He fills us with His life.

His blood cleanses us from every sin, and His life fills us and is manifested through us.

But what about taking Christ as the Head? In the Epistles, especially in Colossians, we see that Christ is our Head.

On one hand, when we enjoy Christ as our life, when we realize Him as life, we have the church as the house of God.

But if we go further and realize His headship, the church will be enlarged to be the city, the kingdom of God.

When we take Christ as our Head, the church is safeguarded.

It is good to take Christ as our life, but we can still be under the attack of the enemy, for the enemy can break into a house.

But when we take Christ as our Head, the enemy is kept away from the house of God, for there’s a great and high wall.

In the church life we love to be with the saints, but at one point we may not be so happy, for some of the brothers or sisters may not cause us to be happy, or we may offend others.

The local church may not be a happy place for us after a while, for our “honeymoon” in the church will at one point end.

So what should we do? We need to take Christ not only as our life but also as our Head.

When we not only enjoy Christ but also realize His headship, the wall of the city will be built up, and we will be safeguarded and protected.

The more we take Christ as our Head, the more there will be an organic order in our being and in the church life.

In small things and in big things, we need to take Christ as the Head, being under His headship both personally and corporately as the church.

The church life should be a life of being headed up in Christ, not only of enjoying Christ as life.

May we come to the Lord again and again and tell Him,

Lord Jesus, we take You as our life so that we may live because of You to magnify You. Amen, Lord, be our life today. We take You as our Head, Lord, for You to head up all things in our being. Head us up in You. Cause us to realize Your headship in our personal life and in the church life. May we be under the direct rule of God in all the details of our daily life. Amen, Lord, we take Christ as our life for the church as the house of God! We take Christ as our Head for the church as the city of God, the kingdom of God. Cause us to be headed up in Christ in all things. We want to take the lead, out of all creation, to be headed up in Christ. May there be a great and high wall being built up around the church as the house of God by all the saints realizing the headship of Christ both personally and corporately!

Being Transformed and Built to be part of the Great and High Wall, Separated from anything Common unto God

The matter of the wall around the house of God and the city of God seems to be quite important to God, for the New Jerusalem, the consummation of the processed Triune God and the transformed tripartite man, has a great and high wall around it.

Actually, the New Jerusalem has a great and high wall, one hundred forty-four cubits, approx. sixty-five meters (Rev. 21:16-17). Wow, now that is a great and high wall!

It is a high, insurmountable wall; the whole New Jerusalem is a cube, having twelve thousand stadia in length, width and height, and the wall is one hundred forty-four cubits.

The wall of the city is, on one hand, for protection and safeguard, and on the other hand, for separation, keeping anything that is undesired and of the enemy to the outside.

There is a perfect wall to separate what is of God from what is not of God, what is holy from what is common.

Anything that is common has no entrance into the city.

On one hand, the city has twelve gates, three on each of its four sides, for everyone who wills to come in and enjoy the divine life; on the other hand, the city has a great and high wall for anything of the enemy to be kept outside.

And the wall is not made of bricks or stones; the building work was of jasper, and the foundations of the wall were of precious stones.

Precious stones signify transformation.

The separation that we need to have today from anything that is common and not of God should not be rules and regulations; it should be transformed into precious stones.

When we are transformed into precious stones, we are spontaneously separated and apart from anything that is common, unholy, and not of God.

The more we are transformed into the image of Christ, taking Christ as our Head and allowing His life to transform us inwardly, the more we become part of the great and high wall separating the interests of God from anything common.

Transformation is the separating line.

What separates us from anything of the world is not following a set of regulations or rules outwardly; it is being transformed inwardly and taking Christ as our Head.

We don’t have rules and regulations; we have the transforming life, and this transforming life brings in much separation.

On one hand, we enjoy the Lord and partake of His riches in spirit; this is for the building up of the church as the house of God.

On the other hand, we are being transformed by the divine life that saturates us, and this transforming life brings forth much separation.

May we take Rev. 21 and 22 and pray over them, asking the Lord to make these matters real to us in our experience, and may we allow Him to transform us into precious stones.

If we pray over Rev. 21-22 we will enjoy so much related to the divine life – the river of life, the tree of life, the light of life, and the transforming life.

Then, the church is built up with a wall brought in by transformation.

The enemy hates this wall. He may allow us to be built up as the house of God, enjoying the Lord with the saints, but he hates when we are being transformed with the life of Christ and when we take Christ as our Head.

When the wall is raised up in the local churches, there will be safety, safeguard, and defence.

May we all do our part in building up the wall around the church for the protection of God’s interest by realizing the headship of Christ and by being transformed to be part of the great and high wall.

Lord Jesus, we want to do our part to build the great and high wall around the church for the protection of God’s interests today. We give ourselves to You to be transformed into precious stones suitable for the building up of the wall. Unveil us, Lord, and keep us in Your presence that we may behold You and reflect You, being transformed into the same image. May Your divine life in us transform us inwardly to cause us to be conformed to the image of Christ, the firstborn Son of God. Save us from merely following outward rules and regulations; may we not have any rules in the church life except being transformed! Amen, Lord, may there be a clear separation in us and in the church life between what is of God and what is of the enemy. May we be separated from anything common and unholy by our being transformed to be part of the great and high wall!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Minoru Chen in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City,” pp. 381-385, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 8, entitled, Building the Wall of the City for the Protection of the Church as the House of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Drink! A river pure and clear that’s flowing from the throne; / Eat! The tree of life with fruits abundant, richly grown; / Look! No need of lamp nor sun nor moon to keep it bright, for / Here there is no night! / Do come, oh, do come, / Says Spirit and the Bride: / Do come, oh, do come, / Let him that heareth, cry. / Do come, oh, do come, / Let him who thirsts and will / Take freely the water of life! (Hymns #1151 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Upon the throne, the center / Of government divine, / God reigns, and with His purpose / Brings everything in line. / God’s headship and His lordship / He only can maintain / As King within His kingdom, / O’er everything to reign. / By reigning in His kingdom / God worketh all His will, / And under His dominion / His purpose doth fulfill. / ’Tis only in God’s kingdom / His blessing we may know; / ’Tis from His throne almighty / The stream of life doth flow. (Hymns #941 stanzas 2-3)
  – In His Christ to head up all things / Is our God’s economy; / Taking Christ as Head and Center, / All is one in harmony…Under Christ, by His full headship, / All in union will subsist; / In the light the Church expresses / All in oneness will exist. (Hymns #981 stanzas 1 and 7)