For us to live in resurrection for the reality of the Body of Christ, we need to first see the unveiled truth concerning Christ’s resurrection.
The Body of Christ is wrapped up with the resurrection of Christ, for in resurrection Christ as the Head of the Body was produced to be the Firstborn Son of God, the many believers as the many members of the Body were regenerated, and the Spirit as the essence of the Body was also produced.
Today we want to see what is the revealed truth concerning Christ’s resurrection so that we may be adjusted in our thinking and there would be an impact in our living, that is, so that we may live in resurrection for the reality of the Body of Christ.
Where is the reality of the Body of Christ today on the earth? We may have a feeling concerning this matter, realising that when this reality of the Body is lived out the Lord will build up His body, prepare His bride, and return, but what about us – do we live in the reality of the Body of Christ today in the local churches?
As we practice the church life, care for one another in the church, and coordinate with the saints concerning so many things related to the Lord’s move, we need to pray and care for the growth of Christ in the saints so that they may live in resurrection, in the reality of the Body of Christ.
The Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, but we need to walk in the reality in Jesus.
When we come to the matter of resurrection, we may think we know this, we believe in this, we hope in this, and resurrection is a basic truth of the gospel.
We may be like Martha in John 11, having a concept about resurrection but not being affected in our being and our living.
There’s an unveiled truth concerning resurrection, but it is possible for us to have veils when it comes to this matter. We may have the veils of our natural understanding, our human philosophy, and our fundamental teachings.
When the Lord came to Martha and Mary, Martha rebuked Him for coming so late, almost implying that it was the Lord’s fault that her brother was dead. So the Lord told her that her brother will be raised, and she replied, according to her fundamental teachings that she knows her brother will rise up on the last day.
The Lord said He will raise her brother, but Martha expounded the Lord’s word so as to postpone the present resurrection to the last day – what an exposition or the divine word!
Some of the knowledge and fundamental teaching is truly destructive and frustrates people from enjoying the Lord’s present resurrection life (see John 11:24 and footnote).
For us to touch the matter of resurrection we need to contact the Spirit of reality, for resurrection is in the Spirit. As we come this week to the matter of, Living in Resurrection for the Reality of the Body of Christ, we need to tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, guide us into the reality of the Your resurrection. May the Spirit of reality guide us in this hour in the reality of Christ’s resurrection so that we may live in the reality of the Body of Christ. We don’t want to take this as a doctrine, Lord, but we want to enter into the reality of Your word in the Bible concerning resurrection. We open to You, Lord. Do it in us and do it now. We need Your mercy and continued grace.
The Unveiled Truth Concerning Christ’s Resurrection – Resurrection produced the Head, the Members, and the Essence of the Body
For us to live in resurrection a life in the reality of the Body of Christ, we first must see the unveiled truth concerning Christ’s resurrection.
The Body of Christ is wrapped up with the matter of resurrection, for the resurrection of Christ produced Christ as the Firstborn Son of God to be the Head of the Body of Christ, the many believers in Christ as the many members of the Body of Christ, and the Spirit as the essence and element of the Body of Christ.
First, in His resurrection, Christ in His humanity was begotten by God to be the Firstborn Son of God among many brothers, the many sons of God (Acts 13:33; Rom. 8:29).
Christ came as the only Begotten Son of God through incarnation, and He expressed God in His glory, He represented God with His authority, and He lived a life that was fully pleasing to the Father.
Then, He went through death and in resurrection, according to Acts 13:33, He was begotten by God again, this time in His humanity, to be the Firstborn Son of God. As such a One, He leads many sons into glory, and He is also the Head of the Body, the church. This is a great and awesome truth.
In His resurrection Christ also regenerated the many believers in Christ to be the many members of the Body of Christ (1 Pet. 1:3).
All believers in Christ throughout space and time were regenerated at one moment in time, which is the resurrection of Christ. We may know the date and even the location where we received the Lord, but in God’s eyes and according to His word all believers in Christ were regenerated by God in the resurrection of Christ.
We could say that the resurrection of Christ was a great delivery – Christ as the Firstborn was begotten by God, and we as the many brothers were also begotten by Him. We are the twins of Christ, born at the same time, on the same day as Christ. Hallelujah!
He died to gain the Body – as He was on the cross, He was looking forward to the joy set before Him, which is God being reproduced in many beings, the many members of the Body of Christ.
In His resurrection Christ became a life-giving Spirit to be the essence of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 15:45; Eph. 4:4).
In resurrection Christ, a man in the flesh – the last Adam, became a life-giving Spirit; this Spirit is the essence and element of the Body of Christ, and apart from the Spirit there’s no Body of Christ.
The resurrection of Christ is truly amazing, and these three wonderful facts were accomplished in it.
The unveiled truth concerning Christ’s resurrection is that God raised up Jesus to be the Firstborn Son of God and the Head of the Body of Christ, God regenerated us the believers in Christ to be the members of the Body of Christ, and Christ became the Spirit as the essence of the Body of Christ. Hallelujah!
Lord, unveil us to see the truth concerning Christ’s resurrection so that we may enter into the reality of resurrection and live in resurrection. Thank You Lord for going through death and entering into resurrection so that Christ as the Head of the Body would be produced, we would be regenerated as the many members of the Body, and the Spirit as the essence of the Body would be produced! Hallelujah, the Body of Christ is wrapped up with Christ’s resurrection!
Without the Major Items of the Lord’s Resurrection there’s no Church, no Body, and no God’s Economy
Without these three major items of the Lord’s resurrection – Christ as the Head of the Body and the firstborn Son of God, the believers as the many members of the Body, and the Spirit as the essence of the Body – there is no church, no Body of Christ, and no God’s economy.
God’s economy is carried out by these three items, and if we were to delete Acts 13:33, 1 Pet. 1:3, and 1 Cor. 15:45b from the Bible, we would not have the church, the Body of Christ, or God’s economy. Oh Lord Jesus!
If there were nothing in the Bible revealing the firstborn Son of God, the many sons of God, and the life-giving Spirit, there would be no church, no Body of Christ, and no economy of God.
Without these major items of the Lord’s resurrection (the firstborn Son of God, the many sons of God, and the life-giving Spirit), there would be no church, no Body of Christ, and no economy of God (cf. Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4).
We need to see the unveiled truth of Christ’s resurrection and, by seeing it in spirit, we want to be those living in resurrection for the reality of the Body of Christ!
Resurrection is the life-pulse and the life-line of the divine economy, for without resurrection, God would be the God of the dead – and not of the living (Matt. 22:32), and nothing of Christ can be realised by us in our living.
If there were no resurrection, Christ would not have been raised from the dead, and we would not have a living hope, for He would be a dead Savior, and He would not be living forever (Matt. 22:32; Rev. 1:18).
Because Christ has resurrected, He is able to save us to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25), and we have a living proof that we are justified by His death (Rom. 4:25).
Because Christ resurrected, we have the imparting of life (John 12:24), we are regenerated (John 3:5), we are renewed (Titus 3:5), we are transformed (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
But if there were no resurrection, there would be no Head of the Body and no members of the Body (Rom. 12:5), and there would be no Body of Christ as His fulness (Eph. 1:20-23) or church as Christ’s bride (John 3:29).
Without the resurrection of Christ there’s no one new man (Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10-11).
In other words, if there were no resurrection, God’s New Testament economy would altogether collapse and God’s eternal purpose would be nullified (see 1 Cor. 15:12 and footnote 1 in the Recovery Version Bible).
But praise the Lord, there is resurrection, and according to the unveiled truth concerning Christ’s resurrection Christ was produced as the Head of the Body, we were produced as the many members, and the Spirit was produced to be the essence of the Body! Hallelujah!
Thank You Lord Jesus for Your resurrection. Cause us to see the unveiled truth concerning Christ’s resurrection so that we may realise that in resurrection Christ as the Head, the believers and the members, and the Spirit as the essence were all produced! Amen, Lord, guide us as the Spirit of reality into all the reality of Your resurrection, and make us those who live in resurrection today for the reality of the Body of Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ricky Acosta for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 2, “The Practical Way to Live a Life according to the High Peak of the Divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures,” chs. 3-4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Reality of the Body of Christ (2018 Thanksgiving Conference), week 2, Living in Resurrection for the Reality of the Body of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# If there is no resurrection, / God would be God of the dead; / Christ Himself would not be living, / Ne’er have been raised from the dead. / But there is a resurrection / Which is the vitality, / Both the life pulse and the lifeline / Within God’s economy. (Song on, If there is no resurrection)
# By Thy death and resurrection, / Thou wast made God’s firstborn Son; / By Thy life to us imparting, / Was Thy duplication done. (Hymns #203)
# He regenerated us / Now we’re brothers of the Lord / We’re the members of His family / We’re in the Body / Oh, what a victory! (Song on, Victory through Christ’s resurrection)
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