LESSON ELEVEN – THE BODY OF CHRIST

Eph. 1:22-23 — He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:22 and 23 reveal that the church is the Body of Christ. “He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” The church is not an organization but an organic Body constituted of all the believers, who have been regenerated and have God’s life, for the expression of the Head. The Body is the fullness of the Head, and the fullness is the expression of the Head. Christ, as the One who fills all in all, needs the Body to be His fullness. This Body is His church to be His expression.

The church is the Body of Christ, and Christ is the Head of the church (Col. 1:18).Hence, the church and Christ are one Body, the mysterious, universal great man, having the same life and nature. Christ is the life and content of the Body, and the Body is the organism and expression of Christ. As the Body, the church receives everything from Christ; everything of Christ, therefore, is expressed through the church. The two, Christ and the church, are mingled and joined as one, with Christ being the inward content and the church, the outward expression. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2245-2246)

COMPOSED OF THE MEMBERS

The Body of Christ is composed of the believers, who are the members of the Body. Romans 12:5 says, “We who are many are one Body in Christ.” The phrase in Christ is very significant, for it indicates the believers’ organic union with Christ. As believers in Christ, we are organically one with Christ; we have a life union with Him. Because we have been organically united with Christ, we have been planted into Christ’s Body organically. Now, in Christ, we are organic parts of the Body.

The Body life is a corporate life. We can realize this by considering our physical body, which is a corporate entity composed of many members, all of which have their life and function in the body. If a member becomes separate or detached from the body, it loses its life and function. This indicates that no member of the body can be independent of the body or become individualistic. The principle is the same with the Body of Christ. None of the believers as members of the Body is a complete entity; rather, every believer is a member of the Body. Therefore, we need to remain in the Body for life and function.

Romans 12:5 reveals that we are members one of another in one Body. We, being many, are one Body, one entity. In the Body we can function and express Christ in a corporate way. We are many members, not many separate units. As members, we need to coordinate with each other so that we may be a living, functioning Body.

BAPTIZED IN THE ONE SPIRIT

First Corinthians 12:13 says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.” As the Spirit is the sphere and element of our spiritual baptism and in such a Spirit we were all baptized into one organic entity, the Body of Christ, so we should all, regardless of our races, nationalities, and social ranks, be this one Body. Christ is the life and constituent of this Body, and the Spirit is the reality of Christ. It is in this one Spirit that we were all baptized into this one living Body to express Christ.

GIVEN TO DRINK THE ONE SPIRIT

In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul tells us not only that in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body but also that we “were all given to drink one Spirit.” To be baptized in the Spirit is to get into the Spirit and be lost in Him. To drink the Spirit is to take the Spirit in and have our being saturated with Him. By these two procedures—baptism and drinking—we are mingled with the Spirit. To be baptized in the Spirit is the initiation of the mingling and is once for all. To drink the Spirit is the continuation and accomplishment of the mingling and is perpetual, forever. Therefore, after being baptized in one Spirit, we need to drink of the one Spirit to be saturated and permeated with the Spirit.

First Corinthians 12:13 indicates that we drink the one Spirit in the Body. In one Spirit we have all been baptized into one Body to drink one Spirit. The Spirit is in the Body. As long as we stay in the Body, we may drink the Spirit.

To be baptized in the one Body is to experience something once for all, but to drink one Spirit is a continuing experience. In the Body life we have both baptism and drinking. We have baptism as the procedure to receive and accept the fact, and we have the drinking as the moment-by-moment experience. Now we are in the Body to drink. In one Spirit we have all been baptized, and now we are in the Body drinking of one Spirit.

CONSTITUTED WITH THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST

The Body of Christ is constituted with the unsearchable riches of Christ. In Ephesians 3:8 Paul says, “To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.” Paul preached the unsearchable riches of Christ that the church as the Body of Christ might come into existence. The Body comes out of the riches of Christ.

Along with the term the unsearchable riches of Christ the book of Ephesians speaks of “the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (1:23). There is an important difference between the riches of Christ and the fullness of Christ. The riches of Christ are all the items of what Christ is. The fullness of Christ is the church, the Body,  the issue of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. In our natural man we are not the fullness of Christ, the Body. But when we enjoy the riches of Christ, we become the Body as His fullness. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2256-2261)

WITH CHRIST AS THE HEAD

Christ is the Head of the Body. In Ephesians 5:23 Paul says, “Christ is Head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the Body.” The Savior is a matter of love,

whereas the Head is a matter of authority. We love Christ as our Savior, but we must also be subject to Him as our Head. As the Head of the church, the Body, Christ is joined to the Body. Just as in one’s physical body the head and the body are one, so Christ, the Head, and the church, His Body, are joined and therefore are one. The Body is one with the Head in the divine life and in the divine Spirit.

All that Christ has accomplished, obtained, and attained as the Head is not only for the Body but also to the Body (1:22-23). This means that what the Head has gained now belongs to the Body, for it is transmitted to the Body. The Body, therefore, comes into existence from the transmission of the Head. Whatever Christ has passed through, obtained, and attained is now being transmitted into the Body. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2265)

Reference: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 210—212

AS THE BODY IS THE FULLNESS

The Church—The Increase of Christ – 819

1. As the body is the fulness
   To express our life,
   So to Christ the Church, His Body,
   Doth express His life.
2. E’en as Eve is part of Adam
   Taken out of him,
   So the Church is Christ’s own increase
   With Himself within.
3. As from out the buried kernel
   Many grains are formed,
   As the grains together blended
   To a loaf are formed;
4. So the Church, of many Christians,
   Christ doth multiply,
   Him expressing as one Body,
   God to glorify.
5. As the branches of the grapevine
   Are its outward spread,
   With it one, abiding, bearing
   Clusters in its stead;
6. So the Church’s many members
   Christ’s enlargement are,
   One with Him in life and living,
   Spreading Him afar.
7. Fulness, increase, duplication,
   His expression full,
   Growth and spread, continuation,
   Surplus plentiful,
8. Is the Church to Christ, and thereby
   God in Christ may be
   Glorified thru His redeemed ones
   To eternity.
9. Thus the Church and Christ together,
   God’s great mystery,
   Is the mingling of the Godhead
   With humanity.