The Intrinsic and Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ – Week 1
The Intrinsic Essence of the Church for It’s Organic Existence
Related Verses
Genesis 2:22
22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.
John 1:12
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name,
John 3:29-30
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Ephesians 1:4-6
4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,
5 Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved;
John 12:24
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
1 Peter 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Romans 8:29
29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;
Romans 12:5
5 So we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Suggested Reading
When we are regenerated, we are made the children of God as the bride of Christ, who is the Bridegroom, for His increase, as typified by Eve as the counterpart to Adam (John 1:12-13; 3:29-30; Gen. 2:21-23). Regeneration makes the believers the children of God.
Individually, we are children of God, but corporately we are one entity, the bride of Christ. In the first part of John 3 the Lord Jesus spoke concerning regeneration. Later in the same chapter John the Baptist referred to the regenerated ones in totality as the one bride of Christ (vv. 29-30)….When the Lord Jesus was put to death,…He did not remain in death; He resurrected. In His resurrection He brought many saved ones with Him and brought them forth to become parts of Him. When all these parts are put together, they become a bride as His counterpart. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” p. 271)
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The church is the bride of Christ, and according to typology, this bride is typified by Eve, who was Adam’s counterpart. Eve was first a part of Adam. While Adam was sleeping, God opened his side and took out a rib. Then God built that rib into a woman by the name of Eve and brought her to Adam to be his counterpart (Gen. 2:21-23)….When he saw Eve, he declared, “This time this is bone of my bones / And flesh of my flesh” (v. 23). Eve is a picture of the church. The church came out of Christ as a part of Christ. The intrinsic essence of the church is the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ. He is the essence of the church because the church was His part. The church is not only composed of children born of God, but the church is also the bride, the counterpart of Christ, a part of Christ as Christ’s increase.
Before Eve came into existence, she was a rib of Adam, a part of Adam. According to this revelation, we can say that before the church came into existence, she was a part of Christ….This is why every believer is a member of the Body of Christ. Just as the members of our physical body are parts of us, the members of Christ are parts of Christ. The divine life, the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ Himself, is the essence of the church.
Christ became the essence of the church through the release of the divine life….If the divine life had only remained in His Divine Being, concealed in His human body, it could have never been our life. For this life to be yours and mine, it had to be released. The divine life was released by Christ as the one grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying there for His multiplication (John 12:24)….With His death the divine life was released from one grain into many grains.
This released divine life has been imparted into us, the believers of Christ. This took place at the time Christ was resurrected. His resurrection included us (Eph. 2:6). We all were resurrected in Him, with Him, and by Him….In His resurrection He became the firstborn Son with many brothers. Now He is our big Brother, and we are the many sons of God. The divine life imparted into us in Christ’s resurrection is the intrinsic essence of the church, the organic Body of Christ. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God,” pp. 271-273)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msg. 23; CWWN, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” chs. 2-3
Corporate Reading of “Truth Messages” Chapter 1 – Sections: Every Church A Police Station And Every Saint A Policeman; The Full Knowledge Of The Truth; Deprived Of The Truth
© Living Stream Ministry, 2016, used by permission