V. CHRIST AND THE BELIEVERS BECOMING ONE
TO PRODUCE THE ORGANIC ELEMENT
FOR THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH
Christ as the divine life seed and the believers as the human growing earth become one to produce the organic element for the constitution of the church (Eph. 1:22). The church is not merely a group of Christians added together to form an organization. It is not some religious entity within society. The church is Christ living in you, living in me, and living in the millions of other Christians. This living Body, this living entity, is the Body of Christ, which is the church. Hence, the church is a constitution, having Christ as its constituent.
VI. MAKING THE CHURCH THE BODY OF CHRIST
WITH THE SPIRIT, THE LORD, AND
GOD THE FATHER AS ITS CONTENTS
By sowing Himself into the believers, Christ makes the church the Body of Christ with the Spirit as the essence of the Body, the Lord as the element of the Body, and God the Father as the source of the Body—the Triune God—as its contents (Eph. 1:23; 4:4-6). Christ today as the divine life seed is the Spirit, the Lord, and also God the Father. The Divine Trinity today is within us as our contents. My burden is to show you that the church is not anything outward. The church is certainly not a building. But neither is the church merely a group of Christians coming together. Actually the reality of the church is Christ living in us as the Spirit, as the Lord, and as God the Father. Christ Himself is the contents of the church.
VII. THE ALL-INCLUSIVE CHRIST AS THE EMBODIMENT OF THE TRIUNE GOD BECOMING THE CHURCH AS
HIS BODY AND EVERY MEMBER OF THE NEW MAN
Because Christ Himself is the contents of the church, Christ becomes the Body (1 Cor. 12:12). What is the church? The church is Christ multiplied, enlarged. Therefore, Christ Himself is the church. Furthermore, the church as the Body of Christ is the new man, and Christ is every member of the new man (Col. 3:10-11). Christ is the Body, and Christ is every member of the new man.
VIII. TO BE THE ORGANISM OF THE PROCESSED
AND CONSUMMATED TRIUNE GOD AS
HIS FULLNESS, HIS CORPORATE EXPRESSION
Since Christ is both the Body and every member of the new man, the church is actually the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God. We human beings have bodies, living and organic bodies, which are organisms to express us. If I did not have a body, I would have to stand here as a ghost. My speaking then would scare you away. But I have a very good organism to express me, which is my body. When you see my body, you say, "Oh, that’s Brother Lee." This is what an organism does. In the same way, the church is an organism of the Triune God that manifests and expresses Him as His fullness, His corporate expression (Eph. 3:19-21).
(The Constitution and the Building Up of the Body of Christ, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
