ENJOYING THE BUILDING
Although the building of the church is taking place, we ourselves cannot build the church. Some may find this hard to believe and say, “In the past you told us to endeavor to build up the church. Now you are saying that we cannot build up the church.” On the one hand, the church has already been built, and there is no need for us to build it. On the other hand, the building of the church is still going on in resurrection. In a very real sense, we do not need to build the church. Instead, we should simply stay in the building and enjoy it.
In John 2:19 the Lord Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Are these three days over, or are they still going on? It is difficult to answer this question. As far as accomplishment is concerned, the three days are over. But as far as enjoyment is concerned, we are still in these three days. Are we, then, accomplishing the building, or are we enjoying what has already been built? It is hard for our limited mentality to answer this question. According to our way of thinking, we are still doing the work of building. Apparently, we are doing the work of building; actually, we are enjoying what has already been built. We may experience the building in resurrection every day. I am not speaking something I have not experienced. What I am telling you is what I have been experiencing and enjoying. Day by day, I enjoy what the Lord Jesus has accomplished in His resurrection.
In chapter two of John there are two signs. The first is the changing of water into wine; the second is the raising up of the destroyed temple of God. Thank the Lord that today we are for this and in it. We have this living, and we are for this goal. We are living a life of changing water into wine for the unique purpose of building up Christ’s mystical Body.
The Gospel of John is deep because it gives the mysterious stories of the divine life. Most of today’s Christians neglect the mysterious matters revealed in this Gospel. We thank the Lord that He has brought us into these mysterious stories of the divine life. Because these matters are mysterious, we cannot adequately utter all that we see concerning them. However, I believe that the Spirit will speak much more to you than I am able to speak. Then we shall all enjoy an inner, mutual understanding concerning the changing of death into life for the building up of the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord for the revelation in John 2! In this chapter we see the changing of water into wine for the unique and glorious goal of building up the mystical Body of Christ.
(The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
