Second, the Body of Christ as the axis of God’s economy is the organism of the Triune God. This is not a small thing. According to Ephesians 4:4-6, we can say strongly that the Triune God is in the Body of Christ today. Here it mentions one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God, who is over all, through all, and in us all. According to the human understanding, the Triune God is in heaven. But according to the revelation of the Bible, we have to say conclusively and definitely that the Triune God is in the Body. The Body of Christ is where the Triune God is located today. It is true that the Triune God is in heaven, but mainly He is not working there. Rather, He is working in the Body of Christ. Today, the Triune God is doing only one central work, which is the building up of the Body of Christ. Everything that God is doing in the universe is for this central work. Today, we who are in the Lord’s recovery are in the center of this central work of God. The mysterious organism of God’s New Testament economy is right here with us. If we truly see this revelation, our life and service will be absolutely different.
Today the Triune God is continually and actively working in the Body of Christ. Everything on earth, whether it is political, military, economic, or scientific, is all under the sovereign arrangement of the Lord. Everything works together and coordinates together for the Body of Christ. This Body is not a humanly manufactured organization, but an organism produced by the Triune God as life. Hence, the church as the Body of Christ is not a congregation, but a Body. It is not a human organization, but the organism of the Triune God.
You can see two things standing here: a wooden table and me as a person. The wooden table is a dead organization. It cannot move. I am a living organism and am very lively. Every part of me is functioning. The old system in Christianity has annulled all the organic functions of the Christians. In the long run, they cannot function anymore and are like those without any spiritual life. What is left is just a clergy-laity system. In the Lord’s recovery, we have to overturn this so that every believer may become alive and may function for the organic Body to be expressed.
We all know that the spiritual life which is in every saved person has its capacities that come with its nature. According to its capacity, it likes to move, to function, and to serve the Lord. Apparently, the meetings with one speaking and all listening appeal to the Christian taste. But actually, the capacity within a Christian’s nature has no taste for that. Everyone who knows this fact or who has a taste of this kind of meeting is for the mutual speaking and mutual listening, because the mutual speaking and mutual listening match the capacity of our spiritual life.
Our human body is a living organism. That is why it has to be active. The less the body moves, the easier it is for it to become sick. The more it moves, the healthier it becomes. In the practice of the new way during the past five years, our study gave us a conclusion in four steps: 1) the preaching of the gospel for the saving of sinners, 2) the nourishing of the new ones in their homes, 3) the setting up of the group meetings for the mutual perfecting, and 4) the prophesying in the Lord’s Day meeting by everyone for the release of the riches of Christ and the supply to the members, with the result that the Body of Christ is built up. These four steps are the begetting, the nourishing, the teaching, and the building that we have talked about. They are scriptural and fully match the capacity in our spiritual life. Because of this, we must promote this matter today so that all the brothers and sisters, whether they be newly saved or long-time Christians, whether old or young, can develop the capacity of their spiritual life and can become living and functioning members.
(The Mysteries in God's New Testament Economy, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee)