The Church is Christ’s own Body

This church, the Body of Christ, is unique in the universe. She is the Lord's own Body, the Father's dwelling place, the gathering of the called ones, God blended with man's race (see Hymns, #824). The Body of Christ in Ephesians 1:23 is the mingling of God and man. The all-inclusive, processed Triune God is mingled with the God-created, regenerated, transformed, conformed, and glorified tripartite man. This is the Body of Christ.

If tens of thousands of saints in six continents are all doing the one work, who then is taking the lead? It is very mysterious to say that Christ is taking the lead. In practice, the real leader is the teaching of the apostles. We all must serve according to, follow, and be based on the teaching of the apostles.

Hymn #824 in Hymns says,
The Church is Christ's own Body,
The Father's dwelling-place,
The gathering of the called ones,
God blended with man's race.

Hymns, #824 is quite a special hymn. It contains a very deep mystery, but the saints do not sing it very often.

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Furthermore, the emphasis in every stanza is very clear. The first stanza is on the Body and the dwelling place; the second stanza is on the new man; the third stanza is on the foundation and its emphasis on building. All buildings require a foundation, and Christ being the head of the corner in God's building is the foundation (Matt. 21:42). Although stanza 3 does not have the term transformation, transformation is truly included in it: "Christ is her one foundation, / None other man may lay; / All that she has, as Christ, is / Divine in every way; / Her members through the Spirit / Their death on Calv'ry own; / They're built in resurrection— / Gold, silver, precious stone." Natural things must go through the killing of the cross and then be built up in resurrection. Wood, grass, and stubble can be transformed and built up as gold, silver, and precious stone. The Body and the new man need to grow, whereas the building needs transformation.

The second half of stanza 4 says, "The triune God is in her, / One Body members own, / By faith they are united, / In hope of glory shown." [Editor's note: The last two lines of stanza 4 in Chinese literally say, "By faith united, by baptism cut off, / In hope awaiting the Lord's coming."] Through baptism we have been cut off from the world and the old creation. Furthermore, we have been cut off from the flesh, the self, and everything natural. If we have been cut off from the world, the old creation, the self, and everything natural, we surely have been cut off from sinfulness and Satan. This cutting off results in a separation from every negative thing. We lack nothing because we are joined to everything positive and cut off from everything negative. Thus, we are waiting to be raptured; we are in hope awaiting the Lord's coming.

We need to sing this hymn and read this hymn, and we also need to learn this hymn. The last stanza says, "Her local gatherings model / The New Jerusalem; / Its aspects and its details / Must show in all of them. / Christ is the Lamp that shineth, / With God within, the Light; / They are the lampstands bearing / His glorious Image bright." If we become familiar with these words and speak these words, our speaking will eventually become like the hymn. I hope that we would sing this hymn one hundred times, once every day, singing slowly, reading slowly, speaking slowly, and digesting slowly so that these words can enter into our thoughts and into our entire being. After one hundred days this will become our possession.

In the table of contents of our hymnal there is a category called "The Church." It covers the church as the mystery of Christ, the increase of Christ, the fullness of Christ, the vessel of Christ, and the lampstand of Christ. It also covers the church's general definition, course, faith, unity, foundation, building, attraction, coordination, and fellowship. Hymns, #824 is on the general definition of the church, whereas #852 is on the attraction of the church. Perhaps many of us have been in the church life for a number of years, yet we are still not clear about the definition of the church, nor do we know what kind of price we need to pay when we are attracted by the church. These two hymns reveal to us these two aspects of the truth. I hope that we all can earnestly study the truths contained in our hymns.