The reality of the body of christ
Message Six
Living Out and Working Out the New Jerusalem to Build Up Zion as the Reality of the Body of Christ
Scripture Reading: Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 2:19; Psa. 36:8-9; Rev. 2:7; 21:18-23; 22:1-5
I. The Lord's recovery is to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ by living out and working out the New Jerusalem:
A. As the highlight and beauty of the holy city, Jerusalem, Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center, the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty, and the reality of the church-Psa. 48:2, 11-12; 50:2; 20:2; 53:6a; 87:2.
B. The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body of Christ and consummate the building up of the Body of Christ in the local churches to bring in the consummated holy city, New Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God's dwelling place, in eternity-Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22.
C. In the new heaven and new earth the entire New Jerusalem will become Zion, with all the believers as the overcomers-v. 7.
II. To live out the New Jerusalem is to grow up "into the Head" by the mingling of God with man, and to work out the New Jerusalem is to function "out from the Head" for the oneness of the Body of Christ-Lev. 2:4-5; John 6:57; 7:37; 17:21, 23; Eph. 4:3-4a, 11-16; Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:6-12a; 10:3-4, 17; 12:12-13; Rev. 2:7; 21:9-11; 22:14, 17:
A. God's desire is to gain the New Jerusalem through the precursor of the organic Body of Christ produced in the local churches-2:7; 12:5; 14:1-4.
B. Eventually, the local churches will be over; only the Body of Christ will remain forever as the unique mutual abode of God and man so that God and man are married together, mingled and incorporated together, to be one entity, a great corporate God-man-1:11-12; 21:2-3, 22; 22:17a.
III. Whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem should be both our personal and corporate experience for us to become the New Jerusalem and build the New Jerusalem by the mingling of God with man for the oneness of the Body of Christ to fulfill the eternal purpose of God:
A. The New Jerusalem is the totality of the overcomers; a remnant of the Lord's believers, the earlier overcomers, will be the bride of Christ for one thousand years (19:7-9; 20:4-6); then they will join the rest of the Lord's believers, the later overcomers, to be the wife of Christ for eternity (21:2-3, 7):
1. The earlier overcomers, as the reality of Zion within Jerusalem, the reality of the Body of Christ within the church, have highways to Zion in their heart; they take the way of the church internally by being incorporated into God as their dwelling place through the crucified Christ, typified by the bronze altar as their nest for their refuge, and through the resurrected Christ in ascension, typified by the incense altar as their home for their rest-Psa. 48:2; 84:3-5; cf. Prov. 27:8.
2. To overcome means that we love the Lord more than our self, more than our soul-life; an overcomer knows and loves only Christ for the reality of the Body of Christ-Phil. 3:10; 4:12; Rev. 2:4-5, 7; 12:11.
3. The Lord is waiting for a group of overcomers to live out the reality of the Body of Christ in resurrection to become the bride of Christ to bring Him back and to usher in His kingdom age; for this we need to pray, "Lord, may I receive Your mercy and grace to be one of Your overcomers."
B. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must hold on to this principle: God's presence is the criterion for every matter-21:22; 22:4; Exo. 25:30; Psa. 27:4-5, 8; 31:20; 91:1:
1. The New Testament commences with the individual Christ as the God-man, "God with us," and ends with the New Jerusalem as the corporate Christ, as the great God-man, "Jehovah Is There"-Matt. 1:23; Ezek. 48:35.
2. The Spirit is the presence of Christ with our spirit; we must live and act in the person of Christ, in the presence of Christ, according to the index of His whole person, expressed in His eyes-2 Tim. 4:22; Rom. 8:16; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; 2:10, 13; Exo. 33:11a, 14-17; 1 Cor. 14:24-25; cf. Rev. 5:6.
C. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be under the throne of God, the ruling of God-22:1, 3:
1. Sin is lawlessness, a dethronement of God; we need to dethrone ourselves, humble ourselves, to live in our spirit, coordinate with the saints for God's move, and maintain a "clear sky" in our Christian life and church life in order to be filled with God's ruling presence of reigning grace-1 John 3:4; Ezek. 1:13-16, 22, 26; Rom. 5:21; Rev. 4:1-3; 22:1; cf. 1 Kings 10:18.
2. To reach this point means that in everything we allow God to have the preeminence and are completely submissive to His authority and administration so that He can fulfill His eternal purpose in us, through us, and with us-Rom. 5:17; Matt. 8:9; Rom. 14:17; cf. Num. 17:8.
D. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must have the flow and supply of life-Rev. 22:1-2; Hymns, #509:
1. The flowing river of life and the edible tree of life should be the outstanding features of our Christian life and church life for the enjoyment of God as our real Eden, our pleasure, entertainment, and joy-Gen. 2:8-10; Psa. 36:8-9; 43:4a; Neh. 8:10.
2. To drink one Spirit is to be mingled with the Spirit as the oneness of the one Body; this requires us to call on the Lord continually and draw water with joy from Him as the fountain of living water-1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph. 4:3-4a; Isa. 12:3-4; Jer. 2:13; John 4:10, 14; 7:37-39; Rev. 22:17.
3. To eat the tree of life, that is, to enjoy Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life; to enjoy Christ requires us to love Him with the first love; loving the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and being the testimony of the Lord go together-2:4, 7; 22:14.
E. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must be full of the light of life-21:11, 23; 22:5; Luke 11:33-36:
1. The light of the New Jerusalem is God as the illuminating glory shining out through Christ the Redeemer as the lamp, and the entire holy city is the diffuser of the divine light; today this diffuser to spread the divine light is the Body of Christ-Rev. 21:23-24a; 22:1, 5; 21:11; Eph. 5:8-9.
2. Light is the presence of God; we enjoy Christ as our God-allotted portion in the light to deliver us out of the authority of darkness, the kingdom of Satan, and to transfer us into the kingdom of the Son of God's love-Col. 1:12-13; Acts 26:18; Rom. 13:11-14; cf. Mark 9:2-8.
3. The light of God is in the sanctuary, God's dwelling place, which is our spirit (Eph. 2:22) and the church (1 Tim. 3:15); in our spirit and in the church we receive divine revelation and obtain the explanation to all our problems (Psa. 73:16-17, 22-26).
F. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must partake of God the Father in His divine nature, typified by the gold as the base of the city-2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 21:21b:
1. The one street of pure gold signifies that when we live and work according to the divine life flowing in the divine nature, we never "get lost," and we are pure, simple, and uncomplicated-22:1; 2 Cor. 11:2-3.
2. The divine nature is what God is; we must exercise our spirit to enjoy God as Spirit (the nature of God's person), and we must remain in the divine fellowship to enjoy God as love (the nature of God's essence) and as light (the nature of God's expression)-John 4:24; 1 John 4:8; 1:5, 3.
G. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must experience God the Son in His death and resurrection, typified by the pearl gates-Rev. 21:21a:
1. Pearls signify the issue of Christ's secretion in two aspects: His redeeming and life-releasing death and His life-dispensing resurrection-John 12:24; 19:34; cf. Zech. 13:1; Jer. 2:13.
2. We must experience the death of Christ by the power of Christ's resurrection so that we may be conformed to His death and to the image of the firstborn Son of God-Phil. 3:10; 1:19; Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 4:7-13.
H. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ, we must experience God the Spirit in His transforming work, typified by the jasper wall with its foundations of precious stones-Rev. 21:18-20:
1. By our growth in the divine life in Christ as the living stone, we are transformed into precious stones to have the same appearance as God-1?Pet. 2:4; 1 Cor. 3:12a; Rev. 21:10-11; 4:3; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 12:2.
2. The wall functions to separate, to sanctify, the city unto God from all things other than God, thus making the city the holy city; the wall also functions to protect the interests of the riches of God's divinity on the earth and the attainments of His consummation-Rev. 21:2a, 10b; cf. John 17:17.
I. To live out and work out the New Jerusalem to build up Zion as the reality of the Body of Christ requires spiritual warfare; at the time of Nehemiah, "those who built the wall and those who carried burdens took the loads with one hand doing the work and with the other holding a weapon"-Neh. 4:17:
1. There are three aspects of the attack of the enemy: the first aspect is the enemy's mocking (2:10; 4:2-3); the second aspect is for the enemy to set up plots through the destroyers of the divine building asking for meetings and discussions (6:2); the third aspect is to cause us to be discouraged, weakened, spiritually sick, and in discord (4:10-12).
2. As a person who loved God, Nehemiah prayed to God to contact Him in fellowship; for the rebuilding of the wall, Nehemiah stood on God's word, prayed according to it, and was aggressive to take action in a properly aggressive way in resurrection-1:1-11; 2:4; 4:4-9; 13:1-30.
3. We need to stand against the stratagems of the devil by fighting the battle in the Body with fighting prayers, praying at every time in spirit to put on the whole armor of God to build up the Body of Christ as the house of God for the glory of God and as the kingdom of God for the dominion of God for the complete fulfillment of the economy of God-Eph. 6:10-20.