«　WEEK 10　DAY 1　»

　　Eph. 1:23 …the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

　　1Tim. 3:15 …the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

　　The church is the goal God wants to obtain in His eternal economy. Each one of us who is saved participates in this goal, that God may obtain His heart's desire according to His good pleasure. Therefore, we must also know the church.

　　The church is what Christ will build through His death, resurrection, and ascension. The term “church” is ecclesia in Greek which means the called out assembly. Thus, according to its literal meaning, the church is the congregation called out from the world by God. It is not a church building or any edifice for the worship of God.

　　The church is the Body with Christ as the Head; it is constituted for Christ in His life and Spirit with all those who have believed into Him. It is a living organism and not a lifeless organization, such as the clubs and associations in society. The body of a man is the fullness of a man to be his expression. Likewise, the church is the fullness of Christ to be His expression. Since Christ is the One who is unlimited, extensive, and filling all in all, He needs a great Body to be the fullness of Himself who fills all in all to express Him in all things.

　　(Eph. 5:25 reveals that) the church is also Christ's counterpart. As the Body of Christ, the church receives life from Him for His expression; this is a matter of life. As the counterpart of Christ, the church receives His love for the satisfaction of His heart's desire; this is a matter of love.

　　To Christ, the church is His Body and His counterpart, while to God, the church is His house. On the one hand, this house refers to God's dwelling place, and on the other hand, it refers to God's family, God's household. These two, God's household and God's dwelling place, are just one. God's household is the very house for God's dwelling (Eph. 2:19, 22). A person's house is his place of living, residing, and rest. The church, being God's house, is also such a place to God. Today, the living God is living, residing, and resting in the church on the earth.

　　The church is also a corporate new man…Christ, having abolished on the cross all the ordinances which caused discord among men, created this new man in Himself (Eph. 2:14-15). In this new man, there are no persons of the old creation belonging to any race, religion, culture, or class. Only Christ is all the constituents of this new man and is in all its constituents.

　　

　　The church is unique and has no need of special names. The church is the church; there should not be kinds of churches that are denominated according to their kind, such as the Presbyterian church, the Lutheran church, and the Baptist church. To denominate the church in this way is needless and not according to the biblical revelation.

　　Although the church is unique in the universe, it is numerous in its local manifestation. The many local churches do not differ in nature; their difference is only in the different places where they are. Therefore, we may use the name of the locality in which a local church is to designate that church, such as the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1), and the seven local churches in the province of Asia (Rev. 1:4, 11). (Life Lesson, Vol 1, Knowing the Church)