«　WEEK 3　DAY 3　»

　　1 Cor. 1:18 "For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

　　1 Cor. 2:2 "For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified."

　　1 Cor. 12:27 "Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually."

　　We believe in the centrality of the cross, but the cross is not the end in itself. It is a divine means to a divine end. The end is the Body. When the cross has done something quite specific in our life, we find ourselves in the Body. Spontaneously, we find ourselves in the Body.

　　What constitutes us a member of the Body? If God gives us a revelation of the Body, what will be the effect on us? Will the revelation just be a new truth to expound? No, the revelation will mean a revolution! What constitutes us as members of the Body is not something we have experienced or something we have to do, it is Christ in us that constitutes us as members of the Body. It is nothing we are in ourselves that makes us a member of the Body; it is the life of the Lord in us. (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1190-1191)

　　The Body of Christ is Christ. Paul did not say anything wrong spiritually when he said, “As the body is one…so also is the Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12). Grammatically speaking, this is wrong; he should have said, “Christ and the church.” But the Head is the Christ, and the Body is the Christ. Everything that comes from Christ constitutes the Body, so everything that does not come from Christ must be ruled out. It cannot get into the Body. It is not a matter of “plus” ; it is all a matter of “minus.” We do not need to get anything or do anything in order to get into the Body. We only need to be stripped of all we are and have. This is where the cross comes in. The cross is the divine means in us of ruling out that which prevents us from taking our place in the Body. The things of our self, temperament, make-up, etc., must all be ruled out. God must touch these things. Some folks have a keen mind and think that they can better understand and minister the Word of God by their keen mind. No! This needs to be eliminated. Often we minister just because we have a keen mind. How many of us need salvation from our mind and the helmet of salvation for our head. The backbone of our natural strength must be broken. We must have a proper perspective on the divine things.

　　If we come to God and ask Him to show us Ephesians and what His purpose is for this age, He will certainly show us the Body. The cross points us straight to the Body, and the Body rules out everything that is of Adam. Nothing that is of us has any part in Him. We cannot add anything to our physical bodies, because they are already complete. So it is with Christ.

　　We must realize that a revelation of the Body is very costly. It will touch the very spring of your life. When this happens, the whole matter of moving as individual members ceases. There cannot be any freelancing in the Body. If I move my finger, the muscles of my arm cannot refuse to move. If my arm moves, my finger cannot but go along with it. All that is individual must go. We have to move with others and wait for others. We cannot go on alone; we have to go on with the brothers. If we expect to see the Body, the matter of other headships has to be dealt with. Other headships are interfering with the absolute lordship of Christ.

　　If we really know the cross, it will lead us into the Body. So many Christians profess to know the Lord, the deeper meaning of the cross, and the truth of the Body, and they profess to be all one in Christ. They stress that the old man must go, but there is a tragic lack in the outworking of their words. All of God's dealings with us have been with a view to prepare us for the Body. All of His work in us is a process of elimination so that we can become functioning members of the Body. (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1191-1193)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 46, ch. 174