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The heading up in the church life is by life and light— John 1:4; 8:12:
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God's way of recovery is Christ versus Satan, life versus death, light versus darkness, and order versus confusion.
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The collapse comes from the factor of death; the heading up comes from the factor of life—Ezek. 37:4-10.
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God's way to recover the oneness among His creation is to impart Himself into us as life—Rom. 8:6, 10-11, 19-21.
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In order to be delivered from the heap of collapse in a practical way, we need to grow in life; the more we grow in life, the more we will be headed up and the more we will be rescued from the universal collapse—Eph. 4:15; Col. 2:19.
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When God comes into us as life, the light of life shines within us— John 1:4; Eph. 5:8-9:
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This life swallows death, and this light dispels the darkness— John 8:12.
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If we are in the life and under the light, we will be delivered out of confusion and brought into order, harmony, and oneness.
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In the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center, all things will be headed up in Christ; this will be the complete fulfillment of Ephesians 1:10—Rev. 21:2-3, 23-25; 22:1-2a:
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In the New Jerusalem everything will be saturated with life and will be under light—v. 1; 21:23.
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In Revelation 21 we see the Head, the Body surrounding the Head, and all the nations walking in the light of the city; the whole universe will be headed up in the light shown through the transparent city—v. 18.
Morning Nourishment
John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.
When we grow in life, we have the light of life. Under this light, everything is kept in order. If instead of life and light we have death and darkness, we are still in the collapse. Wherever death and darkness are, there is the collapse. All of human society, including today’s Christianity, is nothing but death and darkness and, hence, a heap of collapse. But because we are full of life and are under light, we are not a heap. Because we are in life and because all our movements are in light, there is no confusion. Although today’s Christianity is a heap of collapse in death and darkness, we in the church life are in life and under light. With life and light we are being headed up. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 79-80)
Today’s Reading
The church takes the lead to be headed up in Christ. Eventually, the millennium will come and, following that, the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem. In the new heaven and new earth all things will be headed up in Christ. In the New Jerusalem there will be no death and no night; instead, everything will be saturated with life and be under light. With the New Jerusalem as the center, all things in the new heaven and the new earth will be headed up. At that time Ephesians 1:10 will be completely fulfilled. Then we shall realize that Christ is the Head over all things to the church, His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Today we in the church life are taking the lead to be headed up in Christ. For this we need to grow in life and have the light of life.Where life is, there is light also. John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This light is the light of life (John 8:12). In Revelation 21 we have both life and light. Because the New Jerusalem is saturated with light, it has no need for the light of the sun. Revelation 21:23 says, “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon that they should shine in it, for the glory of God illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” In the New Jerusalem we shall have the glory of the Triune God as our shining light. In the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem there will be no night, no death, and no darkness. Instead, there will be life and light. This will cause everything to rise up and be in good order.
Wherever there is light, things are kept in order. Suppose there were no lights in the city of Los Angeles. What darkness and confusion there would be! Life regulates, and light controls. In the church life we do not have regulations, but we do have the regulating life and the controlling light. When the church is full of life, it is also full of light. Then everyone in the church is regulated by the inward life, not by outward regulations; and everyone is controlled and kept in order by the light of life. Here in life and in light, we are headed up. In Revelation 21 we see the Head, the Body surrounding the Head, and all the nations walking in the light of the city (Rev. 21:24). This will cause the new heaven and the new earth to be a bright sphere. Therefore, in the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem as the center, all things will be headed up in Christ. This will be the fulfillment of the heading up of all things in Christ spoken of in Ephesians 1:10.
Today’s church life is a foretaste of this. It is a miniature of the new heaven, the new earth, and the New Jerusalem. As those in the miniature, we are enjoying the dispensation of life with light, and we are being headed up in Christ. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 80, 95-96)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 8, 10