Ⅲ
As we grow up into the Head in life, our function will come out from the Head for the building up of the Body—Eph. 4:16; Col. 2:19:
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When we allow Christ to be the Head in everything and when we grow up into Him in all things, we will be supplied with the riches of His life, receiving something from Him to transfuse into other members of the Body—1 Cor. 14:4b; John 7:37-39:
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To build up the Body of Christ is to minister Christ as the life-giving Spirit into the saints for their growth into Christ—2 Cor. 3:6, 8.
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We must help the saints learn to enjoy the Lord and be nourished by the Lord so that they can grow—Phil. 1:25; 2 Cor. 1:24.
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Under Christ's headship all the Body causes the growth of the Body of Christ— Eph. 4:15-16:
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This growth is through every joint of the rich supply—all the particular gifts in the Body of Christ—vv. 11-12.
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This growth is through the operation in the measure of each one part—every member in the Body of Christ—vv. 7-8.
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The building up of the Body of Christ under His headship is in love and by love:
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Love is the most excellent way to be anything and to do anything for the building up of the Body of Christ; nothing but love can keep us in a proper relationship with the Lord—1 Cor. 12:31b—13:13.
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The goal of the book of Ephesians is to bring us into love as God's inner substance (1 John 4:8, 16) so that we may enjoy God as love and enjoy His presence in the sweetness of the divine love and thereby love others as Christ did (Eph. 5:25; 6:24; 1:4; 3:17; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2).
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"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Cor. 8:1b); this refers to the building up of the corporate Body of Christ under the headship of Christ.
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To grow in life is to grow up into the Head, Christ, but to operate in the Body of Christ is to operate out from Him; first, we grow into the Head, and then we have something that is out from the Head for the building up of the Body; this is to participate in God's great and lofty will to head up all things in Christ— Eph. 4:15-16.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 4:16 Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.1 Cor. 8:1 …Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
Ephesians 4:16 begins with out from whom. The expression out from in the original language carries the sense of “originating from.” When we grow into Christ in all things big or small, and when we become men in Christ enjoying Him, we will spontaneously have something originating from Him that is for the building up of His Body.
Verse 16 goes on to say, “All the Body…through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body.” The growth of the Body of Christ is first through the joints of the rich supply. These are the gifts described in verse 11: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers. They are the joints, which are joined together by the sinews (Col. 2:19), for the rich supply to every member of the Body of Christ. Second, this growth is through the operation in the measure of each one part…. Every member in the Body of Christ, whether great or small, has a measure. Because of its measure, it has an operation. Through the rich supply of every joint and through the operation in the measure of each one part, the Body of Christ grows gradually. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 105-106)
Today’s Reading
To be joined, fitted, together is like the joining together of the frames and beams of a house. Hence, to be joined together is for all the parts of the frames to be joined as one structure. To be knit together is like the filling up of the holes in between the frames by the rocks and the bricks, which are stacked up on top of one another and interwoven together. Hence, to be knit together is for all the other parts to be joined to the frames and to be knit together with one another to form one Body. In this way the whole Body is built together.The end of verse 16 says, “The building up of itself [the Body] in love.” The building up of the Body of Christ is in love and by love. This love is not our natural love. Rather, it is the divine love. We are building up the Body of Christ in the element and sphere of the divine love. At the same time this is the direct building up of the whole Body of Christ by the many members of this Body. The Head does not build directly, nor do the gifted ones do the direct building work. Rather, it is we, the perfected members, who build up the Body of Christ directly. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 4, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 106-107)
Love is the most excellent way for us to prophesy and to teach others [1 Cor. 12:31b]….Love is the most excellent way for us to be anything or do anything….We should love everybody, even our enemies….We must be perfect as our Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48) by loving the evil ones and the good ones without any discrimination. We must be perfect as our Father because we are His sons, His species….We must love any kind of person. The Lord Jesus said that He came to be a Physician, not for the healthy ones, but for the sick ones [Matt. 9:12].
The church is not a police station to arrest people or a law court to judge people, but a home to raise up the believers….The church is a loving home to raise up the children. The church is also a hospital to heal and to recover the sick ones….The church is a school to teach and edify the unlearned ones who do not have much understanding. Because the church is a home, a hospital, and a school, the co-workers and elders should be one with the Lord to raise up, to heal, to recover, and to teach others in love. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 126)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” ch. 8