C
God's surpassingly great power that is presently being transmitted into us is the transcending Christ Himself as the fourfold power of the Triune God (1 Cor. 1:24); the normal, genuine, proper, and real church comes out of this great fourfold power—resurrecting power, ascending power, subjecting power, and heading-up power—for the building up of the church as His Body (Eph. 1:19-23):
１
To the church (v. 22) indicates that the divine power, which includes all that the Triune God has passed through, has been installed into us once for all and is being transmitted into us continually, causing us to enjoy Christ richly and to have the proper church life with the reality of the Body of Christ.
２
The transmitting of the transcending Christ is to transfuse into the church, the Body of Christ, what the Triune God has accomplished, attained, and obtained in Christ; this is not only for producing the church but also for growing, establishing, and building up the church.
D
We must ask the Father to strengthen us into the inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts through faith with the power that raised Christ from the dead, that seated Christ at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, that subjected all things under His feet, and that gave Him to be Head over all things to the church—3:16-17; 1:19-23.
E
God is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think concerning the church as the Body of Christ, according to this fourfold power that operates in us, so that God is glorified in the church—3:20-21.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 1:10 Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.22-23 And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
Through all the dispensations of God in all the ages, all things will be headed up in Christ in the new heaven and new earth. This will be God’s eternal administration and economy. God gave Christ to be the Head over all things to the church. The little word to [in Ephesians 1:22] implies transmission. It indicates that Christ’s headship is being transmitted to the church. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 73-74)
Today’s Reading
The church can share the headship of Christ because the church is the Body of Christ. The King is not just the Head, but the Head with the Body. Christ is not only the Head but also the Body (1 Cor. 12:12). Because the church is the Body and because Christ is both the Head and the Body, we may say that, in a sense, we, the Body, are also Christ. Although we are not the Head, we can share Christ’s headship. We are the Body of the Head, and the Head is the head over all things. We are not only head over insects, cats, and dogs but also over presidents, kings, generals, and industrial leaders. We are over them all. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 74)The Triune God’s threefold dispensing is included in the transmission of the transcending Christ and is completed and consummated in the all-inclusive transmission of the transcending Christ. Such an all-inclusive transmission brings us into union not only with the incarnated and crucified Christ but also with the resurrected and transcending Christ. In union with this transcending Christ, we have surpassed all the negative things and transcended them all. The incarnated and crucified Christ has brought God to man and has accomplished an eternal redemption for us. But the power of Hades and the rule, authority, power, and lordship in the air are still the frustration to the God-chosen people in their participation in what Christ has done for them in His new covenant. Through His resurrection and ascension, Christ has conquered the power of Hades and surpassed and transcended all the power of darkness in the air. In union with such a Christ, we are participating all the time in all His success in His resurrection and ascension. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” p. 526)
We need to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man [Eph. 3:16]. This word into indicates transmission. You are receiving the divine transmission of this fourfold power, the resurrection power, transcending power, subduing power, and overruling [heading-up] power. In Ephesians 1 this power was toward us, but in chapter 3 the strengthening is with this power into our spirit, into our inner man. This power for the strengthening is not only within us but also in the heavens being transmitted into us.
The issue of this strengthening is “that Christ may make His home in your hearts” (v. 17). Not only is Christ in our spirit, but also, as a person, He must inhabit our whole inward being, our heart….Christ will take over our entire inward being. When we are strengthened into our inner man, into our spirit, it will be easy for Christ as the indwelling Spirit to saturate every inward part of our being. It will be easy for Christ as the indwelling Spirit to take over our mind, our emotion, and our will. Then Christ can settle down in our being, making His home in our hearts. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 2, “The Two Greatest Prayers of the Apostle Paul,” p. 414)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Issue of the Dispensing of the Processed Trinity and the Transmitting of the Transcending Christ,” chs. 4-6