Scripture Reading: Col. 1:13, 18, 24; 2:19; 3:10-11, 15; 4:11, 15-16
Ⅰ
God's will is to have the church as the Body of Christ—Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19:
A
Christ is the Head of the Body, the church—1:18:
１
The church is the Body of Christ, which is an entity constituted with the Triune God and His chosen and redeemed ones—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-6.
２
The Body is the intrinsic significance of the church; if there were no Body, the church would make no sense and have no meaning—1 Cor. 12:12, 27; 1:2.
３
It is crucial for us to realize that Christ is the Head and that we are the members of His Body—Col. 1:18; 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16:
ａ
To live in the Body is to live corporately with the members under the Head.
ｂ
To live the Body life, we must be under the Head and take the Head as our life, the principal object, and the center of our whole being—Col. 1:18; 2:19.
ｃ
The first principle of living in the Body of Christ is to obey the authority of the Head—Eph. 4:15:
⑴
The Body's only duty toward the Head is obedience and submission without any opinion, idea, or proposal—John 21:20-22; Acts 13:1-4a.
⑵
Our relationship to the Head determines our relationship to the other members of the Body; if we hold the Head, we cannot have a special feeling for or a special relationship and fellowship with any indi-vidual or group of individuals—9:10-19.
B
The Body grows with the growth of God—Col. 2:19:
１
The growth of the Body depends on the growth of God, the addition of God, the increase of God, within us—Eph. 4:16.
２
God gives the growth by giving Himself to us in a subjective way—3:16-17a.
C
In the one Body of Christ we were called to the peace of Christ, which is Christ Himself—Col. 3:15:
１
The peace of Christ is the oneness of the new man, the Body—Eph. 4:3.
２
For the Body life we should let the peace of Christ decide all things in our hearts in our relationship with the members of His Body—Col. 3:15.
D
As members of the Body, we need to have the consciousness of the Body and have a feeling for the Body—1 Cor. 12:25-26; Rom. 12:15.
E
The unique Body of Christ is expressed in many localities as the local churches; a local church is the expression of the Body of Christ in a certain locality—Col. 4:15-16; Eph. 4:4; Rev. 1:4, 11.
Ⅱ
God's will is to have the church as the new man—Col. 3:10-11:
A
God's intention is to have a corporate man to express Him and to represent Him—Gen. 1:26.
B
The church as the new man is the corporate man in God's intention—Eph. 2:15; 4:24; 6:10-20:
１
The church, the Body of Christ, is the one new man to accomplish God's eternal purpose—2:15; 4:24; 3:9.
２
As the new man, the church needs Christ as its person—Col. 1:18; 3:4; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17a.
C
For the practical existence and living of the one new man, we all need to take Christ as our person—v. 17a; Gal. 2:20:
１
The church is the one new man, and in this one new man there is only one person—Christ—Col. 3:10-11.
２
For the one new man, the person of the old man must be put away, and we must live by our new person—Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:22, 24; 3:17a.
Ⅲ
God's will is to have the church as the kingdom of the Son of God's love— Col. 1:13; 4:11:
A
The kingdom in which and with which Christ reigns in us today is not only the reign of God but also the realm of the divine life—John 3:3, 5, 15:
１
The kingdom of God is an organism constituted with God's life as the realm of life for His ruling, in which He reigns by His life and expresses Himself as the Divine Trinity in the divine life—v. 5; 15:1-8, 16, 26.
２
The kingdom of God has its reality, and this reality is the living of the divine life—Matt. 5:3, 8, 20; 6:33; 7:21; Rom. 14:17.
B
The kingdom in which and with which Christ reigns in us today is the king-dom of the Son of God's love—Col. 1:12-13:
１
The Son of God is the embodiment and expression of the divine life; there-fore, the kingdom of the Son is a realm of life—1 John 5:11-12.
２
The kingdom in which we find ourselves today is a realm full of life, light, and love—1:1-2, 5, 7; 4:8, 16.
３
The Father has transferred us into a realm where we are ruled in love with life, not in fear; under the Lord's ruling and restriction, we have genuine freedom in love, with life, and under light—Col. 1:13; Matt. 7:13-14.
４
In the kingdom of the Son of God's love, the will of God is carried out, and we enjoy Christ and have the church life—Rev. 4:11; Col. 1:9, 12; 4:12.