In the previous message we saw a pattern of living Christ for the church. Paul is not a pattern of living a certain culture; he is a pattern of living Christ for the church. When we speak of living Christ for the church, we need to know who Christ is and also what the church is.
Who is Christ? Christ is God processed to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This expression, brief and accurate, is an explanation of Christ that is according to both the New Testament revelation and our spiritual experience.
For what purpose should we live Christ? Should we live Christ for evangelism? For spirituality? We must live Christ for the church.
Since we need to live Christ for the church, we need to answer an important question: What is the church? First, the church is the assembly of the called-out ones. Second, the church is the organic Body of Christ. Furthermore, the church is the fullness of Christ and also of God, the new man, the habitation of God, and the bride. This is the sequence followed by Paul in the book of Ephesians. Furthermore, according to the book of Revelation, the church is the lampstand. Ultimately in the Bible the church is called the bride. Therefore, if we would know what the church is, we must see that the church is the called assembly, the organic Body of Christ, the fullness of Christ and of God, the new man, the habitation of God, the lampstand, and the bride.
Now I would go on to ask another question, a question that seems very common and ordinary: What does the Bible reveal to us? In particular, what is revealed in the New Testament? Many Christian teachers would say that the New Testament is a revelation of Christ. Perhaps those with a more thorough understanding would say that it speaks concerning Christ and the church. I would say that the best answer to the question regarding what is revealed in the New Testament is that it reveals Christ with the church.
We need to know Christ not merely in a superficial way, but in a deep, profound, and mysterious way. Some believers would say that Christ is God incarnated to be a man named Jesus. This Jesus, a man from Nazareth, eventually was crucified and resurrected. This, of course, is true; it is according to the Bible. We believe all this concerning Christ, for the Bible tells us these things. However, the Bible also reveals deeper matters related to Christ. The Bible shows us not only things that can be compared to “feathers” and “skin”; it also reveals things that can be compared to “meat.”
Many kinds of living things have either skin or feathers. Even garlic has some very thin layers of skin. Before you eat garlic, you first need to peel off the skin. Chickens and other kinds of birds have feathers. When we eat chicken, we pay attention to the meat, not to the feathers. There is a Chinese proverb which refers to insignificant matters as chicken feathers and garlic skins. When we say that a certain matter can be compared to chicken feathers or garlic skin, we do not mean that the matter in question is meaningless or useless. Chicken feathers may be used to stuff a pillow, and garlic skin may be used in making medicine. My purpose in using this illustration is to say that even the divine revelation in the Bible contains “skin” and “feathers,” that is, matters that are necessary and important but are nevertheless somewhat superficial.
We may also use as an illustration the shell of an egg. Without a shell an egg could not exist. But when we eat eggs, we do not eat the shells; rather, we eat what is inside the shell. The revelation in the Bible can be compared to an egg with its shell and contents. Many Christians devote their attention to the “shell.” Using the illustration of the chicken feathers and the garlic skins, we may say that these same Christians concentrate on the “feathers” and “skins” found in the Bible. The shells, the skins, and the feathers all refer to matters that are true and important. Nevertheless, as we shall seek to make clear, they are not the “meat” of the divine revelation.
During the period known as the Dark Ages, from approximately the sixth century to the sixteenth, the Bible was locked away, and even the skins and the feathers were lost. In the Reformation the Bible was opened to a certain extent, and the revelation of the divine Word was somewhat recovered. During the Reformation the skins and the feathers were recovered; however, the depths of the Word were not opened very much.
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