One in Christ in God

The change in personality of which we have been speaking to this point might be termed the maturing of the born-again experience. We have referred also to the dwelling in us of the fullness of God; but our main point of emphasis has been the change in us in preparation for the coming of the Lord to abide in us.

We have spoken of the power of the blood of Christ to make an atonement, the initial spiritual resurrection of the believer, the planting of the Word of God in our heart, bringing our daily conduct under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, the growth of the Word of God in us, putting to death the deeds of our body, and the maturing of the Word of God in us. Through the processes of God in redemption we are becoming a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17).

But all the above are changes in us—our personal transformation of spirit, soul, and body. The coming of the Persons of the Godhead to abide in us is yet another matter. God comes into us at the moment of our receiving Christ. But He desires to come to us in a much greater way as soon as we have been made ready for such glory.

The new covenant is the creating of the image of Christ in the mind and heart of the believer (Hebrews 8:10). It is an inner work. Christ in us is the hope of glory. As the likeness of Christ begins to appear in our personality, the Glory of God can take up residence in us to an increasingly greater extent. Peter admonishes us to take heed to the Scripture until the Day of the Lord dawns in us.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy [the Scriptures]; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (II Peter 1:19)

The Lord Jesus told us the same thing:

Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)

After we receive Christ and are baptized in water we are to study the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments. As the Holy Spirit makes clear to us the directives and the promises, we are to look to the Spirit for the wisdom and strength to do the will of God.

We are to make use of every resource the Lord has provided for us, including studying and meditating in the Scriptures, prayer, assembling with fervent believers as possible, and the Communion service. We must practice diligently the good works set before us, such as giving, working in the local church, receiving and operating the gifts of the Spirit, and assisting the work of Christ wherever possible. We do the will of God, by His help, "building our house on the rock."

As we take heed to the things of Christ, a wonderful transformation occurs in us. Christ is formed in us. As Christ is formed in us the Father and the Son come to dwell in us. They make their abode with us.

Our task is to keep the words of Jesus and to open the door of our heart to Him.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

God’s plan is described as follows:

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

Before the Father and the Son can take up residence in us we must be strengthened in the inner man. We must be converted in the depths of our character, not just in our mind.

The prayer of Paul for the saints at Ephesus was that they would be "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." He prayed that Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith—the faith that comes as a result of the strengthening of the inner man by the Spirit of God.

The increase of Christ in the heart means an increase in our possession of the love of Christ. Being established in the love of Christ makes it possible for the saint to grasp the riches of God’s Glory. As we grasp the riches of the Glory of God we grow closer to the place where we can be filled with all the fullness of God. We become the eternal dwelling place of the Godhead. God finds His rest in us. We find our rest in God.

The Father dwells in Christ in totality.

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

The Father loves the Son and dwells in Him completely. All that the Father is and possesses He has given to the Son. The Father is in the Son in His fullness and the Son is in the Father in His fullness. If we can understand the relationship of the Son to the Father we can gain some understanding of the relationship of the Body of Christ to the Son.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)

Jesus prayed for the filling of the saints with the fullness of the Father and the Son. The prayer is recorded in John, Chapter 17. "That they all may be one; "

Although various denominations have come into being over the last several hundred years, the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, is one. Its division into sects is superficial. When the Lord gives the Word the members of the Body of Christ will flow together in perfect unity.

"as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,"

The unity of the Body of Christ is a spiritual unity that comes through the impartation of the Substance of God.

The Christian Church is much more than groups of saved people. The Church is born from above; "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). The Body of Christ, the Temple of God, is, in fact, the Substance of Christ that has been imparted to people by the Holy Spirit.

Eve was Adam in another form, having been fashioned from Adam’s rib. She was not created from the dust of the ground but from a piece of Adam. In like manner the true and only Christian Church is not made from flesh and blood. It is the Substance of Christ that is taken Him and formed into people. The true Church, which is Christ in another form, always and forever abides in absolute unity because it is all created from the one Christ of God. The Body of Christ is one with the unity that exists only in the Godhead.

"that they also may be one in us:"

It is not that the Church is one that is so significant. It is that the Church is one in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Being one in the Godhead makes the crucial difference. If the Christian Church became one apart from the Godhead it would be the greatest enemy of Christ in the universe. It would be the worst antichrist of all time.

"that the world may believe thou hast sent me."

The churches are attempting in their own strength to influence the world for good; and certainly there are many worthy works of all kinds being performed. But God’s revival is yet ahead of us. As soon as the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, has been brought to perfection by the ministries of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians, Chapter Four), then the Body will be filled with all the fullness of the Godhead.

When the Church becomes one with the Father and the Son, the world will believe the Father indeed has sent the Son. The world will never believe God has sent Christ until the Church becomes one in the Godhead.

"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;"

The Father imparted to the Son the fullness of His own Glory. Christ has passed on to us the fullness of the Glory of God. We do not as yet have the fullness of the Glory of God because we are not able to receive it. But the Holy Spirit is making us ready to receive the Glory of God, if we are moving along under His direction.

If we are not following the Holy Spirit but are idly standing by without seeking to grasp more of Christ, then we are not being made ready to receive the Glory of God. There are no limits placed on the Glory of God given to the Son by the Father. There are no limits placed on the Glory of God given to the Church by the Son.

"that they may be one, even as we are one:"

The Body of Christ will be perfect in unity. It is "one tabernacle" (Exodus 26:6). There will not be a shadow of disunity in the mature Body. The unity of the Body of Christ is being created by the Lord God. The Body will be one in the Glory and the love of God. The perfected unity of the finished Body of Christ can be compared only to the unity that exists in the Father and the Son.

"I in them, and thou in me,"

God the Father dwells totally in God the Son. The Son will dwell totally in His Body. Therefore the Body of Christ will have the totality of God because the fullness of the Father is in the Son.

The Father will dwell only in Christ. He who has Christ has the Father also. He who has the fullness of Christ has the fullness of the Father. He who does not have Christ does not have any part in the Father because the Father dwells only in the Son. The more of the Son we have, the more of the Father we have as a result. The Father is pleased to dwell in the Son because He loves the Son and has given all things into His hands.

"that they may be made perfect in one;"

Each member of the Body of Christ will be made perfect. If there were one imperfect member the Body would be imperfect. In addition, the Body has a perfection in its completeness that is not true of an individual member.

In the Body of Christ, as in the case of the physical body, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The finished Body of Christ is the new Jerusalem, and it has a perfection of design that makes it a completely acceptable tabernacle for the residence of the Lord God and for the blessing of the nations of the earth.

We cannot make ourselves perfect in these terms of perfection. Our task is to be absolutely obedient to the Holy Spirit. We are learning each day how to be obedient as the Spirit brings us through the appropriate experiences. The Spirit’s assignment is to bring each of us to the perfection Christ has ordained for us, for which He prayed in John, Chapter 17, and which is necessary for the end He has in mind. The Holy Spirit accomplishes this perfection by many methods, including the use of the ministries and gifts He alone gives and empowers.

"and that the world may know thou hast sent me,"

Today the world is confused about the Person of Christ. There appears to be general agreement that He was a good man—probably a philosopher who died in order to demonstrate the sincerity of his beliefs.

The soldiers who guarded Christ and stood around the base of the cross were typical of the people of the world: some mocked; some gambled for His clothing; some offered Him vinegar to drink; one "glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23:47).

Although the world is not certain concerning the Person of Christ, the Church is on its way to maturity, attempting to preach the good news to every creature while it itself is growing in God’s Presence and Person.

As soon as the Church has reached maturity and has been made one in the Godhead, the world will know God Almighty has sent Christ. There will be no confusion, no uncertainty. Then the world of its own choice will go to the Church for instruction in righteousness (Isaiah 2:3).

"and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

There is no limit to the love of God for the Church. God loves the Son, and God loves the Bride of the Lamb with the same love. Notice, in the context of the above passage, that God loves the Church when Christ is in it—when it has been made perfect in the Father and the Son. If God so loved the world while yet in its sinful state He was willing to give His only begotten Son for its redemption, how much more does God love the Church that the Holy Spirit has fashioned from the body and blood of God’s Son?

There still is much of our personality that is hostile toward God. He therefore waits patiently while Christ works in the garden of our life, rooting out all that is displeasing to God and nourishing the new Plant that now is growing there.

The love of God abides on the Church because the Church has been born of Christ. The Church is loved with the same love with which the Father loves the Son.

When the world sees the Glory of the Father and the Son abiding on a Church that is completely one with the Father and the Son, the world will know the Father loves the Church with the same love with which He loves the Son.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)

Although it may be difficult for us to understand, and it may appear to conflict with our independence of thought and action (in actuality it does not conflict), the members of the Body of Christ were given to the Son by the Father. It is not a case of our choosing Christ, though from our point of view it seems we did it all ourselves. It is true, however, that it is the Father brings us to Christ.

We are a called-out people just as Israel of old. The Lord adds to the Church daily such as should be saved. Every member of the Body of Christ is a gift of the Father to the Son, and when we come to Christ He does not cast us out (John 6:37). If we are to understand the true quality of the Church, and the attitude of the Father toward the Church, we must realize every member of the Church is hand-picked and presented to Christ by the Father.

"be with me where I am;"

Christ is on the highest throne of the universe. He is at the right hand of God Almighty. There is no greater throne. Christ has all authority in Heaven and on the earth. He is exalted to a point past the ability of the mind of man to conceive. Yet, He has summoned us to this level. How can that be? It is the unfathomable love of Christ for His Bride that so commands.

"that they may behold my glory,"

When we speak of the Glory of Christ we have only a faint idea of what we are describing. The Glory of Christ is so stupendous that the most exalted of the angels in the highest level of Heaven draw back in awe and fear whenever Christ is exercised. The communication between the Father and the Son is so wrapped in Divine fire that none of the heavenly host can bear to witness the exchange. It is the Glory that upholds the stars in their courses, billions of which are larger than our sun.

The Glory of Christ is absolutely unimaginable and unapproachable in its staggering extent. It cannot be described in the language of humans. His Presence and authority fill all things and extend into infinity and eternity. He created all things and can destroy all things just as easily and quickly.

"that thou hast given me:"

The Father has given His Glory to Christ. But since the Father and Christ are in perfect unity, the Glory remains with the Father. When the Church reaches maturity it will become one with Christ and the Father and receive the fullness of the Glory of God. God will not give His Glory to another. We must become one with him in order to receive His Glory.

"for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

We do not know much about Christ as He was before the world was founded. We do know "all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). It appears the "Lord" of the Old Testament, in many instances (perhaps in every instance), was Christ, and that it was His Spirit who spoke through the Prophets of Israel (I Peter 1:11).

Christ was before Abraham. He spoke the worlds into existence. He was the Word in the beginning. He was with God and was God. Before the world was founded the Father loved the Son.

Then there came into the mind of the Father a concept of the perfect Church, the Bride and Body of Christ. God proceeded to set in motion the forces that would in time bring a perfect "wife" for the Lamb, a counterpart who herself would be as the Lamb—in His image in every detail. Everything that has happened since that time has been for the purpose of bringing forth the Wife of the Lamb. All of this has come about because of the love of the Father for the Son.

In the book of Revelation the Bride is not termed the wife of the Word nor is she called the wife of the Son of God, nor even the bride of Christ. She is referred to as the "Lamb’s wife" (Revelation 21:9). It is the marriage of "the Lamb" that is to come (Revelation 19:7).

The reason for the terminology is as follows: the Church is created from the Substance of Christ—that which was taken from Him. The Church eats His body and drinks His blood. His body was broken for the Church and His blood was shed for the sins of the Church. It was the Lamb of God who was slain for the Church and whose body was broken and the blood shed.

Because the Church lives by eating His flesh and drinking His blood the Church is united to Him in Substance. The Church is united, or married, to the Lamb whom God gave for her protection, for her cleansing, and for her transformation into life (John 6:54). In this manner the Church is married to the Passover Lamb.

"O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee:"

The world has sought God in many different ways, from the lustful rites of savages to the more refined but no more effective philosophies of scholars. But God cannot be found by the efforts of the flesh just as an ant cannot master algebra. It is impossible for the unregenerate human being to lay hold upon the God of Israel by his own strength.

The world does not know God and is attempting at the present time to construct a social order apart from God. God laughs in derision at the preposterous spectacle of the dust of the ground attempting to thrust aside the wisdom and power that formed it. All of the efforts of mankind to do anything at all without God end in disaster for all concerned.

God Almighty is God indeed and He chooses the time, place, and manner of imparting the knowledge of Himself to the proud flesh of the earth. In His great love He has given us His Son as an offering for our sins.

The gift of Calvary is a perfect gift, entirely worthy of God. Whoever will choose to humble himself as a child can have the gift of God. But whoever attempts to meet God on some basis other than the blood of the cross is traveling down the wrong road. The end is total destruction. We must come God’s way or else perish.

"but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me."

We of the Church know beyond all doubt that Christ came from God. We put all our faith, trust, and hope in Him. We know all the Substance of God is in Christ and that He alone has the authority and power to present us to the Father. Christ is the door to God and there is no other way.

And I have declared to them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26)

"When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory" (Psalms 102:16). We are being built up in Christ in order that we may be able to receive the love with which the Father loves the Son, and may be able to receive the fullness of Christ. The ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as our environment and circumstances, are all working together to bring us into the likeness of the image of Christ.

As soon as our change has been completed He will appear on the Mount of Olives. We shall appear with Him in Glory and the world will be convinced that Christ was sent from the God of the universe, and that God loves the Church with the same love with which He loves His Son.

We must be made ready, in the meantime, and learn the lessons to be gained from each circumstance in which God places us. People are changed into the image of Christ in the situation where they are, just as the blocks of Solomon’s Temple were fashioned at the quarry. God’s workmen are exceedingly skillful, and in the Spirit’s time the Temple of God will be erected with no forcing being necessary.

When we hear the sound of "hammering" (the sound of a believer being shaped by the various situations in which the Holy Spirit places him or her) we know the blocks are still at the quarry.

God is supervising intently the forming of each block in accordance with the specifications of His master plan. At the precise moment the "blocks" of the Temple of God will "flow together" and the world will know God has constructed His holy dwelling place. No man can assemble the stones of the Temple of God. We can, however, pray to the end that Jerusalem will be made a praise in the earth.

For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. (Isaiah 62:1)

When Solomon’s Temple was assembled it was filled with the Glory of God.

And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. (I Kings 8:10,11)

In God’s house there are many dwelling places (John 14:2). If Jesus were to be the only dwelling place of God He would have told us. But there will be a multitude of rooms in the great house of God. Jesus went away in order to make ready a place for us. He will return for us in order that we may be with Him where He is.

It is His will that each of us become a home, a room in the Temple of God. Our being joined with Christ in the love of God brings great pleasure to God and Christ, and it is to this end that God has planned and operated all things in the world.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (II Corinthians 6:16)

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