Monday, January 20, 2025

The Beginning of the Gospel is Christ VS The Consummation of the Gospel is the Local Churches

 

The Beginning of the Gospel is Christ VS The Consummation of the Gospel is the Local Churches

Rom 1:1-4 "Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection from the dead."

Eph 3:10 "In order that now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church."

Gal 4:19 "My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you."

 

Aspect

The Beginning is Christ

Related Scriptures

The Consummation is Local Churches

Related Scriptures

Meaning

1. Christ as the Son of God is God's complete expression

2. Christ has both divine and human natures:

- According to flesh: seed of David (humanity)

- According to Spirit: Son of God (divinity)

Heb 1:3 "Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person."

John 1:18 "No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

1. Local churches are the expression of Christ's Body on earth

2. Result of Christ's dispensing

3. Complete manifestation of God's gospel

Eph 1:22-23 "And the church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

1 Cor 12:27 "Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually."

Rev 1:11 "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches."

Distinction

1. Starting point and source

2. Focus on individual Christ

3. Displays divine attributes

John 1:1,14 "In the beginning was the Word...and the Word became flesh."

Col 2:9 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

1. Ultimate manifestation

2. Focus on corporate expression

3. Displays Christ's expansion

Eph 4:15-16 "But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body...causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love."

Explanation

1. Christ is God-man with complete divinity and humanity

2. He is God's full expression

3. He is the content and center of God's gospel

Phil 2:6-7 "Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men."

Col 1:15 "Who is the image of the invisible God."

1. Churches are Christ's continuation and increase

2. Local churches are practical expressions of Christ's Body

3. Fulfillment of God's gospel

Acts 8:1 "The church which was in Jerusalem"

Acts 13:1 "The church which was in Antioch"

1 Cor 1:2 "To the church of God which is in Corinth"

Eph 4:11-12 "For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ."

Heb 10:25 "Not abandoning our own assembling together, as the custom with some is, but exhorting one another."

Application

1. Need to know and experience Christ's divine-human nature

2. Live out Christ as God's expression

3. Experience Christ as the reality of the gospel

Phil 3:10 "To know Him and the power of His resurrection."

Gal 2:20 "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me."

1. Live out Christ's riches in local churches

2. Build up Christ's Body

3. Practice church life to manifest Christ

Conformation to Christ's Image

1. Christ is the pattern of the Firstborn

2. Believers are to be conformed to His image

Rom 8:29-30 "Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers."

1. Churches display Christ's image

2. Corporate living manifests Christ

2 Cor 3:18 "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory."

Relationship Between the Two

1. Christ is the source, the church is the flow

2. Christ is the content, the church is the vessel

3. Christ produces local churches through His dispensing

4. The church depends entirely on Christ as life and all

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches."

Col 1:18 "He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning."

Eph 5:23 "Christ is the Head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the Body."

Notes:

1.      These scriptures reveal the complete progression from the individual Christ to the corporate church

2.      They demonstrate the complete process of God's economy

3.      They confirm the inseparable relationship between Christ and the church

Key Points of the Comparison:

1.      Origin and Development: From Christ as the seed to the churches as the full harvest

2.      Nature and Expression: From individual expression to corporate manifestation

3.      Process and Goal: From the beginning in Christ to the consummation in the churches

4.      Content and Vessel: Christ as the content flowing into the churches as vessels

This comparison shows that God's complete gospel moves from Christ as the beginning to the local churches as the consummation, revealing the full scope of God's economy in making Christ everything to the church and expressing Him through the church.

 

*Please refer to the July 2024 Anaheim, California, USA training Experiencing, Enjoying and Manifesting Christ (II) Week 13 David’s descendants become the sons of God

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