PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

We have seen that in chapter six Paul covers three vital matters. These matters are so great that it takes much exercise of the spirit for us to assimilate them adequately. How marvelous that our bodies are members of Christ, that we are one spirit with the Lord, and that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit! The vision concerning this is becoming so clear that sometimes I can hardly contain myself. The burden of this vision is so heavy that I can hardly bear it. I cannot bear to think that some churches and some saints may go on in an old way, carrying on a Christian work but neglecting the central vision of Paul's completing ministry. We urgently need to see the vision that our bodies are members of Christ, that we are one spirit with the Lord, and that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
(Life-Study of First Corinthians, Message #39, pp. 345-352; Witness Lee, published by Living Stream Ministry 1984.)

UNITED WITH CHRIST ORGANICALLY

Paul says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" Notice that here Paul does not say merely that we are members of Christ; he declares that our bodies are members of Christ. The subject of these verses is the abuse of freedom in foods and in the body. Thus, Paul's concern is the believers' body.

Because we are organically united with Christ and because Christ dwells in our spirit (2 Timothy 4:22) and makes His home in our heart (Ephesians 3:17), our entire being, including our purified body, becomes a member of Him. Verse 17 indicates that we are organically united with Christ. To be one spirit with the Lord is to enter into an organic union with Him, to be united with Him organically. This organic union makes it possible for our bodies to be the members of Christ. Christ indwells our spirit, and from our spirit spreads throughout our inner being, thereby making His home in our hearts. Furthermore, according to Romans 8:11, from our inner being He seeks to impart Himself as life into our physical body. Therefore, Christ spreads from the spirit to the soul and from the soul to the body. In this way our bodies become His members.

This matter is deep, mysterious, and abstract. But praise the Lord for the solid word in 1 Corinthians 6 revealing such a mysterious matter! It is crucial that we dig into this word.

In 6:17 Paul says, "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." I wish to emphasize once again that this refers to the believers' organic union with the Lord through believing into Him (John 3:15-16). Such a union with the resurrected Christ can only be in our spirit, for Christ today is the life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45) and is now with our spirit (2 Timothy 4:22)….

Since this is the key, we must exercise and practice to experience the Lord as the life-giving Spirit dwelling in our spirit. This is to practice being one spirit with the Lord. If we exercise ourselves to experience this and enjoy it, we shall open the door for the Lord to impart life to our physical bodies.

Then our bodies will be full of the resurrection life of Christ and will become the members of Christ. When our body becomes a member of the indwelling Christ, it automatically becomes the temple, the dwelling place, of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in our experience the three matters of our bodies being members of Christ, of being one spirit with the Lord, and of our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit are three aspects of one reality….

GLORIFYING GOD IN OUR BODY

In 6:20 Paul says, "For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." The way to glorify God in our body is to have our body occupied by God and thoroughly saturated with Him. Then we shall express Him in our body. As the Lord spreads from our spirit, through our soul, and into our body, we glorify God in our body. Thus, to glorify God in our body is to have our body one with the Triune God. This is to understand Paul's word in verse 20 according to the central vision of God's economy.

We should not think that 1 Corinthians is a shallow book dealing with problems in the church. Yes, in this book Paul does deal with many problems. But at the same time he brings us into the central vision of God's economy, for he brings us back to the Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the processed Triune God.

If you get into the depths of these verses, your life, ministry, and service in the church will be affected in a revolutionary way. Your inner being and your entire church life will be radically changed. May we all pray about these verses until such a change takes place within us.
(Life-Study of First Corinthians, Message #40, pp. 357-359; Witness Lee, published by Living Stream Ministry 1984.)