CHAPTER SEVEN

TAKING CHRIST AS OUR PERSON 
AND 
STANDING ON THE GROUND 
OF THE LOCAL CHURCH

CONTINUAL CONSECRATION 
AND EXPERIENCING CHRIST AS OUR PERSON

In the previous chapters we said that consecration is to take Christ as our person. I hope that you will enter into this speaking and treasure this matter. We need to continually experience consecration until it is something ordinary, regular, and normal in our Christian life. When we consecrate ourselves, take Christ as our person, we are practicing Paul’s word in Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” This kind of consecration is not an occasional experience. We are becoming the Lord’s dwelling place by letting Him make His home in our heart and be our person. We will need our whole life and even eternity to fully enter into this experience.

GOD CREATING A CORPORATE MAN

God created man to be His expression. Genesis 1:26-28 shows that God did not create many men; He created only one man—Adam. This is a crucial matter. Verse 26 says, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The Hebrew word translated as “man” in this verse is singular. I would like to ask whether God created only one man. It is not so easy to answer this question, because in verse 26 man is singular. Verse 27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The Bible says that God created only one man (2:7), and then God took a rib from this man, Adam, and built a woman (vv. 21-22). After creating man, God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” [182] (1:28). Although God created one man, this man was to fill the earth. Hence, verse 26 implies that God created a corporate man.

God does not intend for people to be alone. He intends for people to be in groups. Although the human race is fallen, communities and societies confirm that there is an inclination and a desire in human nature to have a corporate living. Suppose someone offers you ten million U.S. dollars and the most comfortably furnished and decorated house located on a mountain and an expensive, stylish car on the condition that you must enjoy these things by yourself. You must not live in a community, nor are you allowed to live with your parents, siblings, wife, or children. You must enjoy the riches, the mansion, and the car by yourself. You probably would not be willing to accept such a gift, because you would be very lonely.

Man was created with a desire to live in a community and with the need to communicate with other people. God does not want an individual man. He wants a corporate man. However, as a result of the fall, human society is full of tension. On the one hand, we cannot live without others, that is, without social connections. We must form groups or societies. On the other hand, these social groups are filled with sin, selfishness, treacheries, striving, and backstabbing. People despise one another, look down on one another, and slander one another. These situations come from Satan and are a result of man’s fall. They are not according to the original state of man’s creation. God does not want individuals or a society full of strife and dispute. He wants a corporate man. The principle of being corporate is the principle of the church.

GOD’S SALVATION MAKING US 
MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

God has no intention for us to express or represent Christ individually. The desire in God’s heart is to gain an entity that would express and represent Him in the universe. This expression and representation is corporate; it is the Body. This Body, this corporate entity, is the church. The more we take Christ as our person, the less we are individualistic. Our former person, though created by God, became fallen. As the old man, our person was individualistic, secluded, and odd. We are all peculiar, but the Lord has saved us. He does not want us to live an individualistic life. He wants us to live the Body life. Hence, after saving us, He put us in the church. [183]

Before we were saved, we were a complete unit unto ourselves. However, after we are saved, we are no longer complete unto ourselves. After we are saved, we become a member of the Body; as such, we cannot be individualistic. As a person with a physical body, it is possible to be individualistic. If I do not get along with someone, I can go to the north and he can go south. However, as a member, I cannot be individualistic. A hand cannot say to the body, “I do not like you; therefore, I am leaving. I will not serve you anymore.” A hand cannot exist apart from the body. Similarly, the eyes cannot say that they dislike the body and will therefore leave the body and exist by themselves. After a person is saved, he becomes a member of the Body. As a member of the Body, he has to stay in the Body. If we are members of the Body but are not in the Body, we are cut off. Once a member is cut off, he is finished, and he loses his life and function and, at the same time, becomes quite uncomely (1 Cor. 12:23).

TAKING CHRIST AS OUR PERSON AND 
STANDING ON THE GROUND OF THE CHURCH

As soon as we are saved, we become members of the Body of Christ. In this Body we have life and we function; hence, we become lovely. Whenever we are not in the Body, however, our life is over, our function vanishes, and we are no longer lovely. This shows that we need to be in the Body. Our old person is individualistic and therefore is a problem. If we would let God fulfill His eternal heart’s desire to gain us as His expression, we need a change of person; that is, we must take Christ as our person. Otherwise, there is no way for the reality of the church to be manifested among us.

The churches in Taiwan have a clearer understanding concerning the ground and the way of the church. Even some young saints testify that they are firm concerning the ground and the way of the church. This is surely the Lord’s grace. We should stand on the ground, live in the spirit, spread the gospel, and be built up together. The saints in Taiwan are carrying out these points. The saints in Taiwan are very clear concerning the ground and stand firm on the ground. This is a great joy to us.

An American brother came to Taiwan and contacted us, looking for a place to meet. After being in a few meetings, he stood up one Lord’s Day and told the saints how he came to be with us. He did not [184] know the ground or the way of the church but was “church hopping” among the denominations. He said that the Lord’s sheep are everywhere and that the Lord is feeding His sheep wherever they are; therefore, every place is about the same. This speaking caused the saints to react, and many stood up to testify concerning the ground of the church. This proves that our brothers and sisters are clear concerning the ground of the church. This is a very good situation.

The ground of the church is indeed crucial. Without the ground, we have nothing. We cannot accept the view that it is good enough for a person to be spiritual, even if he is not on the proper ground. This is vain talk. I have met many believers who did not care for the ground; eventually, their spirituality became vanity. We want not only the ground but also spiritual reality. Spiritual reality is Christ being among us and within us as our person. He must be the person not only in a few saints but in all the saints. Christ, who is our person, is the reality of the church.