From Living Christ Individually to His Corporate Expression

Today’s Main Verses for Pray-reading

Christ lives in me

“It is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Christ is in our midst

“Gathered into My name” (Matthew 18:20).
“There am I in their midst” (Matthew 18:20).

Many members express one corporate Christ

“So also is the Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12).

Apprehending Christ together and being filled unto God’s fullness

“Apprehend with all the saints” the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ; be “filled unto all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

The Body grows and builds itself up in love

Holding to truth in love, we grow up into Christ the Head. Out from Him, the whole Body is joined and knit together through every joint of the rich supply and the operation of each part, causing the Body to grow and build itself up in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Today’s Prayer Burden

May we go on from living Christ individually to the corporate living out of the one living Christ among us. The life of the Body is seen not only in each member but also in the genuine relationships and coordinated functions among the members. May we pray, seek the Lord, and receive the Head’s leading together in the vital groups. In our common living and service, may we supply, adjust, and complement one another, so that members with different functions may express the same Christ and become the corporate fullness of God.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see that we are not complete spiritual individuals; we are members of Your Body, joined to and needing one another. Save us from being satisfied with our individual experiences and spiritual progress. May You not only live in me but also be Lord among us, speaking and moving in our midst.

Lord, may we not merely share the experiences each of us already has. Teach us to seek You together in the Body, to face our circumstances together, and to pray, shepherd people, and receive Your sending together. In our common living, let us experience a Christ whom we have not known individually, and apprehend together His breadth, length, height, and depth.

Lord, teach us to receive, care for, fellowship with, and coordinate with one another in love. May we receive the rich supply from the Head and function according to our measure. In our coordination, complement, enrich, adjust, and uplift one another. Do not let us merely complete our own tasks; build us together through genuine relationships, so that Your love may be expressed among us.

Lord, make the vital groups more than a gathering or an assignment of duties. Make them a practical way for the members to experience You, live You out, and supply others together in Your name. Shepherd the new ones, perfect the saints, and bring more members into their function in the Body. Through our mutual love and common living, may people meet You, the living Christ. Amen!

Fellowship

From Christ in me to Christ in our midst

Galatians 2:20 speaks of Christ living in the believers. Matthew 18:20 shows that when two or three are gathered into the Lord’s name, He is in their midst. A few people meeting together does not by itself mean that the reality of the Body is being lived out. The crucial matter is whether everyone turns to the Lord together, receives His direction, and allows Him to live out His relationships and actions among them. Likewise, two people praying in harmony means more than agreeing with one another; it means that the companions submit together to the Lord’s authority and seek His will.

Many members and different functions, yet one corporate Christ

In 1 Corinthians 12:12, Paul does not say, “so also is the church,” but “so also is the Christ.” The members have different functions, yet they do not express different Christs. One companion may listen, another supply the word, another preach the gospel, and another intercede. When the members are joined and coordinated in the Body, they express the same Christ. The corporate expression does not erase individual characteristics; it enriches each function under the same life and Head.

The life of the Body is seen in mutual relationships and organic coordination

Ephesians 4:15-16 speaks of the whole Body receiving supply from the Head, being joined and knit together through the operation of each part, and building itself up in love. John 13:34-35 and 1 John 4:12 also connect mutual love with God’s expression. A person may show meekness or patience individually, but cannot practice mutual love, supply, and the building up of the whole Body alone. The reality of the Body tests not only what I can do, but also how I live under the Head with all the other members.

Apprehending Christ together and becoming God’s corporate fullness

The goal in Ephesians 3:18-19 is not merely for everyone to have more spiritual enjoyment individually. It is for all the saints to apprehend the riches of Christ together, be filled with these riches, and become all the fullness of God. One person cannot exhaust the riches of Christ. We need to experience Him together through shepherding, prayer, facing circumstances, and receiving adjustment. Then Christ is constituted in us and becomes a living corporate expression. The riches are all that Christ is; the fullness is His riches expressed corporately in the church.

The corporate expression is the living God lived out in the church

First Timothy 3:15-16 reveals that the church is the house of the living God and the mystery of godliness. The corporate expression is more than the virtues of many people placed side by side. It is a company of people living by the living Christ together, so that God is expressed in their relationships and actions. As the saints pray together, receive the Head’s leading, and coordinate in a life of mutual love, the living God lives, moves, and works among them.

The corporate expression is more than adding individual strengths together

Consider three companions shepherding a young person. One is good at listening, one can supply the Lord’s word, and one is faithful in prayer and companionship. If each simply completes a separate task, the young person may receive help in several ways, while the companions still lack fellowship in life. But if they pray together and receive the Head’s leading, fellowship, adjust, and complement one another, the listener receives the supply of the word, the one supplying the word understands the young person’s need more deeply, and the one who prays learns to make practical contact and accompany him. Each person’s function is enriched and uplifted in the relationships of the Body. The young person then meets more than three helpful companions; he meets Christ living among them.

Five practices for the vital groups in the Body

1. From enjoying the Lord individually to experiencing Him in our midst together. Continue personal morning revival and prayer, while practicing fellowship, prayer, and seeking the Lord together in His name. Receive His presence and leading together.
2. From sharing past experiences to entering into the Lord’s new move together. Do not only recount what each person has experienced. Receive the Lord’s sending together, face the needs of new ones, and pray and shepherd together. In a common living, know new riches of Christ.
3. From each one exercising a function alone to uplifting one another through coordination. Let those who speak learn to listen, those who pray learn to care for people, and those who preach the gospel learn to shepherd and perfect others. Different functions become a common supply through coordination in the Body.
4. From completing a shared task to living Christ out in the work. Gospel preaching, shepherding, and begetting, nourishing, perfecting, and building are not merely tasks to finish. Through our service together, let the members grow and let people recognize the Lord through our mutual love.
5. From a few companions to more members who corporately express Christ. Bring those who receive shepherding gradually into the practical living of the Body. Teach them to pray, shepherd, and coordinate together and to function according to their measure, so that the divine life may multiply.

Four levels, one goal: the expression of Christ

1. Experiencing and living out Christ individually: Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).
2. Supplying one another with our individual experiences: the riches of Christ flow through the members (see 2 Corinthians 4:12).
3. Experiencing Christ together as members: apprehending Him with all the saints (Ephesians 3:18).
4. The one living Christ lived out corporately in all the members: different functions, organic joining, mutual love, and building together (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 3:19; 4:16).

These are not separate stages but an ever-deepening cycle in the experience of the Body. The corporate expression is not the simple addition of individual expressions, the simple cooperation of separate functions, or merely a group enjoying Christ together. It is the same Christ living out through the organic joining of all the members, so that others meet Him through our common living.