day 1046-1048

“all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance …” (Eph. 1:10b-11a, NKJV)

Unity is nestled only in the Bride of Christ. In the previous teaching this was discussed in quite extensive terms, but we promised that we would elucidate it even further in this week’s teaching.

If the Bride is, according to Eph. 2:10a (NJB): “God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus”, the Greek word that is used is “poiēma”, which means “poem”, but in etymological terms also points to something made with intent (therefore we find many translations rather using the word “workmanship”, or even “masterpiece”). The intentional construction of the  poiēma, or then: poem, is THE BRIDE, those who are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30). Those “members” of Christ are each a uniquely crafted (Ps. 139:15) word in the poem, which is Jesus. The fullness of who Jesus is was dispersed into a manifold number of “irreplaceable words” that each reveal something of Him, the Head, and manifest his Form.

If one understands this, the term “unity” is immensely simple to explain. All the rhema words must find their own identity of His life WITHIN themselves, and the rest of the Body must be learnt what everyone else’s identity is. Only in this will we find unity. No one accompanied the high priest on the Holy Day of Reconciliation in the Holy of Holies, but when he was there, he represented the entire nation. Exactly the same goes for each rhema word – the responsibility to be translated through the veil [take note of the fact that this is a sovereign act of God, that only happens to those who have been elected]. In the third dimension all the other words are within him/her. This is the only possible true unity – in the Christ.

The Bride thus becomes that which encompasses “all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth … In Him also we have obtained an inheritance …”. This “inheritance” is your uniquely own identity in Christ – your rhema word. Within it is the complete inheritance which you still need to receive. The verse continues with: “being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will”. Being chosen is not a term we find in the first or second dimension, but in the third dimension. (Please read the teachings of Day 515-517 and 518-520 again.) If you as believer feel called to Brideship in the second dimension, it’s found in the words of Song of Songs 2:8-10: “The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; he is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice. My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” You need to respond to this, CHOOSE and ARISE (in your calling). This is what Jesus refers to in Matt. 22:14: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” There are many who do not accept the invitation.

Being elected is then best explained at the hand of 1 Pet. 1:2 – “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”. Because God is outside of time, He knew who would be laying down their lives (Matt. 16:24) and choose to fulfil God’s agenda (Acts 13:36).

Paul’s explanation of the role and function of the five-fold ministry (see the teaching of Day 647-649) – the manner in which God takes “captivity captive” (Eph. 4:12 & 8) – is preceded by a serious call for unity: “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:3-6). In verse 7 he then explains how this unity is possible, taken the immense diversity of the Body: “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” He is thus able to “fill all things” (verse 10).

This “gift of Christ” = the five-fold ministry = the hand of God, brings about unity through “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (verses 12-13). The ABP-translation is apt: “the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ”.

If every rhema word in God’s poem moves within his identity in Christ, the Body is united.

In this process the Body learns to respect, acknowledge and serve one another. The chapter in Ephesians in which the verses discussed are found, starts with this ideal: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In the third dimension we call this corporate fatherhood – “subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ” (Eph. 5:21, ASV). We thus find the development of tolerance, space, and understanding for how the other parts of the Body are different from me, as each of us must learn to become part of Christ before we can reach our own fulness within Him.

This is how the army of Joel 2:7-9 is presented as a typological example of the Bride: “They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks. They do not push one another; every one marches in his own column.Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down. They run to and fro in the city. they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter at the windows like a thief.”

Now we can move in unity without necessarily adhering to any of the thirteen theoretical elements that were presented in previous teachings as non-negotiable premises for so-called unity. This is particularly also not “unity-in-diversity”, because not only is the Head the head of all, but also “if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Rom. 11:16).

Because of this organic unity in Christ believers “should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph. 4:14-16).

Any other principle outside that of unity in Christ causes “futility of … [the] mind” (verse 17), brings about a “darkened” understanding, and causes the persons to become “alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (verses 18-19). In this regard, says Paul, believers then become just like “the Gentile” (verse 17) “who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (verse 19). Paul then concludes in verse 20: “But you have not so learned Christ …” [Interestingly enough it is whenever there is reference to Christ in the New Testament, that it occurs without being precede by an article, whilst in the original text there almost always is one, as certain translations do indeed reflect, for instance the Apostolic Bible Polyglot and A Conservative Version.]

It is true what Frank Viola says about this section in his book God’s Ultimate Passion: “Speaking the truth in love is proclaiming to one another the reality of our high and holy calling.” (p. 230).

In Phil. 2:1-5 the extent of this unity WITHIN CHRIST is neatly framed: “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”.

Zeph. 3:9 determined this in beautifully prophetic terms: “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.” The “increase of His government and peace” (Isa. 9:7) rests on this accord.

The fact that this has not yet happened is the only reason why there is so little manifest power in the Body of Christ. In John 15:7 Jesus spells it out: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” The words at play here are rhema-words. If we are fathered through these words, and they live within us, as we live within Him, we will do great works. John 14:12 remains the strongest accusation against the church: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

This all means I can be intimate with the rest of the Body who believe and think differently from how I do – the mere knowledge of this revelation is not necessary for you to walk in your calling, or in unity! In each group of the larger Body there are people who worship God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Even the murderer on the cross managed to fulfil his calling in one sentence during his last moments (Luke 23:42), and was translated with Jesus to the paradise, or: the third dimension. Selah.

 

 

  • Selah: Explain to someone how unity in the Body is possible.
  • Read: 46-48; Joel 1-3; Daniel 1-3.
  • Memorise: Joel 2: 7-9 (what glorious synchronicity!).