Living and Serving according to God’s Economy
concerning the Church
Message Nine
The Function of the Church (2)
The Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
1 Tim. 3:16 And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father)…
Word of Appetizer
What is the principle of incarnation?
The principle of incarnation is that God enters into man and mingles Himself with man to make man one with Himself; thus, God is in man, and man is in God. The principle of incarnation means that divinity is brought into humanity and works with humanity. The New Testament principle of incarnation is that, in Christ and through Christ, the divine life and nature are mingled with the human life and nature so that we and God may have one life and one living.
Spiritual Burden
God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ—as the enlarged corporate expression in the flesh.
The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh. Ultimately, God will be manifested in the New Jerusalem as the consummated corporate expression of the processed and consummated Triune God in the new heaven and new earth.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh. The entire God and not only God the Son was incarnated; hence, Christ in His incarnation was the entire God manifested in the flesh.
First Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness.
The Experience of Life
In order for the church to be the manifestation of God in the flesh, we must live not by our self but by God. If we live by God and take God as our living and our person, then when we come together, it will be the manifestation of God in the flesh.
God’s presence is known whenever the church meets together properly. We admit that we are still flesh, but the God who lives in our spirit will be manifested, expressed, in our flesh.
Practice and Application
To exercise ourselves unto godliness is to exercise our spirit so that we may express the mystery of godliness—God manifested in the flesh. In everything we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness. Before we speak, we should exercise our spirit unto godliness. Therefore, we must live, walk, have our daily life, and have our whole being according to our spirit.
“Lord, I am weak, but You are within me. Lord, help me, strengthen me, stand with me, and empower me to exercise myself unto godliness in all things.”
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16)
(Please illustrate what the word “godliness” means.)
T2 God’s manifestation was first in Christ as an individual expression in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16; John 1:14)
(Please illustrate what “Christ as God manifested in the flesh” means.)
Day 2
T1 In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9)
(Please illustrate the intrinsic significance of “Christ is the embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead”.)
T2 God being manifested in the flesh is God living a human life (Matt. 14:14)
(Please illustrate when the Lord Jesus was on the earth, His human virtues was the manifestation of God in the flesh.)
Day 3
T1 Godliness refers to God expressed (1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Cor. 14:25)
(Please illustrate that we are expressing God in the church life.)
T2 The mystery of godliness is a person and not merely a matter (1 Tim. 3:16; Eph. 1:23)
(Please illustrate this person is Christ as the Head with His Body.)
Day 4
T1 Paul concludes 1 Timothy 3:16 with the phrase taken up in glory (1 Tim. 3:16)
(Why did Paul mention this last, not only after the preaching but even after being believed on in the world.)
T2 The church is a group of people who have been redeemed and regenerated and who live by God (Eph. 2:19)
(Please illustrate in order for the church to be the manifestation of God in the flesh, we must live not by our self but by God.)
Day 5
T1 Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16; Eph. 5:32)
(Please illustrate that what the principle of incarnation is.)
T2 The key to God’s manifestation in us is our spirit (1 Cor. 6:17; 1 Tim. 4:7)
(Please illustrate that to exercise ourselves unto godliness is to exercise our spirit so that we may express the mystery of godliness.)
Day 6
T1 Exercise unto godliness is profitable for all things (1 Tim. 4:7-8)
(Please illustrate with experiences that practicing to receive the joy of God every day through reading and praying over the Word will help us to be healthy both spiritually and physically.)
T2 Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh, so is the church (1 Cor. 14:23-25)
(Please illustrate that when we meet together in the Spirit, God is manifested among us; this is the manifestation of God in the flesh.)
