Know the Body in Life by Growing in Life and Experiencing Life to Minister Life

As those learning to minister life for the building up of the Body, we need to know the Body in life; the Body of Christ is formed by Christ as life in us, for His life mingles us to become the Body of Christ, and the life we have is a Body life; knowing the Body in life is the result of our experience of life and spiritual growth.

Lord Jesus, grow in us. Grow in us unto maturity. Bring us on with You in the experience of life. May we grow unto maturity by dealing with the self, the flesh, and the natural capability so that we may reach the stage of knowing the Body of Christ in life! Hallelujah, we are members of the Body, and together we are one Body! Amen, Lord, may we know the Body in life. May we minister life in and for the Body! Amen!

A profound and deep thought in the New Testament concerning the Christian life is that the Lord is doing a work to destroy our outer, natural man so that we can live out the life of Christ from within us.

Many times we believers in Christ think that we are not that successful in our work, we are not that prosperous, we are not that healthy, and we have so many weaknesses. Even more, we wonder why do we pass through so many sufferings, losses, trials, and tribulations.

We may have the concept that now that we’re Christians, God should bless us and care for us, even cause us to have success and never suffer loss.

But it seems that this is not the case. This is because God wants us to be conformed to the death of Christ so that we may experience the power of His resurrection and Christ may live in us.

God’s primary work in this age is not to cause us to prosper, be wealthy, or be healthy and successful; He wants His Christ to live in us and be expressed through us, even for Christ to be seen in us and ministered through us for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

So He does a continual work of tearing down and consuming of the outer man, the natural man, so that the inner man may be renewed and Christ may be manifested in us.

Many times this means that we die to the self by calling on the Lord inwardly and depending on His supply.

It does not seem that we overcome; we simply turn to the Lord again and again, we depend on Him, and we are inwardly supplied, but outwardly the natural man is consumed.

When this happens, the Lord has a way to be seen in us and He can live in us. Even more, as we experience the resurrection life, we have a supply to also minister to others in the Body and for the Body.

Christ as Life Mingles Himself with us to become the Body of Christ: the Life in us is a Body Life!

On the one hand, we are believers in Christ who have God’s life in us, live by this life, and live the Christian life by allowing Christ to live in us.

On the other hand, the life we have received at the time of our regeneration is a Body life, the life of the Body of Christ, for we are members of the Body individually and together we are the Body of Christ.

We need to know the Body in life (1 John 5:11-12; Col. 3:4; 2:19; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11; 12:4-5). God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son; he who has the Son of God has the life, but he who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have the life. Christ is our life.

As believers in Christ with God’s life in them, we are members of the Body of Christ, and together we grow with the growth of God.

Christ is the Spirit of life within us, delivering us from the law of sin and of death, and when we set our mind on our spirit, our spirit becomes life.

He will even give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit to fill even our body with His life. As we are filled with life, we can minister life to others.

The life we minister to others is not a member life but a Body life, the life of the Body of Christ. This Body is not something like an organisation or a religious system.

The Body of Christ is an organism, something of life; we minister not doctrines or teachings but life.

To minister life doesn’t mean that we teach others about God or the Bible; rather, as we enjoy Christ as life and live by His life, as we remain in the Body of Christ and enjoy the life of the Body, we simply flow out this life to others.

The Body of Christ is formed by Christ as life in us; this life mingles with us to become the Body of Christ (1 John 5:11-12; Col. 3:4; 1:18; 2:19).

How can we become the Body of Christ? How does one become a member of the Body? It is by having Christ as life mingle with him; the life we have in us is not a member life but a Body life, the life of the Body of Christ.

As we serve the Lord in the church, as we live the Christian life and the church life, we need to realise that we are touching the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is formed and constituted with the life of Christ.

The saints around us are not just people redeemed by the blood of Christ gathering together; they are members of the Body of Christ, and when we talk to them or touch them, we touch the Body of Christ.

What we have is not a member life, a life that flows only through us as a member or through the members immediately next to us; it is the life of the Body of Christ.

If we look at our physical body, our fingers don’t have their own life, nor do the feet have their own life; there is one life, the life of the human body, which is in all the members.

In the Body of Christ it is the same; regardless of our colour, our race, our background, and our culture, if we’re genuine believers, the life in the other believers is exactly the same as the life in us. It is the life of the Body of Christ.

We don’t look at them and think that, since they are from a different country or place, they have a different life; rather, we are one with them, we have the same life, the life of the Body of Christ.

May we grow in life unto maturity and know the Body in life, realising that we have the life of the Body of Christ in us and we are members.

The church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all and in all (Eph. 1:22-23). We are the Body of Christ, and members individually (1 Cor. 12:27).

As we partake of the bread at the Lord’s Table meeting, we realise that there’s one bread, and we who are many are one Body (1 Cor. 10:17).

Lord Jesus, we want to know the Body of Christ in life. May we know the Body in life and live the life of the Body of Christ. Thank You for coming into us as life to regenerate us and make us believers in Christ, sons of God, and members of the Body of Christ! Hallelujah, because we have Christ as life in us, we are members of the Body of Christ. Praise the Lord, the Body of Christ is formed by Christ as life in us! Amen, Lord, thank You for coming into us as life to mingle Yourself with us and make us the Body of Christ. May we see that the life we have in us is not merely a member life but a life of the Body of Christ! Amen, we have the life of the Body in us, flowing in us, and making us one with all the members of the Body of Christ! Thank You, dear Lord, for making us the church, the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all and in all! Thank You for making us the Body of Christ, and we are members individually! Praise the Lord, there is one Body in this universe and we all belong to it, for we are members of the Body of Christ enjoying the life of the Body in our spirit! Amen!

Knowing the Body in Life is the Result of our Experience of Life and Spiritual Growth in Life

The way for us to know the Body in life is by growing in life and by experiencing life, for knowing the Body in life is the result of our experience of life and spiritual growth (1 John 2:12-14).

In order for us to know the Body of Christ and touch the reality of the Body, we need to progress in the experience of life and the growth of life (1 Cor. 3:1-2; 14:20). If we are still immature, if we’re childish, we can’t know the Body in life.

We can even say that there are stages of growing in life or stages of experiencing life. We need to enter into the fourth stage of the experience of life to know the Body in life and engage in spiritual warfare.

To do this, we need to deal with the self and the natural life. Only when the self has been utterly dealt with and we have the experience of passing through the Jordan and entering into the fourth stage of life, can we touch the reality of the life of the Body of Christ and come to know the Body.

On the one hand, praise the Lord, every saved believer is a member of the Body of Christ. On the other hand, we need to know the Body in life. This means that, yes, we have a life in us that is a life of the Body of Christ, the life of the Body, but we need to know the Body in life.

We need to live in the reality of the Body of Christ, depending not only on the Lord but also on the fellow members of the Body.

The divine life in us joins us with the fellow members of the Body to make us one Body; this life mingles with us to become the Body of Christ.

But if we are to live in the Body of Christ and live the Body life, we need to deal with the self, the natural man, the flesh, and our natural ability. All these hinder our living the Body life.

If we live in the flesh, which many times we do by default, we do not sense the need for the Body of Christ.

If we live in the self, doing things by the self and in the self, we do not want to depend on anything else except the self, and the Body is not real to us. Oh Lord!

If we live by the opinion of the self, we have no need for the supply of the members in the Body.

If we serve by our natural ability, we sense no need for coordination with the members of the Body. This is our experience many times, and we find ourselves that we end up dry, alone, and with no real connection to the members of the Body of Christ.

We need to know the Body in life by growing in life and experiencing life. Only after we have reached the fourth stage in the spiritual life can we know the mystery of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12-13, 15-16).

May we come to the Lord and let Him shine on us; may we be before the Lord so that we may deal with the self, the natural man, the flesh, and the natural capability.

Only when our flesh has been dealt with, when the opinion of the self has been broken, and the natural life has been smashed, will the life of the Body within us cause us to realise that we are simply members of the Body, and we cannot be independent. It is a mercy from the Lord for us to reach this stage, and this requires our cooperation.

We are members of the Body; we depend on the Body, and we need the other members of the Body for our going on with the Lord and for our function for the building up of the church.

The life we received at the time of our regeneration requires us to have fellowship with all other members and be joined to them.

This life brings us into the fellowship of the Body so that we may be joined together with the fellow members. May we come to the Lord concerning this matter.

May we not think we have arrived but rather, humble ourselves before the Lord and allow Him to shine on us and take us on with Him.

In order for us to know the Body and live in the Body, we need to be willing to deal with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution (Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Matt. 16:24).

We need to allow the cross to deal with the self, the flesh, and the natural constitution.

If we still live according to the flesh, if we still live in and by ourselves, and if we still serve in our natural ability, we cannot manifest the life of the Body – which is Christ Himself in us – and we cannot know the Body.

It is only when the flesh has been dealt with, the self has been abandoned, and the natural constitution has been broken that we can touch the reality of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:4-6).

May we say Amen to God’s word and may we let Him break through in us. May we advance in our growth in life and experience of life so that we may know the Body in life and live in the reality of the Body of Christ.

As we live by the divine life, as we deny our natural life, put the self-life on the cross, and let the cross deal with our flesh and natural disposition, we will spontaneously know the Body in life and live the life of the Body, which is Christ living in us.

This will make us ministers of life, for we will impart something of this Christ into others both by our words and by our daily living.

Lord Jesus, we want to know the Body in life. Grow in us. May we experience Christ as life day by day so that we may grow in life. Amen, Lord, may we advance in the experience of life until we know the life of the Body! May we progress in the experience of life and the growth of life. Amen, Lord, may we know the mystery of the Body of Christ in our experience. We open to You, dear Lord Jesus! We open to allow You to grow in us and also deal with the natural man, the flesh, the self, and the natural capabilities by the cross. May we grow in life unto maturity. May we advance in our experience of life until we know the Body in life. Amen, Lord, we are willing to deal with the flesh, the self, and the natural constitution so that we may know the Body and live in the Body. May we deal with the flesh, abandon the self, and allow the cross to break our natural constitution so that we may touch the reality of the Body! Amen, Lord, make us such ministers of life who know the Body in life and minister life to the fellow members of the Body!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 3, “The Experience of Life,” pp. 479-480, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Ministry of the Word and God’s Dispensing for God’s Economy (2026 March ITERO), week 3, “Ministering Life for the Body” – day 3.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today, / Oh, to see Thee in Thy members, / ’Tis for this I long and pray. / No more just to know Thy headship / In an individual way, / But to see Thee incarnated, / As the Body-Christ, I pray. (Hymns #1225 stanza 1)
  – Oh, the church of Christ is glorious, and we are part of it— / We’re so happy that the Lord has made us one! / There’s a Body in the universe and we belong to it— / Hallelujah, for the Lord has made us one! / Hallelujah for the Body! / We are members of the Body! / We are wholly for the Body! / Hallelujah, for the Lord has made us one! (Hymns #1226 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – We’re gathered here, O Lord, as Thy one Body: / Though we be many, yet we all are one. / We share Thy life and own that we are members, / And thus within, in life we all are one. / There is one Body in this universe, / And we express it here on earth; / We stand as one in each locality / For all to see, for all to see. (Hymns #1107 stanza 1 and chorus)