The Flow of Life with the Ministry of Life out of and for the Magnificent House of God (2)

This post continues a cooperative review of a recent training held in October in Baarlo, The Netherlands. The general subject is “The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery: Truth, Life, the Church, and the Gospel.”

The second message on life has two main points; first, our experience of the flow of life out of God’s house, as pictured in Ezekiel 47:1-12. Second is six aspects of the ministry of life produced by this flow of life for God’s house, as presented in 1 Corinthians. The first point was covered in our prior post, the second in this post.

The ministry of life by us is the outcome of our experience of the flow of life into and through us. As we experience life, we minister life to others that they may grow and participate with us in the building of God’s house. More experience, more ministry.

The ministry of life includes sowing of spiritual seeds which convey the divine life to others. 1 Cor. 9:11a says, “we have sown to you the spiritual things;” these “things” are the spiritual seeds. The Lord Jesus, as the real Sower and the real seed (Matt. 13:3, 37), wants to sow Himself through us into others.

The ministry of life includes both planting and watering on God’s cultivated land, God’s farm. In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth” and in verse 9 he declares that we are God’s farm and God’s building. The growth on the farm is for the building. We all can participate in the planting and watering by experiencing Christ as our life and our supply of living water. By such experiences, we minister life as fellow workers with God (1 Cor. 3:9) who gives the growth.

The ministry of life is also the begetting, the imparting of life into others so that they may become children of God. The real gospel in 1 Cor. 4:15 is the imparting of life to bring forth spiritual children. In this verse a few fathers who impart life are more important than “ten thousand guides [or instructors] in Christ.” Let us give ourselves to this high ministry of life!

The ministry of life involves feeding, which is a supply for living. Paul told the Corinthians “I gave you milk to drink” (v. 3:2). Had they been mature enough to receive it, he would have given them solid food. This ministry is nourishment, not knowledge. We are ministers “not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). The Spirit nourishes. This nourishment comes from healthy words (1 Tim. 6:3) which are according to godliness, a life lived one with Christ to express God (1 Tim. 3:16).

The ministry of life also involves building. “If anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones…” (1 Cor. 3:12). “Anyone” indicates that all of us can participate in the building. To be a proper builder, we minister the Father’s divine nature (symbolized by gold), Christ’s redemption (symbolized by silver), and the transforming Spirit (to produce precious stones) and avoid the natural and lifeless things symbolized by wood, grass, and stubble.

All of these aspects of the ministry of life are for the organic building of the Body of Christ which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the goal of God’s eternal economy. [sharing by brother Don Martin, read his blog at New Jerusalem]

I’m collaborating with a few other bloggers for this review. For more appreciation of the messages of this training, you may review the prior posts as well as the comments. You are welcome to add your own comments.

• The Four Great Pillars in the Lord’s Recovery: Truth, Life, the Church, and the Gospel (ITERO 2011) (agodman.com)
• The Progressive Issue of “Holding to Truth”—Four Great Pillars (holdingtotruth.com)
• Being Sanctified by the Truth to Move Out of Ourselves for the Oneness (holdingtotruth.com)
• The Truth: How to Find It and Why It’s Awesome (Clark’s Bible Blog)
• The Tree of Life (holdingtotruth.com)
• The Flow of Life with the Ministry of Life out of and for the Magnificent House of God (1)  (agodman.com)