Page 134 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

The Recovery of the Church as the Israel of God 133

is the counterpart of Christ; the church is the golden lampstand; and we are
quite familiar with aspects of the church as the family of God with all the
children of God becoming sons of God for God’s expression. But let us
remember something foundational revealed in Genesis 1:26-28 – why God
created us. On the positive side, we were created in God’s image with His
likeness to express Him in a corporate way – this is God’s eternal purpose,
but at the same time, we were created to exercise dominion over the earth, to
subdue the earth, because there is an enemy usurping things. This is a very
crucial matter which Brother Nee called the work of God.
THERE BEING THE NEED FOR THE LORD TO RECOVER
THE CHURCH AS THE REAL ISRAEL OF GOD
There is the need for the Lord to recover the church as the real Israel of
God. Well, who has the need? God. God has the need. Christians have been
deceived by the teaching, “You should focus on heaven. You want to be saved
for heaven. When you die, you will go to heaven and all the problems will be
solved.” But God’s focus is on the earth; He taught us to pray, “Your will be
done on the earth.”
God has a need for the recovered church on the earth not only to be
the family of God, the house of God, the golden lampstand, His loving
counterpart, but the Israel of God, who can reign, who can represent God, so
that God’s will would be carried out on the earth. Then we will bring in the
manifestation of the kingdom. This is the goal, really, of the entire training.
The Lord has this need. He does not come with a command and say, “Okay,
from now on, you must be the Israel of God.” We would say, “We do not
know what you mean, and even if we knew we do not know what to do.” The
Lord wants to open this up, bring this truth into our being, bring us into this
truth, and then shepherd us into this reality.
God’s New Testament Economy Being Not Only to Make Us Sons of
God but Also to Make Us the Israel of God
God’s New Testament economy is not only to make us sons of God, but
also to make us the Israel of God. God wants to make us the Israel of God,
and He wants to do this throughout the earth.