LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Living Waters Magazine Nr. 25
January - February 2004
The Other Mystery
Many times we have heard and spoken of our Lord Jesus Christ as the mystery that God had hidden in His heart throughout the centuries and ages, and we have rejoiced exceedingly in receiving the revelation of this mystery. What's more, we have been witnesses of the Father's pleasure in revealing His Son.
But now we have before us the other great mystery, as beautiful as the first, inseparably united with Him: The Church is the mystery that our Lord had hidden from the beginning in His heart. The revelation of this mystery is no less joyful for the believing heart than the previous one. What's more: it is both its fullness and complement.
The Church is not what has commonly been taught to us. The Church is not anything human. Although it is made up of people, it is much more than that. It is not measurable, nor manipulable. The way of the Church is outside of man's reach, because it belongs only to Christ and for Christ alone.
The Church is not synonymous of 'Christendom ', nor of 'Christian institutions '. The Church is on the earth, but it is invisible to the eyes of common man. If Christ doesn't reveal His Church, nobody can know it. Just as the Father reveals His Son, He has to reveal His Church so that this ceases to be a mystery.
May the Lord grant us, in His grace, the privilege of receiving this beautiful revelation and of living in consonance with it.
Summary
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The Revelation of Caesarea Philippi
The Lord carefully chose the time and the place in which His disciples were to receive the biggest revelation. Christian Chen
COVER THEME
Mistery of Christ: the Church
The church is the mystery of Christ because Christ is known by the church.
Stephen Kaung
God's Eternal Love for the Church
In God's thought, the Church is vitally and eternally united to His Son, by indescribable cords of love.
Rodrigo Abarca
The Corporate Adam
What Adam could not do, Christ –the last corporate Adam– did: to raise up a descendant for God.
Roberto Sáez
Women and the Church
The Old Testament doesn't show the Church directly, but it does so allegorically through several women mentioned in its pages.
Eliseo Apablaza
Remember Lot's Wife
As an antitype of the Church, Lot's wife warns us about the direction that affections take us.
Rubén Chacón
Looking to His Word
The Word of God contains all God's advice for His people. The times change, but His principles remain unalterable.
César Albino
LEGACY
The Greatness of the Church
The Church is the vessel chosen of God, by which all that Christ is will be made known through the ages of the ages.
T. Austin-Sparks