Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8424 Plough Quarterly • Winter 2017 The Embodied Church In the Letter to the Colossians, the apostle describes how this process of becom- ing visible is made manifest in the church. He speaks of “the mystery” of the body of Christ, “which is Christ in you”; and secondly, he speaks of the expectation of Christ’s future coming in majesty – the “hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). These phrases have become so trite that they no longer convey anything to us. To experience their power, we must translate them into the language of today. “Hope” in the New Testament is the expectation and assurance of a completely new order. “Glory” means Christ’s majesty following his accession to the throne. This is the glory: that God, through Christ, now truly rules over all things. It means that all political, social, educational, and human problems are solved in a concrete way by the rulership of Christ. This is what glory is. Only very few people in our time are able to grasp the this-worldly realism of the early Christians. It is in this realistic sense that the Word of God, Christ, is to become embodied in the church. Mere words about the future coming of God fade away in people’s ears today. That is why embodied, corporeal action is needed. Something must be set up, something must be created and formed, which no one will be able to pass by. “Christ in you” is the first part of this mystery. Just as Christ was in Mary, so Christ is in us who believe and love. When this is the case, we live in a particular way. The character of our conduct in our daily lives shows forth the character of God’s future. This is not a matter of moralistic effort or juristic fiat; it is some- thing organic. It takes place now, through Christ in the church. In the church, his future kingdom receives form. This is the reason why the church lives in perfect peace and perfect justice, and why it cannot shed blood, tolerate private property, speak a lie, or take an oath (Matt. 5–7). This is also why the church cannot tolerate the destruction of bridal purity, that is, of the faithfulness between a man and woman in a ­ marriage under the church. For the same reason, the church must remain free of all actions by which human beings are made great. The church lives for one purpose: that God may bring everything under his rule on the throne of his kingdom. Thus in the church there can be no idolatry of human beings; no one should imagine that this or that individual is a second or a third or fourth Christ. Christ’s body, his new incarnation, is not the individual believer, but rather the church in the entirety of its corporeal life. Through its work in the natural world, the believing church community molds physical things in accordance with the simpleness and singleness of Christ. Great art is simplicity of line. So too, the simplest life is the most ­ beautiful. Closeness to nature – to the world created by God – gives freedom Just as Christ was in Mary, so Christ is in us who believe and love.