VI. THE LOCAL CHURCHES BEING THE DESTINATION OF GOD’S REVELATION AND MANIFESTATION

Another item discussed by Witness Lee in this chapter is the fact that the final destination of God’s progressive revelation and His manifestation throughout the Bible is the local church, ultimately consummating in the New Jerusalem. Witness Lee explains:

As we have pointed out elsewhere, the local churches are the destination of God’s revelation and manifestation. Beginning with Genesis 1, God is progressively revealed. Eventually, in the local churches God’s progressive revelation reaches its destination. Thus, without the local church there is no destination for God’s revelation.

The local churches are also the destination of God’s manifestation. In Genesis 1 God was manifested in the man who was made in His image. In the Gospels, God was manifested in Jesus Christ. After the Gospels, in the Acts and the Epistles, God was manifested in the church. Consummately, in the book of Revelation, God is manifested firstly in the local churches and ultimately in the New Jerusalem. Hence, if you reject the local church, you lose both the practicality of the church and the destination of God’s revelation and manifestation. (154-155)