The Lord’s Recovery

The local churches believe in God’s recovery. To understand what we mean by this, it is important to have a basic definition of recovery. The word “recover” means to obtain again something that has been lost or to return something to a normal condition. “Recovery” refers to the restoration or return to a normal condition after a damage or loss has been incurred. When we say that God is recovering certain matters, it means that in the course of church history, these matters have been lost, misused, or corrupted and that God is restoring them to their original state or condition.

One of the things God is recovering is the Church. Throughout history, the Church has become degraded and needs to be restored according to God’s original intention. Our vision for the Church is not governed by the present situation or traditional practice, but by God’s original intention and unchanging standard as revealed in His Word. We believe that the New Testament revelation of the Church is not just a historical antecedent, but the norm for Church practice in the present day.

For example, in the New Testament, the Church is described as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). This means that every believer is a part of the Church and is connected to one another as members of the same body. However, throughout history, the Church has become divided into many different denominations, each with their own beliefs and practices. This is not according to God’s original intention for the Church.

In His recovery today, the Lord is doing two things: He is recovering the experience of the riches of Christ and He is recovering the practice of the church life. The enjoyment of Christ as our life and our everything goes hand in hand with the practical church life, as it is the issue of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ. We in the Lord’s recovery today testify that Christ is unsearchably rich and that He is the all-inclusive One for our enjoyment. Furthermore, we testify that the Lord has burdened us for the practice of the church life according to the revelation of the pure Word of God.

To give an example, in the early church, believers shared everything they had with one another (Acts 2:44-45). This was the practice of the church life and it was a reflection of the believers’ enjoyment of the riches of Christ. Today, in the Lord’s recovery, we strive to practice the same kind of church life, sharing with one another and living in fellowship as members of the same body.

In conclusion, the local churches believe in God’s recovery, which is the restoration of things that have been lost or corrupted. One of the things God is recovering is the Church, which needs to be restored according to God’s original intention. The Lord is also recovering the experience of the riches of Christ and the practice of the church life, which go hand in hand. We testify that Christ is unsearchably rich and that He is the all-inclusive One for our enjoyment and that the Lord has burdened us for the practice of the church life according to the revelation of the pure Word of God.