The church as the Body of Christ is not a formation or an organization but a constitution: it is something that has been constituted with the Christ of life as its constituent. Not only has the Body of Christ been constituted with Christ as its element, but it is also being built up by the transformation in life. This transformation is not merely an outward change but an inward, metabolic change, and it is a process. From the Gospels to the Epistles to the book of Revelation, we can see the sowing of the seed of life, the building up of the Body of Christ by the growth in life, and the consummation of this process.