“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory IN THE CHURCH by Christ Jesus to ALL generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20, 21
Where did the idea of the church of Christ come from, and why? It certainly was in the heart of God before the foundation of the world, and kept as a mystery throughout the thousands of years of history until Christ came, and specifically and more fully revealed, after the Spirit of God came at Pentecost. To begin to understand the “why” of the church, we must define it. What is it? Is it an organization of men, a physical structure designed to make us think of God? Is it a religious philosophy or construct by which man seeks to explain God, and His relationship with man, and vice versa? Or is it something completely different, something designed in heaven, created on earth, not with the sinful acts and thoughts of men, but by the Spirit of God with a divine purpose and power by which it can affect the entire world?
The dominant word for church in the New Testament speaks of meeting, or the assembly of believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, for the purpose of worshipping God. This definition takes on a deeper meaning when we begin to look at what Jesus said about the church, and eventually what the Apostle Paul declared Christ to be with regard to the church. Even before Pentecost when the Spirit of God was poured out, and the spiritual church was born, Jesus had already begun to lay the groundwork for the revelation of what it was to be, the very nature of it, and how it was to be brought about. To Nicodemus Christ would say that he had to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of God. (Jn. 3) In declaring this fact and need, Jesus pointed to the necessity of a spiritual birth in order to belong to His kingdom, that spiritual realm over which He reigned, and within which He imparted His saving Life. On the day of Pentecost, after Christ’s death and ascension into heaven, there were one hundred and twenty believers assembled to pray for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise concerning the outpouring of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit. These were those of true faith who knew that God was WITH them, but at the moment when the Spirit of God was poured out, they began to know the truth and revelation of a great mystery, for Christ would come by His Spirit to dwell IN them. They would become those in whom the Spirit of God would dwell, individually born of the Spirit. By virtue of God the Father placing them into the spiritual “body of Christ,” they would become members of one another IN Christ. Christ would become their life, and power to live, their joy and peace, and love. They individually, and together, would begin to drink that day from a well that would never go dry, and to live from a life that would have no end. They would become individually and collectively grafted into the Living Vine by the Spirit, partaking of Christ’s saving life. Not only would the glory of God be revealed in them individually as they walked in communion with God by the Spirit, but when there was unity among them, that oneness of mind and heart, being aligned with Christ’s will and purpose, there would be the blessing of God revealed in wondrous ways, in response to prayer and faith. The Christ who said to Peter, that He would build His church, would be also the Christ whom the Apostle Paul would declare to be the Head of the church. From every individual, essential member of the body of Christ, to the largest assembly of those anointed by the Spirit, Christ would be Lord, King, and Life.
The church’s purpose is to manifest, reveal, Christ, His glory, to the world.
Dear Father, Fill us with Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.