This week I came across an interesting website called Churchshoppers.com. Here is what that site claims they can do for you:
Finding the right home church is one of the most important decisions you will make for you and your family.
Your place of worship needs to inspire, encourage and challenge you as well as utilize the unique gifts and talents you have to offer.
Searching for a home church usually consists of making a list from the Yellow Pages and spending several weeks, even months, attending various services that often do not match your family’s style of worship or specific care needs. Time, especially our spiritual time, is extremely valuable and is not best served by this type of church search.
Let Churchshoppers help!
Using your criteria in our search engines, Churchshoppers narrows the field from hundreds of churches to a select group of churches with whom you share deep levels of compatibility. Where other services provide you with an address and phone number, Churchshoppers matches you to possible churches based on compatibility in the most important areas of life – denominations, preaching style, music style, children’s ministry and even more!
Now there is certainly nothing wrong with a service like that which could help people find a church that’s right for them. But as I’ve expressed to you previously in our journey through Ephesians, I am concerned about this whole consumer church mentality that places all the emphasis on what a church can do for me. In this particular case, I was especially taken aback by that last line that described the “most important areas of life” as denominations, preaching style, music style, [and] children’s ministry.”
Perhaps we shouldn’t be all that surprised at this “me-first” approach to church. It seems that, especially in our culture, the gospel is far too often presented as though it was designed for our personal benefit and enjoyment. We have been deceived into thinking that Jesus died on the cross so we can have a happy, peaceful life. We’ve been told, “Just come to Jesus and you can have a perfect family, and a nice house in the suburbs so you can drive your brand new SUV to your fulfilling job.” So it’s just natural that the same kind of mindset has permeated our attitudes about why we’re part of the church.
But as we’ve seen in our journey through Ephesians, the focus is not on us and our happiness. The focus is completely on this great God who has chosen in His infinite wisdom to bless us with all these spiritual blessings. It is our privilege to participate in God’s work of redemption and to share in all these blessings, but God has not just done all this for our own personal enjoyment, although that is certainly a byproduct. God had gifted us with His grace so that together with the other members of His family we can participate in the process of paying it forward into the lives of others.
Although Paul has only used the word “church” once up to this point in his letter, the concept of the church has clearly been in view throughout what he has written. But as we come to our passage for this morning, Paul is going to focus clearly on the church and why we should be a part of what God is doing through the church. Let’s read this passage out loud together.
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:10, 11 (NIV)
One of the advantages, or disadvantages, depending on your viewpoint, in going through a book like Ephesians in detail verse by verse is that it forces me to deal with some passages like this one that are rather difficult. I’ll be real honest with you. My first thought was just to preach one message on the first 13 verses of chapter 3, because if I did that, I could just kind of skip over verse 10, in particular, and not really have to deal with it. But that really wouldn’t be fair to you or to me.
This passage is difficult for two reasons:
• We have to deal with the idea of the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. As we’ll see in a few moments, that’s a concept that’s not real easy to get our arms around..
• For me, the more difficult issue, though, is how do I take this passage and explain it in a way that we can actually take and use it in our lives.
As I’ve pondered this passage throughout the week, I came to realize that these words do contain some very practical, relevant principles for all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. In fact, in this passage, Paul deals with a real fundamental issue for all of us. He gives us three compelling reasons why all of us need to be part of this body he calls the church. And, as we should expect by now from Paul, those reasons go far beyond just what I can get out of church. These principles are an antidote to the whole concept of the “consumer church. Let’s look that these three reasons why every believer needs to be part of the church.
WHY BE PART OF THE CHURCH:
1. To play my part in God’s plan
His intent was that now, through the church…
…according to his eternal purpose…
The church is not just an afterthought. It didn’t just happen by accident. It wasn’t the creation of Peter or Paul or any of the apostles. From before the beginning of time, the church was part of God’s plan to redeem His people and to bring all of them together as one. Before God created Adam and Eve, he intended to break down all the dividing walls that separated His people and bring them together through the work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Earlier in Ephesians, Paul has already described some aspects of the eternal purposes of God:
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
Ephesians 1:9, 10 (NIV)
I’m sure you all remember this passage in great detail from when we looked at it on January 21 of this year. And one of the things we talked about then is that God has a plan to restore His creation to the perfection that existed before man’s sin. And that restoration will be accomplished by bringing all things together under the headship of Christ.
In today’s passage, Paul gives us some more details of that plan. He tells us that God’s plan is now entering a stage where God is going to use the church as His primary means of carrying out this plan that is leading to the time when God will restore His creation to its original glory through the headship of Jesus. And today, we are still in the midst of that stage of God’s plan. God is still using the church, even with all its problems, as His tool for advancing His plan here on earth.
And, as we saw very clearly last week, God has created each one of His children to be part of the body of the church and given each one of us a unique ministry to carry out in within that body. Do you realize what that means? It means that all of us who are God’s children have a role to play in carrying out God’s eternal plans. Isn’t that amazing?
When I was in elementary school, in a public school nonetheless, our school held a Christmas pageant every year. And every student in the school was part of that pageant. But there were a few special, coveted roles that only the 6th graders were allowed to try out for – the three wise men, the shepherds, the speaking angel, and of course, Mary and Joseph. Certainly the highlight of my entire elementary school experience had to have been being selected to play Joseph when I was a 6th grader. Not only that, the girl selected to play Mary with me was the girl I had a crush on. Doesn’t get much better than that!
But the great thing about the church, in contrast to the Christmas pageant, is that there is no starring role. As we’ll see in a moment, that’s left to Jesus. But within the body, there is no role that is more important or less important than any of the others. Some may be more visible, but that doesn’t make them any more crucial to the carrying out of God’s eternal plans through the church. Paul makes that crystal clear in his other letters, especially in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.
So what’s a better reason to be part of the church – to find a church that can meet my needs and preferences, or to play my part in God’s eternal plan? Do I want to focus on myself or do I want to be part of something that is far bigger?
Grant Hill has been in the NBA since the 1994-1995 season. During his career, which has been plagued by injuries, Hill has been an all-star 5 times and he made $93 million over the last seven years. But his teams have never been past the first round of the playoffs. So after serving as an analyst for the NBA finals this year, Hill decided he wanted something more than just personal fulfillment. Here’s what he said in an article in the Orlando Sentinel:
"I love it here at the finals. It makes me want to play in the finals. Being in this situation is what you should play for,’’ he said. "It’s a real motivating factor right now. It’s the goal of every player to reach this point. That’s what I want.’’
So even though he could have been paid a lot more money elsewhere, Hill signed a 2 year contract with the Phoenix Suns for the opportunity to be part of something bigger.
As part of the church body, we’re part of something far bigger than an NBA championship. And the opportunity to play my part in that plan is a far more compelling reason to be part of the church than my own personal fulfillment.
2. To witness to Christ’s work
…which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord…
This whole process of changing our lives and uniting us as one was accomplished totally and completely through the work of Jesus Christ. Paul has certainly emphasized that in his letter with the continuous use of phrases like “in Christ”, “in Him” or similar references to the work of Jesus as the basis for all the spiritual blessings that we have received.
And so it should be no surprise that the church itself is also a direct result of what Jesus has done. That’s why Paul had earlier described the church as the body of Christ and the fullness of Christ:
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:22, 23 (NIV)
Perhaps Paul was influenced in what he wrote by the words of Jesus Himself:
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:18 (NIV)
Unfortunately, some have taken this verse out of context and used it to support the idea that Jesus intended for Peter to be the rock on which He would build His church. We certainly don’t have time to address that issue this morning, but let me just say that the language and the context of that passage make it quite clear that Jesus is referring to Himself in his role as the Messiah as the rock on which His church would be built.
But what I really want us to focus on this morning is the fact that Jesus called the church “my church.” Thornydale Family Church is not my church or your church, or even our church. It is Jesus’ church. It is His church because He is the One who has done everything that was required to bring the church into existence. He is the One who has torn down the dividing wall of hostility so that Jews and Gentiles, blacks and whites, men and women and yes, even Wildcats and Sun Devils, can come together and be one in the church.
And when we come together in the church and we become the church that Jesus died to create, we testify to everyone that Jesus has indeed done everything that Paul claims He has done in creating his body, the church.
This principle has a significant practical application for us in our worship. If Jesus is the one who did everything that needed to be done to create His body, then when we come together to worship it seems to me that Jesus and His work have to be the focus of our worship.
Unfortunately, in this age of the “consumer church” there are a lot of churches who have pretty much taken Jesus out of their worship in order not to offend anyone. In fact, there was a whole era about 10-15 years ago where most of the contemporary worship music seemed to be focused much more on how our emotions were aroused in worshipping God than it was on what Jesus has done on our behalf and giving glory to Him for that. If you look at the lyrics from a lot of the music from that era, you’ll find that they don’t include the word “Jesus”, or even “Lord” or “Christ”. In fact, many of those songs could just as easily be sung in a Jewish synagogue, a Buddhist temple or a Muslim mosque.
But fortunately, it seems that much of the more recent worship music has come back to making Jesus the center of our worship. I’m not saying that there isn’t a place in our worship for responding to God and telling Him how much we need Him and love Him. But that should only occur as a result of first allowing God to reveal Himself to us, especially in the work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why be part of the church?
• To play my part in God’s eternal plan
• To witness to Christ’s work in creating his body
3. To generate God’s glory
…the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms…
I guess I’ve put off this part of the passage about as long as I can. There is just no way of dealing with this portion of our passage without trying to identify these” rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”. It seems to me that the best place to start in that quest is to see how Paul uses those terms in the rest of his letter. We’ve actually already seen 2 of those instances:
That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority…
Ephesians 1:19-21 (NIV)
This is the first place where Paul identifies these rulers and authorities and we find that, just as he does in today’s passage, Paul indicates that they function in the heavenly realm. Let’s look at one more passage where the identity of these beings may not be quite as evident:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1, 2 (NIV)
Although our English translations don’t show it very well, the phrase “ruler of the kingdom” uses slightly different forms of the same Greek words translated “rulers” and “authorities” in the other two passages we’ve looked at.
Paul is going to use these terms one more time when we get to chapter 6 and Paul describes the spiritual battle we’re in that requires us to put on the armor of God. When we get to that chapter, we’re going to get into this whole area in much more detail. But for now, the thing that we can be sure of is that there is a whole unseen world in the heavenly realms. And even though we can’t observe this word with our human eyes, it is just as real as this building we’re in and the chairs you are sitting on.
And in this heavenly realm, there are spiritual beings, both good and evil, who are able to observe us as we live out our lives on this earth. We are given some glimpses into this unseen world throughout the Scriptures. Probably we are most familiar with the account of Satan in the Book of Job or possibly the account of God opening Elisha’s eyes so he can see the angel army that stands ready to protect him.
So exactly who are these rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms that Paul writes about here? It’s interesting in reading a lot of commentaries this week, that there are basically three views:
• These are only the “good” spirit beings – i.e. angels
• These are only the “bad” spirit beings – i.e. demons
• This includes both groups
If all these learned commentators can’t agree on this, I’m certainly not smart enough to figure it out, but, based on the context both here and elsewhere, it seems to me that these rulers and authorities include both groups – the good and the evil spirit beings.
But whether I’m right or not, it really has very little effect on the main point Paul is making here. The significant concept is the idea that these spirit beings, whoever they are, are observing the church here on earth and that the church is God’s instrument He uses to demonstrate His manifold wisdom to these heavenly beings.
Isn’t that an amazing thought? By being a part of God’s church here on this earth, I not only participate in God’s wisdom being made known here on earth, but also in the heavenly realms. And when that occurs, it is God who gets the glory. The church is the earthly manifestation of the wisdom of God’s plan of bringing together such disparate groups as the Jews and the Gentiles through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
To the evil spirit beings, the church is the confirmation that their dominion over mankind has been broken. Even though Satan and his demons may continue to torment us and try to lead us astray, the church demonstrates the wisdom of God’s plan of redeeming a people for Himself through the blood of Christ and reinforces the fact that their final defeat is assured.
To the angels, the church provides a further revelation of the plans and purposes of God. Since these good spirit beings have never sinned and therefore have not personally experienced the need for redemption, the church is the means by which God chooses to reveal His plans for his people to them.
And the end result of our participation in the church is that God gets all the glory for his manifold wisdom – this plan by which all of His children are brought together as one in the church through Jesus.
So my question to you this morning is this: How do you view the church? Does the church exist as a means to make you a happier, better, more content person? Is it a place where you go to have your needs and desires met?
Or do you exist within this community we call the church in order to be part of something that is far bigger than yourself? Are you part of the body in order to play your part in God’s eternal plan, to be a witness of the sufficiency of Christ’s work and to generate the glory of God?
