Purpose: To describe Christ's intimate connection with the local church.
Aim: I want the listener to have an exalted view of the church.
INTRODUCTION: I have met a lot of people who tell me that they believe in God, but they don't believe in organized religion. In other words, they don't care about going to church. There are several popular books that are pushing this anti-church message including one titled, "Love Jesus, Hate Church."
In verse 32 of today's text Paul makes a startling statement. The mystery of marriage is great, but the most important truth he is teaching is that marriage is a picture of Christ=s relationship to His followers.
When Paul refers to the followers of Christ he calls them the CHURCH. Why does Paul use the word CHURCH instead of believer all through this passage? Look at verses 23, 24, 25, 27, 29 & 32.
In the NT the word CHURCH describes the followers of Christ in two different ways. Sometimes this word refers to the invisible church which means all the followers of Christ everywhere. Sometimes this word refers to local groups of believers. Of the 110 times that this word is used in the NT only 17 are clear references to the invisible church.
So, most of the time that the Bible talks about CHURCH it is referring to local groups of believers who are organized the way the NT teaches. This would include Bethel Chapel Church so I want to drive home a point today by personalizing what the Bible says to us this morning.
The Bible says that ... Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25 NAU). Why does Christ love the church, or in our case, why does Christ love Bethel?
I. Jesus Loves Bethel Because He Made it
We have the most affection for the things that we make with our own hands. Maybe you have a plaque that you made years ago and it is still hanging on a wall at home. Perhaps you have a quilt or a sweater at home that you made that is very special to you because when you look at it you remember the hours of effort you invested in it. God looks at the church the same way.
God has invested a lot in order to make the church.
A. God the Father chooses the church
God the Father chose the "materials" that make up the church: Ephesians 1:4--5 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, (NAU)
John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (NAU)
Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." (NAU)
Acts 2:47 ... And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (NAU)
Being added to the church is the same as being added to Christ. Acts 11:24 ... And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. (NAU) Acts 5:14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, (NAU)
Before his conversion Paul was persecuting Christians, but Jesus said he was actually persecuting Him: Acts 9:4 and [Saul] fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (NAU)
B. God the Son assembles the church
Matthew 16:13--18 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (NAU)
Jesus did not say He would build a big church. In fact He said that His followers would be few in comparison to the world. Matthew 7:13--14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (NAU)
It is also encouraging that it isn't our job to build the church. Our job is to serve Christ faithfully.
C. God the Spirit unites the church
Or we could say that the Holy Spirit glues the materials of the church together into one unit.
1 Corinthians 12:12--13 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. [Notice that the body IS Christ] For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (NAU)
Any attempt to bring division in the church is like trying to divide Jesus into different parts. 1 Corinthians 1:12--13 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (NAU)
Peter explains that the church is the work all three members of the Trinity: 1 Peter 1:1--2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. (NAU)
II. Jesus Loves Bethel Because He Owns it
It makes sense that if God made the church then He must own it.
Ephesians 5:23--24 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. (NAU)
Colossians 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. (NAU)
1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price.... (NAU)
III. Jesus Loves Bethel Because He Dwells in it
1 Corinthians 3:16--17 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. (NAU)
2 Corinthians 6:16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,[Exodus 29:45] "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (NAU)
Ephesians 2:19--22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (NAU)
How we relate to Jesus is largely dependent on how we relate to the church. 1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NAU)
IV. Jesus Shows His Love for Bethel
A. By dying for Bethel
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (NAU)
B. By giving His name to Bethel
Believers will carry God's personal stamp of ownership throughout all of eternity. Revelation 3:12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. (NAU)
Hebrews 11:16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (NAU)
1 John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (NAU)
C. By giving His glory to Bethel
John 17:22--24 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (NAU)
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (NAU)
D. By protecting Bethel with His power
What is going to happen to the church if America loses its religious freedom, or if our government ceases to operate under the Constitution, of if the economy completely collapses? Nothing! If anything it will become stronger. The government has NO power over the church.
The same Christ who rules the universe cares for Bethel.
We know that this is true because of what Paul explains in Ephesians 1:18-23.
In verses 18-21 Paul is praying that we will understand how exalted Jesus is.
Eph.1:18-21 1. Christ's authority is unlimited
Notice how absolute Christ=s authority is. Verse 21: He is "above all rule and authority and power and dominion," His name is over "every name that is named," Christ's authority also extends to time and eternity "not only in this age but also the one to come." Verse 22a: God put "all things" under His feet, and He is head over "all things." Paul picks up this theme later, Ephesians 5:23-24 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. (NAU)
Eph.1:22 2. Christ's authority protects the church
Then Paul announces that Christ is ALL this "to the church." Paul words it this way in Colossians 2:10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; (NAU) When we have Christ we have all we will ever need.
Eph.1:23a 3. Christ is intimately connected to the church
Christ not only protects His church He is intimately linked to the church. In verse 23 Paul says that the church is "His body."
The idea of a body teaches us several things. First, we possess a living link to Jesus Christ. Our relationship to Christ is as close as your head is related to your hand. We are one with Christ, we are not complete without Him, and in a way He is not complete without us.
Secondly, our intimacy to Christ extends to His very reign over the universe. Revelation 3:21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (NAU)
Thirdly, what others do to us, God takes personally. Matthew 25:41--46 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (NAU)
Eph.1:23b 4. Christ displays Himself through the church
The Greek is, "filleth for Himself" Literally it means, [present tense, middle voice] "Christ is now filling for Himself all in all." [1]
". . . he fills heaven and earth with his presence. There is no place where he is not." [2]
The context indicates that Christ is filling His entire creation with Himself through the church, i.e. you and me! Paul comes back to this idea in Ephesians 3:10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. (NAU) We even have the privilege of proclaiming Christ to demonic rulers. Matthew 16:18 . . . I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
(NAU)
God's plan is to take the church, which appears insignificant to the world, and make it great. Matthew 13:31--32 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES." (NAU)
This will fulfill what is predicted in the OT. Nebuchadnezzar vision pictured this: Daniel 2:35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (NAU)
There is coming a day when, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14 NAU)
John Piper exclaims: "Christ fills the universe with His glory by showing the universe His bodyChow He chose her, how He destined her, how He came for her and taught her and suffered for her and died for her and rose for her and reigns for her, how He called her and justified her and cleansed her and kept her and will raise her and glorify her and satisfy her forever and ever with Himself." [3]
CONCLUSION: You cannot claim to love the head of the church if you don't love the body of Christ which is the church.
We need a growing passion to see, Christ, the glorious head of the church magnified.
A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.
[1]Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A.R.; and Brown, David, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1998.
[2]Charles Hodge, Commentaries on Ephesians, (Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation) 1997.
[3]John Piper His Body: The Fullness of Him Who Fills All in All 9-20-1992
