Jesus and the Church
For hours on a spring day, Jesus hung on the Roman cross, jeered at by those of his nation- the Jews- and Gentile Romans, alike. Those who had sought him during his ministry turned on him. He was abandoned by those too fearful to be identified with him. His closest friends ran and hid when he was arrested, and kept a very safe distance from him. His most vocal supporter denied him 3 times, even within Jesus’ hearing. He walked a lonely, difficulty, life-ending road… alone. Then he hung between heaven and earth for hours until he died. Why?
Awhile before he suffered this cruel treatment and death, Jesus had declared what he was about to do.
Matt. 16.18- he declared that he was about to build his church. This was something new in the world. This was something he was initiating. This was his long-term vision, presented in a private conversation with Peter. This was something to change the world, and something that would stand for all ages. All that the dark forces might bring against it would fail. The church would stand. Hell would fall.
On another occasion, he declared what would happen when he died the way that he was going to die.
John 12.32- his lifting up would draw all to him.
In this next 7 weeks, we prepare to celebrate Jesus in His incredible resurrection. We need to know what it was all about, though, as we begin. It was all about building his church, of which this congregation is part. Jesus hung between heaven and earth because of and for the church. His cruel death was part of what was necessary to build his church- it was a church building action.
We don’t, often, see his death this way. Too often we make it all about us or me. It was about something else- something bigger. The us and me comes into the picture with clarity only in the context of the church which Jesus built, and continues to build, because it continues until his return and the culmination of all things worldly.
Eph. 1. 22, 23- KJV. Now I want to read these verses in ‘The Message’. “At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.”
Did you catch that? The world is peripheral to the church. Wow! What a perspective! There is no organization or body or group more important on earth than the church. It is central. Everything else is peripheral. Everything else is unimportant by comparison. It’s on the outer edges of relevance and importance, by comparison. That’s what peripheral means. That’s an exciting idea and one to mull over for awhile.
God’s work here, and his greatest wisdom, is being seen through the church.
Eph. 3.10- “Through Christians like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!” (“The Message”). Let’s put this into context and read right from 2.18- 3.12. This entire passage speaks about the bringing together of people, and that this occurs in Christ and is through the church. This doesn’t happen much of anywhere else or anyway other. What happens here is people of all colours, races, and backgrounds come together and, together, love God (obeying the Great Commandment) and love neighbours (Second Commandment), and this shouts what could not be shown any other way. The angels get to learn this part of God’s great wisdom through what they see. So far, they’ve seen, in the world, people at enmity. They’ve seen Babel. They’ve seen Cain and Abel. They’ve seen Jacob and Esau. They’ve seen Israel and Judah. They’ve seen Assyria and Israel. They’ve seen Babylon and Judah. They’ve seen Judas and Jesus. They’ve seen a lot of animosity and killing; they’ve seen people trying to get one up on someone else. They’ve seen people trying to unite and come together. That’s been very imperfect. But, then, Jesus came so they could see it happen.
In an extensive discussion of how members fit together in the church, and how members find their personal best in the church, Paul declares:
1 Cor. 12. 18- 27- esp. v. 27- together, we are Christ’s body and we’re, individually, individual members of it. Within the body, we find our greatest fulfillment. Here is where God works with us rather intensely.
It’s in the church that people live out all that Christ died for and in the church that God’s greatest wisdom gets shown. Christ hung between heaven and earth for the church.
Col. 1. 12, 13, 14- this happens to us, and we’re put, then, within the church, which is not peripheral to the world, but the world is peripheral to the church. We’re put right into the centre of God’s, Christ’s, and the Spirit’s eyesight and vision in the church.
Jesus loves His church. Jesus is passionate about His church. What do you know about passion? Not much compared with Jesus and his passion for his church. Christ has set his love on the church and shown the extent of that love in all he has done for the church’s redemption.
Let’s see how this is true.
Eph. 5. 23- Christ is the church’s Saviour. The verb underlying Saviour suggests the meaning that Christ preserves the church. He is actively involved in this- moment-by-moment involved in preserving his church.
v. 25- the husband’s love is patterned on that greater love of Christ for His bride- 2 Cor. 11.2, 3; Rev. 19.7ff; 21.2. Paul, as he writes, is drawing on God’s marriage with Israel such as described in Isa. 54.4f; 62.4f. It was the rabbinic practice to eulogize the covenant at Sinai as a marriage between God and His people. So the law became the marriage contract, with Moses as the one who led the bride to God. Christ’s relationship to his bride, the church, is for Paul one further way of saying that the Law-age has given place to the new age of Messiah’s fulfillment. The apostle now plays the part of the lawgiver Moses in leading Christ’s spouse to him. Christ, as bridegroom, acts toward his bride in ways that involve love and self-giving on the cross- Ga. 2.20.
v. 26, 27- why did he give himself? The purpose and effect of his work for the church are given in terms of sanctification. In other words, the church is taken out of the sphere of sin and placed in that of holiness. This is symbolically described as ‘having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.’
We don’t see a lot of this kind of passion toward a bride. I believe we see a little of it, scripturally, in the example of Joseph, Jesus’ father. He had rights that were compromised, it would seem, but he looked out for the greater welfare of his bride, once he was instructed to do so, of course. Jesus is in an incredible love relationship with his church- nothing short of this- and he sets the pattern for us, in our marriages.
v. 28- although the wording of this verse is a little unusual in its use of ‘as their own bodies’, it is appropriate in light of the desire to keep close to the analogy: Christ loves His body, the church.
v. 29- two verbs are taken from the realm of caring for children. Both ‘nourishes’ and ‘cherishes’ mean great consideration, and speak of ‘protection, affection and very practical care.’ In the same kind of way, Christ cares for the church.
What we see is an incredible love relationship between Christ and the church! He is passionate about His church.
v. 32- there’s a great mystery that’s spoken of throughout this letter to Ephesians- 1.9, 3.4, 5.32. This mystery is God’s plan for the world through the church. It may come as a surprise to many, but God’s plan is not through the UN or the American government. It’s not through the PQ, ADQ, or Quebec Liberal Party. It’s not through social agencies- even Christian service agencies per se. It’s through the church!
I’d like to read a devotional that Lynn sent me a couple of days ago, that seems to fit with today’s message.
Years ago I heard a friend tell about a scene from his childhood that he never forgot. My friend was around on that black day in 1929 that marked the beginning of the Great Depression. One of the great traumas of America’s financial collapse was that many banks went under almost overnight. My friend remembered seeing a neighbor at the locked gates of his bank - and he was literally pounding his fists bloody on those gates, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Give me my money! Give me my money!" There was no money to give.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Dangerous Place in The World."
That desperate man, and millions like him, placed their security in an institution. An institution that seemed safe but that ultimately failed them. A lot of church folks are making that mistake today - placing their eternal security in their church; in believing its beliefs, attending its meetings, even taking church leadership. Sadly, none of that is enough to get your sins forgiven or get you into God’s heaven.
Sometimes religious folks argue over which church is the right church. Well, in Jeremiah’s time there was no argument. God’s people were the Jews and their temple was God’s self-declared house on earth. But even that wasn’t enough. In Jeremiah 7, beginning with verse 9, God says, "You come and stand before Me in this house, which bears my Name, and you say ’We are safe’ ... ’But I have been watching,’ declares the Lord." And God goes on to point out the sin in their lives - sin that no amount of "church" can make right. He goes on to describe His pending destruction of what God calls "the temple you trust in."
Boy, that’s the danger of being religious. You tend to trust in your religiousness instead of in Christ. Christianity will never get anyone to heaven. Only Christ can get you there. Only Christ died to pay for the sin that disqualifies every one of us from heaven. Jesus established the Church to represent Him on earth, to do His work on earth. But church can be the most dangerous place in the world if that’s where your trust is. Christianity is all about Jesus, but it can cause you to miss Jesus. It’s called false security; feeling like you’re okay with God because you speak the language, agree with the teachings, and you’ve been around it all these years. Why, no one would even question that you have a relationship with Jesus - except Jesus. And He’s the only One who matters.
Could it be that somehow you’ve missed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, even while you’ve been a good church person for a long time? Jesus described some active church folks to whom He will say on Judgment Day, "I never knew you." (Matthew 7:21-23) Somehow, they have never actually given themselves in total faith to the One who died to pay for their sins. There has to be that time when you say, "Jesus, some of those sins You died for were mine, and I have no hope of heaven except You and what You did on the cross for me. So beginning right now, I am Yours."
If you have missed that critical step, don’t go another day without moving Christ from your head to your heart ... from being a belief to being your own personal Savior. If you want to begin your personal relationship with Him, then I want to send you my booklet about it called "Yours For Life."
The church you’ve trusted in, the religion you’ve trusted in, the goodness you’ve trusted in are inadequate substitutes for the real thing - putting your total trust in Jesus. Because it’s all about Jesus!
You and I get to be in the church, already. We’ve been brought into this special body.
Heb. 12.23- says that we’re in the church of the ‘firstborn’. That’s special. The firstborn, in ancient cultures, were extra-special. They got special rights in the inheritance division.
We look toward celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus in just a few weeks. Let us put it in context- in biblical context. Jesus did it for the church!
