What we believe about the church really matters because the church is the vehicle that God uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world and to advance His kingdom mission in the world...

This week we are looking at the seventh statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church. This seventh statement addresses what we believe as a church about the church. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “What is the church? Who can be a part of the church? And what is the church supposed to be doing?" So let’s look at this seventh statement of our doctrinal statement together:

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

This week we are going to cover the first half of this statement. Yesterday we talked about the reality that we believe that the church is made up of individuals who have been declared not guilty and have been rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates them from God as a result of responding to what God has done to rescue them from their selfishness and rebellion through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and leader. While everyone is invited to attend church so that they can hear the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel and explore faith, not everyone is a part of the church. To be a part of the church, one must have a personal relationship with Jesus as a result of believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

And as a result of being rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and leader, as followers of Jesus we are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, which is the next phrase in the statement that we are looking at this morning.

Now that led us to the next little phrase in this sentence, which is “of which He is the head”. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are a part of the body of Christ, the church, and Jesus is the head of the body of Christ, the church. But what exactly does that mean? In a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Ephesians, we see the Apostle Paul provide to us the answer to this question? So let’s look at this section of this letter and discover the answer together, beginning in Ephesians 1:15:

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might  which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

In this section of this letter to the members of the church at Ephesus, we see the Apostle Paul pray for the members of the church at Ephesus church to be filled with the knowledge of God in spiritual wisdom and revelation. So Paul here is praying that the Holy Spirit would give the members of the church of Ephesus that capacity to understand and live in light of who God really is. Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would make fully known to the members of the church of Ephesus who God is.

In addition, as part of that prayer, Paul prayed that the members of the church at Ephesus would be able to wrap their minds around God’s inexhaustible power as seen in His Son Jesus Christ whom He raised from the dead and who is seated with Him in the Heavenlies. Today, we will look at what the Apostle Paul says next in verses 22-23:

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

It is in these two verses that we see Paul answer the question “What is the church?” In the second half of verse 22 Paul reiterates the reality that God gave Jesus Christ as head over all things. But this morning, did you notice who God gave Jesus to: God gave Jesus, who is head over all things, to the church. In other words, God gave His son Jesus, who is large and in charge over all of the creation, to the church.

Now when Paul states that God brought Jesus to a position of being large and in charge over His church, it is important to understand that Jesus is not simply the CEO of an organization. Instead, Paul explains that the church is His body. You see, the church is not an organization. The church is an organism. The church is Jesus body, of which He is the head. The church is not mine. It is not the Elder’s, or the Deacon’s, or even yours as the congregation. The church is Jesus’. He does not sit on top of a board. As the head of His body, we are a part of Him.

You see, when we recognize who Jesus is and respond to what He has done to rescue us from our selfishness and rebellion by placing our confident trust in Jesus as our Lord and Leader, we become part of His body. And as part of His body we are a called out community of believers that is placed in a distinctive environment to be distinctively different. It is not by happenstance that we are here at this time, at this place. We were placed here by Jesus, as part of His body.

Now a question that could arise here is “Well, Dave, why would Jesus place us here?” Paul provides the answer to that question in the last half of verse 23 when he states that the church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. But what does that mean? Now this phrase does not mean that we fill out Jesus, as though Jesus was lacking something that we needed to give Him. Instead, the meaning of this statement is much deeper, something mystical.

You see, the church is not somewhere we go, the church is something that we are. What the Apostle Paul is conveying here is that the church is the vehicle that Jesus uses to reveal Himself to the world. When we become followers of Jesus, we are united in Christ by the Holy Spirit and become part of His body. And as part our identity as a follower of Jesus, we experience God as we come together as the called out community called the church. And Jesus, by His Spirit, uses the church, which is His body, as a vehicle to reveal Himself to the world.

To try to wrap our minds around what Paul is saying here, let’s look at it from another perspective. When we read the gospels, we see what Jesus did in His body. We see God enter into humanity to take on flesh. We see Jesus filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit at His baptism to accomplish the kingdom mission that He was give to reveal and explain God to the world, die for our sins, and be raised from the dead.

When we come to the Book of Acts, we see what Jesus did in His body, the church. We see what followers of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit did to accomplish the kingdom mission that they were given. And in the same way, Jesus is still at work in His body, which is the vehicle that He uses to reveal Himself here in Bullhead City and throughout the world as we live our day to day lives as followers of Jesus.

Now this leads us back to the question that will run throughout this series, which is “Dave does what we believe about the church really matter?” And the answer to that question leads us to a timeless truth about why it really matters. And that timeless truth is this: What we believe about the church really matters because the church is the vehicle that God uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world and to advance His kingdom mission in the world. You see, what we believe about the church matters because of the reality that even though God does not need us to do anything, God chooses to use us and invites us as followers of Jesus to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world and to advance His kingdom mission in the world.

Now this reality leads us to the next sentence in the statement we are looking at, which is “The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers.” In other words, how the church, which is made up of individuals throughout the world throughout history who have been rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God as a result of responding to what God has done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and leader, reveals itself in the world is through local gatherings that meet in communities throughout the world.

You see, the global church, which refers to all followers of Jesus who are a part of the church throughout the world, makes itself known in local communities throughout the world through smaller gatherings of followers of Jesus in the community which are known as the local church.

However, for the local church to be the vehicle that God uses to reveal and reflect Jesus to the local communities that they gather in, those who are partners in the kingdom mission that God has given the church must be followers of Jesus. That is what is meant by the phrase “whose membership should be composed only of believers.” While everyone can attend a local church, not everyone can partner and participate in every aspect and activity that makes up the kingdom mission that God has given the local church.

Now a natural question that can arise at this point is “Well Dave that sounds great, but what exactly is the church supposed to be doing?” That is a great question. And in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Acts, we discover the answer to that question. We will look at that answer on Friday...