The Body Of Christ

by Pastor Mark
August 03, 2023

 

The Lord’s design of the church

What is the church meant to be? God provided an excellent design for the church. It was something that He had determined, and it is vital that we carefully follow what He meant the church to be.

Today, the problem is that many seek to carelessly fashion the church in their own subjective or secular ways. The danger is to become a church that is not what God meant it to be. The Apostle Paul provided a clear plan for the design of the church.

The headship of Christ

“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22–23)

  1. God placed Christ as the head of the church.
    1. Christ was given sovereignty over all things.
    2. He was also made head over all things of the church.
  2. The Lord Jesus leads and guides as the only head of the church.
  3. He also gave us His Word and His plans for the church.
  4. The body of Christ is meant to submit and follow the headship of the Lord.

The body of Christ

  1. There is an inextricable link between Christ and the church as His body.
  2. The church is privileged and blessed to be considered the Lord’s body.
  3. There is a special sense of oneness between these two entities.
  4. As head of the church, the Lord’s fullness has filled the church.
  5. All that Christ is…His wisdom, power, blessings, glory and more have filled the church.
  6. If we submit and follow the Lord’s leading, we will see Him reflected in His body.
  7. The body would become just as the head is…to be Christ-like.

It is wonderful that we can understand what the Lord’s design of the church is. Through this design, we see how incredibly blessed we are.

Oneness in the church

  1. As the body of Christ, there should be a greater sense of oneness in the church.
  2. Christ became our peace, and as a result, we have peace with God and man (Ephesians 2:14).
  3. For the Jews and the Gentiles who are in Christ, they have become one.
  4. No longer is there the enmity that existed in the past…only peace (Ephesians 2:15).
  5. All have been reconciled to God in one body through the cross of Christ (Ephesians 2:16).
  6. There should be a greater sense of oneness as one body in Christ.

Oneness in Bethany

With Christ as our head, our oneness as the body of Christ has been evident in different ways.

  1. There is oneness in Bethany’s leadership as we see the Pastoral Team, the Session and other leaders leading and serving together for the sake of the Lord and the brethren.
  2. We see oneness each Sunday as many do their part in teaching, singing, playing, cooking, cleaning and more, each fulfilling his role in the body of Christ.
  3. This oneness is also evident when we fellowship during our Sunday lunches or our celebratory lunches at Shangri La Hotel…relating as one.
  4. This oneness has been more evident lately as we have experienced more funerals. The love and support shown to the grieving families have been most apparent.

Let us not take this oneness for granted. Let us be challenged to continue to follow the Lord Jesus as our head. Let us seek to do our part in maintaining our oneness as the body of Christ.

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