A Vision of the Church

The fourth in A Biblical Vision series is the Vision of the Church.

 

What is the church?  The covenant of grace that started with the nation of Israel extends now to all the nations of the earth through faith in Christ.  The church is the people of God, the family of faith, it is the body of Christ.

 

Ge.15:5, "And (God) brought (Abram) outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.  Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be."  

- Before there was an Israelite nation there was the family of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.  This is the beginning of the family of faith, which will become like the stars of the sky, the people of God.

 

Ge.17:4-5, "Behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations."

- Abraham would become the father of many nations, a family of faith in the Messiah, the Christ.

 

De.6:4-6, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart."

- Moses is giving the Israelites the Shema prayer, the prayer of the household of faith, which Jesus will also affirm as being the prayer for the people of God in the NT.

 

Je.31:34, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord; I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

- Jeremiah delivers the prophecy of a new covenant of grace, where the Law will be in their hearts, and they shall be His people through faith.

 

Mt. 23:25, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

- Jesus pronounces “Woe” upon any who would make a religious system of their own.  This is a most serious pronouncement, as it perverts the grace of God in Christ.

 

Mk.12:29-30, "Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

- Jesus confirms the Shema prayer of the Israelites, for the family of faith, is still the calling of faith today.  We are called to love God above all things.  And Jesus added to love our neighbors.

 

Lk.22:20, "And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

- Jesus institutes the new covenant of grace, to all people of faith in all nations, the church of Christ.

 

Mt.28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  God therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

- Jesus commissions his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations.  These disciples are the church, the followers, and the Spiritual body of Christ.

 

Ac.2:4-6, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues a the Spirit gave them utterance.  Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.  And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language."

- The Holy Spirit was been poured out to men of different nations.  The covenant of grace has begun to unfold to all nations.

 

Ac.20:27-28, "for I (Paul) did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood."

- Paul addresses the Ephesian elders to be faithful to their calling, and to oversee the church of God by declaring the whole counsel of God.

 

Ep.3:6, "This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

- It was unthinkable to the Jewish leaders that Gentiles would become part of the people of God.  But in the new covenant, faith in Christ is extended to all nations.

 

Ep.4:4-6, "There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."  

- Paul teaches us that the church is the body of Christ, in one Spirit.  There is one Lord, one faith, and one God and Father of all.  There are not many faiths or Spirits, because God is One.  The unity of the church can only be developed in one faith and truth.

 

Ep.4:11-13, "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

- Paul describes the different gifts of the ministry for the body of Christ, to bring the followers of Christ to maturity, and to grow up into the image and character of Christ.

 

1Ti.4:6, "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed."

- Paul is teaching all preachers the essentials of being a pastor and teacher in God's church.  They must be trained in the Word of God and the good doctrine.  

 

1Pe.2:9-10, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

- Peter is speaking to the Gentiles in faith that they were part of the chosen race, a holy nation.  They were part of the body of Christ.  They are part of the Christian church.

 

What started with Abraham being given a promise to have many descendants has continued through to the NT, so that those who once were not a people are now the people of God, by grace through faith.  The promise to Abraham came through his family, which became a nation, and has indeed extended to many nations.  The Christian faith has come through Christ to all who call upon His name.