The Church—a Work of God

The church—the body of Christ—is a work of God. Paul received this revelation personally from God, and it brought tremendous reverence, respect and humility into his heart. When he mentions this, he writes about the grace of God that was given to him, and how God had revealed the mystery to him by revelation. The church as the body of Christ is also a great mystery of godliness. Mysteries can be spoken and told, but for this mystery to be a true help, it needs to be revealed to the individual believer. Then it works a revolutionary trans­formation in the rest of a person’s life and ministry in the kingdom of God. Paul was filled with admiration and worship of the greatness and wisdom of God when this mystery was revealed to him.

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by rev­elation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may under­stand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eph. 3:1-11.

This mystery that Paul wrote about briefly concerned the work that occurred in Jesus in the days of His flesh. Jesus gave the fire free reign in His life, and being filled with that fire and the Holy Spirit, He conquered the flesh with its lusts and desires. And He sent that Spirit in which He had con­quered the flesh back to the earth on the day of Pentecost, so that both Jews and Gentiles now have access to the Father by that Spirit. We who are Gentiles according to the flesh were without hope and without God in this world. Because of the work that Jesus accomplished, we received a totally new hope. We can become new people! No one needs to keep try­ing to patch up the old! We can become a completely new person in righteousness, goodness, compassion—all the vir­tues of Christ. The fullness of God can come into our bodies. This gives us an incredible hope.

“That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the cov­enants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordi­nances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, there­fore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and proph­ets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built to­gether for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Eph. 2:12-22.

Jesus rejoiced greatly when He understood that Peter had received this revelation. No doubt there were many different ideas about the Master and what He would actually do when He came to earth. Jesus knew that, and that was precisely why He asked His disciples: “‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.” Matt. 16:13-20.

This is the church in which you and I are called to live, work, grow and develop. Here we are strengthened by each individual member who gives himself for the others. No member of this body is unnecessary or superfluous. Everyone who is faithful to the workings of the Holy Spirit and who car­ries out what He speaks in the inner man will develop as a vessel to God’s honor, one that is sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Tim. 2:20-21.

There is a huge difference between the way this body func­tions and grows and the development of a religious, human organization. The body grows through the individual mem­bers’ faithfulness and their connection with the Head, and it is knit together through the reciprocal bonds with the other members of the body. Each member must hear the Shepherd’s voice within and grow up by faithfulness in the place where God has planted him. Everything proceeds natu­rally and peacefully. God tests us, and through the various situations of life, He frees our hearts from this world, from other people and from our own flesh. Every member must be consecrated to the Lord and circumcised from this world if he wants to grow up and be conformed to His image—and that is the fantastic hope which the Word gives us. Rom. 8:24-37. God has distributed the talents somewhat differently. That is up to Him. These talents are the possibilities He has given ev­ery single person in this world. If we are humble and stay within our measure of faith, we will grow the growth of the body up to the head. Each one has the opportunity to attain to the whole fullness of God within his own measure of faith, regardless of whether he has received one talent or ten.

“But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Eph. 4:15-16. Through faithfulness and humility every­one can find his place in the body. God works through His Holy Spirit, and if we have godly fear, we can grow up to the task that God has called us to. This growth is peaceful and natural, without any elections or fighting for positions. A per­son grows through faithfulness and through personal fellow­ship with Christ. Faith in this gives you rest in your place and makes you deeply thankful for the way God has prepared things for you in your life. King David also experienced this. He said: “O Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance.” Ps. 16:5-6.

Functioning members of the body of Christ will never have the need to be anything other than what they are. They are busy with what God has given them, and they rejoice over what He is doing and the tasks He has prepared for them. Eph. 2:10.

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Rom. 12:3. If you go outside the area where God anoints and blesses, there will be nothing but hassles and unrest. So it is important to understand your lim­its and stay within the measure of faith God has given you. Don’t give in to the desire to compete with others. That will cause you to drift out of the area where God can anoint and bless you.

All other methods of organizing church life are the work of man. We realize that some organization is necessary regard­ing the earthly matters of practical work and administration. That is an entirely different matter, but in the kingdom of God, no work of man can produce anything of spiritual value.

To grow up as a servant in this body, you must be uncom­promisingly pure. The church is built by God’s wisdom, and this wisdom will be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the church. The first characteristic mentioned about wisdom is that it is pure. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” James 3:17.

This cry for purity must echo clearly in our inner man in the situations of life. First pure! First pure! This applies not least of all to our attitude to money, honor, power and in rela­tion to the opposite sex and sexual lusts. A servant of the Lord must be uncompromisingly pure from self-seeking. In this area too, we must be pure and circumcised as far as the light reaches. The desire to seek our own has strong roots in our self-life. The hunger and thirst for a life of righteousness (Matt. 5:6) creates a longing in us to continually search out new depths of this egotism. Those who seek their own do not have rest, because they are occupied with their own honor, their reputation, their relatives and their family. God cannot possibly reveal His wisdom in all this selfishness, and people like this cannot be useful vessels in His hand. Be content with the way God has arranged things for you, and serve Him with all your heart. Without this purity, our lives will sink down in destruction and perdition. In the old covenant, it caused the prophet sorrow and pain to see Jerusalem sink for this exact reason.

“Her uncleanness is in her skirts; she did not consider her destiny; therefore her collapse was awesome; she had no comforter. ‘O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy is ex­alted!’ The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleas­ant things; for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary, those whom You commanded not to enter Your assembly.” Lam. 1:9-10.

The cherubim who minister before God’s face have their hands under their wings. Ezek. 1:8. Never stretch out your hands for what the prince of this world has to offer you. The Scriptures speak with great seriousness about these things, and each of us should consider what kind of fruit we are bear­ing. “For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is culti­vated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” Heb. 6:7-8.

Paul also warns us strongly against seeking earthly things. Among other things, he writes: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdi­tion. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Tim. 6:9-10.

The church of Christ is built by brothers and sisters who live in simple obedience to Christ in their daily situations of life. 2 Cor. 11:2-3. They have taken Jesus’ words to heart when He says: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matt. 6:33.