I am sure you have heard that the Church is a body of baptized believers in Christ. This is true. But, belief can also be accredited to sinners and demons. There are many who believe in God, but do not accept Him as Lord of their lives. Thus, the church must exemplify more than mental assent as to who God is. It must be a presentation of God to the world.
Paul encouraged Timothy to be thou an example of the believers, in word, (that which we preach and teach) in conversation, (that which we live); in charity, (that which we feel concerning others) in spirit, (that which is the peculiar creation of God) in faith, (that which is the purpose of God) in purity (that which is thedivine disposition of God) (1 Tim 4:12).
This is the first challenge to the Church today. FULFILLING “THE GREAT COMMISSION” Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: When we read the Book of Acts we see God’s commission to the Church being fulfilled in the midst of many trials and much persecution. However, the focus here should not be the things they had to endure, but rather their steadfastness in holding onto the promise that the Holy Spirit would not only lead and guide them, but would also be a Comforter. Because they believed God, they discovered the power of the Comforter to be righteousness, peace and joy in the midst of horrible circumstances. They found peace and joy in their commitment to the purpose of God for their lives. God’s requirement of the Church did not change with time. The Holy Spirit is the same today as He was then and so is the “great commission.” However, many members of the Body have been deceived by erroneous interpretations of their experiences and the vain philosophies of men. We must go back to, and rely solely on, scripture in order to bring the Body of Christ back on course with its true commission.
St. Matthew 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Satan has stolen the identity of the Church and purchased counterfeit doctrines from the minds of men with which to nurture it. The teachings of the apostles whom Jesus instructed to establish the Church have been perverted and can only produce sons of God who are self-centered, lustful and promiscuous. Consequently, many members of the Body of Christ are self-absorbed and either ignorant or totally unconcerned regarding God’s vision of the Church.
St. John 17:14
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
It is very difficult to say that the world hates the Church today, for it is very hard for the world to even identify the Church. Generally speaking, the Body of Christ loves the world and the things that are in the world. It wants, lusts and envies just as the world does. It also covets, backbites, defrauds and deceives, even as the world. Of course not everyone in the Body of Christ is guilty of these sins, but generally speaking, the accusation is true. Nevertheless, Jesus has declared, the sons of God are not of this world. That is the hardest thing to convey to the saints of God. For some reason, the sons of God do not accept, nor embrace the fact, that they were not fashioned to have their desires fulfilled from the world or the things in the world. To do so causes conflict in our soul. We were instructed to set our affections on things above; to love not the world, nor the things that are in the world.
Jesus had no controversy with the Spirit that filled His being. He honored, respected and obeyed it. Therefore, the Father is able to put forth the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all (Eph 1:19-23). This fullness is Christ, the anointing, the unction of God, the Holy Ghost, with which Jesus was filled. Consider the focus of the following verses.
St. Matthew 1:16
And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
St. Matthew 27:22
Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
St.John 4:25
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
The church is not just a local assembly. Each vessel is a member of the Body of Christ, which has been filled with the fullness of God. It too can be called Christ or the Body of Christ. It is the Word of God that has defined the nature of the sons of God. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Rom 8:29). This ought to be sufficient. We should have no problem accepting who and what we are. It is God who lived and walked the earth in Jesus and it is God who lives and walks the earth in us. But unless we destroy wantonness and pride, we will never fully embrace the fact that even as He is, so are we. We are new creatures, another race, and a holy nation. That is our heritage.
