The Church

Posted by on June 30, 2011

The vision concerning the Church

  1. God’s eternal purpose is to build up the Church – Eph.3:10-11
  2. The church is the building up of all God’s chosen, redeemed, regenerated, and transformed people, not a physical structure
  3. The church is the organism of the Triune God, not an organization
  4. The essence of the church is life, not knowledge – 1John 1:2; 5:1
  5. The nature of the church is of heaven, not of earth – Eph.2:6; Rev.21:9-10; Col.3:1-3
  6. The foundation of the church is Christ – Eph.1:22-23; 2:20; 1Cor.3:10-11
  7. The church is glorious –  Eph.5:25-27

God’s Purpose for the Church

  1. To express God through the sonship – Eph.1:5, Heb; 12:15-17; 2Cor. 4:16-18; 1Thes.5:16-18
  2. To make God’s wisdom known to the enemy – Eph. 3:10; John 2:19
  3. To head up all things in Christ –  Eph. 1:10; Rom.7:20; John 1:4; 8:12

The Status of the Church

  1. The assembly of the called out ones – ekklesia – Eph.1:22; 1Cor.1:2; Gen.1:26
  2. The house of God – Gen. 28:12, 16-17; John 1:51; 1Tim 3:15; Heb.3:6; 1Pet.4:17
  3. The dwelling place of God –  Eph. 2:22; 1Tim. 3:16
  4. The kingdom of God – Eph.2:19
    1. Being the living of the Church – Rom.14:17
    2. The entrance into the kingdom of God – 2Pet.1:3-11; 2Tim.2:12; Rev.20:4,6
  5. The Body of Christ
    1. Christ is the Head – Eph.5:23; 1:22-23; Col. 1:18, 24
    2. We are the members of the Body of Christ – 1Cor.12:13,15,21
    3. The Body receiving from the Head – Eph.1:22
    4. The fullness (expression) of him Who fills all in all – Eph.1:23; 3:8,18-19; Col.3:11
    5. The fullness (expression) of God – Eph. 3:14-19; 2Cor.2:15; John 6:57, 63; Eph.6:17-18
  6. God’s masterpiece – Eph.2:10,15
  7. The new man – Eph. 2:15; 4:22-24; Col.3:10-11; Rom. 6:3-4
    1. Created by Christ on the cross – Eph.2:15; 2Cor.5:17; 1Cor.1:30; Gal.3:26-28; John 1:13; 3:15; 2 Pet.1:4
    2. Bearing God’s image to express Him – Gen.1:26
    3. Fighting as a warrior – Eph. 6:12
  8. The counterpart of Christ –  Gen.2:18, 21-24; Eph.5:22-33
    1. The church as the bride, the wife, of Christ as the Bridegroom, the Husband – John 3:29-30, 2 Cor.11:2
    2. To be married at Christ’s coming back – Rev.19:7-9; 21:2 Eph.5:24-25, 31-32
    3. To be consummated in the New Jerusalem for eternity – Rev.21:2,7, 9-10; 2Pet. 3:8
    4. To be a couple in eternity – Rev. 22:17
  9. The golden lampstands
    1. Typifying Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God
      1. Gold signifying the Father’s divine nature, the divine substance, essence -  Exo. 25:31
      2. The form signifying the Son as the embodiment of the Godhead in His humanity – Col. 2:9; 2Cor.4:4; Col.1:15; John 1:18
      3. The seven lamps signifying the spirit as the expression – Exo.25:37; Rev.4:5; 5:6; Zech. 3:9; 4:10
    2. Signifying Israel as God’s testimony in the Old Testament and in the millennium – Zech. 4:2; Exo. 4:10; 3:9
      1. Shining through the Seven Eyes (Spirits) of Jehovah – Rev. 4:5; Zech.4:10
      2. As the Seven Eyes of Christ ( the Stone-Savior for God’s Building) – Zech. 3:9; 4:10; Rev.5:6
    3. Signifying the seven local churches as God’s testimony in the New Testament – Rev. 1:12, 20
      1. Shining in the dark age as in the night, bearing the testimony of Jesus – Rev.21:23; 1:2, 9; 20:4
        1. With the Father’s divine essence 1Cor. 3
        2. In the Son’s human form – Col.2:9
        3. Through the Spirit’s expression – John 1:12-13; 1John 5:11-12; 2Pet.1:4
      2. To be consummated in the New Jerusalem – Rev. 21:1, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23; 22:2, 5
      3. Expressing the processed Triune God in eternity

The two Aspect of the Church – Universal and Local

  1. The universal aspect
    1. Including all New Testament believers –  Eph. 1:22; Luke 7:28
    2. As revealed by the lord in Matthew 16:18 -  Matt.11:27; 16:17-18
  2. The local aspect
    1. The believers living in the local churches – Matt.18:17
    2. The local churches being the local expressions of the body of Christ – 1Cor.12:27; Eph.2:22
    3. All the local churches constituting the one body of Christ – Eph. 4:4; Matt.16:18
  3. The genuine ground
    1. The ground of locality – one city, one church – Rev.1:11; Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23
    2. The ground of the genuine oneness – one body universally -   1 Cor.10:17
  4. The local administration and the universal fellowship
    1. The administration being separate and equal locally
    2. The fellowship being one universally – Acts 2:42; 1Tim 1:3-4; 1John 1:3; 1Cor.10:16-17

Comments are closed.