God’s Perspective of the Church

0:09 Well, if you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with, what picture comes to your mind when you see this word? And I think what should come to your mind when you see this word, and there's a variety of things that could, even biblically, but one of the things that should come to your mind is family.

0:33 But I don't think that's what comes to all of our minds. like some of you when you see this word you immediately think of a building a place that you go to depending on maybe what churches you've seen or churches you've been a part of you picture different kinds of buildings or environments where activities happen some of you may think about something you grew up going to maybe regularly maybe occasionally but maybe something that feels a little distant from you now, or maybe just disconnected from it. The reality is, many of you in this room have jobs that involve working on Sundays for much, if not most of the year. So you feel pretty disconnected from the church. Some of you, when you see the word church, you may think of an institution that you're not sure is worthy of your trust.

1:32 Some of you view the church as a voting block. that makes you uneasy. Some of you, maybe even the mention of the word church is actually hard to hear because this is a place where maybe you've experienced hurt in the past. Maybe seen or experienced things there that make you want to stay away from it. And what I want to do in the next few minutes is to show you God's perspective of the church because I am convinced that no matter who you are or what your background is, if you could only see the church through his eyes, you would love the church and you would want to give your life as a part of this family. And I say that knowing, as I mentioned at the beginning, some of you are not followers of Jesus right now.

2:31 The church, for some of you, may be a totally foreign concept, but I want to show you that there is nothing, literally nothing in the world like the church. It's more incredible, more beautiful, more eternal, more life-changing than any other community in the entire world and is even more important than your physical family. So let me show it to you. I may read the whole prayer from Ephesians chapter 1 verses 15 through 23. I want to camp out in the last two verses in particular because this will take all of our time. And with Matt's permission, I'm going to take your extra seven minutes. So you've got this prayer. There's two prayers that Paul, who's writing the book of Ephesians, this letter to the church at Ephesus, he has two places where he prays for the church. The first is Ephesians 1, 15 through 23. The second, if you're taking notes, is Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 through 21.

3:27 Both prayers are awesome. So if you ever want to just know how to pray for somebody, just open up to Ephesians 1 or Ephesians 3 and pray this over somebody else. But look at how it closes. So these last two verses, Paul writes that God put all things under his feet, talking about Jesus, his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church. So there it is, the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. So what is God telling us about the church? And I should make a note here that when you think of church, we really should think biblically about the church on two different levels. We should think about the church local and global. So local church would be a local body of believers that gathers together and worships together and loves one another, cares for one another, works together for the spread of the gospel. That's a part of a global church which includes all believers all around the world, really throughout all history.

4:34 And many people like to say, well, I'm just a part of the global church. I don't really have to be a part of a local church. But that doesn't actually square with the Bible because the word for church is used 114 times in the whole Bible. And out of those 114 times, over 90 of them are referring to local gatherings of believers. So actually the primary focus in the Bible is on being committed to a local church. A group of brothers and sisters. I'm a pastor at a local church in Metro Washington, D.C. That we're committed to each other, to growing in Christ together, to working alongside other churches for the spread of the gospel in our city and around the world. But local and global. So when we talk about church, think on both those levels. So three pictures I want to show you of the church in these two verses. So if you're taking notes, here's the first one.

5:27 The church is a body of people united by the grace of Jesus. The church is a body of people united by the grace of Jesus. I'll put this back up in a second, but you see this word body. It's Jesus' body. That's what the church is, a body of people. And that word body is really important because many people, when they think about the church, like we talked about, they think about a building, like a physical structure. But that's not actually how the Bible talks about the church. And that's important because it affects the way we think about the church. Because if the church is a building, then that makes us consumers who go to this particular building and that particular building to get what we prefer from that particular place. We go, we sit, we consume, we decide what we like or we don't like, almost like we're judges on a reality TV show.

6:24 Give the music an eight sermon, five and a half. He did his best. like the kids ministry of four and we start comparing okay which churches are better at this and that and we're consumers which then leads to well if the church is a building we're consumers if the church is a business then we're competitors maybe it's just something we'd give money to to support the staff who do all this work but then we start saying yeah this church is better has this better than that church. That church has this better than that church. And then if we see things in our church that we don't like, then we rise up and try to gain control of that church. And if it doesn't work the way we want, then we just step out and start a new church that will compete with the other one. So we have church as building, church as business. But that's not what the Bible gives us a picture of when it comes to the church. The church is the body of Christ. When we see that word body in Ephesians 1, that's one of eight different times that Paul in the book of Ephesians refers to the church as the body of people who belong to Jesus. And it's such a beautiful image, the body of Jesus. And then when you get over to Ephesians chapter 5, it actually talks about the church as the bride of Jesus, which is another beautiful picture. And again, And think about why this is so important.

7:53 Sometimes I'll hear people say, well, yeah, I love Jesus, but I just can't stand the church. And it almost sounds like spiritual to say that. But, well, if my wife said to me, David, I love you, but I just can't stand your body. I don't think I would receive that as a compliment. Oh, thank you. It means so much. Or if you came up to me and said, David, I love you, bro, but have I ever told you how much I cannot stand your wife? I would not look kindly on that comment that you're making to me. Like the church, we're talking about the body of Jesus, the bride of Jesus. And see the beauty of it. So Paul's writing this whole letter. We started looking at it last night in the beginning of Ephesians chapter 1 to this group of people made up of both Jews and Gentiles, which in the society they lived in meant that they were enemies of each other.

8:58 They were supposed to be hostile toward each other. They don't eat at the same tables. And now all of a sudden they're united together? How? Why? Well, look at this in the next chapter. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14. Talking about Jesus, Paul says, thereby killing the hostility. You see this one body where there's no more hostility, where there's unity.

9:49 We are one new person. So that leads to the question, what makes the church one? I think about a baseball team. What unites you on a baseball team? Well, presumably you're pretty good at baseball. You have skill, you have background, you've played this sport for a while. You have something to bring to the table to help win a baseball game. So what unites the church? It's interesting. It's the exact opposite. It's not our skill. It's not what we bring to the table. Look at the beginning of chapter 2. The church, Ephesians chapter 2, the church is united by who we once were. And listen to this description. You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that's now at work and the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

10:51 How's that for a resume? Like here's what we all were. Everybody who's in the church was dead in sin. Like no spiritual life in you. Not kind of dead or partly dead. Just dead. In sin. Following the course of this world. Following the prince of the power of the air. That's the devil. This is what you were. You were dead. Following the devil. You were children of disobedience. So the background here is Adam and Eve in the beginning of the Bible. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to God. God says to the wind, you blow there. it does it. God says the mountains, you go there, they do it. God says the rain, you fall there, they do it. Everything in all creation responds to the bidding of God until you get to you and me.

11:48 And we have the audacity to look at God in the face and say, no. no, my way is better than your way. And this is what we've all said. It looks different in every single one of our lives. But we have all said to God, my ways are better than your ways. Children of disobedience, living in the passions of our flesh, like giving ourselves over to the desires of our bodies and our minds, by nature, children of wrath. Like the picture here is you were doomed to hell, doomed to eternal judgment from God do your sin. So this is the story of every single person in the church. We're not united because we're good, righteous people. We're united because we are sinners.

12:41 dead in sin following the devil children of disobedience giving ourselves over the desires of our flesh and by nature children of wrath and look at what God did verse 4 but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses he made us alive together with Christ By grace you have been saved. This is what unites us. Who we were and the church is united by who we now are. Saved from our sin by the grace of Almighty God. You say, what does that mean? Well, this is the gospel. If you are not familiar with that term, it means good news.

13:36 And it's not just good news. it's the greatest news in the world that God has made every single one of us for relationship with him but every single one of us as we just saw has turned from God in his ways to ourselves and our own ways we've sinned against God our sin separates us from God and if we die in this state of separation from God we will spend eternity experiencing judgment due our sin but the good news of the Bible, the greatest news in the world is that God loves us. He is rich in mercy and he loves us so much. He came to us in the person of Jesus. Jesus lived the life, none of us could live a life of no sin. And then even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to die on a cross to pay the price for our sin. He died the death we deserve to die. And then the good news keeps getting better because he didn't stay dead for long. Three days later, he rose from the grave and victory over death itself. Sin, Satan, and death conquered so that anyone, anywhere, no matter who you are or what you have done, if you will simply turn from your sin and trust in the love of God in Jesus, he will forgive you of all your sin and restore you to relationship with him for all of eternity. That's the gospel. This is what it means to be saved by grace, not by what you do, not by your performance. I think about being outside a temple in another part of the world, Southeast Asia, and sitting with two other guys from two different religions, and they're both talking about how, you know, our religions are just kind of fundamentally the same. We're just kind of superficially different, and we all kind of essentially believe the same things, and I'm just listening. And finally I interjected. I said, it's almost like you guys picture God or whatever you want to call him at the top of a mountain. And we're all at the bottom of a mountain. And I may take this path up and you may take this path up, but then we'll all end up in the same place.

15:35 And they smiled and they said, exactly. You understand. I said, well, let me ask you a question. What would you think if I told you that the God at the top of the mountain didn't wait for us to work our way up to him, but he actually came down the mountain to meet us where we are and brought him to himself. They were like, that would be great. I said, that's the difference. This is who Jesus is. Your relationship with God is not dependent on your performance, on your average, on your works. Your relationship with God is totally dependent on his great love for you. His rich mercy toward you. Which then leads to verse 6. He raised us up with him, seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We talked about that last night. In Christ, within the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us. Here it is again. In Christ Jesus. Oh, this is such good news that you do not have to ground your identity in your career, in your achievements, in your looks, in your success. All of which, all of which are fading for all of us.

16:37 By the grace of God, you have a ground for your identity that will never, ever fade when it's rooted in Jesus Christ. For all who trust in Jesus, you are seated with him in the heavenly places as a child of God. And nothing, nothing, nothing can ever change that. Take that away from you. And this is what unites us as the church. I think about our church family. We have people from over 100 different countries in it. So many different backgrounds. So many different perspectives. And what unites every single one of them is the, like we have the same bloodline. The blood of Jesus has covered over our sins. And it makes us a family, a countercultural, otherworldly family. And can I just add one thing here? I think there's an unhealthy tendency in some Christians to try and almost feel like we need to dramatize our stories, our testimonies to God's grace by talking about how bad our circumstances were before we came to Jesus.

17:42 Like I was on drugs and I was addicted to this or engrossed in that. And that's not bad if that's your story. But it is bad when other people begin to think their stories are boring because they didn't do all that stuff. We almost have this thinking that the deeper we've gone into sin, the more we realize about grace. The reality is, though, we are all on the same plane here.

18:05 Dead in sin, dead in sin, dead in sin. every single one of us in a spiritual casket and whether you were eight years old or 18 or 28 you had nothing in you that called out to God you were destined for eternal judgment and God in his rich mercy reached down into his heart he brought you to life brought you into his family seated you in the heavenly realms there's nothing boring about that you just tell that story from when you were eight years old with joy so the church is a body of people united by the grace of Jesus All right, I've got to pick up the pace. There's only one. Second, the church is a body of people filled with the power of Jesus. So these verses get even better. So filled with the power of Jesus. So we saw, okay, his body, the church. And then it says the church is his body, the fullness of him.

19:03 Now this word fullness is found four different times in Ephesians. So one was last night. We saw chapter 1, verse 10. Then you got this one right here in verse 23. And then you got 319. And you've got 413. So those are the four times where we see this word fullness. And then Paul uses the same word in Colossians, another book in the Bible, which we'll talk about in a minute. He uses it twice there. And in most of these instances, this word is talking about the fullness of Jesus. So what does that mean? Well, I'm glad you asked. So you've got to see this. This is glorious. If you're taking notes, follow this progression. So one, Jesus has all authority. You look at all the times this word fullness is used, and particularly in Colossians. Let me show you this, another letter that Paul wrote to another group of people. You can turn a couple pages in your Bible if you want to see it, but I'll put it on the screen.

19:59 Colossians chapter 1, verse 19. Talking about Jesus says, in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. So in Jesus, all the fullness of God is dwelling there. And then Colossians 2, 9 and 10, for in him, same thing, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. So the Bible's teaching here that Jesus possesses the fullness of God himself. This is one of many places in the Bible where we see the doctrine of the Trinity. One God in three persons, specifically here, the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh. And you see how Colossians 2.10 is emphasizing that Jesus is the head of all rule and authority. He's God, which means Jesus is the head of all rule and all authority.

20:55 Well, that brings us back to Ephesians chapter one. So the verses that Jaime read in the very beginning, just think for a minute about the authority of Jesus. Look at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20. It talks about how Jesus was raised from the dead. Well, that's authority. He has authority over death. Lord over death itself. So he's the risen Savior over death. He's exalted at God's right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. It's like saying the same word over and over again to make clear. He's far above it all. And, I love this, he's above every name that is named. Come up with a name, he's above it. Come up with a title, he's above it. Every name, every title, he's above them all.

21:49 Which means he's the sovereign king over all. Look at this. God put all things under his feet. Did you read that? under his feet, which means if all things are under his feet, then there is nothing, i.e. nothing, that is not under his feet. Everything in the world is under the feet of Jesus. Just think about this. We obviously just went through an election this last week in our country, and last week I was in Isaiah 40 one day, which talks about the authority of God the Lord over everything in the world, including all the nations of the world. Just listen to this, Isaiah 40, 15. You gotta see this.

23:10 Let's take a bucket of water. and a dropper. Here we go. All right. Here we go. I give you a picture of all the nations of the world.

23:31 Wait for it. the nations in Jesus' hands. I'll wipe that off. Or like dust on the scales. So I got a scale here. Let's put the scale down.

23:54 Got an old book. I'm just gonna brush off the dust onto the scale and see what a massive difference it makes. Let me get it. Okay, there we go, zero. I think it went backwards like this. There's the nations in our God's hands, like a drop in a bucket, like dust on the scales. And then I get over to Isaiah 40, verse 25. Listen to this. To whom then will you compare me that I should be like him, says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these. He who brings out their hosts by number, calling them all by name. By the greatness of his might and because he's strong in power, not one is missing. That's talking about the stars.

24:48 So I start thinking about the last time I was in the middle of unreached villages in the Himalayas. One of the guys I was with took this picture. You see all those stars? And then one night he did one of those time lapse things. Watch this. So this is, we go to bed and it starts. Watch this. Did you see that? That was amazing. I want you to focus in like, where is it? Focus in like, oh, come on. Right here, right around here. This is what it looks like. Who did that? Who did it? All things are under whose feet?

25:41 Jesus did that. And then I look like Isaiah 40 says, he brings out the story host by one by one, and he calls them each by name. Are you serious? Bob. there's Mary and there's Z14369 I don't know what their names are but Jesus does they're all under his feet so this is Jesus but what's interesting here so now come back to Ephesians 1 22 and 23 because it says that God has put all things under his feet But it doesn't say that the church is under his feet, which we know the church is under his feet. He's the head of the church.

26:33 But that's not what this verse is emphasizing. Notice that this verse says he gave him, gave Jesus as head over all things. You probably can't even see this anymore. Okay. He gave him as head over all things to the church. so the language here is God is giving Jesus with all of his authority to the church you say well what does this mean well follow the line of thought here Jesus has all authority and the church has the fullness of Jesus that's what this verse is saying the fullness of Jesus I've given it to you We have his fullness. Just like Jesus has the fullness of God, we have, as the church, the fullness of Jesus. So put it together. If Jesus has all authority and the church has the fullness of Jesus, that means all the authority in heaven and earth belongs to the church.

27:32 Do you see this? Like Jesus shares his authority with us. Which, again, what does that mean? when we read it in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 6, we're seated with him in the heavenly. Like, we have resurrection power over death. When you die in Jesus, death does not have power over you. You will live. You will live forever. Why? Because you have the authority of Jesus over death inside of you. You're united with Jesus. You have authority over death itself, which leads to anything, and a number of other things. I just want you to think about why this is so important. Because for any follower of Jesus in this room, there is an adversary who wants you to think you don't have power and authority over sin. That sin and temptation have power over you. You can't resist that sin or temptation.

28:28 But I want to encourage you tonight based on the word of God, do not believe that for a second. You have the authority of Jesus himself in you. You have the supernatural power of Jesus in you to say no to sin and temptation. And the same is true not just when you face temptation. When you face trials, when you face tribulation, challenges in this world, when you walk through hard days for any number of reasons. And some of you are there right now. I know some of you have come to this conference with things that are really heavy on your heart. Hard things you're walking through in your life, in your marriage, singleness. Your family, with kids, and your work, and your career, your health. I don't know what those things are, but God does. And I do know there is an adversary that wants to get you down and discourage you and take away your hope and lead you into despair and depression, to lead you in all kinds of harmful directions.

29:28 And if you are a follower of Jesus, I just want to remind you. So one more little prop over here. I want to give you a picture of who you are. So this is going to be you. I'll draw you. All right. That's you. Your life. We looked last night at how when you become a follower of Jesus, like Jesus himself, Christ, comes to live inside of you, takes residence in you, sealed, Ephesians chapter 1 says, in a way that nothing in this world can ever take away from you.

30:27 And then we looked at how you are in Christ. So Christ is in you, and you are in Christ. And then when you look over at Colossians chapter 3, verse 3, you read about how God has caused the full, how you are hidden with Christ in God. So, I'll put this one. It's getting big here.

31:02 Oh, I have a tag. There is God. I give you a picture of your life as a follower of Jesus so that when the adversary comes to tempt you or to pull you away in the middle of trials and challenges, know this, that in order to get to you, first he has to go through God, which he does not have a good track record of doing. And if he were to get through God the Father, then he would meet Jesus who clearly conquered him both in temptation and in victory over death itself. And then if he were to get through Christ in God, then he would still have Christ in you to meet. The point is, you are secure. You are strong. Do not believe the lies of the adversary that would get you down.

31:55 You have the most secure position in the world in Christ. This is who we are, filled with the power of Jesus, all the authority in heaven and earth, belongs to the church. The church is a people filled with the power of Jesus. So all that leads to the last picture I want to show you. Church united by the grace of Jesus, filled with the power of Jesus, and all leads to this third one. The church is a body of people spreading the glory of Jesus. So notice in Ephesians 1.23 that God has given the authority of Jesus to us for a reason so that we might display his fullness to the world around us. Think about it. We see this all over scripture. God desires, God purposes to fill the earth with his glory. And Jesus, when he was on the earth was a demonstration of his glory.

32:59 John 1.14, we have seen the glory of God in the flesh, the glory of the one and only, right here. But then Jesus, after he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven. He's not here in the world anymore. So how is God gonna display the glory of Jesus when Jesus is at the Father's right hand?

33:20 Through the church. and this is exactly what if you turn over to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 we read through the church the manifold wisdom of God that's a reference to God's glory and the way he saves people from their sins the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known check this out to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Who's that a reference to? Well, we'll see more on Wednesday morning, Lord willing, in Ephesians chapter 6 about spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But the picture here in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10, is God saying, I'm going to show heaven and earth my glory through the lives of the people who make up my church. I want you to think about how that infuses meaning into low A ball.

34:23 So good. You are, on whatever team you are, at whatever level in the whole picture you are, what are you doing there? Yes, you're playing ball, but you're spreading the glory of Jesus Christ. In city after city, where God gives you an opportunity to go, around teammate after teammate God gives you the opportunity to rub shoulders with.

34:51 And not just those who are playing, but sisters in Christ all around this room with the gifts and skills and talents and opportunities God gives you. And not us individually, but ultimately us as the church, as the body of Christ, displaying the glory of Jesus all around the world. This is what we live for. When you look at the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28, Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. But what does he say right before that? What's the therefore referring to? The fact that he has all authority in heaven and on earth. And he's given that authority that belongs to him to us. So go. Like you have the authority of Jesus. When you go to that team, you go as a representative of Jesus himself. When you go to that city, you go as a representative of Jesus himself to come alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ and say, let's spread the glory of Jesus in this place. And not to stop on that team or in that city.

35:53 The family of God, united by the grace of Jesus, filled with the power of Jesus, spreading the glory of Jesus. together in local churches and across the global church. So why would you not want to give your life to that? Why would you not want to be a part of this family and what this family is called to do in the world? and so we come to that moment that I mentioned in the very beginning I want to lead all this to an invitation for anybody in this room who is not a part of the family right now to let this be the moment to let this night be the time where you, for the first time, experience God as Father.

37:04 Where you say, God, I know I have sinned against you. And I believe Jesus has died on the cross for my sins. And I want to be forgiven of my sin. I want to be restored to relationship with you. I want to be united by your grace, filled with your power, spreading your glory.