The last two days I have had the privilege of having a meaningful dialog on the nature of the church with a group of young students. We have been trying to go to the Bible and to apply it to our situation today. So far we have been talking about the divine and human nature of the church which is mysterious as incarnation itself. We have discovered that the church has its origin in the heart of God from before the beginning of the world and that it will bring glory to God in endless ages to come. At the same time the church is all about people that are not perfect yet, but are in the process of maturing and becoming more like Christ.
AS we have been talking on the deep issues of the very nature of the church I have been blessed by the insight I have found in the group of young students.

Here are some of the things we haved been talking about:

The church has its origin
in God

Epf.1:3 –
existed from eternity in the heart of God.

3:1-11-
eternal and heavenly origin and destiny.

-was
purposed before the foundation of this cosmos

The Father
to receive glory through endless ages

v.10,12
–His unchanging plan, to bring everything together in Christ.

His plan is
centred in Christ

It is to
bring Jews and gentiles together in one body

Eph.2:14 to
make us all one people, breaking down the wall of hostility.

Eph. 3:20
–it has a purpose to fulfil even when the present mode of this cosmos pass away

 

– We may
start a religious society- denomination

– We may
start a congregation – organisation

– We may
start a Bible-study group –house group

Only God
can give birth to a church

 

The church exists by the
power of God only.

Zech.4:6-
Not by human power-intellectual strength

-Total
dependant of the Holy Spirit

The House
of God will be built by the power of the Holy Spirit

The church
is built on life relationship

1.Cor.12:13
and v.3

-Not
program-based – life based

-Not
activity based –life based

Matt.16:16-18-
I will build MY church – CHRIST- Revelation

Word –
power- life- SPIRIT

The
presence of God is the most important feature of the Church.

We see the
power of the Spirit in changed lives.

Simon =
weed, unstable

Peter,
Kefas = rock- part of something bigger than himself.

God will
build His church. Jesus Christ is Lord!

Eph.1:23
Expressions of the nature of God

Eph.2:19-22
The church is the place where we encounter God. God dwells among his people.
The church is the expression of the triune God. The outsiders will notice.

The church is intended for
the glory of the Triune God

Eph.
3;20 1,6,9,12,14

Eph.1:23 –
fullness of Christ –filled with Christ

-to bring
praise and glory to God.

Christ is
using his whole body to express himself

Eph.5:21-32

-Christ
loved the church

-Christ
gave his life for the church

-Christ
wants the church to be holy and clean

-Christ
washes the church by the word- ministry gifts

-Christ
wants the church for himself

-present
her to himself

-a glorious
church

-without a
spot or wrinkle or any other blemish

-holy
without fault

Christ is
the saviour of his body which is the church.

Christ
cares for the church.

 

The human nature of the
church

What the church is not:

It is not a
building of bricks- wood- rocks-etc.

It is not
an edifice- or a sacred building

It is not
an organisation- denomination

It is not a
human installation or institution

 It is not a movement turned into a monument

The church is people- the
people of God

Cor.6:16 We are the temple of God. Jesus walks among
us.

Rom.10.9
–people with a revelation of Christ –The Lord

People
confessing the Lordship of Christ- submit- we are a speaking people

People born
of the Spirit Joh. 3:5-8

Humans
reproduces humans

We have
received divine nature in us.

People of
God brought together by the Holy Spirit Eph.2:21-22

People
bound together through Jesus Christ.

People
standing in covenant with God.

God works
in us to become like His son, Rom.8:29

An apostle
has a painful job, Gal.4:19

He has the
daily burden of the churches, 2.Cor.11:28

The church is the place of
maturing people

Eph.4:11-16 Col.1:18-29 18-20+28

Paul works
very hard, but he is totally dependant on the Holy Spirit

-being made
perfect-but not yet perfect

-being
conformed to the image of Christ Rom.8:29

-human
nature=weakness- imperfections

God power
works best in our weakness 2.Cor.12:8-10

His power
is perfected in our weakness

-His glory
is seen in spite of our shortcomings

-we learn
to depend on his strength

Without
Jesus we can do nothing Joh.15:4

The grace
of God is at work Acts 11:23

The people of God are
precious people.

Gen. 1,26-28 Acts 20: 28

A wonderful
relationship of love in the triune God

We are
created for relationship, fellowship

Man and
woman together should be an expression of God.

God
purchased with His blood

Every
person is precious to God

We can only
lead the church if we love people, treat them well, with respect

The name of
the game is people

The church is an agent of
change and is constantly changing itself

We are
subject to constant change

Everything
in the world is ageing

Jesus
Christ –the saviour of the world

All growth
includes change

The church
able to adopt, we are the agent of change

The church
has been planted different places

-interact
with changing cultures

We need to
infiltrate all the areas of society

In the Church we are touching
God through human hands

God is
using people

The laying
on of hands

-I met the
Lord today in the smile of my brother