The Body of Christ

Eph 1:7-23

  

1. In the last weekend, we had a wonderful conference to dream for the future of our congregation at Sherman Lake YMCA. The community of the Holy Spirit is the dreaming community. We offered gratitude to God for what He wonderfully blessed our congregation and we repented for our shortcomings against the will of God. Then, we offered our visions to God, that is, what we want to be and do for His glory and His Kingdom. It was the act of faith, hope and love. It was the act of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

2. In setting our goal and vision on what we want to be for God, it is crucial to understand and accept what God wants for us to be. First of all, God wants our church to be the genuine and true church before adding some extra descriptions like Korean, immigrant, Kalamazoo, or Christian Reformed Church. Then, what is the church? The church is the “body of Christ.”(23) If we fail here, we fail everything. If we succeed here, we succeed everything.

3. What does it mean for the church to be the body of Christ? First, it means that the church is the possession of Christ. God selected a group of people whom He was going to give to His Son: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”(11-12); “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”(22-23) Before giving this people to His beloved Son, God redeemed and recreated them to obey His Son: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.”(13-14) Therefore, we are the servants of Christ, calling Him as “the Lord”. We are glorified to be the companion, friends, brothers and sisters of the Son of God. Wherever He leads us, we simply follow Him even to suffering and death, not stopping or resisting.

4. Second, it means that the church is united with Christ. We are mere creatures of God. We can not and may not to exist independent. Therefore, the moment when we are independent, we are lost! We are like mere branches of vine: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”(Jn 15:4-6) Creature is not self-existent nor self-operative. Who is sinner?  What is sin? Most of all, it is a self-will to separate oneself from the Creator and live independently, as we see in the parable of prodigal son. The church is the community of people who are grafted into Christ and become His body. After this moment of in-grafting, our independent identity does no longer exist. We are part of Him: we are in Christ and Christ is in me. Our life is His life and His life is our life. His joy is our joy and our joy is His joy. His work is our work, and our work is His work. Ours is His and His is ours. We are inseparably united in everything!

5. Third, it means that the church is the acting organs and instruments of Christ. Body simply executes what the brain orders. If not, the body is sick to be healed or even replaced. God chose Israel to execute His work but when they did not obey but follow their own will, God replaced them with New Israel. What is the purpose of God to give the church to His exalted Son? It is to reunifying of the human race and universe under Christ: “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”(9-10) Human race and this universe that God created to be united under Him, but they rebelled against Him and lost the unity. Its tragic result is the endless divisions and hostilities to one another. Many people attempted to unify the world but nobody could succeed. Christ is the peace of the world. His church is the instrument and model to unify the world under Christ. The UN is powerless, and superpowers do not work. Popular trends come and go like pointless winds. When every soul in the world accepts Christ as the Lord, the ultimate peace will come, for He is peace and love, and He is the Way, Truth, and Life. Therefore, the good church achieves unity over any sinful divisions and discriminations inside and diligently reaches out and persuades many people to join this true unity under Christ. Only the united church will successfully persuade outsiders to this glorious work of reunifying this universe under the Lordship of Christ.