Series: Bridges
God never planned for you to live the Christian life all by yourself. He designed the new life He gives us to be experienced together with other Christians. In fact, we can really only see the Christian life working when Christians are in relationship with others. This is what the Church is all about.
Jesus didn't die for buildings. He died for people. When the Bible says that Jesus died for the Church, it means He died for you and me. The Church is all those who have been "redeemed" - all those who have responded to God's invitation of a new life. The buildings that we see are simply the places where the Church meets.
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ...Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it" (1 Corinthians 12:12,27).The Bible says that the Church is like a body. Our bodies are made up of many parts, each with a special function - so is the Church. Our bodies are the physical extension of ourselves. People can only know what we are thinking and feeling if we use our bodies (our hands, our voices, our eyes) to show them. Jesus Christ is now in heaven. But He hasn't stopped reaching out to people's lives. How does He do this? God's Spirit works through His people - the Church - to reach out and show the love and concern of Jesus to others. We are like His body - His hands, His feet, His voice - to help other people discover God for themselves. And so, the Church is all about the ministry of Jesus, touching other lives through our lives.
This is why God created the Church - to be a family, a body, and a fellowship of mutual support. We don't just grow individually. We grow together into everything that Christ is - "the fullness of Christ".
The Bible says: "...speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:15-16).
The Church is made up of many millions of people all around the world. And everyone of them is unique - different in race, culture, traditions. Even individual churches are different. What makes us the "body of Christ" is what we have in common. We have all believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been "redeemed" - purchased back to God through the shedding of Jesus' blood. And we have God's Spirit living in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is our common bond. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us a family, and it is the Holy Spirit who makes us a body. It is the Holy Spirit who makes the Church work. But for the Church to be the Church, Christians must actually meet together regularly. This is why the Bible tells us: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another..." (Hebrews 10:24-25).
"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:8-10).
But there is good news! Read Galatians 5:22-26. All those things in that verse - love, joy, peace, etc - are called "the fruit of the Spirit". They are the product of the Holy Spirit's own nature! You don't need to struggle to be a Christian - you just have to allow God's Spirit to work in your life. If your roots are planted every day in the life of God's Spirit, then the fruit you produce will be His fruit.
"He has by his own action given us everything that is necessary for living the truly good life...making it possible for you to...share in God's essential nature" (2 Peter 1:3-4, Phillips).
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