A Great Mystery - Christ and the Church

Q: What does the Bible say about the relationship between Christ and the Church?

The Bible describes the Church as the bride of Christ, highlighting a profound union and love that mirrors the relationship between a husband and wife. The relationship between Christ and the Church is depicted as a great mystery, as outlined in Ephesians 5:32. Paul likens the love of Christ for His Church to the love a husband has for his wife, emphasizing both unity and sacrifice. Just as a husband is called to love his wife as himself, Christ loves the Church, giving Himself for her so that He might sanctify her and present her as glorious, without spot or wrinkle. This union illustrates not only the intimacy of the relationship but also the sacrificial nature of Christ's love, reflecting His commitment and purpose: to redeem and cherish His Church as His own body.

Q: Why is Christ's love for the Church significant?

Christ's love for the Church is significant because it assures believers of their eternal security and reflects God's grace and commitment. The significance of Christ's love for the Church cannot be overstated, as it is a source of hope and assurance for believers. As seen in Romans 8, nothing can separate the Church from the love of Christ. This love is not based on the Church's merit but is a reflection of God's sovereign grace and eternal purpose. Christ's love assures us that despite our flaws, failures, and sins, we are accepted in the Beloved and purified by His sacrifice. In Ephesians 5, Paul emphasizes that it is through His love that the Church is cleansed and sanctified. Knowing that Christ loves His Church eternally lends profound comfort and a sense of belonging to believers, guaranteeing that they will not perish but have everlasting life.

Q: How does God view His chosen people?

God views His chosen people as holy and blameless before Him, reflecting His eternal purpose and grace. In Ephesians 1, Paul articulates how God has chosen His people in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. This election is not based on anything foreseen in the individuals but is solely the result of God's sovereign will and purpose. God, in His grace, decided to set His love upon a distinct group of sinners who, by nature, are children of wrath. By choosing them, He assures their redemption, cleansing, and sanctification through the blood of Christ, which removes every spot and wrinkle. This perspective underscores the depth of God's grace and indicates that His compassion and choice are rooted in His character rather than human effort or merit.

Q: Why is the concept of predestination important in Reformed theology?

Predestination is important in Reformed theology as it emphasizes God's sovereignty in salvation and the assurance of believers. Predestination is a foundational concept in Reformed theology, underscoring the sovereignty of God in the salvation of His people. According to Romans 8:29-30, those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. This doctrine reflects the belief that salvation is entirely God's work, not reliant on human choice or merit, but on His divine will alone. Understanding predestination provides believers with assurance and comfort, as it assures them that their salvation is secure and rooted in God's eternal plan. Believers can take confidence in knowing that if chosen by God, they cannot lose their salvation, for it is based upon His unchanging purpose to redeem His people in Christ.

I'd like to draw your attention
this morning please to the fifth chapter of the epistle to the
Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5 and the end
of the chapter from verse 22 where we read the following.
Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the
Lord for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is
the head of the church and he is the savior of the body. Therefore,
as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, even as the
Lord the Church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let
every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself,
and the wife see that she reverence her husband. This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. In the book of Revelation where
John sees a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, Christ says the following, I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. Christ is the beginning and the
ending. He always was and He always will
be. He is God, the Almighty, equal
with His Father. He is the One who was ever before
the world was brought into being. He spake and the worlds were
created. He will speak one day, and the
heavens will be rolled up like a scroll, and the earth will
be burnt with fire, and all men and women will stand before Him,
their Creator, to give an account of themselves and their deeds. And in that day He shall divide
the people, some on the right hand and some on the left, the
sheep from the goats. There will be some unto whom
he will say, well done, my good and faithful servant. And they
shall enter into eternal glory to dwell with him forevermore.
And there shall be others to whom he shall say, depart from
me. I never knew you, ye workers
of iniquity. And they shall be sent into outer
darkness. and there they will remain forevermore. And in eternal glory with Christ
the Almighty his sheep shall remain forevermore. Never to be parted from him,
always to be with him forevermore. For he is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. and those whom his father gave
unto him in eternity past, before the world was created, before
they were brought into being, before man was made upon the
earth, before they were born in the fullness of time, before
they ever turned and rebelled against him. and before they
were quickened unto life by the Holy Spirit as they came to hear
the Gospel and came to hear of the shed blood of Christ their
Saviour by which they were washed from all their sins. Before that
came to pass Christ knew them from all eternity. They were
in Him from all eternity. Upon His heart particular names,
particular ones whom he would bring into being in time, whom
he would cause to be born as sons of Adam and in time cause
to be born again as the sons of God, as his children, as his
bride, as his church. that which he loved from before
ever the world was created from all time from the very beginning
and that which he will love forevermore to the very end for he is the
beginning and the end he is the cause the beginning of this world
the reason it was created the reason it was made he is the
cause the beginning of the church the reason it is brought into
being. He is the cause, the beginning
of life of every child of God who is brought into everlasting
life out of the darkness and depravity of sin in which they
are born naturally. He brings them to life, he is
their beginning. Through their life as believers
he is their all. He is their life. He is everything
to them. He is the one who loved them,
who through His love they came into life. He is the one in whom
they are united, to whom they are united, as the bride is to
her husband. And He is the one to whom they
will be united forevermore. He is their beginning and their
end. With respect to the Church that
is exactly what He is to her. It's beginning and it's end.
It's Alpha and it's Omega. It's A to Z. It's entire message,
it's entire reason for being. It's all, it's everything. He
loved the Church and gave Himself for it. Romans 8 tells us We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, those he knew in the beginning, he did pre-testinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress?
or persecution or famine, or nakedness or peril or sword. As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, whatever
the persecution, whatever the trouble, whatever the trial,
whatever the pilgrimage we pass through, as believers in Christ
in this world, Whatever, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. For I, Paul says, I am persuaded
that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities,
nor powers nor things present nor things to come, nor height
nor depth nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He
is our beginning and our end, He is our all. Those whom Christ
loved, He loves forever. Those whom Christ loved, He died
for and He will keep forever. They shall never, ever be separated
from His love. And those truths expressed by
Paul in that passage in Romans, redound throughout the epistle
to the Ephesians. He preaches the same gospel,
the same truth here, as he preaches throughout his writings recorded
in the scriptures. What he says there in Romans
is in perfect union with what he says here in Ephesians. When
God chose a people in Christ in eternity past, God knew their
end from their beginning. when He chose them, it is as
if they were justified, they were sanctified and they were
glorified from the very beginning. Though these things should be
brought to pass in time, though the world should yet have to
be created, though they should be born, though they should rebel,
though they should die in sin, though they should be born as
children of Adam, as dead sinners, Though the wrath of God should
burn against their sins from heaven above. Though they should
yet come to hear the gospel. Though that gospel by the operation
of the Spirit should yet bring them to life in Christ. And though
they should one day yet have to pass from this world into
the next where they would be glorified with Christ. and though
the resurrection from the dead should yet have to come to pass
when this world is brought to a close and all the bodies of
the saints should rise to be reunited with the spirits the
souls of the saints who have gone to be with Christ where
they will then live and reign with him in glorious new resurrection
bodies forevermore though all these things should yet come
to pass in the fullness of time In the purpose of God, it was
all as if it was done from the beginning. They were justified,
they were glorified, past tense, those whom he loved, his church. Because Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word. that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Paul in this passage in Ephesians
speaks of that wonderful union between the husband and the wife.
and the love that the husband has for his wife and the love
and reverence that the wife has for her husband a union created
by God in the beginning when he made man and he made them
male and female and he made the woman for the man one woman for
one man and united them together in marriage that they should
forever be one flesh together that created union of God, that
purpose of God for all men, that exclusivity of marriage as being
one woman with one husband, the woman united to the man. This
union upon which God set his blessing from the very beginning
Why does God make such importance over the marriage state? Why
does he have such to say in the scriptures about the love of
the husband for the wife, that marriage is for life, that they
are one flesh, that what God has joined together let no man
put asunder. Why does he make so much of this?
Well, it is not simply because of the blessing that comes from
marriage. It is not simply because of the
blessing that this brings to man upon the earth. Though it
does, and though it was made for his blessing, though it was
made for his good, when God looked upon Adam, he said, it is not
good for the man to be alone. So he took Eve out of his side,
took the rib out of his side, and brought into being the woman.
and brought her under him. And Adam looked upon her and
said, this is flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone. She is woman
and he loved her. Though there is this great temporal
blessing to be found in marriage and in the marriage union and
in the children which marriage brings forth. All this as Paul
makes clear in this passage is a picture of Christ and his church. And all this ultimately was brought
into being to teach us of the wonderful union between Christ
and his bride. Christ and the woman, the church.
There could not be a greater union. There could not be greater
love. In the world, there are many
sorts of loves. Children have a love for their
parents. Parents have a love for their children. Friends have
a love for one another. But there's no greater love than
that love in the natural state of a man for his wife and the
wife for her husband. And yet, in the spiritual realm,
that is a picture, a faint shadow of the wonderful love which Christ
has for his church. His body, his flesh, that people
whom he looks upon as himself, flesh of his flesh, bone of his
bones, Men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He
that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, even as the
Lord the Church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall be joined unto his wife,
and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Do you know Christ's love for
you? Are you one of these? One of
these who are part of that church, one who is part of his bride? one for whom he died, one whom
he loved and gave himself for, that he might sanctify you and
cleanse you with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present you to himself as part of that church, a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Do you know this love? Do you
know that you are part of that which is his body? If you do,
you know a love which is hidden from many. A love greater than
all loves. A love that cannot be broken.
A love that cannot be quenched. A love that cannot be exhausted.
A love which will never grow cold. a love which will never
be offended. Though you may rebel against
them, though you may fall into sin, though you as a believer
in Christ may doubt and may fear, though we may complain, though
we may fail to render testimony before others of Christ's grace
to us, though we may fear men and what they may say and do
to us, Though so often we fall so far short of what we should
be before Him. Though so often we plunge ourselves
into sin. Even so, His love burns for His
bride. As strongly today as it ever
did before this world was made. And as strongly today as it ever
will in eternity to come. Whatever we do, whatever we say,
if he has given himself for us, if he has washed us in his blood,
if he has washed us by the water of the word, then he looks upon
us as he looks upon all his church, as having not spot, nor wrinkle,
or any such thing. Whatever we may see, we may look
at our own hearts and see nothing but sin bubbling up from our
flesh, We may feel ashamed of ourselves when we fall and stumble,
when we lose our temper, when we act in anger, when we're selfish,
when we've covetous, when we know that we've done wrong, we
may feel ashamed of ourselves. We may feel that God may look
upon us and justly condemn us. Yet if we are Christ's, He looks
upon us as those whose sins have already been condemned. For He
went into the abyss for His people. He took all their sins, past,
present and future. And He took them upon Himself
at the cross. And He drank the cup of God's
wrath to the dregs. And He took all the punishment
of all eternity against all of our sins. and took them all away. And though we may yet sin, he
says, I've paid the price for that. And though we may sin again
tomorrow, he says, I've already paid the price for that. And
though we may come unto him in prayer and say, Father, forgive
me, Lord, forgive me, I've sinned again. He says, in grace, I know,
but I've paid the price. and he looks upon us as having
not spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Do you know it? Do you know the comfort of such
love? The comfort that though we fall,
that though we stumble, that though we're such unprofitable
servants, so undeserving, so self-willed, so self-minded,
Yet Christ still looks upon us with a love that is never dented,
a love that is never diminished, the same as it was in the beginning,
the same as it will be at the end. For he is the husband of
his church, his bride, and he loves her as he loves himself. We are one flesh, one body one
body with christ the son of the living god what an amazing thing
to be able to say that we are one with almighty god in the
person of his son one with god that God the Father looks upon
His children and His Church as He looks upon His Son that when
He sees the Bride of Christ He sees His Son and when He sees
His Son He sees Him united to His Bride and He is well pleased
in Him well pleased in His Son and well pleased with that Bride
in His Son nothing she can do can take away that salvation
which Christ has wrought effectually for her. Nothing. Because all
her salvation depends nothing upon her, what she has done,
what she has said, what she will ever do, what she will ever say. But all depends upon He who was
in the beginning, who looked upon her in love before ever
the world was created, and purpose to save her with an everlasting
salvation. So Paul in the book of Ephesians,
in the epistle to the Ephesians, sets before us the work of God
in Christ for his church, for his bride. He presents to us
glorious pictures of the eternal purposes of God, of his eternal
union with his church, his eternal purposes in grace and how though
this people whom he saves are taken out of this world though
they buy in as children of Adam are as others just children of
wrath even as others none of that prevents their being saved
for nothing is dependent upon their will or their works but
all is according to his eternal counsel to save his church. It's a mystery. It's a mystery
to man that God could look upon such a people with such love. It's a mystery to us that he
can look upon us so forgivingly when we treat him so harshly,
so uncaringly, when we despise him, when we trample his word
underfoot, when we, even we as believers, mock and deride and
act as though he cannot bring to pass that which he said he
will bring to pass, when we so easily doubt and in our hearts
we challenge his word, It's a mystery to us that he should set such
love upon those who deserve such condemnation. It's a mystery
to us that he should love us despite our wicked and evil hearts. It's a mystery to us that he
should look upon us as one with Christ. It's a mystery to us
as those whose hearts by nature are full of sin that he should
look upon us in Christ as having the righteousness of God. It's
a mystery to us that we should be united in such union that
he should describe us as one flesh and one body. And yet this is the mystery that
Paul opens up in this wondrous epistle. In chapter 1 he says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as he have chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. He did it because of the good
pleasure of his will, not because of what he saw in us, not because
of what he foresaw in us, not because he looked ahead into
the midst of time and saw that some would choose to follow him
or some would be better than others, but he chose those who
were the same as others, who were worse than others. And according
to the good pleasure of His will, He chose to set His love upon
them, to bless them with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace. Redemption through His blood.
forgiveness of sins, he chose a people before the foundation
of the world and in the fullness of time he would redeem that
people through blood, through the blood of God's Son, through
his own blood, his own life, by laying down his life for them
that deserve to die. by being slaughtered upon a cross,
crucified, dying, a slow lingering horrible death. Physically he
suffered like none can suffer, but spiritually he suffered that
which is but a mystery to us. Spiritually as man hung him on
that cross, and as the hours ticked away and men spat upon
him and derided him and as it came to that hour when the light
of the sun was taken away spiritually his father turned his back upon
him for his father took the sins of all of those children whom
he had chosen in his son before the foundation of the world.
all those whom he would accept in the beloved he took all their
sins and laid them upon him and he took their sin and made him
to be it and he beat him and poured out his fires of wrath
upon him and he died and his blood was shed as a testimony
to that life having been given that he should wash that people
in that blood To take away every blemish, every spot and every
wrinkle. That people chosen in Christ as his body. having made known
unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure
which he have purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will that
we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in
christ in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory. There is that time
that should come in every believer's life, when they in the depths
of sin should come to hear that gospel of their salvation. And through that gospel, through
the work of the Holy Spirit, quickening them unto life, they
should trust in Christ. They should trust in Christ.
the same Christ whom the father trusted, that he should do what
he promised. For the father sent his son to
be the earnest of their inheritance. He sent his son to lay down his
life for them, to pay the price, the ransom price, that they might
be brought into eternal glory, that they through him, through
the shedding of his blood, through his death, should inherit eternal
life and eternal glory. The father trusted the son, the
son trusted the father and through his death and that faith he exhibited
in his father's promise justification was wrought, righteousness was
brought in, the blood was shed, the blood washed his people from
their sins and they through that blood were washed clean perfectly
and because of that blood they have an inheritance to come. And because of that blood, the
spirit goes forth with that gospel to declare unto sinners dead
in trespasses and sins that Christ has died for sinners. That they
might hear and be quickened unto life to believe and to trust
in Christ who redeemed them. As Paul says, he ceases not to
give thanks for the Ephesians but he makes mention of them
in prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us would who
believe according to the working of his mighty power which he
wrought in christ when he raised him from the dead and set him
at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all
principality and power and might and dominion and every name that
is named not only in this world but also in that which is to
come and have put all things under his feet and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church which is his body
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Yes, God raised Christ from the
dead by mighty power. Nothing could hold him in the
grave, not the greatest might and power and dominion. Satan
had nothing more to say against this people for whom Christ died. Though he came, the great accuser
with the law. Though he came railing against
them and said but they are sinners, they have broken the holy law
of God. Every one of them, though he
brought every charge against them, even Satan's cleverest
use of God's law, even the greatest accusation, was washed aside
because Christ had paid the price to the uttermost. Every penny
was paid, every five impaid, there is now no more condemnation
to them which are the called in Christ Jesus. No more. He rose again, he rose victorious
and they rose with him. And he sits, he sits glorious
in heaven above, that all things are under his feet. He who is
the head of the church, his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all, his body. that people whom he saved are
described as his body, his body, one with him. Are you one with
him? Or are you yet in your sins railing
against him? Have you, as it says in chapter
two, been quickened by the spirit unto life, you who were once
dead in trespasses and sins? or are you yet dead in trespasses
and sins? There are those who want time,
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. but God who is rich in
mercy for his great love wherewith he loved these when they were
dead in sins he quickened them together with Christ and raised
them up together and made them to sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness towards them through Christ Jesus. Are you one of those Or are you
yet a children of wrath, a child of disobedience, warring against
God, warring against His Son, warring against His Gospel, shutting
your ears to the truth? Are you yet in darkness? Or has
God, in grace and mercy, led you to that cross upon which
His Son shed His blood for sinners? Has He taught you that you are
a child of wrath? Has He shown you the Saviour,
slain for sinners, whose blood washes from every sin? If He
has, it will be by grace. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. It's all of God. He'll lead you
there if He leads you there. Or has He? Paul in the rest of this chapter
in chapter 2 shows how God's gospel has gone out to the Gentiles,
no longer to the Jews only, but that Christ came to save people
from all nations, all countries, all people, and he unites them
as one. and he brings them to peace with
that God whom they have offended. For Christ is our peace, who
hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself of twain one new man. so make in peace, that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which
were afar off and to them that were nigh. For through him we
both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Jews and Gentiles
we have access through Christ unto the Father, because Christ
came by His Spirit and preached peace to the Gentiles which were
afar off. Even to our age and day, even
to us this day, God comes by His Spirit preaching His Gospel
to those who were afar off in sin, in darkness, in death. Have you heard? Have you heard? Have you heard the grace of God? If you have, then you are therefore
no more a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow citizen with the
saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord. in
whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit. Oh what a wonderful description
of the church, built together a holy temple for the Lord, that
people in which God dwells by his Spirit he lives in them. They don't simply gather in a
meeting to hear about him, but they gather as that habitation
of God, His temple, that people in which He dwells, the body
of Christ, one with Him, chosen in time past, brought to life
in the fullness of time by the gospel to be made that people,
that building, that church, that bride of Christ in which God
dwells. a people who are on a pilgrimage,
a people who are on a journey, a people who have been brought
out from the darkness of the world around them to be described
as the children of light. That which is light in a dark
world, that which points this world and those lost in its darkness
of sin unto Christ and his gospel, unto God and his salvation. And
as such that which the world looks upon as different, that
which the world despises and rejects as they despised and
reject Christ when he came amongst them, that in which they will
suffer, that in which they will know trials, and yet nevertheless
that in which they are the light of God. that in which they walk
as the body of Christ, that in which they walk as that people
united to him, whose love which was set upon them from the beginning,
burns as strongly today as it ever did and as it ever will. In chapter three, Paul says of
his calling to be a minister that unto me who am less than
the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world have been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I
desire that ye fate not at my tribulations for you which is
your glory, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches
of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man. Whatever's going on outside,
I pray that God might grant you to be strengthened by his Spirit
in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,
that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that
ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. all the fullness
of God. Oh, the breadth, the length,
the depth and height of Christ's love for His bride. He will never
let her go. He will never let her perish.
He is jealous for her, and He is jealous for her glory. He loves His church. He gave
Himself for His church. he will watch over and keep his
church. Whatever comes your way, believer,
whatever comes your way, bride of Christ, know his love for
you. Know something by grace of the
breadth, the height, the depth, the length, the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge. The church is one. It is one
body, one spirit. It is called in one hope of its
calling. It has one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through
all and in all those who are in the church. It's one. It walks as one, united by the
Spirit in the faith. And in chapter 4, Paul speaks
of how God keeps that church in this wilderness. For Christ
has ascended on high. And from that height he sends
forth into this world gifts he gives to the church, apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of
men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
but speaking the truth in love that we may grow up into him
in all things which is the head even christ from whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supply if according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part make if increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love it's one body and God feeds that body
he builds it up for the preaching of his gospel in its midst he
sends it preachers to preach this gospel that that people
may edify one another that they may hear the gospel that they
may grow and be built up in it This I say therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind. You're not the same, having the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
of their heart. That's what you were like, blind,
who being past feeling have given themselves unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you, my people,
have not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him
and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that ye
put off concern in the form of conversation the old man which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, that ye put on the new man which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Put away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members
one of another. Be angry and sin not, let not
the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Love one another, be ye kind
one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, have forgiven you. walk in love. In the darkness of this world
walk as the children of light. In chapter 5 Paul comes, as we've
seen in our chapter, to this mystery of the picture of the
woman, the husband and the wife, the picture of the church. And
he speaks of other relationships and how we are to walk in this
world as followers of God, as dear children, walk in love.
avoiding uncleanness, foolishness, not being deceived. You were
sometimes darkness but now you're light in the Lord. Walk as children
of light. Obey your parents. Follow that
which is true. Awake thou that sleepest, don't
be complacent. Arise from the dead and Christ
shall give thee light. Walk circumspectly, not as fools
but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Be
not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Be not drunk with wine where is in excess. but be filled with
the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of
the wife. even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is
the saviour of the body. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Chapter 6, of course,
he speaks of children, he speaks of masters and servants, and
all of our pilgrimage and state. But all is in the light of our
union with Christ. Who is our beginning? Who is
our husband? Who is our all? He is all in
all. Do you know him as such? Do you
know his love? Do you know the end which he
will bring you to? For he is the beginning. He is
present with us now in our pilgrimage and every trial, but he is also
our glorious end. that end of which Paul spake
in chapter 1, that glorious inheritance to come, however hard it may
be now, however difficult, however strong the persecution, whatever
may come to pass, we have a glorious hope set before us, a glorious
end, Even now as we walk through this pilgrimage we have spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We are sat there with
him spiritually but one day we will be with him forevermore.
One day we will pass on this earthly realm. One day we will
be resurrected with our bodies as new glorious bodies. One day
we will be united forevermore. as the bride with her husband.
We will be with him, we will behold him, we will look upon
his face, his glorious face. All sin will be taken away, all
troubles and trials, all tears will be washed from every eye,
and we will have that eternal inheritance of glory to come.
We will be with him forever. What a glorious hope there is
as we journey through this world. May God give us grace to keep
our eyes set upon that hope and to set upon Christ. Christ who
gave himself for his church, that church he loved, that church
he loves, that church he adores, that church he watches over,
that church he is jealous for. It's a great mystery, yes, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Do you know Christ? Are you his church? Do you know
his love? That love which is beyond understanding,
which passive natural knowledge That love, do you know its breadth,
its length, its depth and height? For all whom Christ loves, he
will love forever. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Amen.

A Great Mystery - Christ and the Church

What does the Bible say about the relationship between Christ and the Church?

Why is Christ's love for the Church significant?

How does God view His chosen people?

Why is the concept of predestination important in Reformed theology?

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A Great Mystery - Christ and the Church

What does the Bible say about the relationship between Christ and the Church?

Why is Christ's love for the Church significant?

How does God view His chosen people?

Why is the concept of predestination important in Reformed theology?

Sermon Transcript

About Ian Potts

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