Many Christians consider the church as merely the gathering of God’s called-out ones. This is correct, but it does not touch the significance of the church. Actually, the church is Christ’s continuation, reproduction, multiplication, and spread. The New Testament—in Paul’s writings, which conclude the divine revelation—tells us that Christ is the mystery of God and that the church is the mystery of Christ. To call Christ the mystery of God is to imply that He is one with God, that He is God expressed, that He is God’s story. In the same principle the church as the mystery of Christ is Christ’s expression and His story.
We may say that the church is Christ. To the ears of those who lack a clear vision such a statement sounds blasphemous. To them the church is made up of human beings who have been called together as a congregation. In their thinking, to say that the church is Christ or His continuation is to deify it. No, the church is not God, but it does have the divine nature.
Consider how the church is described in Paul’s writings. Nearly every item implies an organic relationship. The church has been born of God in Christ. It has received His life and nature, no less than a child has his father’s life and nature. To say that a child is the same as his father in life and nature is not objectionable. But this is also true of the church. The church, however, is not deified. It is not an object of worship. Only God is to be worshipped.
The church is the Body of Christ. Surely the human body has the same life and nature as the head. In life and nature the church is one with Christ. Yet Christ is the Lord; the church is not. Christ as Lord is worthy of worship, but we are not to worship the church.
The church is the bride of Christ. As Eve was formed from Adam’s rib, so the church came out of Christ. The rib signifies eternal life. The church is produced from the divine life. Then Eve returned to Adam and became one flesh with him. Similarly, the church has returned to Christ and is now one spirit with Him. Here again, the picture is of an organic relationship. We are organically one with Christ. He expresses God; we express Him.
In the previous message we went over six descriptions Paul gives of the church. Now we shall go on to another six descriptions of what the church is.
“You are...members of the household of God,” Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:19. The Greek word for household means family and house. In our thinking, a house is one thing and a family another. A house is the building where we live, and a family consists of parents and children. We have a house in which we live and a family with whom we live. In the New Testament sense, however, the house and the family are the same. God’s house is His family. We are both His house and His family—His household. God has only His family as His house. He lives in us and considers us His house.
Household is another term implying an organic relationship. We are no longer “strangers and sojourners” but organically God’s family. We are God’s folks! We were born of God and now have His life and nature. This is not true of the angels. You may wish you were an angel and try to act angelic, but the angels are not God’s children. They are His servants; because they are our Father’s servants, they are our servants also. We are better than servants! We are God’s family.
Besides being members of the household of God, we are also called fellow-citizens of the saints (Eph. 2:19). This term indicates the kingdom of God. Household refers to a life relationship, whereas kingdom refers to authority. The church has not only God’s life, but also His authority. God is both the Father and the King. We are therefore members of a royal family! As those who were born into God’s household, we have His life and enjoy His riches. As fellow-citizens in His kingdom, we are under His authority and have His authority. God’s kingdom is the realm where He exercises this authority. We are the King’s citizens!
This household of God is “being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom all the building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in Whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit” (Eph. 2:20-22).