The church - The object of God's affection

Today I am starting a new series on the church that I have given the series title, “The Church - Designed for impact!”

City Hill Church was started back in 2013 and part of the vision at that time was articulated in this way, “Our vision is to partner with the wider body of Christ in radically transforming the nations with the power of the gospel. Our particular emphasis in Africa is on reconciliation, social justice, societal renewal and servant leadership.”

They were aware of this, the church was designed for impact.

Then back towards the end of 2021 we found ourselves asking the question again, “Why are we here? What is our vision?” So it was re-articulated in this way, “We are a family of Christ followers, loving God, loving people and loving the world.” That’s our vision and our mission. It’s what we are and it’s what we are to be!

Again, a statement is being made, “We are designed for impact.”

A Biblical understanding of he church is essential for us if we are to be what God intends for us to be.

When we think of the church we often start in the wrong place. Or we can settle before we get to the right place. We often start on what we do rather than what we are. The danger is that we can settle there.

The reality is that whose we are, and what we are informs what we do. Our design determines function.

Have you ever used something and got frustrated with it until you discovered what it was meant to be used for or even how it was to be used?

Example: Steve and me building Sophies swing and me not wanting to use instructions. But I needed to see how it was designed!

That’s true for the church.

Matthew 16:13–20 CSB

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Jesus says to Peter that His confession, “You are the Messiah, Son of the Living God”, was going to be the cornerstone of the church. It’s the defining truth of the church. You take that away and you have no church!

i. You know that by divine revelation

God the Father showed you. Every child of God knows that truth by divine revelation.

ii. What you believe about Jesus will determine how you follow Him!

If Jesus is simple a teacher you will go to him for help.

If Jesus is simply a good man you go to Him for example

If Jesus is God you surrender to Him as Lord.

On that reality, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overpower it.”

“I will build MY church...”

1. The church belongs to God

He designed it for His purpose and His glory!

His design is that it is His church - not yours or mine or some preacher or the latest fad. His design is to build His church in this reality, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” That’s why we “preach Christ and Him crucified!”

So, we don’t get to mess with it or determine how we want it to be. He gets to do that. We get to join Him and embrace His design.

The most common word for “church” in the original Greek is the word “ekklesia”. It simply means “to call out”. It’s talking about those who have been called out.

1.1. The assembly of the called out ones

Get this - the church is the object of His eternal love!

Ephesians 1:4 CSB

4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. He called us to Himself. He new full the wickedness of our hearts and He determined to do something about that and sent His Son.

A characteristic of being counted as the church is that they have been called out of darkness into light. They declare and embrace that “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

We learn some realities about the church.

1.1.1. The church invisible and visible

i. The Invisible is what God sees

2 Timothy 2:19 CSB

19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.

ii. The visible is what we see

We don’t know perfectly who is born again. And so we call people to repentance and faith. We hold Jesus up to people.

1.1.2. The church universal and local

i. Universal

This is what Jesus means when He says, “I will build my church...”

The universal church comprises all of the true believers throughout history, from every nation, tribe and tongue.

We belong here by grace when we are in Christ!

ii. Local

Local expression that longs to reflect a present reality of what the church really is. God has designed this to be a priority in our lives. This is what we are exploring in this series. I thank God for the many local expressions of the church that hold up the banner that declare, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”

As a local church we are a picture (often a poor one) of what the church really is.

1.1.3. The church is one

I had a Jehovah’s witness come to me and push me on which denomination I belonged to. I kept saying that didn’t matter. I was saved by grace through faith and not belonging to a church. But because I was saved I did belong to a church and that church belonged to a denomination. I told him that I was studying with people people from different denominations and the college I was studying at was inter-denominational. He couldn’t understand it but it made perfect sense to me because the church is one. We just need discernment in these days when choosing churches because it’s easy to remove Christ from the centre and put something else there.

We become...

1.2. A reflection of His love

1.2.1. We understand that we are saved by grace through faith

Saved! This doesn’t mean that we only allow those who are born again to come to church. We want to be a picture of God’s grace to broken people. We want to love as we have been loved.

We believe membership is for believers, but our life as a church ought to be so different from the world that creates curitosity about Jesus.

The problem is, this is not always the case. We unnecessarily offend people. We don’t love each other well. MLK said that 11am on Sunday mornings was the most segregated hour of the week.

God designed us for impact and not self-preservation!

1.2.2. We understand that others are saved by grace too

In fact we embrace it.

It embrace the reality that people are image bearers of God and if they have put their faith in Christ, they are my family.

The last book in the New Testament, Revelation, gives an idea of what the universal church looks like.

Revelation 5:9–10 CSB

9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.

Being called out is being separated. We are in this world but are not of this world. We are not shaped by the Lord of the world but by the Lord of the church.

1.2.3. We are united in Christ

This is why Jesus stays central. Who He is and what He has done stays central to our belief, identity and our mission.

2. The church endeavours to display who we are

There are a lot of models for the church. But these realities need to be embraced by the church at all time.

There are some wonderful metaphors to help us. Here are a few.

2.1. People of God

1 Peter 2:9–10 CSB

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

2.2. The family of God

Ephesians 2:19 CSB

19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

2.3. The bride of Christ

Ephesians 5:25–27 CSB

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

Revelation 19:7 CSB

7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself.

2.4. The body of Christ

Romans 12:4–5 CSB

4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

2.5. The temple of God

1 Peter 2:4–5 CSB

4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We don’t mess with the church!

Hell wants to but it won’t win because Jesus wins! Jesus loves His church!

She might not always look attractive, her members may be frustrated with each other and have too much self determination, but Jesus loves His church. We might covet the gifts and ministry of others, missing the plank in our own eyes, we might want to make the church too much about me - but Jesus loves His church.

I want to keep learning to love the church like Jesus loves the church! Don’t you?