Series:    The Church Is NOT a Business

Title:    Picture This: Images of the Church in the New Testament

Text:    Ephesians

I.                  The Church is a FAMILY for FELLOWSHIP (Eph 2:19; 3:15)

a.     God is our Father (Eph 1:2, 3; 1:17; 5:1, 8)

b.    We are brothers and sisters (Eph 6:10, 23)

c.     We become members through adoption (Eph 1:5)

d.    He now treats us as His own Son (Eph 1:6)

e.     This adoption cost Jesus His life (Eph 1:7; Acts 20:28)

f.      We have an inheritance as His children (Eph 1:11, 14, 18)

g.     This inheritance involves great spiritual blessings (Eph 1:3, 7, 18-20; 2:4-10)

II.               The Church is a BODY for SERVICE (Eph. 1:22-23)

a.     Christ is the head and should direct and control the body

b.    The church is the body and should allow Him to use us and direct us as His hands and feet, ears and mouth

c.     This is not our choice, but His design (Eph 2:14-16)

d.    This means that we enjoy the same privileges (Eph 3:5-7)

e.     It is essential that we function as one body (Eph 4:4)

f.      He has placed us in His body to accomplish His purposes (Eph 4:12-16)

III.           The Church is a BRIDE for INTIMACY [LOVE and AFFECTION] (Eph 5:22-33)

a.     “In Christ” or its equivalent appears over 35 times, more than in any other New Testament book

b.    The love of Christ is a sacrificial love (He gave Himself—Eph 5:2, 25)

c.     The purpose of Christ is to prepare for Himself a pure church (Eph 5:26-27)

d.    This purpose will not be complete until His coming (1 John 3:1-3)

e.     Marriage is a human picture of the kind of relationship Christ wants with us (Eph 5:30-32)