Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Thoughts on Ephesians 1:22-23

"God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body, the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself" (Weymouth NT).

The main thing I would like to look at form these two verses is the final phrase. Referring to the Church as the completeness (or fulness) of Christ. It is a extremely remarkable statement. The Church is to be that which completes Christ.

This is not stated in a sense that God stands in need of man or in debt to man somehow. Rather, God has chosen to create man and give man the privilege of entering into a relationship with Him whereby God's plans and purposes are willingly fulfilled in them and through them.

The church is called to complete Christ, to be His fulness in two ways.

Firstly, the church is to complete the work of Christ. The earthly ministry of Christ finished after His ascension but His work remains to be done. When John and Peter went to the tomb on the day of the resurrection, they saw the cloth which had covered Christ's head folded and placed to one side, however the cloth which wrapped His body was left as it was (John 20:7). This shows that the Head had finished His work, but the body still has work to do.

The apostle Paul could say that he was filling up or completing the sufferings of Christ on behalf of His Church (Col. 1:24). In a sense this is completing the work that Christ accomplished on Calvary, He died to present to Himself a glorious Church, and sometimes a portion of His church suffers with Him for to help accomplish perfection in the whole.

Secondly, the Church is to be His bride, and to bring completeness to Him in the same way as a bride does to a Husband. To enter into His joy and sorrow and share His thoughts, feelings and emotions.

It is interesting that God chose to form Eve from a part of Adam. He could have created her ex nihilo, but He did not. Perhaps that was to show a parallel between the first and second adam, who both have brides formed from themselves. We become the Bride of Christ by receiving His nature which is imparted at the new birth. We truly are partakers of Christ's divine nature in a real way, just as Eve was a very true partaker of Adam's flesh.

When we truly catch a vision of our need to complete Christ's work and to enter into His life, it will change how we view what we do in church. The Church is called to far greater things than we realize and unless we set our goals high we will miss the goal. If we are truly to complete Christ's work and fulfill His desires for fellowship too much of the things we do in church actually inhibit rather than promote this, because the focus is more on what makes us happy than what pleases Him.

May we truly be that which completes Christ and brings joy to His heart!

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