Jesus, Lord of the church

The LORD sat enthroned at the flood,
And the LORD sits as King forever.
Ps. 29:10

We must always remember that the true church is not the work of man, from beginning to end it is the work of God. It was initiated by God, it is sustained by God, it is led and guided by God, its purpose will by fulfilled by God:
* Jesus, the Son of God said, "I will build My church" (Matt. 16:18).
* The Holy Spirit of God came down at Pentecost and gave life and power to the church (Acts 2).
* The church is the body of Christ of which He is the Head (Eph. 1:22).
* The church is the "church of God" (Acts 20:28; 1Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:13 and many more).

This is not to say that the Lord's people have no part to play in the activity of the church, as we shall see every member is a vital ingredient in the efficient function of the whole, but each member can only operate effectively when he or she is joined to Jesus the Head and fed and directed by Him. Note that false ministers are "not holding fast to the Head" (Col. 2:18,19).

The chief cornerstone

Several scriptures liken the Lord Jesus to the chief stone of a building:
Isa. 8:14; 28:16; Ps. 118:22 are all prophetic scriptures which speak of the Messiah and His ministry in Jerusalem of laying the foundation of the New Testament church. For believers the Messiah becomes "a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation" (Isa. 28:16); for those who rejected Him he became a "stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" (Isa. 8:14). These two thoughts come together in Ps 118:22 where "the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone" and Jesus quoted this text in Matt. 21:42 as a testimony against the Jews who rejected Him and His ministry, here Jesus goes on to say that the kingdom of God will be taken from the Jews and given to "a nation bearing the fruits of it," which speaks of the spread of the gospel and the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour by the gentile nations (see also Acts 4:5-11).
Relating this to the church we turn to Eph. 2:20-22 where Paul states that Jesus is the chief cornerstone of a holy temple made up of believers who are being fitted together to be a dwelling place of God in the Spirit - this is of course a picture of the New Testament church.

The cornerstone has two applications - it either refers to one of the large foundation stones at the corner of a building which binds two or more rows together or it refers to the final stone which is laid at the top corner of a building - both concepts relate to Jesus who is the founder and sustainer of the church and also is its completion and glory, the Head of the church. The point in this is that there is no church without Jesus as its central figure. Any church which is not built on the foundational gospel truths and fails to exalt Jesus as its Head by proclaiming Him faithfully and truthfully is not a true church in accordance with the word of God!

note: Eph. 2:20 speaks of the apostles and prophets as the foundation of the household of God (the church), this refers to the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and the doctrinal teachings of the New Testament saints. These scriptures are the foundational truths on which the whole of the word of God stands and which the church (as the pillar and ground of truth, 1Tim. 3:15) is to protect and proclaim. The truths concerning the Lord Jesus are the central and foundational truths of all church planting and building, and are so vital in this respect that Paul states in 1Cor. 3:11, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Paul in this passage of 1Cor. is likening his own apostolic ministry to that of a "wise master builder" who lays the foundation (of the church) and others (ministers) build upon it. Any church therefore that is not built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the truthful proclamation and teaching of scripture is in error as is any church that strays from these truths.

Living Stones

You also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house.
1Pet. 2:5

.... may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head - Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Some principles come out very clearly from these scriptures in Ephesians:
* Christ is the Head, the chief cornerstone.
* Believers are growing into Christ.
* Each member is dependent on other members.
* Every member (part) has a function to perform, the whole only works effectively as each one does its part.
* Church growth (spiritual and numerical) occurs when each part works effectively.

Col. 2:19 - a similar passage to Eph. 4:15,16, tells us that as the body is nourished from the Head through the "joints and ligaments" it "grows with the increase that is from God."
Again we see that the church is not a static organisation, but a living organism, with Christ at its Head supplying it with all it needs to function effectively. The Lord Jesus provides the very life essence of the church and that life is supplied to every member through the ministry of another member. This is a great and wonderful thing, every true believer who is a member of Christ's body has something to bring to the work of Christ's church which will bring blessing and edification to the other members and results in church growth. Along with this is the responsibility of each member to do their share as the Lord directs and equips. There is no place here for any selfish individualism, no one in the church can act in isolation, this is as true for ministers as it is for every member of Christ's church no matter how insignificant we may perceive ourselves (or others may perceive us) to be.
It should be obvious from this that when the church is working properly there is a wonderful unity among its members, if each is being fed by Christ, each is growing into Christ and each is doing its part there can be no schism, no crossed purposes, no place for glorification of self.
Those not holding fast to the Head (false apostles, false prophets, false teachers and the like) disrupt and harm the unity of Christ's body with their man-made and demonically inspired doctrines and plans. There is a terrible judgement in store for such people, they defile the temple of God and God promises to destroy them (1Cor. 3:16,17).

One body, many members, different functions
Read through 1Cor. 12 a passage that reminds us again very clearly that every member of the body of Christ has a part to play. It is the Holy Spirit who gives each one the gifts that enable them to fulfill their function for the benefit of all. There is order in the body of Christ - from the apostles down, each one should know and be satisfied with their own place and calling in the body of Christ and operate in the sphere of their calling as the Holy Spirit equips and leads. No single person is any more important than any other, we all have need of each others particular ministry.

Eph. 4:15,16 tells us of the ministries that God has appointed to function in the body of Christ, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. These ministries are Christ's gift to the church for the "equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ in love." Those called by Christ to these ministries have no right to lord it over others (1Pet. 5:1-3), they are no better than other believers, God in His sovereign purpose has chosen and equipped such men to serve His people, their ability to minister is not because of their natural abilities or talents but solely due to the grace of God (see 1Cor. 15:10) and their power and authority to act in the leadership of the church is a delegated power and authority from the Lord Jesus (this is brought out by the imagery in Revelation 1 of the Lord Jesus holding the 7 stars in His right hand, v.16; those 7 stars represent the angels or ministers of the 7 churches, the right hand represents the place of power and authority. The church receives its power and authority to act in this world as it is delegated from Jesus to the leaders and from them to the whole body). We are therefore called to submit to the leadership of those whom we recognise to be our (God-given) leaders (Heb. 13:17).
Confusion is caused by those who are not chosen by Christ to lead but take it upon themselves to attempt to exercise an authority that has not been given them from Christ. Similarly, confusion is caused when a church appoints someone to leadership because of natural qualities (intellect and learning) rather than discerning those whom Christ has supernaturally gifted and appointed to leadership.

The true church is the one place in this world where Jesus is recognised, acknowledged and proclaimed to be Lord and King. We, the members of His church are called to show the reality of this by the way we live our lives in submission to Jesus our King and Head, and in submission to each other, fulfilling our particular roles in the body of Christ. In doing so we are greatly blessed and in turn bring blessing to the Lord's people whenever and wherever we may fellowship together. The ultimate result of this is that Jesus is glorified and the church grows.

Jesus, as our Head provides all that we need to serve Him effeciently and effectively, and this is the theme taken up in part 2.