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Christ's Attitude: Toward the Church
When Jesus came Into the world the church was not yet in existence. It had existed in the mind of God from the beginning (Ephesians 1:4; 3:9), but did riot become a reality until the first Pentecost following the ascension of Christ back to heaven (Acts 1,2). The church, which is the Lord's kingdom (Colossians 1:13), had been planned, promised, prophesied, down through the ages by Gods spokesmen and there were many signs that would indicate its arrival. John the Baptist preached that the kingdom was "at hand" in his day, as did Jesus (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). One of the very first proclamations of our Lord, the Sermon on the Mount, Is characterized as the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23), and He said it would come in the lifetime of those to whom He spoke (Mark 9:1). But the signs and prophecies denoting the kingdom is not the burden of this lesson. We wish to consider what revelation teaches us about His attitude toward the church, and the priority He placed upon it.
In His Temptation
His attitude toward the church is evident at the time Satan tempted Him in the wilderness following His baptism. Satan offered Him the kingdoms of the world If only Jesus would leap from the pinnacle of the temple (Matthew 4:8 10). But for Jesus to have accepted the offer would have aborted His mission even at the outset of it. He came to establish His kingdom, and to save the lost. The church would be composed of the saved (Acts 2:47). How could He save if He sold out to the devil? No, He valued the church enough to resist Satan's offer.
His Remarks About John the Baptist
In Matthew 11:7-11 Jesus complimented John by saying, "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." Then He went on to say, "Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." How could this be? It is because John was never in the kingdom, which is the church. He lived, served, and died before the church became a reality on Pentecost. As great as John certainly was, the value placed upon even the least in the church was considered greater than John. Can we possibly escape the thrust of the value Jesus places on His church with such words? How blessed are those in the church!
Setting the Groundwork
In His teaching that preceded the church He exalted the church that was to come. His disciples were taught to pray for its coming (Matthew 6:10). He taught that He, God's only begotten Son, would be the builder and that it would be built on the foundation of His Deity (Matthew 6:16-18). There would be no other foundation (First Corinthians 3:11). He placed great emphasis on whose church It was. When He cleansed the temple He called it "my Father's house." It was God's house. So it is with the church. It is His church, and the "house of God" (First Timothy 3:15). All that had been involved in bringing the church into existence demonstrated the attitude of Christ favorably toward the church.
In the Selection of the Apostles
Jesus commissioned His apostles to go and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15, 16), baptizing those who believed. Baptism Is the Lord's designated way to enter Christ and His church (First Corinthians 12:13: Acts 2:47: Galatians 3:27). He promised the apostles the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them (John 14,15,16), and they would be guided into all the truth (John 16:13), which is the Word of God (John 17:17). The \Word is the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11), which is the church, and the Holy Spirit was the assurance that what they preached was right before God. We dare not miss the relationship between the Word and the church. Without the Word there would be no church, no saved. because we are saved by the Word (Romans 1:16; James 1:21).
Not only was the Word preached to establish the church (Acts 2), the Lord provided for the spread of the church by providing for the spread of the gospel, and the continuation of the church by offering the milk and meat of His Word whereby Christian spiritual grow arid learn to serve acceptably before God (Acts 20:32). The Word of God produces the church. The tares of the doctrines of men produce human denominations and churches about which no word is found in Scripture.
As Its Head
The attitude of Jesus toward the church is evident in the fact that He is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22,23), and as head he has all authority (Matthew 28:18). Therefore, everything done regarding the church must have His stamp of authorization (Colossians 3:17). The church is His spiritual body (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22,23). The mere notice of this truth demands we recognize His attitude toward the church. Being the head of the church is another way of denoting Him as King over His kingdom (First Timothy 6:15). All matters pertaining to the church have to do with Him. We would therefore expect His attitude toward the church to be that of reverent consideration.
He Died For The Church
Possibly nothing depicts His blessed attitude toward the church more forcefully than the truth that He considered it worthy of His own suffering and death. He died for the church (Ephesians 5:25), giving Himself for it. He purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28). For this reason those in the church can rightly understand that we do not belong to ourselves but unto Him who died for us (First Corinthians 6:20).
The value of a thing is most generally determined by the price paid for it. In essence Jesus is saying to the world, "Look at the value I place on the church. Look what I did to bring it into being and allow you to be members of it. . From this I know without question what Deity thinks of the church. Even prior to His death by crucifixion, take note of His suffering, humiliation, how He endured blasphemies, betrayals, denials, and ridicule. And for what? It was for the church. It makes you wonder how any person could ever have a demeaning attitude toward the church when the Lord has so clearly demonstrated His glorious evaluation of it.
At Gethsemane
Do we not learn of His attitude toward the church as we read His prayer that He prayed on that fateful night He was betrayed and seized by His enemies? Not only does that prayer, recorded in John 17 and which is in reality the Lord's Prayer rather than what He taught regarding prayer in Matthew six, include petitions on His own behalf in view of what He was facing, but words of prayer on behalf of His apostles whose task would be to reveal and proclaim God's will by which the church would he planted, but that prayer included divine requests on behalf of all those who would believe on Him, all the church, and for all ages of the church. Furthermore. His concern for the church would never cease, How Jesus gloried in the church!
His Relationship With the Church
Please take long consideration about the relationship He has declared that He sustains with those who make up the church. We are a brotherhood in fellowship with each other and with Him (First John 1:3-7). Our relationship is more than that of physical kin, but spiritual kinship (Matthew 12:46 50). Christ loves the church as His bride (Ephesians 5). He is the chief Shepherd and Intercessor for the church (First Peter 5:4; Hebrews 7:25). He saves the church (Ephesians 5:23), and will deliver it to the Father when He comes again (First Corinthians 7:24). Because of this relationship we can confidently affirm that salvation is in the church. Reconciliation with God is in the church (Ephesians 2:16). He is the One Mediator for the church (First Timothy 2:5). What a marvel that sinful man can be so cleansed by His blood that we are given such a relationship with Deity!
Attitudes He Did Not Have
It is worth our consideration to notice some attitudes Jesus did NOT have toward the church. The reason for these notations is because some have adopted such attitudes as we shall mention.
He never looked upon the church with contempt, but love. He never ridiculed the church nor sneered at it, or advised that it be ignored with an air of indifference. He never thought It to be irrelevant for man regardless of what age in man's history since Pentecost is considered. He did not think there were many churches, one just as good as another. He never considered His church to be a conglomerate of human denominations and sectarian bodies. He never advised people to choose the church of their choice. He always considered there is one church. He did not present entrance into heaven by optional paths outside the church. He never suggested such an inconsistent and hypocritical doctrine as "unity in diversity," nor in the light of the heresies presenting the church as the second incarnation. He never allowed the church to be changed according to culture, and the doctrines it supports to be altered to accommodate the sins of any generation. He did not consider the church in terms of the temporal as much as He did in terms of the eternal kingdom of which there would be no end.
His Attitude; Our Attitude
We can know what is the attitude of Jesus Christ regarding the church. That Is unmistakable and firmly established from Scripture, even as we have done in this lesson.
The real question of concern for us should be whether we have the same disposition of reverence and respect for the church that Jesus had, and is expected of those who would be His disciples. We should sing, "I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord," and be sincere and earnest in that sentiment, showing our love by obeying the gospel whereby the Lord adds us to His church, and remain faithful in His body, worshiping Him, living each day walking in His steps, and working in the task that Deity has assigned the church to perform. Indeed, "I love thy church, 0 God!"