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Yesterday we looked at the church from a 10,000 foot perspective as we talked about Ephesians 3:10, which says, "Through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." As mentioned, we saw that by using the term "manifold wisdom", Paul is communicating that the Christian church radiates the glorious, multi-faceted wisdom of God to the universe! Today, let's drill down a little deeper and look at how the church actually becomes an organism that represents God in this broken world.
Take a moment to picture something in your mind's eye with me: As we talked about earlier in the week, we live in a very broken world. Biblically, the reason for the brokenness and corruption that is increasingly visible in this world is sin. The Bible teaches us that we were all once "Dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Ephesians 2:1-3).
Now, within that bleak picture that was painted in the paragraph above, picture a group of people from all over the world, from different backgrounds, who speak different languages, etc., who conduct themselves with "humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2-3). And these same people use these Spirit filled gifts to serve each other and the world (Ephesians 4:17-32). Do you hear the stark contrast between these two descriptions?
As we study through the book of Ephesians, what we see is that the difference between the two types of people is the work of the Spirit of God (Ephesians 2:11-3:10). The work of the third member of the Trinity is absolutely astonishing! The Spirit of God works to make hearts that are stone cold, because of sin, alive and capable of longing for the things of God. This is the gospel! These newly regenerated people are what the Bible refers to as the church, and the only explanation for the new-found life is the work of the Spirit of God!
One of the many things that is so fascinating about the church is that it is made up of people who, not by their own doing, now reflect the very character of God in a very broken world! Or, to put it another way, "Through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10).
What an amazing thought! We, as formerly broken and deeply sinful people, are brought to life, and now given the privilege of representing God to the universe as His church!
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