The Church Jesus is building 4

We have seen so far that the church Jesus is building is a church where He is manifested in His ministry as Apostle, Prophet, Shepherd(pastor), Teacher and Evangelist. As Head of His church he has not delegated his authority to the church as if He is absent! He may be physically absent, but He is very much present in and through His Spirit. He is building His church and does not need our clever plans, church growth strategies, projects or our enterprise spirit to complete the job. He has not delegated his authority to apostles, prophets, teachers or evangelists and definitely not to that Babylonian created "ministry" called Pastor!

When Paul defended his apostolic authority he did not call on anything else but "Christ who speaks in me"(2Corinthians 13:3). His ministry centered on the revelation of Christ in the believer( Galatians 2:20) and he therefore, knew of no other authority than an incarnational authority! It's Christ the Apostle, speaking through the apostolic man or woman; it's Christ the Prophet, speaking through the prophetic man or woman, etc. He gave these gifts to the church and He administers them through people of His choice until the church becomes "a Perfect man"( Ephesians 4:13) This is the safeguard against the abuse of authority; The believer has the divine Teacher, the Holy Spirit in him/her and will recognise Christ in the apostle, prophet etc. for, "my sheep know my voice". Believers should never bow before a man or woman because they claim some delegated authority, or thousands follow them, or they perform mighty deeds in the name of Jesus- we must ever only bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as he speaks through His humble servants!

Once we recognise what true authority is and how Jesus ministers that authority in an incarnational way, we will see the fulfillment of many of His promises; "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." Note how Jesus emphasised the fact that he is the One with the authority to perform the works; we have the privilege of being the vessels through whom His power is channeled.

Come Lord Jesus and release the flow of your authority and life through us to those we come into contact with!

The Church Jesus is building 3

The church Jesus is building is a prophetic church. As a matter of fact, if Jesus is building the church it should be apostolic, prophetic, shepherding, teaching and evangelistic-the so called "fivefold ministry" is nothing less than "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" .(Ephesians 4:13) Christ is being incarnated in His Body! This is the mystery of the union between the Head and His Body and the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer;"I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me". (John 17: 23)

The church Jesus is building is God's shop window to both the material and the spiritual world! The church are those who live in two worlds; they are heavenly minded but this make them also earthly good. Even though their citizenship is in heaven they reach out to the sinful world in order to tell them that they do not have to live in bondage to sin anymore. They have become "ministers of reconciliation" and as part of the New Creation they are sharing in the mission of Jesus to "make all things new". To the church Jesus is building, heaven has arrived and their constant prayer is "your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven"

In the transition between the now and the future, the Church Jesus is building, demonstrates heavenly realities like grace, joy, peace, reconciliation and unity to the world. The church is the ongoing incarnation of Jesus Christ on the earth and as such displays His character and attributes to the world(Ephesians 3:10). Jesus is not interested in building a church which is an expression of cultural, social or racial uniqueness or peculiarities. The church Jesus is building is an expression of the "fellowship of the mystery" where all walls of seperation have been broken down in Christ( Ephesians 3:6, 9) and the members demonstrate this in their relationships with one another.

The church Jesus is building is not an exclusive club of the perfect elite, but is full of very imperfect people who realised just how dependant they are on the salvation offered in Christ. Their trust is not in their good behaviour but only in the perfect behaviour of Christ. They have stopped trying to improve themselves on the road of holiness because they know that Christ and His life in them, is their only holiness! They have received the revelation of Jesus Christ as their Sabbath-Rest!

The Church Jesus is building 2

We have seen how Jesus is building His church and not ours, and he is building this church on the Rock of revelation knowledge about Christ and Him being being the Son of God! A revelation of Christ therefore comes before a proper understanding of the church. The church are those who have a revelation of Christ. They walk as sons of God and are not mere "church members".

We have also seen how the church Jesus is building is a church build on the foundation of apostles and prophets. The foundation is Christ! The church Jesus is building is therefore an apostolic church. What is the meaning of "apostolic"? The word means literally, "a sent one". Jesus is the chief apostle and we know that He is the one sent from heaven to earth, and part of his sending was to die on the cross in order to bring humanity back to God. Almost all of the original apostles eventually died for their faith and most on a literal cross! The cross is therefore part and parcel of being "apostolic", a far cry from the popular use(and abuse) of the function(not title!) we find in churchianity today. A truly apostolic church consists of members who are prepared to be send wherever God may lead because they have "taken up their cross and are following the Lamb wherever He goes". Apostolic also refers to a vision for the nations coming into the kingdom of God and cannot be limited to one denomination or building the image of one or two "apostolic teams"! All systems , political, religious, economical and ecological must be subjected to the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords! The church Jesus is building is therefore a catholic church!

Another word which comes to mind when we think about the church Jesus is building is the word, "authentic". One of the meanings is "to conform to reality" and another is "unadulterated". Those ministering to the church as well as those who are the church, are people who are becoming conformed to the death of Christ through the work of the cross in them, and have finished with all pretense. You cannot lure them to church meetings where the relationships do not go deeper than the cup of tea after the service or where the "worship" comes from superficial hearts who lack a true revelation of Christ and His cross. In the church Jesus is building worship is first of all a lifestyle before it's singing and dancing.