The church Jesus is building 5

In this artice we look at the shepherding aspect of the church Jesus is building. In previous articles we have seen that the church Jesus is building and in which Paul so ably participated will be the "full measure of the stature of Christ" which mean it will be Apostolic, Prophetic, Pastoral(shepherding), Teaching and Evangelistic. Only in the perfect balance of all five these aspects of Christ will the church reach maturity and be able to effectively minister to the world the saving grace of God. (Ephesians 4:11-16). This will also be linked to the manifestation of the Sons of God which in turn will lead to the liberation of all creation from futility(Romans 4:19-21).

A very important aspect of the church Jesus is building is the fact that the community which is the result of a common revelation of Christ will experience a koinonia( heart-to-heart relationship) which surpasses anything else which maskerades as "fellowship". Many groups assemble together because of a common history like Methodist, Reformed , Catholic or Pentecostal; others assemble because of a love for lively "praise and worship" and others because the Pastor is such a "wonderful shepherd". Even worse is when people assemble or meet together because they are of the same ethnic group or cultural persuasion. The heart of the apostolic revelation was that in Christ all dividing walls were broken down and Christ alone became the plumbline.( Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14-16).

Jesus referred to the kind of relationship which would become reality in Him in John 15:5 "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing."(The Message). In one of his letters John said the reason he wrote to the Christians was to help them experience the joy of having a relationship with God the Father and the Son and than he says in 1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin. " It seems as if their is a secret in true koinonia which has serious ramifications for believers. First of all there is a purifying and healing power in true koinonia and secondly this will release a testimony so powerful that the world will see Christ again be incarnated in a corporate Person which will bring thousands upon thousands into the Christ-Life! This will be the answer to Jesus' prayer in John 17:21 "The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind-- Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. "

The only true basis for relationship in the church is a common revelation of Christ as the only life of the believer; only in the knowledge that we all stand in His righteousness and His holiness will we drop our defenses and become real and honest with each other, and as this happens, the Light which is His Life will shine in a dark world which will draw all men unto Him! In this koinonia the church becomes God's therapeutic community where sinners of all sorts can feel welcome-not to continue in their sins but to be loved so sincerely that they become free in the freedom of Christ! In this community people will experience Jesus incarnated-God's love and grace will not be theological and philosophical concepts anymore, but these concepts will be experiental knowledge because they are being incarnated in His people!