2017.1.22_Church, the Body of Jesus

The Church, the body of Jesus
(Ephesians 1:15~23)

Those who have received the spirit of the Son

God is the one and only God. There are many spirits in the world, but there is none other like God. Generally, spirits are invisible to men. However, God revealed the image of His being to us. God also gives us His spirit. He gives us His word.
Here ‘His spirit’ refers to God’s word, not the Holy Spirit. The Word is spirit. Men’s words are different from the words of God. The words of men are just the sounds that convey the meaning. On the other hand, the words of God are spirit and life. (John 6:63)
Just as oil and water have different properties though they are both liquids, so too do the words of men and the words of God. When you hear the Word of God, if you acknowledge the authority of the Word and obey it, it accumulates in your soul as the spirit. Simply reading the Bible a lot and hearing many sermons does not make you spiritual.
There are many religions in the world, but our faith is different from them all. Religions pursue the body of the sinful nature but our faith is obedience to the Word of God. Our devotion to God is not based on religious or ceremonial tradition, but rather it rests on the reality that God commands and calls us.
Our faith is a concrete experience. God has sent Jesus Christ so we might see Him with our eyes and sent the Word so we might hear Him with our ears, and now He works by the Holy Spirit so we may receive Him in our hearts. in this way, God allows the believers to see, hear and receive Him in their hearts, so they can experience Him.
Additionally, the spirit of God filling us little by little and accumulating in our hearts is not just a concept. If you have money saved in the bank, you can use it whenever you need it. Similarly, Christians can draw on the power and blessing that they have stored up and accumulated in their souls.

Jesus Christ is the head of the church
Jesus Christ did not engage in trade or farming while He was in this world, but He never lacked for anything. He is the Son of God. His desire toward us is to make us become like Him. Jesus Christ caught a fish and retrieved a coin that He needed from its mouth. He caught so many fish that it filled a boat by casting a net just one time, and He even worked a miracle with five loaves and two fish.
Jesus is the fullness of him who fills everything. His purpose is to make us become the fullness of him who fills everything. Therefore Ephesians 1:23 says, “the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all”.
The body moves according to the decision of the head. The body cannot act or move independently of the head. Likewise, the church is moved by Jesus Christ. Some argue that the church must be run democratically. However, the church is not a worldly organization that operates according to the will of man.
The church was established according to the command of Jesus Christ and exists according to His will. Men cannot make their own rules at their own discretion, rules such as, “Let’s not come together. Let’s not take an offering.” They can gather members’ various opinions while proceeding with some program, but not on matters of the faith. Some overseas churches, by consensus from the members, have agreed to close the church during the summer vacation and they are actually doing it. Such corruption and disobedient behavior are the rebellion against God.
On matters of faith, we must follow only Jesus Christ’s instructions. Jesus clearly said, “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you”. (Matthew 28:20) Therefore, the most important thing in a life of faith is to know God’s will. (Ephesians 1:17~19) God’s will comes to us through His words.
The words of God can be divided into law and truth. John 1:17 says, “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. The law came by the hand of an angel and it existed until Christ came. (Galatians 3:19) The law is also spirit because it is the word of God.
However, it was passed on through angels. Angels are servants of God. God has never made them His children. Therefore, the word passed on through angels is the spirit of servanthood. That’s why people under the law had received the spirit of slavery.
Some people envy Moses and prophets. Their loyalty is enviable, of course, but they are people who received the spirit of servanthood. The people who received the spirit of a servant are treated as servants by God. On the other hand, God treats those who are in Christ as His children. That is, we are treated equally with the Son of God. Jesus said to disciples, “I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you”. (John 15:15) We must clearly know how noble we are in Christ.

The Holy Spirit who works where the Word is
The church is the gathering of those who receive this precious treatment from God. The church is not a building, but the body of Christ that is made up of souls bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. There are many members in the human body. They form one body that is in harmony. When one member of the body gets hurt, the whole body feels pain.
If we are the body of the Lord, we must feel the pain together with a member who suffers pain and comfort a member who is in sorrow. Some people think that as long as their own spiritual life is good, they don’t have to care about another’s. This is not what a sincere Christian is. When all the saints are in one body with one another, the church can be sound.
God nurtures the church by the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament era, people heard God through prophets. Then the Son of Man came to this world, so we could see Him with our eyes.
Now through the Holy Spirit, the words of God comes into us. When the words of God comes to us by the Holy Spirit, it is called truth.
The Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, doesn’t speak on His own but tells us only what Jesus has said. (John 16:13) And when He comes to us in the name of Jesus, He reminds us of everything Jesus has said, bringing it to our remembrance. (John 14:16)
Without the Holy Spirit, you cannot receive the Lord’s revelation. The Holy Spirit comes to us and allows us to receive the revelation and to become the body of Christ. Some people complain that they want to receive the Holy Spirit, but no matter how hard they may try, He doesn’t come to them. Such people must first know that the Holy Spirit works where the word of truth is.
Cornelius and his relatives heard the word from Peter and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44)
Just as an injection enters into the body through a needle, so the Holy Spirit enters into men through the words of God. In other words, the Holy Spirit cannot enter into the heart without the word.
The problem is that people seek the Holy Spirit but they don’t want to receive the words of God.
Of course, they may be filled with the Holy Spirit for a short time when they pray. However, He doesn’t come unconditionally whenever we ask him to come. He does not overstep the word of God. When we receive the words of God as a revelation, then the Holy Spirit comes to us.
When He comes to us, He doesn’t ask us to be especially pious. Even though someone may have a lot of faults, he can receive the Holy Spirit anytime when the words of God is in him and he can be filled with the Holy Spirit without measure when he obeys the Word. When Paul asked the disciples in Ephesus, “Did you received the Holy Spirit when you believed?, they answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”.
The (old testament) Law is also the words of God, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t come to those who received it. In the same manner, today there are religious men who appear very pious. The Holy Spirit doesn’t necessarily come to them. The Holy Spirit cannot come to those who have not received the words of God.

The church where the Holy Spirit works
The Holy Spirit comes to us when Jesus sends Him. Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever”. (John 14:16) The disciples believed that Jesus would send the Holy Spirit, and they gathered together in the upper room and prayed.
They did not pray for the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes when we receive the words of God and believe it.
Many people have received the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues, but they are unable to receive more gifts.
They do not see visions either can they discern spirits because they have not received the words of God as a revelation. If we receive the words of God as a revelation, it becomes to us the commandment that we absolutely must obey.
If we receive the commandment and obey it, we will be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. If we are the church or the body of Jesus, it means we have received the words of God through the Holy Spirit, not the spirit of a servant. The people of God led by Moses in the desert were the wilderness church.
Even though they had such amazing experiences and many people were envious of them, they could not call God their father because they received the spirit of a servant.
Today we have been baptized and have buried our old self in order to become one in Christ. We must, therefore, receive God’s word as a revelation that God Himself gives us individually as He calls us by name. We must obey the Word, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.
Many of those who suffer from diseases cannot receive and be healed by the power of God. Many of them have the distinctive characteristic that they do not obey the words of God. Consider a lame man who is unable to walk. When you command him to “Stand up and walk” in the name of Jesus, if he receives the words as a commandment and obeys it he will be healed of his disease, but if he does not obey it, he will not experience the miracle of God’s healing.
Have you truly received God’s word as a commandment? Do you accept the word of the Lord to “Love one other”(John 13:34) as a commandment or merely a suggestion? The church is the body of Jesus Christ.
Every part of the body lives by obeying God’s commands.
Each part of the body has its own function. Whatever part it may be, however, it must be filled with the Holy Spirit and manifest that He works in that member. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (1 Corinthians 4:20) When you have power, you are the church and the kingdom of God. We must all be men of the Holy Spirit. We all must be full of the Holy Spirit having received God’s revelation as a commandment.
Summarized and translated by Sungrak Mission Center