dailywordofdestiny

Within Ephesians we are given “seven” distinctive marks of the true Church of Christ Jesus as she will be in the day that the Lord comes for her. “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water of the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant (glorious) church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5: 25-27).

First, Jesus redeemed the Church by His blood (Ephesians 1: 7; 1 John 1: 7; Romans 5: 9; Hebrews 13: 12; 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20).  We can take all these passages of Scripture and unite them into a powerful testimony.  SPEAK His Word against any accusation the enemy throws at you!  Satan has no place in me, no power over me, through the blood of Jesus!   Thank You, God, for the precious blood of Jesus!  Thank You for the redemptive blood of Christ! T hank You for the justifying, sanctifying, precious blood of the Lamb of God!   Blessed be the name of the Lord!   Praise You, Jesus, for paying for my sin in the shedding Your blood on the cross! Amen.   After we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, we are then sanctified and cleansed by the washing of the water by the Word.  

Jesus’ purpose in this is that He might present the Church to Himself as a “glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (vs. 26, 27). In Ephesians 4: 11, 12 we read of the process by which the Church will be made ready for the coming of the Lord.  

The five basic ministries (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers in vs. 12) should EQUIP the saints to do the work of the ministry for the edifying and “building up” of the Body of Christ.  Verse 5 describes the goal: “Till we all come to the UNITY of the faith” which will then move us into “the knowledge of the Son of God” (vs. 13).  The Greek word means not merely head “knowledge” but “acknowledgment” – our acknowledging of Jesus, the Son of God!

The only way we will come into unity of faith is by acknowledging the HEADSHIP of Christ Jesus, in our personal life and corporately. Unity will never be accomplished through discussing doctrines (which have been instituted through the thoughts of men… see Isaiah 55: 8) and most of you recognize how doctrine actually causes extensive and destructive division within the Church.  

As we acknowledge Christ in His headship and in His supreme authority over EVERY aspect of the Church, unity will be the result. For the doctrine of salvation is meaningless without the Person of the Savior; the doctrine of  healing is meaningless without the Healer; the doctrine of deliverance is meaningless without the Deliverer; the baptism in the Holy Spirit is meaningless without the Baptizer.   When we acknowledge the Savior, we believe in salvation; when we acknowledge the Healer, we believe in healing, and so on.  In every case, the road into unity is NOT the road of doctrinal disputation and discussion; it is in the acknowledging of the Lord Jesus Christ in His glory, in His authority, in His headship and in every aspect of His ministry!

Through this we are brought into two further parts of God’s will: “to a perfect man,” or “mature, full-grown man” and then “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (vs. 13).  Until the Church of Christ Jesus (His Body) demonstrates Christ in all His fullness—in every aspect, in every grace, in every gift, and in every ministry—then the Church IS NOT EQUIPPED TO MANIFEST JESUS!   At the present time we manifest to the world a very small part of the totality of Jesus Christ.  There is much of Jesus that the Church is incapable of demonstrating to the world—BUT GOD IS bringing the corporate Body into that place where she WILL REVEAL the TOTALITY (fullness) of Jesus Christ—in His personality and in His ministry and I personally have seen the GLORY of His manifest presence as I was ministering to women and children in Kenya, Uganda, and to the nations of China and Nepal!  Hallelujah!

His GLORIOUS CHURCH is becoming and will be: (1) glorious—filled with the manifest presence of God, (2) holy, (3) without blemish, (4) coming into the unity of faith, (5) acknowledging Jesus Christ in His headship and Lordship; and thus she will (6) come into maturity; and (7) will manifest the fullness of Christ to the world! Not one of us can fully comprehend this individually; it is only as we come together with all the saints that we are able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3: 14-19).   In Christ, God was manifested totally. The Church of Jesus Christ will be the DWELLING PLACE OF ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD (Colossians 2: 9)!  

When Holy Spirit has completed the work of forming the Body of Christ, the fullness of God in all His nature, in all His power, in all His aspects will once again be manifested in His GLORIOUS Church!  In fact, it has already begun and is growing in power through the Spirit of God!  Amen!