Love in the larger body of Christ - Ecclesia
Love in the Larger Body of Christ - Ecclesia
Sunday – 11th June 2023
Overview
1. Introduction -
2. The Church – The Perfection of God’s Love
3. The Church – The Manifestation of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
4. The Church – A Place of Growth
5. The Church – Love flows in Ecclesia by Serving God
6. The Church – A Protection against False Doctrines
7. The Church – Where the Apostolic Leadership Manifests God’s Love
8. The Church – Where we will be made like Jesus
9. The Church – A Place of Love - filled Fellowship
10. Conclusion
Introduction – Ecclesia
June is a month of love and we are meditating upon the love of God. The Bible specifically talks about the love of God in Ecclesia.
But instead, we will remain strong and always sincere in our love as we express the truth. All our direction and ministries will flow from Christ and lead us deeper into him, the anointed Head of his body, the church. For his “body” has been formed in his image and is closely joined together and constantly connected as one. And every member has been given divine gifts to contribute to the growth of all; and as these gifts operate effectively throughout the whole body, we are built up and made perfect in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16 (TPT)
The word Ecclesia is not a biblical word but it is a Greek word which means Parliament. Though it means parliament but most of the time, we might have heard the word Ecclesia in connection with the church. The word Ecclesia is used to convey that the world might be a place where there are two sides, heated debates, the ruling party, the opposition party, fighting and problems, and so on. But in Ecclesia, which is the body of Lord Jesus Christ, there is only one thing, the perfection of God's love.
Church – The Perfection of God’s Love
Church is a place full of God’s perfect Love. It might be very hard to believe about one big family coming together full of love but the first thing to understand is that God has brought us into the church to be part of a family and we do not realize and accept that, it will be very difficult to experience God's love.
Lord Jesus Christ always ministered on the earth with His disciples. He had a church with Him, which manifested the miraculous works. In the gospel of John, Jesus says, ‘Whatever I have shown, you also do the same.’ So, in the church, whatever Jesus manifested in the earthly life in His ministry will be repeated on a different dimension as the body of Christ which we call as the Ecclesia.
When God created everything, He did not create Love, instead, He showed it always. Later, at the appointed time, God came and manifested love in the form of Jesus Christ. Just as a child finds comfort and love in the bosom of their mother, in the same way in a spiritual realm, and as a spiritual person, God has brought us to be a part of one family so that we can start experiencing love in God. Ecclesia is a place where you will be perfect in love.
Church – The Manifestation of the Ministry of the Holy Spirit
This is why he says: “He ascends into the heavenly heights taking his many captured ones with him, and gifts were given to men.” And he has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4: 8, 11-12 (TPT)
In the Church, we will not only be perfect in Love, but when we come together as a body of Christ the ministry of the Holy Spirit begins. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is open to each and every member of the Body of Christ - some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and some to be teachers, to build up the family of Lord Jesus Christ with sincere love.
Church – A Place of Growth
These grace ministries will function until we all attain oneness into the faith (the faith of the Son of God) until we all experience the fullness of what it means to know the Son of God, and finally, we become one into a perfect man with the full dimensions of spiritual maturity and fully developed into the abundance of Christ.
Ephesians 4:13 (TPT)
When we come together as a Body of Christ, God is building us in love so that we will function together until we all attain oneness into the Faith of the Son of God and we all experience the fullness of the understanding about the Son of God. The church is not just a place where we come, worship, and hear the word of God and go, but it is a place where we have to become one into a perfect man with the full dimensions of spiritual maturity and fully developed into the abundance of Christ. We have to grow in the Church. The growth process starts when God has made each one of us part of His wonderful family, the church.
Ecclesia Love flows by Serving God
And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4: 12 (TPT)
Ecclesia love means it is serving God first. Church is a place where we are given different kinds of ministries and the first thing that we need to do is to identify and do our own works of our ministry. We are part of a church to be a manifester of the Glory of God. We are called for the Glory of God. Now for the people who identify their ministry, the Bible says, He gives grace and offices to be a pastor, to be an evangelist, to be a prophet, to be an apostle, so that sincere love will build our lives. This sincere love will gradually mature us and take us to the perfect love of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a continual process. When the believers in the Body of Christ function in unity, doing their own ministry, Love builds the Church and not only Church grow but restorations happen in the lives of people in the church. Maybe our ministry might be welcoming someone, arranging chairs, talking to people, or even smiling at newcomers, by these small gestures, souls get restored, and people experience the Love of Jesus. Bible says, when we are faithful in small things, God will entrust us with larger responsibilities. By doing our own ministries, without our knowledge, we are becoming an integral part of the family the church of God.
The Church – A Protection against False Doctrines
And then our immaturity will end! And we will not be easily shaken by trouble, nor led astray by novel teachings or by the false doctrines of deceivers who teach clever lies.
Ephesians 4:14 (TPT)
Apostolic leadership is a great protection doctrinally. Any trouble or novel teachings, or false doctrines will not touch us because we are bonded in love with an apostolic doctrine. Nowadays believers can be easily led away from the Lord because of wrong teachings and often times people would not even know it is wrong teaching until they get derailed, and that is where we need a strong apostolic leadership who flows in love.
The Church – Where the Apostolic Leadership Manifests God’s Love
God manifests His love in the church through the apostolic leadership of the church.
Give my love to my relative Herodion, and also to all those of the house church of Narcissus, for they too are joined into the Lord.
Romans 16:11 (TPT)
Apostle Paul mentions about the Ecclesia Love that flows through the Apostolic Leadership when there is a common platform of joining with the Lord. This common platform that we are all joined together is the church, it is the family of God.
Apostle Paul and Timothy
The Glory of God gets released when Apostles minister together in the powerful Love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is why I have sent my dear son Timothy, whom I love. He is faithful to the Lord Yahweh and will remind you of how I conduct myself as one who lives in union with Jesus, the Anointed One, and of the teachings that I bring to every church everywhere.
1 Corinthians 4:17 (TPT)
Here, we read about how Timothy is sent to a church that is full of problems. There has already been division in the church by taking sides in the name of the apostles and there was sexual immorality in the Church and many other internal issues and the whole church was in a very bad situation.
Now Paul is sending his son whom he loves the most to this church. And when we read Second Corinthians chapter 3 verse number 9, we see that a church that was completely upside down is totally changed and the righteousness ministry excelled in the glorification of the church. If an apostle who preached condemnation had gone to the Corinth Church, the church would not have carried Glory. That is where Timothy, who is in a deep relationship with Paul and Jesus and who becomes the carrier of God's love, goes there. He does the ministry of preaching God's righteousness. When the righteousness of God was released, Corinth Church became one of the most powerful churches which manifested the Glory of God. As a result, the perfect Love of God, through the apostolic leadership, transformed the Church.
Timothy Loved Paul, Timothy had faith, Timothy had obedience, and Timothy was imitating Paul in a lot of good characteristics, and Timothy was closely associated with the apostolic leadership of Paul individually and as a church, and there is a deep bonding of love of God among everyone and that is what equipped Him to be a Glory Carrier.
The Church – Where we will be made like Jesus
By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world. Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.
1 John 4:17-19 (TPT)
Apostle John also says that love has been brought to full expression in us when we are living in God, in the Church – the Ecclesia. This perfect Love helps us to fearlessly face the day of judgment. The people who have sincere love for Jesus and sincere love for the church and the apostolic leadership will be bold enough on any judgment day. When love is perfected in us in the church, because of the revelation of the Word of God, because of the Apostolic Love, because of the guidance, and because of the love that the Holy Spirit pours out into our hearts, the Bible says we will be made like Jesus.
Paul said we will be perfect in love and Apostle John says that love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far away. And whoever is constantly afraid of punishment has not reached life's perfection.
There is love in the body of Christ because the Bible says it is our grateful response to the love that God first demonstrated to us. When we are grateful for the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will have sincere love for others, and not only that there is a purposeful participation in everything as a church family.
The Church – A Fellowship of Love
Anyone can say, “I love God,” yet have hatred toward another believer. This makes him a phony, because if you do not love a brother or sister, whom you can see, how can you truly love God, whom you cannot see? For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others.
1 John 4:20-21 (TPT)
In the body of Christ, the Ecclesia, love has to be demonstrated and the first place of manifestation of love between people in the church is fellowship. Anyone staying out of the fellowship is not demonstrating God's love. In Church fellowships, we grow and become mature in Lord Jesus Christ. And not only that, healings and restorations happen in our lives.
And so, it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.
Romans 12:5 (TPT)
Church has many people from various backgrounds and the beauty of the Church is to be in a fellowship because God has called us to be one family and has joined us to one another so that we can contribute to one another and love one another just as Christ Jesus has loved us.
Concluding Prayer
Lord Jesus, we pray that you help us to be in Ecclesia Love, where we can submit our God-given graceful ministries to the work of the Lord God and start to release love. Holy Spirit, you help us to live in the revelation of God's love, to be manifesters of God's love, and together we will grow, blessing one another in the perfect love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.