131. HOW TO OVERCOME THE POWER OF SIN IN MY CHURCH? – How do we protect Jesus’ life within our churches against Satan’s attacks? (a)

INTRODUCTION

From Meditation 120 onward we have reflected on Ephesians 6:10-17. The apostle Paul writes in this passage about the full armour of God that He has given to all His children to protect Jesus’ life within them against Satan’s attacks.

Now we need to ask ourselves if this divine armour only is meant for protecting individual Christians against Satan’s assaults or if it equally aims at protecting the entire local Body of Christ?

Let us start with a quick overview of what we have written so far about this subject:  

In Meditation 45 we asked the question: does God’s transformation process into Christlikeness only deal with His reborn children individually or does God also aim at transforming the entire church (i.e. the Messianic community or the Body of Christ) into the likeness of Christ?

In Meditation 29 we saw that through Jesus’ atoning death and resurrection and through the gift of His Spirit, God has created a new (Messianic) community, called the ‘Body of Christ’, or the ‘Body of the Messiah’. It consists of all Jesus' followers. This Messianic community is universal in being, and knows no discrimination of status, race, colour or nationality. Paul writes about it to the Christians in Corinth (Greece), saying: “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews), some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ's Body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13*).

In Meditation 46 we realized that Christlikeness is the distinctive character of this new Messianic community. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus (Turkey): “God placed all things under His (Jesus) feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1: 22-23**).

From Meditation 47 onwards, we learned that growing into Christlikeness is a process of transformation. The apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus: “We will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:15-16*).

Furthermore, Paul urges the followers of Jesus in Ephesus to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to strengthen and safeguard this God-given community life among them: “Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:3*)

We can also read in this meditation that our Triune God - Father, Son and Spirit – is preparing Christ’s universal Church for the glorious end-of-time wedding celebration of the Lamb. We noted that He does that on a minute scale: one local church at a time, within its own geographical and cultural setting! Isn’t that truly breathtakingly divine?

In Meditation 63, we wondered if there is a distinction between my personal love for God and my church’s corporate love for Him. Does the local church only exist of individual believers? As we read God’s Word, we understood that the Bible makes a difference here. We realised that God looks at my local church as the ‘Temple of His Spirit’, as the ‘Body of Christ’, and as the ‘People and Family of God’.

We understood that in God’s eyes the role and significance of my local church is different from that of me as an individual Christian. In God’s view, my local church is ‘a corporate personality’ with its own life, its own function and its own dynamics. Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthian Christians: “I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God Himself. For I promised you (plural!) as a pure bride to one husband, Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2*). What a beautiful picture of the Church as a ‘corporate personality’!

In Meditation 100, we wrote: As ‘maturing in Christlikeness’ is the theme of our meditations, we decided to focus in the future on two tracks: our individual lives as followers of Jesus and our communal life as the local Body of Christ.

So far, when we looked at the use of God’s full armour in Ephesians 6:10-17, we followed track 1, i.e. we asked ourselves how to use this divine armour personally to protect Jesus’ life within us against Satan’s attacks.

In the upcoming meditations, we want follow track 2 and struggle with the difficult question: is this full armour of God of which Paul talks only meant to protect individual Christians against Satan’s assaults or does it equally aim at protecting the entire local Body of Christ?

So, please join me in wrestling with this complicated question.

Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New International Version.

About: "God's major project: transforming me and my church into the likeness of Christ", see Meditations 45-48.

About “The Church as a ‘Corporate Personality’, see Meditation 63-65.

About “The Church as a new (Messianic) community, consisting of all the followers of Jesus”, see Meditation 29.
About “The Holy Spirit and His ministry”, see Meditations 27-34.

About “The two Tracks of Maturing in Christlikeness”, see Meditation 100.