|
THE
CHURCH IS THE BODY OF JESUS I. TEXTUAL THOUGHTS 1. Eph 1:18 - God has given the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. 2. Eph 1:19-20 - He has given incomparably great power for us who believe. 3. Eph 1:21-23 - Jesus is head over everything for the church, which is his body. II. THEME: Jesus only has one body, and it is undivided. Jesus is head of that body, and has given great power and a glorious inheritance to those within the body. We need to understand who are members of the one body, so that we can properly share the fellowship and power of Jesus in our lives. 1. God has given the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. a. He has called us through the hope of the resurrection (verse 18, 1 Cor 15:1-4). b. He has given us inheritance and power in Jesus (verse 18, Jude 1:1). 2. The power of God is demonstrated through faith. a. It is for those who believe (verse 19, Acts 26:18). b. It was shown in the resurrection of Jesus (verse 20, Phil 3:8-11). c. It is available to all who are faithful in Jesus (verse 20 and 23). 3. God made Jesus head of the church, which is Jesus’ body. a. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father (verse 20, 1 Pet 3:22). b. Jesus has been given all authority (verse 21, Mat 28:18, Jn 1:1-3). c. Jesus is head over everything for the church (verse 22, Col 1:16-20). d. The church is the body of Jesus (verse 23, 1 Cor 12:13, Eph 5:23-27). III. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS · God wants us to bring glory to Him in the church (Eph 3:10). Our inheritance and our hope for eternity is found in the church (Eph 1:18). Therefore we want to be a part of the church which is the body of Jesus (Phil 3:8-11). · The church is the family of God who has been called out of the world by the gospel (Rom 1:16, 1 Cor 1:21, John 20:31). · God adds people to the church when they demonstrate faith in Him (Acts 2:47, 1 Cor 12:13); therefore all who have obeyed the gospel are members of one body (Acts 5:32). · We must continue our connection to the body if we are to remain alive in Jesus (John 15:1-14, Romans 6:17-18). · We are not to have fellowship with false teachers who refuse to confess Jesus as our savior, who deny the gospel message of salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (2 Jn 1:6-11). · We do not have to agree on everything in the body of Jesus (Rom 13-15). IV. MEMORY VERSE: EPH 1:22-23 - “And God placed all things under his 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.” (NIV) |