The Church Revealed – Part 1
Bible Study Time 7-8-07
When the Apostle Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner of the Roman government, he called for a meeting with the Jewish leaders of that city. At that meeting, he pointed out the Old Testament scriptures which proved that Jesus Christ really was the promised Messiah of the Jews. When these Jewish leaders in Rome refused to believe in Jesus, Paul pronounced the judgment of God upon that generation of Jews. He said:
Acts 28:25-27 (NKJ)
25 . . . "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." '
Then Paul said:
Acts 28:28 (NKJ)
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
History shows that within a decade the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman General Titus. The Jews were dispersed throughout the world, and the religious system of the Old Testament was never practiced again, even to this day.
The Christian religion has made quite an effort to incorporate much of the Old Testament Jewish religion into the practice of the Christian religion, but they have done so without the authority of the word of God.
When General Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., his soldiers literally tore the city apart stone by stone. This was particularly true of the temple because these soldiers thought there might be hidden treasures buried within the walls of the temple. Therefore, they left no stone unturned in their efforts to find these hidden treasures.
Well, all of this happened because the Jews refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah. If they had accepted Christ, Christ would have returned from heaven to established His throne in Jerusalem. Since the Jews rejected Christ, however, the judgment of God fell upon the nation of Israel.
But before the Jewish religious system of the Old Testament was disbanded, God called the Apostle Paul to reveal the religious program which was to replace the Jewish program. This program was the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ. This is God’s authorized program for today, and we find it revealed in Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, as well as Paul’s pastoral epistles.
As we read the details of this program, we see that God made no effort to incorporate any of the Old Testament religious system into the religious life of the Church. On the contrary, Paul said that this new religious system was actually based on the abolition of the Law. Not only have Gentiles been brought into today’s program, but Gentiles have been brought in as equal partners with believing Jews without any of the fanfare of ritualistic ordinances. In Ephesians, Chapter 2, Paul said:
Ephesians 2:13-16 (NKJ)
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
In Colossians, Chapter 2, Paul said:
Colossians 2:8-14 (NKJ)
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9 For in (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:16-22 (NKJ)
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--
21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"
22 which all concern things which perish with the using-- according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
Therefore, when the Jews rejected the promises that were associated with the Old Testament Law, God did not simply transfer the requirements of the Old Testament Law to the Church program for today. Rather, He called out a totally new body of believers who would have no association with earthly elements or earthly rituals.
In Paul’s Acts-period, New Covenant ministry, he saw clearly that the Old Testament Law could never save anyone. He plainly stated in Galatians 2 that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. However, he never said that the Law had been abolished, because during the Acts-period the Jews were still practicing the Law. This is obvious from Acts, Chapter 21, where Paul, himself, consented to comply with some of the regulations of the Law.
As we have seen, however, when Paul revealed the mystery concerning the Church, the Body of Christ, he did not hesitate to say that the Law had been abolished and that the Church is complete in Christ who is the Head of all principality and power.
As members of the Church today, we have nothing to do with the Jewish rituals of past ages, but we do have some things in common with covenant Jews of past ages. First of all, the essence of the gospel is the same for all ages. In Ephesians 3, Paul said Gentiles are now fellow heirs and of the same body with the Jews, and we are partakers of God’s promise in Christ through the gospel.
The specifics of the gospel have changed through the ages, but the essence of the gospel has stayed the same. It has always been and always will be that to be saved a person must believe in Jesus Christ and believe what He says. Jesus said:
John 14:6 (NKJ)
6 . . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
When Jesus lived on the earth, He was the earthly manifestation of the Jehovah God of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, Jehovah was designated by the word LORD in all capital letters. Therefore, when the LORD told Noah to enter into the ark because a great flood was coming, Noah believed in Jesus Christ as he entered into the ark.
When the LORD told Abraham that Abraham was going to have a son even though Abraham was 85 years old at the time, Abraham believed what Jesus Christ said, and Abraham’s faith was counted to him for righteousness.
When Jehovah God did take upon Himself a body of flesh, He became the person we know as Jesus Christ. He went out preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and to be saved at that time a person had to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the very Son of the living God.
When Paul revealed in the Acts-period the mystery concerning the New Covenant, He taught that it was the blood of Jesus which actually provided the atonement for sin. Without this atonement, God would not be able to legally pardon sin. But because of the shed blood of Jesus, God is able to remain just even as He justifies those who believe in Jesus. This justification process is something that was applied to the saints of past ages as well as to those of us who have lived since the cross. Paul said in Romans 3 that:
Romans 3:25-26
25 . . . God set forth (Jesus) as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
So the essence of the gospel has stayed the same through the ages even though the details of the gospel have changed from age to age.
According to Paul’s New Covenant gospel, a person had to believe in the finished work of Christ upon the cross in order to be saved. As Paul said in I Corinthians, Chapter 15:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you . . .
2 by which also you are saved . . .
3 . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
This is God’s ultimate revelation concerning the gospel, and this is the gospel by which we today are saved. We have been made partakers of God’s promise in Christ through the gospel.
Another thing that believers today have in common with the Covenant Jews of previous ages is that we are accepted by God as the Sons of God. Ephesians, Chapter 1, says that God:
Ephesians 1:4-5 (NKJ)
4 . . . chose us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
This promise of sonship was first promised to the Jews. In Hosea, Chapter 1, God told Israel that someday:
Hosea 1:10 (NKJ)
10 " . . . the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living God.'
Here, God says that the unbelieving Jews will be rejected as the people of God but that the believing Jews will be accepted as the Sons of the living God. This is what Paul was referring to Romans, Chapter 8, when he said:
Romans 8:14-16 (NKJ)
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
We have full confidence in our relationship with God because the Spirit of God lives within us. Then Paul said:
Romans 8:17-19 (NKJ)
17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Here we see the connection with Hosea, Chapter 1, in that Paul was anticipating Israel’s New Covenant Kingdom which will redeem all of creation as well as the bodies of believers. Paul and all of the creation were eagerly waiting for the time when this kingdom would come.
Today, we are no longer waiting for Christ to come down to the earth to establish this kingdom. However, we are still partakers in the same gospel. We are still saved by faith in the shed blood of Christ. Today, we are no longer waiting for the curse to be lifted from the earth, but we are still accepted as the Sons of God.
Today, we are joint heirs with Christ, but what is our inheritance? In Romans, Paul was waiting to inherit the earth with Christ, but in Ephesians, we see that Christ has already inherited all that is in the heavens and the earth. Ephesians 1 says when God raised Christ from the dead, God:
Ephesians 1:20-23
20 . . . seated (Christ) at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, (and Christ is) the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Christ’s position had not changed since Paul wrote the book of Romans, but Paul’s viewpoint obviously had changed during the time between the writing of these two epistles. In Romans, the inheritance was the earth, and it was to be granted in the future when Christ returned at His second coming. In Ephesians, the inheritance is all of heaven and earth, and it has already been granted.
Now then, we have to ask ourselves this question. If Christ is already ruling over all things in heaven and earth, how do we know that Christ will actually return to the earth someday to rule over the earth?
The truth is that we wouldn’t know if it were not for the book of the Revelation. The book of the Revelation was written some thirty years after Paul was killed by the Romans, and in this book John revealed the details of the coming tribulation period. He described the persecution of the Jews, the salvation of the believing Jewish remnant, the destruction of the antichrist and the return of Christ to establish His kingdom on the earth.
Nothing in history comes close to fulfilling the events that John described in the Revelation. Therefore, we have to conclude that Christ will come back to rule the earth as a part of His overall inheritance of all that is in the heavens and the earth.
Although the blessings which have been promised to the Covenant Jews and the blessings which have been granted to the Church, the Body of Christ, are somewhat different, we can certainly rejoice in the blessings that we share. As we have seen today, we are accepted as the Sons of God because we are partakers in God’s promise in Christ through the gospel.
Well, I see our time is gone for this morning. It’s been a pleasure studying with you, and I’ll look forward to studying with you again next week at this same time.
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