Thank you for stopping by and taking to time to watch, listen, or read this week’s message, The Perfect Church-part 1.
I hope you are encouraged in your faith in Jesus, and maybe even learn something new along the way 🙂
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Recap
Last week we began looking at the perfect woman before sin entered the world. The picture of Eve, in that perfect state, is a beautiful image of what the perfect church of today can be.
This image for the church comes from the fact that just as Eve was Adam’s bride, we, as the church, are the bride of Christ. The traits of Eve before the fall are, in essence, the same for the church of Jesus Christ today.
Let’s look at a few of these traits.
1. The Bride is Revealed
We discussed how Eve was hidden inside of Adam before she was formed from his rib. The scripture states that God created man in His image, in the image of God He created them, male and female He created them. They were a “them” in Genesis 1 prior to God saying it was not good for man to be alone in Genesis 2.
This whole idea may be a stretch, but now consider the work of Jesus on the cross.
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In the crucifixion story in John 19.28-37 we read,
“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
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Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.
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But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
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As we saw last week, God had created all things in heaven and on earth. On the seventh day of creation, He rested. According to Genesis 2.18, after Adam had named all the animals, God said that it was not good for man to be alone. So, He put Adam into a deep sleep and formed Eve from the rib He had taken out of Adam.
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Like Adam, Jesus was alone as He walked this planet. Even though there were many people on the earth, there was no one like Him on the earth. He was a lone bachelor. We just read in John 19.28-37 how Jesus was placed into the deep sleep of death on the cross and His side was pierced. From His side, blood and water flowed… the blood of forgiveness and the water of life.
From this, we could say that the bride of Christ was hidden in the Son of God before creation. In the act of the piercing of the side of Jesus, God pulled her out of Jesus’ side. Her origins are not of this earth. They are in the unseen realm – in heavenly places in Christ before time began.
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Paul, when speaking if the divine mystery, put it this way: “For he chose us IN HIM before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1.4). He also said, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2.6)
It is as if we, the bride of Christ, were hidden IN CHRIST until the time was right for the bride to be revealed to the world.
2. The Bride is Like Jesus, but Different
At creation, Eve was like Adam, but different. She was made in his image, but in a different form. Now, in the same way, the Church is like Christ, but in another form, for she was taken out of Him. Consider the following passages…
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1 Corinthians 15:45-49
45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
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As the Church, the bride of Christ, we bear the image of our Lord. We have our individual characteristics and our corporate identity, but in reality, we are the representation and expression of Jesus Christ on this earth.
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John 17:20-26
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
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This idea of being the image of Christ, but different, comes from the fact that we are one with Him. Just as the Father is in Christ and Christ is in the Father, Jesus is in us and we are in Him in unity. This is why we can be Christ’s representation and yet different.
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Ephesians 5.25-32
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
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Paul refers back to the creation story in his statement about a man leaving his father and mother and becoming one flesh with his wife. However, this was not a statement about the wedding of a man and woman. Rather, it is about the union between Jesus and His bride, the Church. As followers of Christ, we become one with Him, being like Him but different.
Through Christ, we are one. Just as Jesus and the Father are One in essence, those who call upon Jesus become one with Him, but different. Through the connection we have with Jesus and the Father, we can be brought into complete unity.
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As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6.16-17, “Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”
If we are one with Christ, then perhaps we also have DNA that is identical to that of Jesus Christ. His bride was fashioned by Him, to Him, and for Him. She has the genes of God; His seed is in her.
In 1 Peter 1.23 we read, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” Jesus IS the Word of God. His seed is in us, and we now live by His life. We no longer live, but Christ lives in us. We are the representation and expression of Christ, but in a different form.
3. The Bride BEARS Jesus’ Name
In Genesis, we read that Eve took Adam’s name. In Genesis 5.2 it says, “He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Adam” when they were created.” It is not until after the fall in Genesis 3.20 that they become Adam and Eve. “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3.20)
In that same line of thinking, the Church takes the name of her Bridegroom. The Bride of Christ is so united to her Bridegroom that she is called by His name. In his writing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John’s vision of the bride seeing the Bridegroom states that “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22.4).
4. The Bride is God’s MASTERPIECE
Eve was God’s masterpiece. Adam’s counterpart was more beautiful than Adam. This woman was God’s masterpiece. She was the pinnacle of His entire creation.
In the same manner, the Church is the masterpiece of God. In Ephesians 2.10, Paul says she is God’s workmanship, His handiwork. The Lord has only one masterpiece. It is His beloved bride. Calvary ended the old creation, and the bride of Christ was formed after the old creation was finished.
There is nothing more beautiful than the Church, the bride of Christ, in all of God’s creation. When Jesus looks upon His Church today, He sees perfection. Even though we have many blemishes as humans, by the blood of Christ we are made perfect in His sight. We are the beautiful, intoxicating, perfect, love of our Lord.
5. The Bride is the INCREASE of Christ
Eve was the increase of Adam. When she came out of his side, Adam was increased. Adam was enlarged when she was formed. When she was built, Adam multiplied.
The bride of Christ is the increase of Christ. When the bride came out of His side, Jesus Christ was increased. Christ was enlarged when she was formed. When she was built, Christ grew. Ultimately, she will fill the earth with His image.
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John 12:20-36
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
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When Adam walked the earth, he was alone. There was no one like him. He was told to bear the image of God, be fruitful and increase in number, and to have dominion over the earth. They were to rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, and the animals that roamed the land. This included the creepy, crawling things that move along the ground.
As God’s creation, he bore God’s image. When Eve was formed, he was able to be fruitful and increase in number. However, when they were deceived by the creepy, crawling serpent in the garden, they were no longer able to have dominion over the earth.
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In a similar fashion, when Jesus walked the earth, He was alone. Even though there were throngs of people in the world and many followed Him and His teaching, there were none like Him.
Just like Adam, Jesus bore the image of God, completely. Unlike Adam, though, Jesus exhibited dominion over the earth, healing sicknesses and diseases, raising the dead, calming the storms, casting out demons, etc. However, unlike Adam, He was unable to be fruitful and increase in number. That is why He says, “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single see. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
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Jesus lived the perfect life, bearing the image of God in all things. He had dominion over the earth and went to the cross to die for our sins. After His death, Jesus was placed in a tomb, descending into hell to set the captives free. He arose from the grave triumphantly and ascended into heaven to the right hand of God. Once in heaven, He poured out His Spirit upon all who would believe in and call on His name. By His Spirit, He has increased, and is increasing, in number to fill the earth with His presence.
What Adam and Eve were unable to do in their lives, the second Adam, Jesus, came to fulfill all that God had planned from the beginning. Through Christ, the mystery of the gospel is revealed, and we are now set on the path to take part in God’s eternal purpose.
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Next week we are going to continue to look at some more traits of the perfect Church in view of God’s eternal purpose at creation. We will be looking at the following passages and more…
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Have a Great Day!