As you can tell from my blog post last night, I've been thinking some about the church. Today has been filled with a lot more thinking and talking about the church, and I found myself asking the following question:
Who or what is the church?
I want to discover what the Word says about the church. I want to know what He says about His church. Not what I think. Not my opinions. Not what I've grown up with. Not what anyone else tells me. I just want the raw Word. Here is one definition or role of the church and some Scripture passages about it. I know there are more, but this is a good starting point.
The church is the bride of Christ (Isa 62:3-5, Hosea 1-2, Eze 16, Rev 21).
A bride. Dressed in white. Pure. In love with her fiancé, soon to be husband. Consumed in his love for her. You can't wipe the smile off of a bride's face. She is radiant with delight in her groom.
Is that what the church looks like in relation to the Lord, our Husband?
I think we are often too concerned with gaining more pearls on our necklace or getting our makeup just right or having the right shoes for the wedding that we lose sight of the love and the marriage that the wedding represents and celebrates. We forget Who our Husband is. Can you imagine a bride forgetting who her fiancé is? We get caught up in the blessings we can accumulate from our Husband, and we don't even pay attention to the love and the delight and the affection that is there. Do we really love Him for Him? Because He is worthy? Or do we only love Him because He blesses us or when it's convenient to love Him or when it looks good to at least act like we love Him?
Lord God, you have set your affections on me, on your church. You have loved her from before the foundations of the world, and you have chosen her to be your bride. Thank you! Thank you for stripping me of my rags of harlotry, washing me completely clean, and clothing me in your royal robes of righteousness. Thank you for the promise of taking your bride into your wedding chambers forever. What an incredible promise! Deepen my love for you, God. Make me radiant with delight in you. Fill me with joy in you that overflows to my smile in such a way that nothing can wipe it away. Purify my love for you. Teach me more of what it means to be your bride, or a part of your bride rather. Open my eyes to see who Your church is. I love you. Thank you for being my Husband who sets HIs affections on me. Don't ever let the focus be on me and how much I am loved or blessed; let the focus only be on you and your glory in all of it. In Jesus' name, AMEN! So be it!
This blog post to be continued with another definition/role of the church….
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