It
is clear from Scripture that the church is of God and for people. It
is His creation. Christ is its head. The church is the people of God
chosen for a purposeful partnership in accomplishing the will of God
on earth. More than eighty metaphors, word pictures, relating to the
church appear in the New Testament. Each portrays a more profound reality
than does the picture it brings to mind. The pictures together make
clear the nature and mission of the church. Paul speaks of the church
as "body," "building," and "bride." The
most inclusive and perhaps the most significant metaphor is "body
of Christ." The redeemed are spoken of as "members of the
body."
What is the profound truth that the many word pictures convey? God -
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - takes a redeemed people into partnership
to share in His activities and to realize His purposes. The church is
the organic, corporate instrument God has chosen to remake men and society.
It has a mission of holy love. The church exists to produce Christlikeness
in men and their institutions. Thus our mission may be described as
participation with God in bringing holiness and love to bear upon the
sins, hurts, and needs of men. This description of our mission is both
individual and social. It points to a social relationship of men to
God and to each other described in Scripture as "the kingdom of
God."
The metaphors of the New Testament are made emphatic by the greatest
portrait of all - the Incarnation, God made flesh. The church, enlightened
by the Incarnation, continues the teaching and the ministry of its Lord
on earth.
When the church is acting under the headship of its Lord and the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, it continues the story begun in the book of Acts.
Many are its wonderful achievements since the first century, and many
more may yet be realized in the unfolding drama of the acts of the Holy
Spirit through redeemed men.
The New Testament reminds us that the church visible is not the church
ideal. Because the church is a divine-human partnership, sharing not
only in the holy love of its founder but in the blemishes of its humanity,
it is ever in need of renewal. God takes the same risk with the church
in redemption as He did when He granted men freedom in creation. Just
as God, the Holy Spirit, used the hands of the Apostle Paul in "special
miracles" so He can use His church today. The results will be the
same - the Word of the Lord will grow mightily and will prevail (Acts
19:11 and 20).
