Ephesians 1.22-23

Building from the truths that he wants the Ephesians to know, Paul now puts the crowning jewel to his opening prayer:

“And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and gave him to the church as head over all things. Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

(Ephesians 1.22-23, NET)

We read that all things are under Christ’s feet and that He is head over all things, including the church. It is, Paul says, his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The church has a special role in the world. If people really understood what church was all about – now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all – I’m convinced that attitudes towards church would change. When people treat the church with contempt, with complacency, with disrespect, or with disdain they are, really, treating the Lord Jesus as such. When attitudes such as ‘Well, I’ll go next week…I’m too tired…my week has been difficult…I need some me time…‘ prevail and church becomes of secondary importance in our lives, it is really Jesus against which we are striving.

In the current bodily absence of Jesus it is His church that physically and tangibly represents God to a fallen world. Yes, His Spirit is still present and active in the world (John 14.16-17, 1 Corinthians 12.7) but it is the people, the church, that the world around us sees and observes and makes decisions from day by day.

Taking these truths, then, how does your attitude towards church need to change?

Are you treating it as his body, the fullness of the Lord Jesus in physical and demonstrable form?