The Life

There is a beginning, there is a destination, and there is the in between.  As you walk the path and take this amazing journey you are living, this Life that Jesus the Messiah has set out for you,  you'll want to live it well.  But to do that you'll need help.  You'll need God's Spirit, God's word, and God's people.  We call God's people, when they gather, the Church.  One person can be a part of the Church, but apart from the Church they are limited and often become very dull like a knife that is never sharpened.  God does not want you to live apart from the Church.  In Hebrews 10:24-25 we read the following, And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (ESV)  Together, as a part of God's body, the Church, we can achieve so much more than if we go it alone.  And if we go it alone we live a life in constant disobedience to God's revealed truth found in God's word.

Walking the path, following the Way, taking the journey, in other words, living for Jesus requires us to do it together.  After Jesus had suffered, died, and rose again, God the Father not only gave Him the name above all names (Philippians 2:5-11) but also gave Him the Church.  Read the following from Ephesians 1:20-23, that he (God the Father)* worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (ESV) *Added 

Jesus is the head of the Church, you will also hear people call the Church, the Body of Christ, and that's just fine because that's what we are.  Jesus is the head and we are His body.  It is the body that moves and acts on behalf of what the head tells it to do.  In the same way, Jesus is the one who directs the Church.  However, He uses the third person of the Trinity, The Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct the Church.  (Other articles will follow explaining this more in detail).  Just know that you, as a follower of Jesus, are under His authority, and He commands that we worship, grow, and act as a body, not just as an individual.  That does not mean you cannot go out by yourself and share the gospel by yourself, or feed the homeless by yourself, or live a life outside the Church, but what it does mean is that you and I need each other if we are going to accomplish the will of God because it is the Church through whom God is accomplishing His will.  

Also, we all must be in line with God's revealed will when we serve and act as a body.  Not all who call themselves the Church are acting in accordance with God's word.  Be careful, be wise, and seek to join a fellowship of believers that are teaching God's word, where God's word is the highest authority, and where God is made much of, not the pastor or the teachers or anyone other than God and His Word.  Lastly, make sure it's a Church that lives out their lives in the community not just inside the four walls of the Church building.     

With that said, will this body (Church) be perfect like Jesus?  I think we know the answer to that already.  If the body of Christ was perfect how could you and I learn to love unconditionally?  In addition, God is working in the lives of every believer to make them more like Him, each and every day.  It is very unlikely that we will "arrive", if you will, until we are in heaven with God, but until that day, let us love each other, serve the communities around us, mature in the faith, and strive to be more like Jesus and let us do it together.