Page 24 - Ephesians

me by a process, by teaching and by pain. By discipline, affliction
and by baptism with fire. He uses sorrow, pruning, refining and
the problems of life. In every situation, whether buffeted by Satan
or the old sin nature, He is working. He’s molding. He’s the
potter and I’m the clay. That’s the Church. That’s a lot bigger
than, “Where do you go to Church?”

Lastly, 2:22, we are His dwelling, His habitation, His home. We
had a little girl come into the house last week and her father
asked her, “Where does Jesus live?” And she said, “The
Church.” Now, I know what she meant. She meant her local
Church where she goes. That’s what she had in mind. But she
couldn’t have been more right. Where does God live? The
Church. That’s where He lives. That’s His home and that’s His
address.

Let me give some of God’s illustrations and then we’ll leave this
and begin chapter 1:1-14. There are many descriptions as you go
through Ephesians about the people of God, 2:10 “His
workmanship”, 2:12 “A commonwealth”, 2:14 “A temple”,
2:19 “A household”, 2:20-21 “A building”, 3:6 “fellow heirs”,
3:15 “A family”, 5:22&23 “A bride”. What do all of those
descriptions have in common? What is the common denominator
truth? It’s these three words: Union with Christ. Every
description about the Church in Ephesians takes you back to the
truth of oneness with Jesus. All of our wealth is described in
terms of being united with Him.

It seems like the Holy Spirit uses some favorite pictures to convey
the essence of our intimacy with Him. First is the human body. I
think that must be the Holy Spirit’s favorite illustration in the Bible.
In Ephesians five out of six chapters refer to the Body of Christ.
Why am I rich in Christ? Why are you rich? Why are we as the
Church rich? The answer is because you are the Body of Christ.
We have union life. The same life that flows in this physical head
of mine, flows in this physical hand of mine. I can move my hand
and fingers because the life in my fingers is the same life in my
hand. The life in my arm is the life in my head. One life.