Ephesians 1:22, 23
“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Jesus is the head of the church. We addressed that our last time in Ephesians. Verse 23 says that the church is His body. He desires us to identify with Him fully. He's much more than the cool kid, yet He wants us.
Many have insecurities about their body: too fat, too thin, ugly, uninteresting and so on. The church isn't perfect. Many have a negative view towards it. Jesus isn't worried. There are varicose veins on this leg, a kankle on that one, chubby cheeks and so on. He's fully aware. He is happy to identify with us.
He is at work to perfect. One day we will be. He uses our difficulties to improve us. Much is the work on our attitudes. The things that frustrate us, He uses to build patience and trust. He matures us so we can praise Him at all times.
He uses the foolish to confound the wise. Acts 4:13 says, "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus." God wants to work in us similarly. It probably won't be on such a large scale, but He allows us to be honored to use us for great things that we would never have been capable of.
It's like God chooses the nerds and geeks to build a dodgeball team that destroys the cool kids. He Himself was born in a lowly state and grew up as a laborer. That was intentional to connect with those that needed it.
Jesus is the head which is the control center of the body. This giant of an organization all over the globe has Jesus as it's head. Just like the bible is an amazingly unified book created by dozens of authors over different cultures, so the church is enormous all pervasive, separated by miles and languages, yet He is in control at the head.
The church is God's way of restraining evil in the world. 2 Thessalonians 2:6 speaks of how the antichrist can't appear because the church is present, "And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time." When the church is raptured, he makes his entry at the tribulation. The larger point is that the church restrains evil. Many of the cultural battles spring from biblical values. When the church is gone, there won't be the resistance. Some will be jubilant, the devil will be also. It should concern them that their values line up with the evil ones. They don't realize that, but will be shocked to learn it.
Jesus does much of His work through the church. The reaching out, the saving, the cleansing, the setting free can be traced to christian people or groups motivated by Christ. He uses us similarly.
Just like the creation is a marvel, so is the church. He works so many miracles in and through it. He promised that when He leaves we will do greater things. This is done through believers in the church that are empowered by the Spirit.
Lord, thank You for the church and thank You for Jesus' leadership. All the good work You do in the World. Your amazing power and love reaching out.