IMPORTANT MATTERS ABOUT THE CHURCH - 2

THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE FORMATION OF THE CHURCH

Paul said in his epistle to the Ephesians brethren, “...And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the MYSTERY, which from the beginning of the world hath been HIDDEN in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God.” Ephesians 3:9-10

It was in this saying of the apostle, that we got a glimpse of why the church was formed and to what purpose. Christ formed the Church but Paul called it the manifold wisdom of GOD. Why did Paul call it the manifold wisdom of God? Follow closely...

Christ said to Peter in the book of Matthew that he will build his Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail… this was where the foundation of the Church was laid. Many people have erroneously translated Jesus’ statement about “the rock” as meaning he will build his Church on Peter. NO! That was not what he meant that day. So we have had some persons who erroneously believe that Peter is the foundation of the Church, but the Holy Spirit made us know through Apostle Paul that, the 12 apostles are the foundation of the church and Christ is the chief cornerstone. So what did Jesus mean by saying, “on this rock’ will I build my church seeing that the name "Peter" means "the rock"? We have kept this exposition for the next lesson. But, let us be informed for now that Christ is the builder of the church.

That's just why Paul said, the church is the manifold wisdom of God.

Now, what is it about the Church? What is it about the "manifold wisdom"?

In the book of Genesis, we saw how that man lost the Kingdom of God. The major calamity that happened in the Garden of Eden was not the eating of a fruit. It was not the disobedience to God’s commandment either; it was the treason of handing God’s kingdom over to the devil. Satan deceived man into collecting the keys to the kingdom that God had designed man to rule. God destined man to have dominion and rule this earth realm just the way he rules the heavenly realm, but man failed and committed treason.

Note that through the first woman Eve, the devil robbed Adam of the Kingdom. This is because Eve was formed to help Adam achieve his goal. Adam's goal again is to rule this world for God's glory. 

Adam was the caretaker of God's beautiful creation. Eve was formed out of Adam as an helper in other for Adam to fulfill destiny.

Now, In the epistles, Christ is called the Last Adam, and the Church is called the bride of Christ. This is a mystery which was rooted in the creation of the first man and woman. Adam and Eve were types of the Christ and the Church. As Adam was given the kingdom mandate, so was Christ given the kingdom mandate. In short, Jesus Christ was prophesied to be a King even before he was born. And not just a earthly king, but his Kingdom is of God taking over the earth. So Christ being the Last Adam retrieved the keys of the Kingdom from Satan by his victory at resurrection.

These same keys of the kingdom is what Christ has handed over to the Church. According to Matthew 16:19, he said he will give the Church these keys after he has built it.

Why did Christ gave us the keys? This is another mystery! Christ is the "head" of the Church. That's is we are just the remaining part of the body of which Christ is the head. The head tells us that Christ controls the Church. Although it also implies that he is incomplete without us. Because we are his help meet! - as Eve was to Adam. We are meant to put to action what is in his mind. The mind of the body is in the head, so Christ has given us a mandate and this mandate is the kingdom mandate.

The Church is the medium through which the Kingdom of God will be established on earth. Christ built the Church for the same purpose. Christ has made us his instruments into fulfilling the eternal plan of God. We will be used by the spirit of God to overthrow the evil that has enveloped this earth for ages. This is our mission, the greatest commission.

Not just to win souls but to establish his Kingdom. We are the emissaries, we are the channels.

This is why the Church was formed by Christ, just as Eve was formed for Adam. But again, there is a "serpent", and this serpent has repeatedly deceived the Church. This we shall begin to look into in from the next lesson.

Amen.