In speaking of the church in this article and two others to follow, we generally refer to the corporate church located in a specific place. There may be many chosen of God, living up to all the light they have, who are accepted of the Lord and will receive life eternal through their faith in Jesus Christ, but who do not belong to the church corporate of which we speak. We must remember that there is a difference when one has light. After light has come, there is increased responsibility. One does not stand in the same relation to the Lord when light has been rejected as when he lived in ignorance of duty.
The New Testament, when speaking of the church, sometimes speaks of all believers in the gospel as a whole scattered throughout the world, and again of specific churches with location, such as the church at Rome, the church at Corinth, etc. Ofttimes we, as a people, speak of "our church," meaning the sisterhood of churches scattered throughout the world. It is true the phrase "the church" may include the whole denomination of Seventh-day Adventists, or it may be limited to the community of believers within a restricted district, and the use of the phrase generally makes plain its meaning.
Those who receive the Holy Spirit after confessing Christ have fellowship with the Father and with the Son. Many Biblical expressions will occur to the reader, showing the unity of the true believer with the Deity; such as "Christ in you, the hope of glory;" "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people;" "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one;" "We will come unto him, and make our abode with him;" "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" wrote the apostle to the church at Corinth. 1 Cor. 3:16. This he writes to the church as a corporate organization. To the church at Ephesus he wrote: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit." Eph. 2:19-22.
In 1 Peter 2:4-10, when the apostle speaks of Christ as a "living stone," he refers to the prophecy, "Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious," thus making Christ the foundation stone of His church. Of the members of the church built on that foundation stone, Christ Jesus, he says, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."
God was incarnate in the Son. He dwelt in the Son in the days of His flesh. Christ was "the image of the invisible God," so Christ could say, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Paul wrote of God, that He "hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Heb. 1:2, 3.
When Christ ascended up on high, taking His rightful place at the "right hand of God," He sent the Holy Spirit to abide with the church and to possess the church as His "temple," through which He would carry on His work of saving men. In the Christian dispensation the Holy Spirit carries on the work of soulsaving, Himself dwelling in the church as God dwelt in Christ. As Christ did not teach His own words, but spoke the words that His Father gave Him, so the church, Spirit filled, is to carry on the work of saving the lost, under the leadership of the Head of the church, Christ Jesus.
Christ the Head of the Church
When Christ ascended up on high, He did not abandon the church and disconnect Himself from it; but He took His place at the head of the church. He said, "I will not leave you comfortless [desolate, orphans]." "He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell." Col. 1:17-19. "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the Saviour of the body;" "and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." Eph. 5:23; 1:22, 23. Thus the head of the church is not some weak, sinful man, but Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. John saw Him in His glorified state, of whom the Holy Spirit caused the apostle to write:
"In the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and ,have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:13-18.
Christ ministers to the church, supplying its every need through the Holy Spirit, which makes the church His temple or habitation. Christ is ever the glorified, loving, sympathetic Saviour of men who believe in Him. Notwithstanding Christ's glorified state and exaltation, He still continues as the Redeemer of those who believe in Him. The apostle says of Him: "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1:30.
The Church the Body of Christ
While Christ is the Head of the church, the church on earth is His body. The church is the personnel through which the Holy Spirit operates to finish the work of spreading the gospel. That the church is the body of Christ is shown in the scripture: "He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church." Col. 1:18. Speaking to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote: "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." 1 Cor. 12:27. Again: "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Rom. 12:5. How can the church be more closely united to Christ than to become His very body and to be the "temple" of the Holy Ghost? "I speak as to wise men," wrote Paul; "judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread." 1 Cor. 10:15-17. Thus all believers are united in Christ, all eat the bread and drink the cup, showing our Lord's death till He come.
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