The church is the body of Christ. This is Good News for us indeed! It means that every person that has made Jesus Christ their personal Lord and Savior and believed in his sacrifice and resurrection is a part of his body. Christ is the head, the One who is King and whose thoughts are perfect, pure, holy, honest, all-powerful, and righteous. God has given the church to His beloved Son, and we belong to him totally. 1Corinthians 12:27(NLT) says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” He shed his blood on the cross to save us, his church, and this demonstrates his overwhelming love for us all. We can see that the love of Jesus Christ is no ordinary love, because we will witness the unfolding of his ever-increasing majesty and love for an eternity! We will experience it in him, and our vision and the love in our hearts will continually expand as we take in all the fullness of our beloved Lord.
We are a part of Christ, and this is glorious beyond our greatest imagination! Ephesians 4:2-6(NLT) says, “2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.” This passage paints the most beautiful portrait of the unity in Christ that we should all be striving to achieve. This is God’s plan for us, and it is unfolding as each of us lives and breathes each day.
The tenderness, compassion, and humility that we should express to one another is full of God’s grace and mercy, but as we look around, even within the church, it is sometimes very challenging to find. Some of what we have witnessed and experienced among other brothers and sisters in Christ is disappointing and discouraging, but we must not lose hope. The church that belongs to Jesus Christ isn’t splintered-off into religions, with each one believing they are the only ones to get it right. That isn’t God’s vision for His Kingdom. Unity is achieved through God’s grace and love, and although this world and all its systems seem to us to be the muck and mire of darkness, our Heavenly Father is pruning us. One day we will be the portrait of beauty that He is grooming us to be.
Ephesians 5:27 tells us that Jesus Christ is coming back for a glorious church without a spot, wrinkle, or blemish. It’s pretty evident that we’re not there yet, but Jesus Christ declares that we will be. That’s the best news ever! The preparation to become a unified body is well underway, and as we go through it, we must not sink to despair or condemnation in our emotions or attitudes. We can’t allow the mayhem of this current day to distract us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus Christ. He tells us in Matthew 6:33(NLT) that we must, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
As we ponder the questions of our humanity, what do we do…why we are here…, the unity of the Kingdom must come front and center. The chaos and confusion of our world may make this challenging, but we must understand that it is only the backdrop on which our unity in Christ is recognized, pursued, and achieved. Our purpose, collectively and individually, is glorious, and all fit together according to God’s Will and plan. We are not moving about like puppets without thought, reason, or intent. We have free-will, and even with our capacity to sin and keep on sinning, the brilliance of God’s plan still prevails.
We are on this planet to affirm the identity in Christ that was given to us by God long before we entered our mother’s wombs. Arrogance makes us think otherwise, but the reality is that we are incapable of creating our own destinies. Our destinies were in the Father’s mind long before the world began. Acts 17:28 tells us that He determined the boundaries of our existences, and He preordained the time and place of our births. He alone holds our tomorrows, and throughout our sojourn on earth, we are free to affirm this truth or reject it, but our rejection of it, will not alter God’s plan from moving forward one bit. We will simply miss the abundant life in Christ we could have had.
Our Heavenly Father has given us a history and knowledge that allows us to understand what it means to belong to a kingdom. We understand that absolute allegiance to it is required, and that every citizen has the privilege and responsibility to humble themselves under the sovereignty of the king. Every citizen must govern themselves according to the rules the king has set. The king can do whatever he wants, and if he is evil, his citizens live in tyranny and fear, but if he is loving, righteous, honorable, and generous, his citizens are blessed above measure.
God is King of His Kingdom. He is brilliant beyond brilliance, magnificent beyond magnificence, and intelligent beyond intelligence. His is all-powerful, and the Creator of all that we survey. He is loving, holy, perfect in every way, and generous beyond our comprehension. 1John 4:16(NLT) says, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” God is love! Love is the dominant characteristic of His Kingdom, and faith and gratitude are the culture of heaven. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God! When we accept the love of the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts, we have remembered who we are, why we are here, and who we serve.
Ephesians 1:9-10(NLT) tells us, “9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” God rules His Kingdom, and through Christ, He has invited us to feast at His table. We are alive in Christ, and we will receive an inheritance from our Heavenly Father that is unimaginable. So, let’s keep God’s plan forever in our hearts as we live the glorious reality of being citizens of His Kingdom that are given the privilege and responsibility of living, worshiping, and walking with Him in the earth.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God Is Bringing Everything under Christ”, written by Vince Mack. Blessing Beads and More© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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