When Paul said in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”, he was talking about all those, past, present, and future who have been or will be saved by the death of Jesus 2,000 years ago. In this statement Paul is using the term “church” to represent every person from every place on the globe, from every nationality and language, from every time – before Jesus and after Jesus – who was saved by Jesus. This is the universal church.

Scripture also speaks of the local church. The local fellowship of believers.

House – 1 Corinthians 16:19 – The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.

City – 1 Corinthians 1:2a – To the church of God that is in Corinth…

Region – Acts 9:31a – So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up.

JESUS BUILDS THE CHURCH

Matthew 16:18 – And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Acts 2:46–47 – And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

This is vitally important to understand. A church that is not built by Jesus is false.

This morning I’d like to look at a few of the metaphors Scripture uses:

** SHEEP **

1 Peter 2:24–25 – He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

John 10:11 – I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Key message – We are dependent on Jesus. All we do, have, and will be is because the kind Shepherd cares for us.

** TEMPLE **

In its most basic sense the O.T. Temple was the dwelling place of God. This is where God met his people. The temple was where god was. Sin may have corrupted our ability and our willingness to see God but God has not left. The temple reality in Scripture is rich. The O.T. Temple was where God met his people. Jesus is pictured as the true temple – Jn 2:19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” It would be logical that the saved people of God here, those filled with the Holy Spirit here, would also be the temple.

Ephesians 2:19–22 – So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 – Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

Key Messages – The local church is – in a unique sense – where God is revealed.

** BRIDE OF CHRIST **

Revelation 19:6–7 – Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready…

Ephesians 5:25, 31–33 – Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

In the Old Testament book of Hosea, Israel is pictured as the unfaithful wife of God. God had Hosea marry a prostitute to show the contrast between the faithful Hosea (God) and wayward wife (Gomer).

Key Messages – The image of the church as the bride of Christ is meant to show intimacy, faithfulness, and sacrifice.

** THE BODY OF CHRIST **

Romans 12:3–6a – For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…

Starting with verse 9 Paul talks about the need for love

1 Corinthians 12:12–26 – For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose… ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Key Message – The church must be unified in order to function as it should.

The fellowship of believers is made up of all believers. Whoever you are – you are important. Your background, your talents, your giftedness, your story is important, your healing and victory over sin is important:

• We should appreciate each other.

• We are dependent on each other.

• What we bring to the fellowship is important but cannot stand alone.

1 Cor 13 Paul talks about the need for love in the fellowship