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.

Most of this whole passage, from verse 15 on, is one sentence, which makes translation challenging! The Japanese breaks it up more than the English does, but that requires repeating “Christ” to keep it all straight, rather than using pronouns, since Japanese is weak on pronouns to begin with. Likewise, some of the things Paul says in this break our convenient little boxes, and nowhere more than right here. We are familiar with the terminology of Christ as the Head of the Church, and it is indeed a very important concept, but I think we overlook something else here that is really quite astonishing. Paul says that the Church is “the fullness of Christ!” Part of our astonishment comes from our misunderstanding of “church.” Our usage of the term is generally at variance with the Greek ekklesia, even though that is most often translated as church. We confuse it with buildings and organizations, when gathering or assembly or even congregation would be more accurate. That said, the idea that the Church isn’t just the Body of Christ, it is His fullness, is truly mind blowing. That shows us we need to know more of God’s heart concerning His Church, since our current mental framework obviously isn’t sufficient. Our current human organizations and structures cloud the picture more than they illuminate it. Paul’s mention of the Church as the Bride of Christ in Ephesians 5 is illuminated in Revelation, and it’s for sure denominational tags have nothing to do with it!

A: This is an area in which I have been growing over the years. I just got a copy of the new edition of The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, by Frank Viola, and just the first few pages have really whet my appetite! My attitude toward denominations has been impacted by my interaction with them. My parents were Southern Baptist missionaries, and I attended a seminary and pastored a US church in that denomination, but their exclusion of my wife and me from consideration as missionary candidates because of our experience of the Holy Spirit really opened my eyes to the intellectual and spiritual corruption that can creep in so easily. Some denominations seem to have abandoned the Bible entirely! I am not to exclude anyone on the basis of labels, but I must remember that the Body of Christ is a far cry from the organizations that we see. Frankly, I still don’t know what “the fullness of Christ” really means, and I desire to find out. I do know that in every area God’s plans are far greater and more glorious than we can imagine!

Father, thank You for continuing to grow my understanding. Thank You that I was able to get the book, and for the timing of it arriving yesterday when this was the reading for today. At 500+ pages it is a little intimidating, but the taste I have gotten gives me great anticipation. Help me grow in every area as You desire, so that I may be useful to You in building Your Church for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!