More Than We Ask , Think Or Imagine, According To his Power Working In Us
The Purpose Of The Church
EPHESIANS 3:20-21
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
”Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/eph.3.20-21.nkj
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This doxology praise and appreciation of God’s great works ends part 1 of Ephesians. Paul, in the first section, describes the timeless role of the church. In part 2, he explains how church members should live to bring about unity and God’s purpose of the church
Ultimately, the purpose of the church is to bring glory and honour to God. It does this as it fulfils it’s three purposes related to God’s plan for the world-worship, evangelism, and edification.
Worship-As the church worships, it declares Gods brilliance, His view of reality, His awesome power and His sovereignty. Through Christ, God has redeemed the world and provided a way of salvation.
Evangelism-The primary purpose of the church is to evangelise (MATHEW 28:16-20). But their is more to evangelism than simply declaring the Good News. It should be followed up with support, teaching, and should lead to discipleship, which involves the work of helping new believers reach maturity, identify of spiritual gifts, and the ability to operate in them.
We do that as parents bring up their children, through loving discipline, teaching, and nurturing them in every way possible so that they grow in Christ.
Baptism is an important element of the process. By baptism, one declares commitment and indicates that he or she has been identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and wishes to be identified as a part of the body of Christ, the church. Baptism is like publicly signing a covenant with God; then His Holy Spirit comes upon that person, he is baptised with the Holy Spirit and fire (MATHEW 3:11) “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:14 NKJV
My brethren, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
II Corinthians 1:21-22 NKJV
Edification-Ephesians 4:11-16 points to the fact that the saints need to be equipped to competently do the work of the church and stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes that toss us to and fro as he plots to steal, kill, and destroy (JOHN 10:10).
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
