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The one Body of Christ (Ephesians 2:14-3:13)


The one Body of Christ (Ephesians 2:14-3:13)


More than any other NT writing, Ephesians highlights the role of the church in God's amazing eternal plan. In Jesus Christ, God has revealed his desire to unite Gentiles with Jews in a new group of people, the church (Eph 1:9; 2:14-22; 3:6). The church is the community of those who recognize the Lordship of Christ and submit to him (5:21-24). The church is part of God's plan to bring everything in heaven and on earth under the authority of Christ (1:9-10). Believers do not relate to God in isolation but as part of this new family.
The NT uses a number of images to describe the church:
·The  church is the Israel of God-the "new people of God" (Gal 6:16) who belong to him (1 Pet 2:9-10) and who as his "holy priests" do his work in the world (1 Peter 2:5,9).
· The church is God's family (2:19)-the "household of God" (1 Timothy 3:15), made up of those who have been adopted as God's children and designated as his heirs.
·The church is a holy temple for the Lord (2:21-22) - the place where God lives by his Spirit (2:22; 4:6; 1 Chorontians  3:16-17; 2 Christians  6:16; Colossians 1:27).
.• The church is the body of Christ-the full expression of Christ in the world, and Christ is its head ( Ephesians 1:23; 4:15; 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Colossians 1:18,24).         .           .
·The church is Christ's pure bride-the one he died for, cares for, and cherishes, who will live in union with him forever (Ephesians 5:25-29).

Because the church comprises of people of different ethnic groups, it is to be a community of harmony and peace as believers live together In love, bound together by the shared experience of the spirit (Eph 4:2-6). God’s goal for the church is that it will achieve the fullest pos­sible experience of Unity, faith, spiritual understanding, and Christian maturity to the full perfection of Christ (4:13,  Romans 8:29), the likeness of God himself (Eph 4:24, 32; 5:1). To this end, God has provided people In the church With many diverse gifts to build up the body and bring it to perfection (4:11-16: Rom.12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:7-11,28). God's intention is that the church should be a showcase of his forgiving grace (2:7; 3:10), a community in which Gods glory can be seen, and one devoted to the praise of that glory (3:21;5:18-20)

Prayer Points
› We are thanking God for his eternal plan
› We are thanking God for the establishment of His church
› We are thanking God for making us part of His church
› We are glorifying God in His Lordship
› We are praying submitting everything under the authority of Jesus Christ
› We are pleading for the blood of Jesus on the universal church. We are praying that God should atone us and  use us again
› We are praying for God kind of harmony in our lives and that of the universal church
› We are praying for the spirit of unity, love, faith, understanding, and maturity   for the universal church
› We are praying asking God to bless us with all the gifts of the Spirit (1 Chorontinas 12)
›We are praying for Gods glory to fall on us
› We are praying to God to send forth His word and heal our diseases.
› We are thanking God for answered prayers

  
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