Before Sunday’s class, please take the time to read and reflect on the scripture provided and be prepared to participate in the discussion of the assigned questions.
Bobby Jamieson, Built upon the Rock: The Church, ed. Mark Dever, 9Marks Healthy Church Study Guides (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012)
MAIN IDEA
God calls the church to display his glory to the world by reflecting his character. The church is central in God’s saving purposes because it is the place where he causes his name to be made known and his glory to be put on display.
Three specific reasons why Jesus established a church
Reason 1: To Display God’s Wisdom
In the New Testament, we see that God’s purpose to display his glory comes to fruition through the church.
Ephesians 3:10–1110 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Reason 2: To Display God’s Love
In John 13:1-38, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet as an example of humble service and love and instructs them to follow his example (vv. 14–15). Then, in verses 34 and 35 he tells them:
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Reason 3: To Display God’s Oneness
John 17:20–23 - 20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
It’s in the local church that the wisdom, love, and oneness of God are most concretely and visibly displayed as people who are very different in the world’s eyes worship God together, serve each other, and build each other up in the knowledge of Christ.
That is why the local church is such a crucial aspect of God’s plan of salvation: it’s where God intends to display his glory to the watching world.