Beholding Glory pt 4

Gave me quite a fright there.
Thought somebody else was going to take the pulpit. I honestly cannot think of a
greater, more compelling, more stirring subject to study than
the one we are presently considering. It’s one thing to take up some
scientific study and learn and apply what was learned, or perhaps
some investigation into a portion of history, or some philosophical
belief. Those all have their place. But
none of those things, none of those subjects compare to the
subject at hand, our study of the Lord Jesus Christ. After
all, He has given everything to us, and He is the one that
we will worship throughout all eternity. So, it should be a
tremendous encouragement to us to hear and to meditate upon
the picture that Paul is painting here in Colossians chapter 1.
And so would the Lord’s people please turn once again to Colossians
chapter one. We are considering this amazing
portion of scripture, one of the most significant passages
in all of the Bible pertaining to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Colossians 1, 15 through 20.
Other passages, especially those in the Gospels, will show Jesus
in action, either exemplifying some virtue or perhaps capturing
him performing miracles or setting forth his teaching. The prophets
of the Old Testament speak of him as well, the Messiah to come. The book of Revelation speaks,
as do many of the epistles of future things pertaining to Jesus. Other passages will come close
to this one in articulating descriptions of his nature. Indeed, the entire
Bible, cover to cover, tells us about Jesus Christ. But no
passage eclipses this one, these six verses of Colossians 1, for
its clarity and depth and devotional impact. This passage is as close
as we come to seeing Jesus face to face. Paul presents him as
he is in all his relations. in his relationship to his Father,
in his relationship to creation, and also in his relationship
to the church. Verses 3 through 14, as we saw,
Paul’s expression of gratitude for salvation, for the salvation
of the Colossian believers, for his own salvation, and really
for every believer, And he has made, because of that,
a seamless segue into a joyful contemplation of the Redeemer
himself. In this magnificent section,
which we’ve titled Beholding Glory, we are enjoying glimpses
of our Redeemer’s nature as Paul delivers them one after the other. The first glimpse that was provided
there, verse 15, is a glimpse of the beloved son’s face. Paul
says it this way, he is the image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ is a perfect spiritual
representation of his heavenly father. Literally, he is the
icon, the precise image. of his father. The second glimpse
that Paul provided us, also in verse 15, is the beloved son’s
position. He is the firstborn. As we learned by that word, firstborn,
Paul was not suggesting there that Christ was at any time or
in any way created. No. rather that he was first in order
of time, that he existed before any created thing came into existence. By him, he says, through him
and for him, all things were created. And because of that,
he is preeminent over them all. He is first in order of privilege
and position. Paul gave us yet a third glimpse
of Christ our Savior in verse 17, a view of the beloved Son’s
preeminence. This is the statement that we
considered last Lord’s Day. In verse 16, Paul added that
Jesus Christ created all things, but here in verse 17, by a very
strong contrast, Paul tells us emphatically that he himself
is before all things. Paul tells us here that Jesus
is our eternally existing creator. And then in his second statement
of verse 17, Paul proclaims that in him, that is in Christ, all
things hold together. Jesus Christ is the sustaining
force of everything. Every single second, every minute
since creation came into existence is one long series of successive
miracles. Jesus holding all things together. in God’s beloved Son is life. The continuance of things as
we have known them to be, the sunshine that we enjoy, the seasons,
the food, the air that we breathe, all of it is due to the Word
of Christ sustaining it. And that brings us to yet another
glimpse of our Savior. We find it in verse 18. Let’s
take the passage again in full, beginning at verse 15, we’ll
course down through verse 20. He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have
been created through him and for him. He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body,
the church, and He Himself, and He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place
in everything. For it was the Father’s good
pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through
Him to reconcile all things to Himself. having made peace through
the blood of his cross, through him I say, whether things on
earth or things in heaven.” In our brief glimpses of our
Redeemer’s nature, we have seen the beloved son’s face, the beloved
son’s position, the beloved son’s preeminence, Here in verse 18,
Paul unfolds for us the beloved son’s place, the beloved son’s
place. Let’s look more deeply at the
statement here, verse 18, that he is also the head of the body,
the church. Paul has up to this point spoken
of Christ in his relation to his father, in his relation to
creation, in his relation now he speaks to the church. The
first thing that I would point out to you about this statement
in verse 18 is that it is in exactly the same form in the
Greek as the first statement of verse 17. And there we saw
that it had an emphatic sense to it. He himself and no other
is before all things. And so technically, this sentence
could, should be translated exactly the same way. He himself, and
no other, is the head of the body. And here in this opening
sentence, Paul speaks of three descriptive features of the spiritual
organism that is associated with Christ. The head, the body, and
the church. Now these same features, if they
sound familiar, they should. They’re referred to in several
other places, in Paul’s writings especially. It’s a metaphor that
he favors and uses often. Head, body, church. And I’d like us to ponder each
of those features this morning, but I want to take them in a
slightly different order. And so we’ll consider first the
body, what is the body, and then the church that the body represents,
and then finally the head, Christ himself. Let’s consider these
three features and let’s start with the body. He also is the
head of the body, the church, For our purposes this morning,
I’m beginning with the consideration of Paul’s use of this word body. The Bible employs numerous word
pictures to refer to the church. The church is called a kingdom.
The church is called a flock. And he brings in that metaphor,
that image of a sheep and a shepherd. The church is called a flock,
the church is called Christ’s bride, and the church is even
called a building. But one of the most frequently
used metaphors about the church is that of a body. Paul employs
this metaphor of the body frequently in several prominent places.
But you turn first of all to Paul’s epistle to the Romans.
and specifically to chapter 12. There, as you know, after 11
chapters of intense doctrinal instruction, Paul waxes practical
beginning in chapter 12, and in verses 4 and 5 of that chapter,
he uses this metaphor of the body. Glance down, if you would,
at verse four. For just as we have many members
in one body, and all the members do not have the same function,
so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members of one another. You see, here was this fledgling
church of Rome, a young, remote, relatively untaught body of believers,
this was as far as the gospel had reached from its starting
place in Jerusalem. No one No apostle that we know
of had come to this church to plant it, to explain to them
the deep things of God. No one had come and explained
spiritual gifts, the gifts of God and their proper use in their
midst. That is Paul’s purpose here,
beginning in chapter 12, to explain these gifts, the proper use of
them, the reason for them, the purpose of them. God’s gifts,
Paul will say, are never intended for selfish or self-serving purposes. And to make his point, as simple
as it is, he presents this illustration of a body. Now here he allows
his illustration to stand on its own with minimal explanation. And it’s an easy illustration
to understand because everyone has a body. And a body is really
just a conglomeration of a great many different parts, hands and
feet and eyes and ears and all the rest. But together they comprise
a body. Everyone would grasp Paul’s point
almost immediately. They would understand, just like
we do, that Paul is referring to a body of believers. The body
stands for the collective gathering of believers, about whom Paul
refers to here as members. Now, just to be clear, Paul isn’t
talking anything about church membership here in any kind of
formal sense. He’s talking about individual
believers, those who comprise the body of Christ, many members,
one body. And the whole purpose of the
illustration is to point out the fact that the individual
members of Christ’s body are variously gifted. They do not
all have the same function. There is but one body, but that
body, in that body, there is diversity. There are good, healthy,
productive diversity. It would be grotesque If there
was such an organism that was made up of all hands, or all
eyes, or any other portion of the body, diversity is what constitutes
a body. And in that diversity, we can
never recoil from the idea that we, at the end of the day, are
still one body. And as Paul adds, They are individually
members of one another, that that body is associated with
all of its different portions and parts. Both things are true
and viable. There is diversity on the one
hand, and there is unity on the other. That’s what constitutes
a body. And so there is Paul’s use of
this metaphor in Romans 12, but he uses the exact same illustration
in 1 Corinthians 12. Would God’s people turn back
there to those now well-worn pages? 1 Corinthians 12. Now, we just wrapped up a lengthy
study of this letter last fall. For those of you who were not
with us here in chapter 12, Paul is attempting to tamp down one
of the many issues that was causing division in the Corinthian church. Here, specifically, he is dealing
with the quibbling that was taking place over the diversity in their
own midst. Pride had taken over so that
some gifts were valued, and others were not. And the first thing
that Paul does is to remind them, just glance at verse 4, that
there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. All those
gifts oriented from the same place, God’s Holy Spirit. Paul will go on to say in verse
11, that the Holy Spirit is the one who sovereignly determines
which gifts individuals receive. It takes the fight completely
out of it. It takes the pride completely
out of it. The Holy Spirit does what the
Holy Spirit is going to do, and we are merely called to exercise
whatever gift the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon us. Simple. Paul immediately explains this
in verse 12. This is the passage I’d like
you to glance down on. Verse 12, for even as the body
is one, and yet has many members, and all the members of the body,
though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. I would have you notice that
Paul just introduces the idea of a body here, He doesn’t explain
it. He certainly doesn’t tie it to
the church. He doesn’t speak directly of this body’s head. He uses this illustration, this
word body, 17 times in this chapter. That’s his focus. Very important.
But he doesn’t immediately explain this illustration. He will, but
he takes his time. Initially, however, he only mentions
a body, a human body, we can presume, and his illustration
is simple. A body is a complex organism
made up of many different kinds of parts, even as Paul says in
Romans 12, and those individual parts or members are each dependent
upon other members of the body. Just as our human bodies are
made up of a vast number of individual parts, so is Christ’s body. Well, that is just about exactly
what Paul said in Romans 12, isn’t it? Many members, one body. And it’s plainly evident that
all these many and variously gifted members comprise Christ’s
body. But for any who may not be grasping
that, Paul plainly declares it in verse 27. Glanced down at verse
27, where Paul says, now you are Christ’s body, and individually
members of it. He doesn’t use the word church,
but that’s what he’s implying. So that’s Paul’s intent with
this illustration here in Colossians chapter one. It’s the same metaphor
that he uses elsewhere with the same intent, many members, one
body. The same illustration, except
that here he does something this time that he doesn’t do explicitly
in either Romans or 1 Corinthians. He tells them exactly what the
body represents. It represents Christ’s church.
And we can gather from that study of other passages, but Paul here
declares it plainly in Colossians chapter one, verse 18. Would you turn back to Colossians
if you would? There’s a second element that
he wants to discuss. He is also the head of the body,
the church, He declares it plainly. And by now we’ve had to say it
several times that that’s what Paul is referring to numerous
times in order to even discuss the idea of a body, a spiritual
body. The body is Paul’s metaphor for
the church. But Paul here in verse 18 leaves
nothing to chance. He comes right out and declares
it here. The church is Christ’s body. Now, the church, as you
know, is that institution established by God at Pentecost, Acts 2,
1-4. It has both a visible aspect
and an invisible aspect. The visible element is seen locally. It’s comprised of professing
believers, some who are true Christians and some who are not. The invisible church is comprised
only of the truly called-out, genuine believing people of God. The visible church is best seen
in its local gatherings, the earthly gatherings of God’s people. There, in these earthly gatherings,
the godly church leadership can be exercised. God can be rightfully
worshiped. The church ordinances can be
celebrated. Baptism in the Lord’s table.
Church discipline may be properly applied. Believers here in the
church can be built up in the faith. Unbelievers can hear the
gospel preached. That is the visible church, all
of which the purpose is to glorify God here on earth. Now, when
we think of the church as it’s presented in scripture, if we’re thinking of the church
biblically, we have to think in terms of two things, inclusivity
and exclusivity. The church is inclusive in that
it is comprised of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
It’s inclusive. The church is made up of an exceedingly
broad representation of every kind of persons. No matter the
nationality, no matter the age, no matter the gender, and there
are only two, the church is inclusive. But the church is also exclusive. The church is exclusive in that
only the redeemed saints of God are allowed into this spiritual
institution. It’s God that ends up putting
them there. The church is not open to every
person ever born, nor to all that are called saints. Pardon me. The church is not
open to every person ever born, nor to so-called faiths or faith
traditions. The church is made up of believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ only, those who place their faith alone
in Christ alone. The church is exclusive, it’s
not open to every person, only believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, there’s a third feature of this spiritual organism that
is so clearly associated with our Lord. Would you glance down
at verse 18 once again? He is also the head of the body,
the church. We come to the third feature,
the head of this spiritual organism. The third feature is the head,
and as I say, the head, because here in the Greek, Paul includes
the definite article in this description. Jesus is not a head,
as if he’s one of many on some kind of a committee. He is the
head. He is the church’s head. He is
the God-appointed leader and sovereign ruler over the church. And Jesus Christ himself, Paul
says emphatically, is the head of the body. As we’ve seen, Paul
already has identified this body, Christ’s body, as representing
Christ’s church. And here he reveals that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the church. And
this too is a simple metaphor, easy to follow. If the individual
members comprise Christ’s body, which is Christ’s church, it
only makes sense that, in keeping with this metaphor, Jesus Christ
represents the head. Paul doesn’t take the time to
explain it, or elaborate on this metaphor, or to unpack it and
apply it. He leaves that to the saints
there in Colossae. And that was probably due likely
to the fact that the implications of this illustration are so clearly
and easily understood. Paul just says it directly, even
bluntly, Christ is the head of the body, the church. But what
he tells us there is that as such, as the head of the church,
Jesus is the chief member of that body. And as the church’s
spiritual head, Jesus Christ provides a lengthy list of things. Here are just a few. As head
of the church, Jesus Christ provides life to the body. just as a human
body separated from its head does not survive, is not able
to live. So also the idea of Christ’s
church somehow surviving without her Lord and Savior as head is
unthinkable. Jesus and his church are inseparable. There is a vital connection between
Christ and his body. And he provides his beloved bride
strength and vitality. Jesus Christ also provides not
only life, but unity for the church. Just as the church, as
the church’s spiritual head, Jesus is the unifying element
to that body. Just as one member of our human
bodies does not suddenly decide to go out and take a walk while
the rest of the body insists on a nap, Jesus serves the organizing
influence over the entire rest of the members of the body so
that it functions as a unified whole. Jesus Christ is the head. He provides life and he provides
unity. He provides leadership. As the
head of his church, Jesus Christ also provides direction and comfort
and inspiration to the body. He is her leader and guide. He is the ultimate authority
over His church. He is sovereignly ruling over
all affairs touching His church. And He is the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. So it only makes sense that He
overrules His church. He alone directs and controls
His church. And all of this is as expected.
After all, as Paul has reminded the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter
20, Jesus Christ purchased the church with his own blood. And
as Jesus himself first pointed out and declared in Matthew 16,
he is the one who committed to building his church so that even
the gates of hell would not prevail against her. One day, At the consummation
of the ages, Jesus Christ will return for his church, his bride,
who will have no spot or wrinkle, but she will be holy and blameless
and enter into an eternal fellowship with her Savior. Now we know that Paul wrote four
letters from his Roman prison, Philippians, Philemon, Colossians,
and Ephesians. And we can think of his letter
to the Ephesians as a kind of parallel to the letter to Colossians. Many of the same themes are found
in both letters, and that is almost to be expected, since
these two epistles were written not only during the same imprisonment,
but at relatively the same time. Among those familiar themes,
this similar metaphor of body, head, and church is also found
in Ephesians. So if you would please, please
flip back two books to the book of Ephesians, Paul’s letter to
the Ephesians. I actually want to take a quick
look at three passages in Ephesians. We’ll start in chapter one. We
looked at this passage a few weeks ago, a parallel to Colossians
1. We looked at it a month ago when
we first came into this section, 15 through 20. I took you to
this passage just to simply point out that it was one of the few
passages that even approaches the richness of Colossians 1.
I want to take you back here this morning for a more specific
purpose. Here in Ephesians 1, Paul is
explaining how he prays for his Ephesian believers. And as much
as I’d love to read the chapter in its entirety, I want to pick
up in verse 15. I want to pick up the flow and then show you
Paul’s prayer. specific point here. Verse 15,
for this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord
Jesus, which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you
in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation and
the knowledge of him. So he’s pleading before the throne
of God that God would unfold and give to his church what is
so needed. And he clarifies his prayer in
verse 18. I pray that the eyes of your
heart may be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope
of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance
and the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
towards us who believe. Hope, riches, power. That’s what he wants the Ephesian
believers to understand. The riches that they have the
hope that they have, and the power that was exercised on their
behalf. Well, speaking of power, that’s
what Paul begins to describe right there in the middle of
verse 19. These are in accordance with the working of the strength
of his might, which he brought about in Christ. And here’s where
he begins to articulate exactly how God exhibited his power. These are in accordance with
the working of the strength of his might which he brought about
in Christ when he raised him from the dead. That’s divine
supernatural power, raising Jesus from the dead. Not only that,
he seated him at his right hand. God had the prerogative to give
Jesus the most prominent seat at his right hand, a place of
prominence and authority and sovereignty. He seated him at
his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion and every name that is named,
not only in this age, but also in the one to come. There is
no greater, no higher, more prominent place than at the right hand
of God. And then he tells us about a
third exercise of God’s power. Not only did he raise him and
seat him, verse 22 says, he put all things in subjection under
his feet. God rendered all things subservient,
secondary, subjected to Jesus Christ. And then he tells us
about this fourth thing, the very reason we’ve turned to this
lengthy section. Not only did he raise him and
seat him and put all things in subjection, he gave him as head
over all things to the church. which is his body, the fullness
of him who fills all in all.” This final great exercise of
God’s infinite power touches this institution that is so precious
to Christ personally. The church is that for which
he died. And as part of God’s magnificent
display of his power, he not only raised him and seated him
and gave him authority over all things, but he gave him as head
over the church. The father bestowed a gift, a
gift to Christ in the gift of the church and a gift to the
church in Christ as her head. Here in Ephesians chapter 1,
we see all three features that are mentioned there in Colossians
1.18, head, church, body. You know what, we might even
think of this explanation here in Ephesians chapter 1, we might
even think of it as an elucidation, an explanation, an expansion
of the idea that Paul communicated in Philippians 2. I’m not going
to take the time to turn there, but just listen briefly. Philippians
was another of Paul’s prison epistles, where Paul says that
although Jesus existed in the form of God, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a bondservant. A man who took on flesh, a human
body, being made in the likeness of men, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
And then Paul says this, for this reason, God highly exalted
him. Ephesians 1 is describing exactly
how that took place. that he not only subjected all
things to Christ, seated him at his right hand, he also appointed
him as head over all things in the church. Because of Christ’s practical
humility and sacrifice, God highly exalted him. That’s what Paul
is elaborating here in Ephesians 1. As part of his exaltation,
he was placed as head over the church. And so Jesus not only
instituted his church and died for his church, but he is the
one who determines her practices, her standards, and in that process,
he lovingly rules over her, gifting her and gracing her and guiding
her for his purposes. Paul will go on to say later
in this same letter, He is the head over all rule and authority. God bestowed this honor on Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate and sovereign leader over the
church by Almighty God’s appointment. There’s a second passage that
I would have you look at. Ephesians chapter 4. Flip over to Ephesians chapter
4. Now here in Ephesians 4, as you likely already know, Paul
is discussing Christ’s generous outpouring of gifts and graces,
privileges that he’s given to his church, gifts, he says, to
individual believers in verses 7 through 10. And I would just
remind you that every believer in Christ is given what may be
considered a gift package. You may have one gift, you may
have a dozen. But he gives gifts to individual
believers, as outlined there in verses 7 through 10. And then
he gives gifts by means of leadership and service in verses 11 through
13. We’ve been through these before.
You’re familiar with it. But in verses 14 through 16,
we find Paul explaining those ministry gifts. What are they
for? How do they function? What is
their purpose? In short, these ministry gifts
serve the purpose of stabilizing, strengthening, and maturing Christ’s
church. Strengthening, stabilizing, and
maturing Christ’s church. Would you glance down then at
verses 15 and 16, where Paul again employs this metaphor of
the head and the body. Verse 15, but speaking the truth
in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the
head, even Christ, and from whom the whole body, being fitted
and held together by that which every joint supplies, according
to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth
of the body for the building up of itself in love. Every part
of the body, every member has its place, has its function,
and is needed and used in the body for its building. Here,
Paul pictures Christ as head with whom his whole body is being
aligned and conformed. One by one, they are all being
conformed to Christ, their head. He’s not only our standard and
goal, but he is the one who provides the grace needed for such a transformation. It’s not that we kind of will
ourselves to this or work hard in order to get there. God is
the one doing the work, the work of sanctification in every believer
to transform them little by little into the image of Christ. And so the picture there is that
Christ is the head of her church for her life, for her direction,
for her guidance. He is an ever-present, loving,
and sympathetic friend. Finally, would you turn one last
passage over to chapter five? And glide down to verse 23, here
again, all three of the elements that we’ve discussed found in
Colossians 118 are found here as well. We’re familiar with
this passage, Ephesians 5, 23. For the husband is the head of
the wife, as Christ is also the head of the church, he himself
being the savior of the body. And we’re familiar with this
passage. And we may think of it as the husband-wife slash
marriage passage, but Paul is using the relationship of the
husband and wife to illustrate this Christ-centered marriage.
He’s using that to illustrate Christ and his church. And he
utilizes this image of Christ being the head of the church
to speak not only of authority. All men quickly want to grab
hold of that one. But he’s speaking there not only
of authority, but responsibility as well. I’ve said this before, I know
many men that are willing to bark out the orders, but are
they willing to take out the trash? There’s service here as
well. And so the husband is to lovingly
lead his God-given wife in authority and responsibility, But in so
doing, he is to emulate and model Christ’s love for his church,
including a willingness to die for her. That’s the standard. So Jesus Christ, as Paul so clearly
articulates in these passages, is the exalted sovereign head
over his body, the church. He’s the one that gets to determine
her practices. He’s the one that gets to say
how he is to be worshiped. He’s the one that gets to tell
us how we are to do ministry. He has laid it all out for us
in his word. And so in closing, I just have
a few questions for you. Aren’t you just so thankful that
you’re part of Christ’s body? I mean, think of this, that he
moved to save you. It was totally undeserved. It was only by his mercy. And he took you and placed you
into the body of Christ. Not just a local church, but
into the very body of Christ, the invisible element. Not only
that, but He gifted you. He gave you gifts to serve His
people for His glory. A unique gift package, as I mentioned
ago, for serving your Savior and His people. Aren’t you just
so thankful for having been placed into Christ’s body? Let me ask
you this. Do you love Christ’s church,
his bride, his people. I would champion this, that the
church is the greatest institution on earth. It’s the only one that
Christ promised to build. It’s the only one that God promised
to bless. It’s the only one that Christ
died to save. It’s the greatest institution
on earth. I’ve challenged more than one
man with this. If you saw me strike my wife, would you confront
me? Oh yeah. And I reverse it and I say, if
I saw you strike your wife, would you want me to confront you?
Oh yeah, you better. Then how can you abuse the church
of Christ the way that you are? How can you treat her so indifferently?
How can you be so careless, so inattentive to the things of
Christ and his bride, the church? Do you love and honor her as
Christ’s bride? Let me ask you this. Not only are
you thankful to be part of Christ’s body, do you love his church,
his bride, his people? Do you rejoice in the leadership
that our Lord Jesus Christ provides as head of the church? He doesn’t
leave us to flounder and flail about in trying to worship and
serve him, try this and then that. But by His Spirit and through
His Word, He provides clear guidance to the church of what is expected.
And even in the midst of and throughout the various trials
and difficulties that comes into every church’s life, Jesus Christ
is there as her leader, guiding, counseling, providing encouragement
and comfort and support so that in the end, we might glorify
Him. And then through his word, through
his spirit, bearing witness with ours, he assures each believer
of the eventual victory of his church. In the end, as grim as
it looks, at any given moment throughout history, in the end,
the church wins. God achieves victory through
the church. Are you thankful to be part of
Christ’s body, do you love his church? Do you rejoice in the
leadership that only he provides? Let’s humble ourselves before
him.