Love For the Body of Christ - A Right Spiritual Attitude

The family, like the Church, is given as a place to mold and remold lives. Cain and Abel were born in a family where they could grow together as examples to other people. But Cain had a choice of his own to set up a negative example in his dealings with his brother, who, in contrast to his, enjoyed God's favour. Whatever his achievement was, his action went a long way to teach us that hatred is, in God's sight, just as reprehensible as SIN. God made it clear that whosoever kills his brother is a murderer. When, as a result of disobedience to laid-down rules in those early days, brutality increased and the earth was filled with violence.

The physically strong could take laws into their own hands. It was at that time that Noah was born. By faith his father had given him his name which means "rest" or "comfort", believing that he shall bring comfort to them, and he grew up to please the Lord. It is true that the number of people who claim that the Church does not make any difference in people's lives today is fast increasing, yet so many evidences abound in the contrary. Have you considered what would have become of the world without the Church? Jesus confirmed in all His teachings that the Church does make a tremendous difference.

So many lives have been changed and communities benefited from the activities of the Church. It is true that Satan fights to disrupt good things and hands over the counterfeit to people, yet in all fronts, his activities have been so devastating to good morals and the world is looking up to a deliverer. God set up the Church to be a symbol of unity to all His children, but the enemy of God and man, Satan, is bent on polluting their activities to bring about a negative result. God knows about that. He also knows about the intrusion of his agents into the Church to destabilize it. Our confidence as Christians is in the declaration of Jesus, that the gates of hell shall never prevail against His Church.

Agents of Satan bring in divisions into the by first convincing some religious people to think of the "Church" only in a denominational sense. We should recall that after Jesus promised to build His Church, He did not let it out to anybody. He became the HEAD of the CHURCH. Paul later confirmed in his writings that He is the head of the body, the Church, and since there is one body, He is the Saviour of that body. In another instance, Paul told the elders of Ephesus to feed the Church of the Lord which He purchased with His own blood. That Church was built by Jesus, not man - it is His body, not man's. He is the Saviour of that Church (body), not man. And it was His blood that purchased the Church, not the efforts of man. If Jesus paid His blood for the Church (and He did), then it ought to be important to you!

How important is the Church to you today? Are you part of the problems of the Church or you part of the solutions of the problems the Church is facing? Do you still remember the case of the Church in the city of Corinth, where the Church existed in those days? Do you still remember how the people, though believers in Jesus, kept dividing into different groups (just like denominations today), wearing different names to denote their groups, and practicing different methods to differentiate themselves from the others? Do you still remember how the Lord instructed Paul to write and warn them that there should be no divisions among them? What does that teach you? Does that show you that denominationalism was wrong then? What about now? Is it still wrong today? Beloved, does the Word of God not tell us that if we would honour God, and His Son, Jesus Christ, we need to develop a right attitude toward His Church?

The good news still remains that the HEAD of the CHURCH is CHRIST. At the promise of Jesus, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, and they all spoke as utterance was given to them and preached Jesus as the Christ. When people were pricked in their heart and asked what to do, Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of their sins. Those people who heard the word of the Lord and accepted it, were baptized and the Lord added them to the Church. They respected Jesus enough to accept Him at His word. So they did what He told them. What about us today? Are we also doing what Jesus tells us to do?

Dear friend, if you would honour God and Christ, it is very important that you accept the Word of God - all of it, and honour the Lord by doing His will so that He will save you and add you to His Church.

Vitus Ejiogu is a writer and publisher with the Fire-Brand Int"l Ministries, a media ministry that is based in Nigeria.

He is the editor of FOUNDATION SATELLITE magazine also published by the ministry. He pastors a Church in Bauchi and is married with two children.

You can reach him at: firebrandhq@yahoo.com
or, 234 802 8181 829. Website: http://www.palmgates.com
or http://www.firebrandhq.com