FROM
THE PASTOR . . . 
The Church Transcendent
From Rev. Michael Lashley, Pastor
Have
you ever heard people say, “Oh, the church is a business. It might have some
special qualities about it, but it’s really just like any other
organization.”
Is that true? Obviously
there are a large number of organizations in the world, and certainly the church
is one of them. But we cannot afford to think about the church as just one among
many organizations. It is so vastly different that it far transcends all other
organizations. This is why we call the church the church transcendent.
Nearly all organizations
in the world were started by men. This would include even some religious ones.
But the church was brought into being by God Himself. In fact, the Greek word
for “church” tells us that it is made up of those who have been called out from the world. God Himself does this, through His word
and by His Spirit.
In the eternal, divine
plan of God the church existed even before man did. That means only God could
have created it. Paul told the Ephesian Christians that not only had God chosen
them in Christ as individuals before the foundation of the world (Ephesians
1:4-5), but that they were chosen as a group, “the household of God”
(Ephesians 2:19).
After the fall of man,
God divided the human race into two: the seed of the woman and the seed of the
serpent (Genesis 3:15). From this time on the church and the world were
separated from each other and set in opposition against each other. In the
fullness of time God sent His Son to redeem the elect, to save those whom the
Father had given Him. This also was a sovereign act of God, not dependent in any
way on the will of man. Jesus redeemed the church of God with His own blood
(Acts 20:28).
At Pentecost Christ
built His church. He did so by supernatural, miraculous intervention. He poured
out the Holy Spirit upon His disciples and they proclaimed the great works of
God. Through the power of this Spirit 3000 were saved and received into the
church.
Throughout the ages
Christ has been building His church and continues to do so today. Every time a
member is added to the church it’s because of His activity. God uses His
people as a means by which Christ builds His church, but ultimately He is the One doing it.
I
have often heard people say that they do not care for “organized religion.”
Perhaps they have been too conditioned to think of the church as no more
than an earthly organization that is governed by humans, supported by money,
contains a code of ethics and by-laws, has membership requirements, and is
filled with many of the same problems and headaches of any other earthly
organization. If they would look deeper, however, they would recognize that a
sovereign, eternal God is the One who has established His church, is governing
and sustaining it now by His Providence, and will see it through gloriously
until the end and into eternity, far outlasting any organization started by man.
How great is this creation of our wonderful God!