Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day four)
“…so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”
The church is essential. I realize I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but the church is absolutely essential in the work of God. It is essential because God decided it was so. From the very beginning, the church was part of God’s plan. The church is the way in which followers of Jesus gather for worship and fellowship, it is the way in which believers serve the needs of their community, and it is the way by which the city comes to know Jesus.
But Paul tells us here that the church isn’t only part of God’s plan for the visible world. The church’s testimony reaches into the cosmos. When the church carries out its mission, it reverberates from the neighborhood all the way into the heavenly places.
The church certainly has its quirks. She has no shortage of bumps and bruises, and has hurt some with scrapes and serious wounds. Imperfect though she is, the church is still God’s plan for all creatures in heaven and on earth to know that Jesus is Lord. In Christ, what would otherwise be a rag-tag group of misfits becomes the unified reflection of God’s mercy and love. Will you stick with God’s church, and shout her testimony into highest heaven?