THE CHURCH IS THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST

BY FOSTER RAMSEY, SR.

It seems to be difficult for men to understand the nature of the church, and the importance of that organization.  It also seems to be difficult for men to accept the Biblical concept of the body of Christ, and the relationship of Christ to His spiritual body.  In most instances this difficulty originates with man's desire to follow his own ideas rather than to walk by faith. (II Cor. 5:7).  Even though Paul admonished the Ephesians, (and Christians today) to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called," many people are as the Israelites of the time of Jeremiah.  The Israelites were commanded by Jehovah to "stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.  But they said, We will not walk therein." (Jer. 6:16).  There are those today, in the church and out of the church, who reject all of God's commands, admonitions, directives, and instructions, except those with which they agree.  If they disagree with what God has said, they rebel against His authority.  In their rejection of the word of God, there is a disregard for God, for Christ, for His church, and for what the church means to God and Christ.

 The sufficiency of Christ is affirmed throughout the Bible.  He is God's only begotten Son. (John 3:16).  He is man's only sacrifice for sins.  (Eph. 5:2).  Today, He is man's only High Priest.  (Heb. 9:11-12).  He is man's only Mediator (I Tim. 2:5).  As the only begotten Son, Jesus possessed the fullness of the Godhead. (Col. 2:9)  By His presence in the world, Christ manifested the very person of God. (I Tim. 3:16).  Philip told Christ:  "Show us the Father." Jesus explained:  "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father."  (John 14:8-9) Christ possessed and demonstrated the fullness of God.

 Christ also possessed and demonstrated the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  There was given to Christ the power of the Holy Spirit without measure. (John 3:34).  While He was here, Christ was the Comforter of the disciples.  In explaining to His followers the need of His going away, he promised that the Father would send them another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16).  When the Comforter came to the apostles, He came with the promise of Christ that He would guide them into all truth, that He would bring to their remembrance all things that would reveal to them the truths that they could not receive while Christ was with them (John 14:26; 16:12-15).

 How great are the qualifications of Christ to be all things to the church, which is His body! (Eph. 1:22-23)  Just before His ascension, Christ declared that He has been given all power in heaven and in earth.  (Matt. 28:18)  This power and authority included His being the Head of the church, which was and is His body (Col. 1:18).  This power is shared with no one else on the earth.  Christ once reminded His apostles that among the Gentiles the princes exercised dominion and authority over people; then Jesus declared:  "But it shall not be so among you."  (Matt. 20:25-26)  The ambition of many of those in the denominational world is to exercise authority, even to becoming the head of some denominational body.  This ambition is also seen in some men in the church of our Lord who are as some of the apostles who asked:  "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (Matt. 18:1)

 The church over which Christ rules and reigns as Head and King is to minutely described in the New Testament that there is no need of being confused as to its identity.  The details of its organization are plainly set forth.  Its work and its worship are each one so specifically described that there is no need of any confusion as to the nature of the church and its identity.  This is the church that Christ promised to build.  (Matt. 16:18)  Through His inspired apostles, Christ kept that promise and the church was established on the day of Pentecost immediately following His resurrection.  He is the Builder of the church.

 At the same time, Christ also became the foundation of the church.  Paul preached Christ as the Son of God (Acts 9:20).  In such preaching, Paul laid the foundation of the church. (I Cor. 3:10)  When Christ promised;  "upon this rock I will build my church," He could not have referred to Peter, or to any other man; but only to Himself.  Paul plainly declared that there is no other foundation other than Christ (I Cor. 3:11).  Any church built upon man is doomed to failure because it is built on the wrong foundation.  All the apostles and others, who preached by inspiration, proclaimed Christ as the Foundation, and as the Chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:19-22).

 In addition to these relationships, Christ is the lawgiver to the church.  Every organization needs laws by which it is to maintain a well-ordered existence.  Man can rejoice in the truth that God has never cast man adrift without law.  Where there is no law, there is anarchy and chaos.  God gave Israel the law through Moses; but grace and truth came through His Son.  Christ received from God those words that formed the gospel.  (John 14:24)  By those words the Christian is to live and fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:1-2)  When man comes face to face with the fact that he will be judged by the words of Jesus when He comes on the last day, then that man will make a greater effort to live by the words of Christ.  (John 12:48)  Christians do not recognize anyone other than Christ to be the lawgiver over His church.  The one to whom man submits himself becomes his master; and the Christian acknowledges Christ alone to be his Master.  By his obedience to Christ, man honors the Savior, and makes Christ the author of his salvation (Heb. 5:8-9)

 God has approved three institutions for the benefit of man.  He has approved civil government; He has set up the home; and He has given us the church through His Son.  All three of these institutions are essential to man's complete well being.  The church and the home are divine institutions provided each one follows the demands and the requirements as set forth in the Bible.  "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." (Psalms 127:1)  The church and the home compliment each other.  This is as God intended it to be.  Both the church and the home are needed so that man can fulfill God's expectations of him.  Each of these institutions is complete and sufficient in its own field of responsibility; and in each one of them Christ is to be honored as the Son of God.  When the church honors Christ in this manner, then the church becomes the functioning body of Christ here upon the earth, and is the fullness of Christ.

 Christ depends on the church to preach and teach the truth of the gospel because the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. (I Tim. 3:15)  In preaching the gospel for the salvation of men, the church is performing the work that Christ intended it to accomplish.  Christ depends on the church to preach the gospel to the entire world.  The early church accomplished this task in their generation. (Rom. 10:18)  No other organization was established by Christ to do this work; the church was sufficient.  As the early disciples preached the gospel, they preached the death, burial and the resurrection of Christ. (I Cor. 15:1-4)  The fullness of Christ was apparent to the world as they heard the wonderful testimony of those inspired men who had been with Christ.

 Not only was Christ reflected to the world by the preaching of the gospel by the church; but Christ was seen in the lives of the disciples as they lived for Him.  As Christians and members of the body of Christ, they lived pure lives exemplifying the abhorrence of Divinity for sin and its tragic result.  In their righteous lives, the Christians manifested to the world the harmony, the love, and the unity that Christ intended to prevail in His church.  (Eph. 5:25-27)  Members of the church in the first century enjoyed the fellowship that was present in the family ties of the spiritual body of Christ, which was also the family of God. (Acts 2:44-47)

 The church provides a spiritual atmosphere in which the presence of Christ is manifested in its assemblies as that body meets to worship God. (Matt. 18:20; Acts 2:42)  This is worship that is prescribed by the gospel.  The church demonstrates the fullness of Christ only when it follows the teachings of Christ in the work and worship of the church.  Christians must worship in the proper spirit and according to truth. (John 4:24)  God does not permit man to worship as man pleases but God prescribes that worship which is acceptable to Him.  The church follows this pattern and demonstrates its submission to God and Christ; and at the same time, shows to the world the fact that Christ is all things to the church.

 The churches of the first century were concerned with doing good on behalf of these who had need (Gal. 6:10)  Again and again, the various churches went to the aid of those who suffered because of needing those things that were necessary of life. (Acts 11:27-30); I Cor 16:1-2)  In this way, the gospel's power was demonstrated to the world by those Christians who followed the example of Christ.  While the Master was here, He went about doing good.  Not only was this an example to Christians of the first century, but also to those who live today.  Those outside the church saw the fullness of Christ in the church as those Christians let their lights shine through their good works.  The darkness of ignorance and sin was dispelled, and then were moved to glorify God in obedience to the gospel of Christ. (Matt. 5:16)  In their work for Christ, the early disciples showed the church to be the fullness of Christ.  Since that time, Christians have continued to follow the principle of doing good unto all men. 

 Christians today can be filled with the fullness of God as they come to know and understand the love of God. (Eph. 3:17-19)  Through this understanding, children of God will glorify the Father through Christ in the church as they worship and work to accomplish the will of God. (Eph. 3:21)