'The Body of Christ'
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Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)
Two Divinely-appointed tasks are to be carried out throughout the Church age:
The testimony is to be born to every human being concerning the atoning death and triumphant resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Body of Christ is to be brought to unity and maturity.
The purpose of the first task is to inform the peoples of the earth concerning the coming of the Kingdom of God and the Day of Wrath so they can repent, receive Christ the Lord, and be saved to life in the Kingdom.
The purpose of the second task is to create the Temple of God in order that the God of Heaven may dwell in a satisfactory manner among His creatures.
In the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit has given various gifts and ministries to the members of the Body of Christ so the Body may be brought to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is the Divine standard. Nothing less will suffice.
What will take place when the Body of Christ has attained this perfection of unity and maturity?
When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. (Psalms 102:16)
The Lord Jesus promised us He would come "quickly." Why, then, has He delayed His coming for such a long period of time (as we measure time)?
The Lord Jesus will not return until His Body has been prepared. He will not appear until His Body has been brought to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The purpose of the Lord’s coming is that the fullness of His Glory may be revealed with the end in view of removing sin and rebellion from the earth. The saints who have died will return with the Lord. Then we who are physically alive at the coming of the Lord will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. From that point onward we will be with Him and will be revealed together with Him as sons of God.
This is the Presence, the coming of Christ of which the Scriptures speak. The Lord’s Presence will be as lightning shining from horizon to horizon because the Glory of the Presence of the Lord will be in each saint.
To our knowledge, the Scriptures never once—not once—mention a disappearing of the Christians (taught in the pre-tribulation rapture error). Do you know of a single verse that speaks of a disappearing of the saints? We do not know of any.
In several passages we are taught that we will return with Him and be glorified together with Him. This is the true scriptural hope. All else is false, not being based on the Scriptures.
When the Lord prepares His Body, His Church, His Temple, He will appear in His Glory. When the nations of the earth behold the glorified Body of Christ, now in perfect union in Christ in the Father, filled with the glory that God has given His only-begotten Son, they will realize that God loves His elect as He loves Christ. Seeing this unprecedented glory the nations will believe that God has sent Christ to be the Savior of the world.
All of us desire that the nations of the earth accept Christ and be saved from the wrath of God. They indeed shall be saved, just as soon as the Church becomes one in Christ in God.
The Christians are not waiting for the heathen to do God’s will, the heathen are waiting for the Christians to do God’s will.