Get Your Pretense On!

70 • Get Your Pretense On!

• We are ascended with him , Eph 2.6. • We have been made to sit with him in heavenly places , Eph. 2.6. • We have been called to suffer with him , Rom. 8.17-18. • We will be caught up together to him , 1 Thess. 4.13-18. • We will be glorified with him , Rom 8.17. • We will be resurrected in him , 1Cor.15.48-49. • We will be made like him , 1 John 3.2. • We are joint-heirs with him , Rom. 8.17. • We will sit with him on his throne and reign forever with him , Rev. 3.21. What comes to your mind when you read that list of your intimate connection with Christ? You should be astounded, overwhelmed, amazed. Do you see that this connection occurs through your union with Christ and his people, that these are statements made of those whom he has redeemed and with whom he will share his glory? I would argue you cannot live into who you are as a Christian if you have a low, ignoble view of the church of Jesus Christ. Without her, there is no union with Christ, and no future in the Kingdom. And, the primary place where you can see the Church in action is the local assembly of believers. “We may be homely, but we are good!”

The Church Is Central in Kingdom Advance, Especially among the Poor

The Church is the locus and agent of the Kingdom, the enterprise that is responsible to proclaim and embody the transformation of the Kingdom. It is central in the transformation of the lives of the poor. God created the church for his own glory (Eph. 1.5-6), to share God’s own nature (2 Pet. 1.3-4), and to challenge the dominion of Satan (Eph. 3.10-11). As the embodiment of Christ