by: Bro. Cordero (Josiah Pascual)
We always find it interesting when we talk about the reasons why we live or why we still live. For us believers in Christ, we always have the answers to these. One of the top reasons why we live and the very reason why we were created by God is to serve Him with our whole lives like what is written in Ecclesiastes 12:13.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Another top reason is to work for the salvation of our souls (from our fated damnation since we are all sinners) and to have everlasting life with God in Heaven.
Most of us believe that in order to be saved, we have to establish a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, our only Savior. This is based on Christ’s own statement written in John 14:6 .
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
No one can be saved, no one can come to the Father or have everlasting life in heaven unless we do it through Christ. So yes, it is true that we need to have a relationship with Christ to be saved but there are questions that still need to be answered. How? How could we establish a relationship with Christ? How could we call our relationship with Him a personal one? Is it established just through praying? By just calling upon His name? By just declaring Him as our personal savior? Again, it all boils down to the question, how?
Apostle Paul showed in one of his epistles how can we establish a relationship with Christ. In his letter to the Ephesians, let us see first, to whom Christ has a relationship with? If we read in Ephesians 5:23 NIV, it says…
“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.”
In this passage, Paul explains that Christ is the head of the Church and that the Church is no other than the body of Christ. Paul further explained that Christ is the Savior of the Church, His body. Here, we can see that Christ has an important relationship with the Church, for He is the Savior and the Head of the Church, which is His body.
Now let us see, how important for Christ is His relationship with the Church? Let us continue with Paul’s letter.
Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV
25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,” 27 “and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
Oh, isn’t this relationship going deeper? Christ loved the Chruch that He had to give Himself up for her. In other sense, the Church is the reason for the crucifixion and physical death of Christ when He was manifested in the flesh. Christ did not just die for His own benefit, He died for the sake of the Church. He died to present the Church to be radiant, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless to Himself. So, we can see that the Church is something very special to Christ.
A body is composed of many different parts. If the Church is the body of Christ, what is it composed of? As Apostle Paul continued,
Ephesians 5:29-30 NIV
29 “After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church” 30 “for we are members of his body.”
Paul made it clear that the body of Christ, which is the Church, is composed of many different people (they may come from different places, languages, cultures, races etc.) who serve as parts of His spiritual body. Being the parts of His body, Christ will never hate the members of the Church but He will feed and care for them. So, we can see that being a part or member of His church establishes a relationship between any person and Christ.
What kind of relationship is established between us and Christ through the Church? Let us proceed…
Ephesians 5:31-32 NIV
31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 “This is a profound mystery–but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
The relationship between Christ and the Church, which is composed by people, is the same as the relationship between husband and wife who are considered as “one flesh.” They are committed to love and give honor to each other. This relationship is beyond personal for this is an intimate relationship. Yes, you read it right. An intimate relationship with our Savior Christ Jesus can be established through the Church.
Christ is the Head, the Savior, the Owner of His body, which is the Church. Becoming a part of it is the way the Bible teaches us how to always be in-touch with our Savior. After we learn about this undeniable truth, what we should do next is to strive to become a part of and to remain in the Church, which Christ Jesus recognizes as his own body – The Most Holy Church of God in Christ Jesus.
