The Perfecting Church

Jesus obeyed the Father and sacrificed His life paying for the sin of all mankind past, present and future. But God hasn't left us simply justified by Jesus' death. When we receive Jesus not only is our debt to sin paid we are given an indwelling relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit. As that life-giving relationship with the Holy Spirit becomes the center of our lives He brings us into a whole new way of being--living as Citizens of God's Kingdom both now and forever.

The Father sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. He is here to move us from a self centered life to living a life centered on Christ. Without His constant guidance into truth we will live self-centered lives abusing our relationship with ourselves and every one else. The Holy Spirit is not an option. He is the third person in the trinity and He is as much God as the Father and Jesus. We need Him in our lives as much as the disciples needed Jesus during His earthly ministry.

God created us to be an interdependent body functioning with Him as our head. The more dependent we are upon Him the more we move from dysfunction to His original design. But our full potential can not be reached without us becoming interdependent. Jesus began this restorative work by becoming the way for us to reconnect to Him and one another. The Holy Spirit is here to complete that work which is the will of the Father by bringing us into full functionality as a body.

God didn't send His only begotten Son to die for us just so we would go to church one or two times a week. He sent His Son to die for us so we could be restored back into relationship with Him and become the church -- the ecclesia. His body in the earth. The greatest work of satan has been the destruction of our relationships not only with God but with one another. Our destiny and purpose as the church individually, the church in the community/pcells, the church in the city/His corporate body and the church around the world/glocally is tied to relationships. God wants to restore the functionality of His body -- our ability and desire to work together with Him and one another. If we can't work with Him and others we can't be the church. One is self-centered the other is Christ-centered. In the Kingdom Christ unites us all. Our individual purposes and destinies were designed to come together as His divine and eternal purpose.

Too often we focus on Church being about membership and position. But Church is about followship and destiny. Church is the Greek word ecclesia. It is EK, the point at which an action or motion proceeds and it is KELEUO the willing response to that command, instruction or leading. When yielding to His EK becomes our way of life ecclesia is no longer simply where we go but it becomes who we are. The Church is Christ's body in action throughout the earth. It is a nation being assembled by God. It is citizens following a King and giving Him access to all they have, all they are and everyone they meet. As those citizens we must continually remind ourselves -- "Whose Body Is It Anyway?"

Even the world says, "I'm not going to Church. The Church is filled with a bunch of hypocrites" -- people who pretend to have virtues, morals or beliefs that they don't truly possess. Those who are not even followers of Jesus know inately that it has to be more than the religious gathering. They want to see someone living, loving and giving of themselves the way Jesus did. In many ways they are right. The Church is more than our Sunday gatherings. The Church is the Kingdom in action. The Church is the resurrection and the reincarnation of Christ's body.

The Church is here on a God given assignment. The Church is the last chapter in God's eternal plan to establish His Kingdom here in the earth. Unfortunately the power God has given to the Church has been squandred and misunderstood by defining it simply as a building, the place where we go to worship or the denomination or association to which we belong. In actuality the Church is the second of two bodies that God created for His own use here in the earth. The first body was Jesus.

Since Adam’s declaration of independence from God and in to sin humanity has been born separated from God and outside of His Kingdom. His rebellion has not only left society spiraling out of control it has also left human beings with a void or vacuum that to this day many of us are still searching to fill. Whether consciously or unconsciously all of our efforts in some form or fashion have been directed at filling this vacancy. We are trying to get back what we lost in the beginning. We search for the fulfillment of this void all of the time, but without a fully committed life to God it is impossible for us to find it.

Dr. Bob Roberts, Jr. is the founding and Senior Pastor of NorthWood Church near Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. NorthWood’s congregation of active participants now averages in excess of 2000. NorthWood has started over 173 churches in the US and is a center for training new pastors. He is a leading practitioner and writer on glocal transformation of individuals, religious communities, non-governmental organizations, cities and global engagement. He has worked extensively in Vietnam, Afghanistan, West Bank and Gaza, Indonesia, Syria, Belize and other countries. He is the author of several books including Transformation; Glocalization; The Multiplying Church and the most recently released Real Time Connection: Linking Your Job with God’s Global Work. He has penned articles for both faith based and secular international relations journals and periodicals. He is a featured speaker at universities, leading American and International Christian conferences, and secular conferences on development and engagement. Roberts’ experience has resulted in his being called upon by a global audience, including the United Nations and various State Departments around the world to assist with humanitarian and reconciliation projects. He works with various religions and religious leaders for greater understanding and to participate and assist with engagement projects. Bob is a graduate of Baylor University (BA), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div), and Fuller Seminary (D.Min). Bob is married to Niki, his wife of 30 years, and they have two children, Ben and Jill.

From the beginning God’s will has been to establish and extend His earthly Kingdom through mankind. Adam rejected God's rule in His life and hid from His presence in the garden. After Adam God chose a nation to establish His Kingdom but they too rejected the King and ultimately had Him crucified. Today the Church is that nation of many different people that He has chosen to usher in His Kingdom. It's time for His Kingdom at hand to become the Kingdom within.

Every person in the earth knowingly or unknowingly exists in two worlds. We live and operate in the physical-seen world but we also live and operate in the spiritual-unseen world. The spiritual world has two distinct Kingdoms – the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of satan. Since Adam’s fall and choice to separate from God, God has been at work to re-establish and usher His Kingdom back into the earth. We’re a more important part of that plan than we realize. Today we take a look at the Kingdom Past and the Kingdom Present.

A generation of people, more than 2.5 million in number, died wandering in the desert wilderness because they wanted what was familiar over the Word of God. The Word of God was the only thing strong enough to transform them from slaves into the nation God had ordained them to be but they resisted Him. They wanted what had become familiar over the supernatural power of God's word. They were our spiritual ancestors. We must not make the same mistake they did by allowing ourselves to remain conformed to the world and our past. God is present to transform us and bring us into the future. The Word is here and The word is alive!

Of all the creatures, beings, elements and forces here in the earth there's none more powerful than the Word of God. The angels harken unto the voice of His Word (Psalm 103:20). Even the Holy Spirit's ministry with all His might is subject to the authority of the Word. We must seek the Word and acknowledge His authority by presenting ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. When we seek the Word this way we find our rightful place in the Kingdom and experience the fulfillment of His will for our lives. We must acknowledge the preeminent and eternal -- Authority of His Word.

The first thing satan attacked when he came to destroy God's Kingdom --His government in the earth was the word of God. He questioned Eve and challenged Adam probing to see if they knew God's word, if they valued and understood it's significance. He thought he'd won when he saw Eve willing to entertain another way and Adam willing to rebel against God. But satan underestimated the depth of our Father's love. He never anticipated how far God would go to see us restored. His word is just as important now as it was that day in the garden. If we entertain another way like Eve and rebel like Adam we reject the one thing that's able to transform us and restore all that was lost. -- The Word of the King.

Of all the things here in the earth to be pursued nothing is as important or valuable as the Word of our King. Every thing here in the earth was made by His word. Every thing in the earth including mankind is upheld and sustained by His word. In the end heaven and earth will pass away but His word shall stand. We must seek His word as if our life presently and eternally depends upon it because it does.