Church in the Mind of Christ
Text: Ephesians 3:10-11
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Show that the church was no afterthought but God's eternal purpose.
- Trace how the church fulfills the true Israel — the saved remnant, the "little flock."
- Value being a Christian as inseparable from being part of Christ's church.
Thesis
The church was in the eternal purpose of God and the mind of Christ from the beginning; it is the true Israel, the saved remnant, the "little flock" that receives the kingdom — so that there is no Christianity without the church.
Burden
People speak today of loving Jesus but having no use for the church, as though the two could be pried apart. They cannot. Christianity implies the church the way "citizen" implies a state; there is no kingdom without a king and no Christian without a church. When we see that the church stood in God's mind before the world began and filled the thoughts of Christ all through His ministry, we stop treating it as an optional add-on to personal faith. The burden here is to put the church back where Christ kept it — at the center of His purpose.
Introduction
Christianity implies the church as "citizen" implies the state. No kingdom exists without a king; no Christian exists without a church. The outline traces the church in the mind of Christ through five steps: God's eternal purpose, the church as the new Israel, the work of John the Baptist, the "little flock," and Christ's own use of the word "church."
I. The Eternal Purpose of God (Eph. 3:10-11)
The church was not an emergency measure. God's "manifold wisdom" is now made known "through the church... in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph. 3:10-11). Before the foundation of the world the church stood in the purpose of God; Christ came and fulfilled that purpose; and the result is a new community formed in His own mind. A church that old in the plan of God is not something men may casually reshape or set aside.
II. The Church Is the New Israel — the Saved Remnant (Isa. 37:32)
Under the old covenant, the Jewish kingdom was the people of God, with a universal mission to bless all nations. But Israel as a whole failed; God's purpose moved forward through a remnant — "out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant" (Isa. 37:32). That pattern carries straight into the gospel: Christ's disciples became the nucleus of the true Israel (Luke 22:28-30), the people of God not by flesh but by faith (Rom. 9:6-8; Gal. 6:16). The church is not a detour from God's dealings with Israel; it is the saved remnant in whom Israel's true purpose is fulfilled.
III. The Work of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:9)
John stood at the hinge. He preached a new kind of baptism and announced that old Israel by mere descent was being set aside — "do not suppose you can say, 'We have Abraham for our father'" (Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8). The new Israel would be marked by a new way of life, not bloodline. John gathered disciples, and Jesus' first disciples came out of John's (John 1:35-37). The transition from the nation by birth to the people by faith had already begun before Pentecost.
IV. "The Little Flock" (Luke 12:32)
Jesus called His own "the little flock" to whom the Father was pleased "to give the kingdom" (Luke 12:32; cf. 22:29-30). This flock was never all of national Israel (cf. Micah's vision of a regathered remnant, Micah 4:6-7); it was the saved remnant returning to God (Isa. 37:32). The apostles became the nucleus of that flock, and through their preaching the flock would grow into the church of Acts. Small in its beginning, it was nonetheless the heir of the kingdom.
V. Christ's Use of the Word "Church" (Matt. 16:18; 18:17)
The word "church" (ekklēsia) is on Jesus' lips only twice in the Gospels — at Matthew 16:18 ("I will build My church") and Matthew 18:17 ("tell it to the church"). Matthew, who records both, speaks far more often of the "kingdom." This is not a contradiction; the kingdom and the church are the same body seen from two angles — the reign of Christ and the called-out people who live under it. Jesus rarely needed the word because the reality filled all His teaching. The church was in His mind long before it was on His lips.
Application
Stop trying to separate what God joined from eternity. If the church was in God's eternal purpose, then "I'll follow Jesus but not bother with the church" is not devotion; it is a quiet rejection of His plan. If the church is the true Israel and the little flock that receives the kingdom, then to be outside it is to be outside the people of God. Treasure the church as Christ treasured it — give it your loyalty, your attendance, your labor — because it was never an institution men invented but a community Christ conceived.
Conclusion
The church stood in the eternal purpose of God, fulfilled the true Israel, gathered as the little flock that receives the kingdom, and filled the mind of Christ throughout His ministry. It is no afterthought and no human society. There is no kingdom without the King, and no Christian without the church He built.
Invitation
You enter the church that was in the mind of Christ the way the first of the flock did — by coming to Christ on His terms: believe in Him, repent of sin, confess His name, and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and the Lord adds you to His people (Acts 2:38, 47). To come to Christ is to come into His church; they cannot be had separately. Come into the little flock today. Come while we sing.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eternal purpose | prothesis tōn aiōnōn | a purpose of the ages, fixed before time | the church was planned, not improvised | the church was planned, not improvised | Eph. 3:11 |
| Little flock | mikron poimnion | a small, cherished flock under one Shepherd | the saved remnant who inherit the kingdom | the saved remnant who inherit the kingdom | Luke 12:32 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Church in God's eternal purpose | I | Eph. 3:10-11 |
| The true Israel, the remnant | II | Isa. 37:32; Luke 22:28-30; Gal. 6:16 |
| Descent set aside; new way of life | III | Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8 |
| The little flock receives the kingdom | IV | Luke 12:32; 22:29-30; Micah 4:6-7 |
| Christ's two uses of "church" | V | Matt. 16:18; 18:17 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 26. Doctrinal audit: core-framework — church as God's eternal purpose; church = kingdom (present), the true Israel/saved remnant; no Christianity apart from the church. No correction. Style audit: heavy OCR cleanup ("CHURCHIN"→"Church in"; "kin g-dom"→kingdom; "nucle us"→nucleus; references normalized). No source text line; primary text Eph. 3:10-11 supplied from the outline's lead reference.
