The True Work of the Church

Today, the church stands before its promised land and faces the same decision the Israelites once did. We can believe God or choose to doubt. We can trust his words or deny them.

Dome of the Rock, by Haley Black, via Pexels

Conquest of Canaan

Today, the church stands before its promised land and faces the same decision as the ancient Israelites. We can believe God or choose to doubt. We can trust his words or deny them. One path is fraught with struggle and hardship, but is a promised victory. The other is filled with the same, but leads to death in an empty wilderness. Either way we will eventually enter the promised land. However, I suggest we skip the forty-year wilderness safari. 🙄

The conquest of Canaan is more than a bygone event. Yes, archeological evidence supports the historical account ¹. But the Exodus from Egypt, deliverance through the sea, and subsequent conquest is reflected symbolically throughout Scripture. It is our own deliverance from the bondage of sin (exodus from Egypt), through the sea (baptism of Jesus), and into a promised land.

Jesus gave his church a land to possess just as God gave Canaan to the Israelites. And similarly, he goes before us, with us, and behind us, guiding and providing all we need. The charge Jesus gave his church is to conquer, but not by human means. Today, we stand before our promised land and are faced with the same decision as the Israelites. Let us hold onto the promise of God and enter, not grasp at the mists of fear and be found unworthy.

So, what land has God called his church to possess?

Domain of Satan

2 Corinthians 2:11 says, “for we are not ignorant of his (Satan’s) devices.” Similarly, Sun Tzu wrote, “Know thy enemy.” So, before discussing our conquest, let us better understand our foe.

The land of Canaan was filled with…you guessed it, the Canaanites. They were numerous, prosperous, and huge. The Hebrew scouting party even reported seeing giants in the land. Similarly, the land we are called to possess is occupied by our spiritual enemy, Satan and the kingdom of darkness.

At one time, Satan had access to heaven. How that worked, I don’t know. When details are absent from Scripture, it’s for reason. But Job 1:6 states, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” So, there you have it.

However, Satan has now lost certain access to heaven he once enjoyed. In Revelation 12, we read about a heavenly battle that occurred after Jesus ascended into heaven:

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

”Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down…”

Further, Scripture indicates Satan is the ruler of this world, such as in Ephesians 2:2 where it calls Satan “the prince of the power of the air.”

A Defeated Ruler

Although Satan’s domain includes this earth, he is a defeated enemy. Reference Luke 10:17-18 where Jesus sent seventy of his disciples to prepare the way ahead of him and they returned with this report:

“Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

Jesus witnessed Satan’s fall, and he gave his disciples - his church - authority over this enemy. However, Satan acts similarly to the kings of Canaan who stubbornly remained in the land despite knowing defeat was a soon coming certainty.

Before his crucifixion Jesus announced, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:31-32). And, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Here Jesus proclaimed Satan’s present defeat, Satan’s exile from this world, and the establishment of his own authority and reign.

Who Is the Church?

It seems simultaneously ludicrous and humorous that God Almighty, creator of the universe, when planning his redemption story was like, “I think we’ll pick twelve misfits, give them a little training on the most important message of all eternity, then send them into the world to deliver it.” That was his game plan? Really? Twelve dudes on a mission?

Yet, it was.

And the simple fact that this message is still changing lives is evidence that its power comes not from its human heralds, but the Spirit within them.

To be clear, the church is not catholic. It is not protestant. Jesus and the apostles made no such distinctions. When considering the church, approach it with a clear mind, and define it according to Scripture. Below is what God says about his church.

The church is one. It is across all denominations, all nations, all continents, all languages, all cultures. The richest and most powerful nobleman joins the church the same way as the most wretched, broken, dying outlaw - through belief in Jesus.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21).

The church is founded upon Jesus, and that he is the Christ.

“Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18).

The church is anyone who believes the message of Jesus.

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

The church is a continuation of Jesus. Remember the parable of the mustard seed? The kingdom of heaven is in us, the church, and that kingdom began with the seed of Christ.

“But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:23-24).

The church is the fullness of Christ. This is a difficult one for me to comprehend. Christ ascended into heaven and left us humans in charge of spreading the good news. 🤔 Somehow, we are the physical state of Christ on earth for other human beings to witness and be drawn to him.

“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Each one of us, the church, are seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. God doesn’t do anything halfway. 😊

“But God…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

What is Our Purpose?

God is purposeful. He created Adam, then put him to work in the Garden of Eden, to tend and keep it. Further, consider his purposefulness regarding his word when the prophet wrote, “But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Thus, what is God’s purpose for his church?

To love one another, including in action and in community. God enjoys his church creating community. Think about it. He even built feasts into the law that required all Israel to gather in Jerusalem at least three times each year.

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Unity, so that the world may know Christ.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23).

To be the light of God in the world.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

To preach the gospel to the world.

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Notice the common theme in the Scriptures above? The church exists to bring glory to God. It’s not about us. Well, it is, and it isn’t. Mainly isn’t. Yeah, it’s complicated. 😊

What is Our Domain?

Satan has – rather, had – a domain. So, what is the domain of the church? What promised land has he given us that we need to possess. Ready?... It’s all of it.

The church’s domain includes ALL nations. Jesus sent us to them. They all belong to him and are under his authority. Every last person. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus was not speaking of earthly governments with boundaries marked upon a map, but of all peoples.

In fact, the kingdom of heaven has already come. When we pray the Lord’s prayer “Thy kingdom come”, we aren’t asking for it to arrive sometime in the future. Yes, Jesus most assuredly will return the same way he ascended as Scripture states. But the Lord’s prayer is a declaration that his kingdom is already upon the earth, alive, and within us. Notice the verb tenses in these Scriptures:

“But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20).

“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).

Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of the air (this world), but he is as a defeated enemy and we are to drive him out and claim our land. Jesus sent out the twelve, then he sent out the seventy, then he sent out all of us through the great commission.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:31-32).

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (Luke 17:18).

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:18).

But we must possess this land which God has given us. We don’t conquer as the world does, but by making disciples.

The True Work of the Church

Each one of us is chosen by God. We are to love one another and our enemies. We are to make disciples wherever he sends us. We are to enter and possess whatever land he gives us. The church is an army dropped behind enemy lines with orders to conquer and drive out the enemy. Jesus said, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Gates do not attack. Gates defend. Jesus was saying his church would attack the gates of hell, and those gates would not prevail.

The work of the church? To be the body of Christ to the entire world. But God also gives each of us a personal land to possess. It may be ourselves, our family, our work, our community, or all of those. Wherever God sends us, at home or abroad, we are to step in faith and confidence that God has gone before us, is with us, and is our rear guard. He’s already been wherever he’s pointing you toward. We are not to tiptoe about apologetically. The land upon which we stand belongs to God, and we are to conquer and possess it.

When becoming a Christian, many suppose they step upon a cruise ship where all their needs will be met, and they’ll finally enjoy rest. But soon their brows knit upon realizing gray paint covers all the decks and bulkheads, and the boat’s crew is scurrying about dressed not in white uniforms but drab green fatigues, and explosions enliven the sea. Above all the noise of a horn blares a familiar warning, though they’ve never heard its sound before. Christian, that’s the sound of general quarters.

No, soldier, we are at war. Welcome to being alive.

“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

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Footnotes

1. What Archaeology Tells Us About Joshua’s Conquest

Photo Credits

Kingdoms_around_Israel_830_map.svg: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons