Images of the Church

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mattrose
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Re: Images of the Church

Post by mattrose » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:29 pm

True---but in the New Covenant we are "...neither male nor female..." (Gal. 3:28) and we are "chosen" to be "a royal priesthood" (1Pet 2:9) so just as the "bride" is a metaphor for men and women alike, wouldn't the "priesthood" be a metaphor which includes both men and women too? Am I missing something?

BTW: Of course I could be wrong, but I have thought that "bride" can represent the whole body of Christ. What verses indicate it is speaking of an individual? I think it can represent individuals too, but I can't think of any scriptures to support that thought.
Yeah, we all agree that in the New Covenant the priesthood metaphor applies to both men and women. We are just stating that it is a POSSIBLY confusing metaphor since some people will think of the fact that in the Old Covenant only men were priests.

And the same goes for the bride metaphor. We agree that the bride image represents ALL believers, but we were simply saying that it might be a difficult metaphor for some people to grasp since a bride is technically 1 individual person.

Same thing for 'body.' We know the 'body of Christ' metaphor represents all Christians, but it's sorta hard to picture how a bunch of individuals can collectively be 1 body, let alone the body of another person (Christ).

In other words, all these metaphors are used of the same group (the collective church), but so many different metaphors are used b/c they all have limitations.


PS.. thanks all for continued feedback. I'm presenting these for discussion again on Sunday evening (the first round of discussion was fruitful)

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mattrose
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Re: Images of the Church

Post by mattrose » Sat Feb 14, 2015 11:36 am

I'm teaching this again. Thought I'd update the former notes with a few additional images and a few fixes on the references

Images of the Church

The Bible provides a number of metaphors when talking about the Christian ‘ecclesia’ that help us to better understand what it means to be God’s people. While keeping in mind that no metaphor is perfect, we can learn a lot from these ‘images’ of the church.

Aliens/Exiles/Foreigners
- Scattered throughout world (James 1:1, 1 Peter 1:1)
- Comparatively strange customs (1 Peter 2:11)
- Long for their true home (Philippians 3:20)

Ambassadors
- Speak on behalf of another King (2 Cor. 5:20)
- Agents of peace/reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)

Body
- A unified whole (Rom. 12:4, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:12-13, Ephesians 2:15-16, 3:6, 4:4-6, Col. 3:15)
- Diverse parts w/different functions (Rom. 12:4-6, 1 Cor. 12:14, Eph. 4:7)
- A complex system designed by God (1 Cor. 12:18)
- Interdependent (1 Cor. 12:22, 25-26)
- Submitted to the head (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:22-24)
- Growing to maturity (Eph. 4:12-16)
- Nurtured/Cared-for by head (Eph. 5:29)
- Must remain connected to head (Col. 2:19)
- Dead w/o the Spirit (James 2:26)

Branches of a vine/tree
- Grows to maturity (Matt 13:32)
- Meant to produce fruit (John 15:2, 8)
- Must remain connected to the vine to live (John 15:4)
- Made up of individual branches (John 15:5)
- Individual branches may be cut off (John 15:6, Romans 11:20)

Bride/Virgin
- Belongs to the bridegroom (John 3:29)
- Pure/virgin (2 Cor. 11:2)
- Makes herself ready, in beauty (Rev. 19:7-8, 21:2)
- Wants many to come to celebration (Rev. 22:17)

Children/Child/Son/Adopted
- Become so by being born (John 1:13)
- Loved by parents (Ephesians 5:1)
- Realize their dependence on parents (Matt 18:3-4)
- Accept simple revelation (John 1:12, Luke 10:21)
- Imitate their parents (John 8:39-40, Philippians 2:15)
- Legal heirs (Romans 8:17)

City
- Very noticeable/influential (Matt 5:14)
- Large in number (Gal. 4:26-27, Hebrews 12:22)
- Designed by architect (Hebrews 11:10)
- Targeted by enemy (Revelation 20:9)
- Defended by God (Revelation 20:9)
- Diverse population (Rev. 21:12, 14)

Family/Household
- Share in the persecution of the head (Matt 10:25)
- Cannot survive division (Matt 12:25)
- Care for one another (Galatians 6:10, 1 Tim 3:5)
- Unified by blood (Eph. 2:13, 19)
- Share a common name (Eph. 3:15, 1 Peter 4:16)
- Share in a common meal (1 Cor. 10:16)
- Unique code of conduct (1 Tim 3:15)
- Deals with its internal problems (1 Peter 4:17)

Kingdom/Nation/Israel
- A distinguished group of people (1 Peter 2:9)
- Distinct set of rules/laws (Galatians 6:16)
- People share a common bond (Eph. 2:11-13, 3:6)

Letter
- Sent with a message for another/others (2 Cor. 3:2-3)

Light/Lamp
- Exposes darkness, causes it to disappear (Matt 5:16)

Priesthood
- Holy (1 Peter 2:5)
- Make sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5)
- In full-time service to God (Rev. 1:6, 5:10)

Salt
- Used to preserve valuable resources (Matt 5:13)

Servants/Slaves/Workers
- Have been purchased (1 Cor. 7:23)
- Submit to the will of the authority (Romans 6:18, Eph. 6:6, Philippians 2:4-7
- Lack of freedom (1 Peter 2:16)

Sheep/Flock
- Lost w/o a shepherd (Matt 9:36, 26:31, John 21:16-18, 1 Peter 2:25, 5:2)
- Distinct from goats (Matt 25:31-33)
- Listen/Follow the shepherd (John 10:3-4)
- Cared for by shepherd (John 10:9, 11-13)
- Have predators (Acts 20:29)
- Sometimes sacrificial (Romans 8:36)

Soldiers/Army
- Put on armor (Ephesians 6:10-18)
- Obeys commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:4)
- Endures hardship/fight enemy (2 Timothy 2:3)

Temple/Building/Stones/Pillars
- Built on foundation (Eph. 2:21)
- Owned by god (1 Cor. 6:19)
- Home to a god (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19, 2 Cor. 6:16, Eph. 2:22)
- Will be defended by god (1 Cor. 3:17)
- Under construction, needs perpetual maintenance (Romans 15:20, 1 Peter 2:5)
- As strong as the quality of materials (1 Cor. 3:9-15)
- Has staff needing support (1 Cor. 9:13-14)

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