Mysterious body of believers

Ephesians 3:6-11 NLT

And this is God's plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God's children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. [7] By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News. [8] Though I am the least deserving of all God's people, He graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. [9] I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. [10] God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was His eternal plan, which He carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

What do you think of when you hear the word "church"?

Do you think of various buildings usually with a cross on top?

The dictionary defines church as a building for Christian worship.

This is not what the Scriptures teach however.

For "church" read body of believers - a truly mysterious phenomena, representing and demonstrating the incredible plan of salvation in Jesus Christ - not only on Earth, but to principalities in the heavenly realms.

Now that sheds a whole new light on why Satan tries to spread division and heresy among followers of Jesus.

Such division disrupts the very purpose of God - to merge both Jew and gentile into one body in Christ.

I'm still coming to terms with my own negative connotations of church, based on harsh experiences in the past.

But I must never lose sight of the plan of God the Father to unite us all under the banner of Jesus' great love.

This is a joy to the heavenly angels, but a terror to the devil and his demons.

Matthew 16:18 AMPC

And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros-a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra-a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].