Metaphors Of The Church

METAPHORS OF THE CHURCH
The Bible uses a number of word pictures to portray the church. We call these pictures “metaphors.” In each of these metaphors, a physical object is used to illustrate some specific aspect of the church.

1. The Church as a Body. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). The point made by Paul in this passage is that the church is much more than an organization. It is an organic living body. Though it is composed of many different parts, it is still a single body. This has several ramifications. The principle of unity: There is to be unity within the church. A body that is divided is soon a corpse. If the church is to be healthy and alive, it also needs to be united. The principle of diversity: This means there should be diversity within the unity of the body. Just as the body is made up only of arms or only of legs or only of eyes, so the church is not to be made up only of pastors or only of evangelists or only of exhorters. The principle of headship: Jesus is the head of the body. Each of these metaphors has a focus upon Jesus as the leader of the church.

2. The Church is a Vine.

We no longer live in an agricultural economy, so we are not as attuned to such metaphors. This particular symbol is drawn from the Old Testament nation of Israel.

8 Thou didst remove a vine from Egypt;

Thou didst drive out the nations, and didst plant it.

9 Thou didst clear the ground before it, And it took deep root and filled the land. (Psalms 80:8-9). The nation of Israel was God's vine. He chose Israel out from all of the other nations of the world to be His own nation and His own people. Like a farmer who chooses one vine out of his vineyard upon which he bestows special care, so the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt and planted her in a cultivated field of His own choosing, giving her His law and His ordinances. However, there came a time of harvest. It was a time for God's nation to produce fruit.

Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. 2 And He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. (Isaiah 5:1-2).

After all the care and devotion that the Lord gave for His vine, when the time arrived that there should be fruit, the fruit that was produced was not of a kind to be desired. It was fruit, but it was not the right kind of fruit. Isaiah goes on to say in Isaiah 5:7 that the Lord looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Jesus takes this same analogy of the vine of the Lord and adds something new and different. He says that He is the vine and that we are only considered to be a part of that vine if we are connected to Him.

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:1-2). As the vine, Jesus is the source of nourishment to all of the branches that make up its different parts. When Jesus calls Himself the true vine, He seems to be distinguishing Himself from those other false vines that might claim to be vines in their own right. The principle that is the key ingredient in the fruitfulness of the church is centered in its relationship with the Lord. It is only as the branch is connected to the vine that it is able to bear fruit. Cut a branch from the vine and you also cut it off from the very source of life. Inversely, it is by the fruitfulness of the branch that you can tell whether it is connected to the vine.

3. The Church is a House. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22). The concept of the house of God goes back to the Old Testament. When Moses led the Israelites into the wilderness, God gave specific instructions for the building of a tabernacle. When it was completed, the presence of God, as manifested by the cloud, came and rested upon the tent of meeting.

Later, when the tabernacle was replaced by Solomon's temple, the same cloud was seen to fill the temple, signifying that God had moved into His house. Likewise, the prophets of the exile spoke of the presence of the Lord departing from His temple. Even when the temple was rebuilt after the Babylonian Captivity, the post-Exilic prophets would do no more than promise that one day the Lord would return to His temple. When Jesus spoke of the temple of God being destroyed and raised again in three days, He was referring to the temple of His body (John 2:19-21). In Him all of the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19). The New Testament teaches us that the church is the house and the temple of God, both individually as well as collectively.

• Collectively the church is the temple of God: Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16).

• Individually each member of the church is a temple of God: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19).

We should understand it is not the physical structure in which the meeting of the church is held that is to receive such a high priority as the people who meet within that structure. They are the church. A church that recognizes this principle will not place so much emphasis upon the physical church structure and will center its attention on people.

4. The Church is a Bride. The nation of Israel was often described in the Old Testament as the wife of the Lord. The Song of Solomon was not only an ancient love story, it was also seen to be a picture between Yahweh and Israel. Likewise, Hosea's adulterous wife was a type of Israel going after false gods. The same imagery is seen of the New Testament Church. In Ephesians 5:25-33, as Paul presents an exhortation to husbands and wives, he said that these same truths apply to Christ and to the church. As such, the church is to be chaste, giving her single minded attention to her husband, We are not called to be “once-a-week saints.”

5. The Church is a Kingdom.

God promised to Abraham that He would make him a great nation (Genesis 12:2). When Moses led the Israelites from Egypt, God said they would be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). This same language is used by Peter to refer to the church. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). In the nation of Israel, the priesthood came through the line of Aaron while the kingly line descended from the tribe of Judah. During the days of the Old Testament, one could be a priest or one could be a king, but one could not be both. However, in the new kingdom there is a royal priesthood after the order of the very first priest-king, Melchizedek. The fact of the kingship of Christ means that, although we are still in this world, it no longer holds our citizenship. We have now become citizens of another kingdom.

6. The Church is a Flock. The Lord in the Old Testament often described Himself as the Shepherd of Israel. Psalms 23:1-6 starts off by saying, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Throughout Ezekiel 34:1-31, the Lord refers to the nation of Israel as His flock.

Jesus takes up this same title for Himself in John 10:1-18, saying in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” We are the sheep who belong to the Good Shepherd and, as His flock, we are called to follow our Shepherd with faith and obedience, listening to His voice so that we will recognize Him.

7. The Church is a Family.

Jesus speaks of entrance into spiritual life as being born again. When you are born, you find yourself entering into a family. We have been born again into the family of God and we have been given the privilege of calling ourselves the children of God (John 1:12). We have received an adoption—a placement into God's family as legal children and heirs. With this privilege comes great responsibility. We are to act the part of God's children.