Eph. 4:15 "Instead, being sincere in love, we are to grow into a mature union in all respects
with the head, the Messiah, 16 from whom the whole body, being joined and held
together by
every supporting ligament, brings about for its own good, as each part does what it is
supposed to do, the body’s growth, so that it builds itself up in love."
Israel received their calling to be a priestly people who would be a blessing to the nations
by displaying His sacrificial love and compassion. It was too costly, they became inward
focused and ultimately lost all focus.
Messiah's community continued Israel's story as a gathering that would follow the Lamb
wherever He went, proclaiming the coming Kingdom and being a sacrificially loving
community that would make God known BY THEIR LOVE. Over time it became
organized and verbal and creed-oriented, and the life slowly leaked out. It became
inward focused and ultimately lost all focus.
God preserves a remnant, "one new man". They are marked by humility and a love of the
truth. They are sacrificially loving. They confess their faults to one another. They stay
on the wheel of God's sanctifying Holy influence. They fall and rise again knowing that
only by relying on the exchanged life, the Messiah in me can this good news go forth in
this evil age.
"If we don't all come, we don't come at all." Art Katz Part 1 "Speaking the Truth" message
