Preacher Alex Kurz, Shorewood Bible Church, gave this message on Aug. 30 about us, as members of the church the Body of Christ, being called and identified by the singular name Christ:
As the one new man, this new entity, we enjoy a level of oneness--we are so fully identified with Jesus Christ that we're called by His name. Now that's high ground.
Paul writes in II Corinthians 12:12: [12] For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
Could Paul have ended verse 12 with 'so also is the church'? It would have been a true statement, but Paul is calling the church Christ. It's highlighting this level of deep oneness. He's using Christ's name in describing you and me.
Technically, Christ is not a proper name but essentially it is. 'Christos' has to do with being anointed. That, by the way, is why it's called the 'anointed cherub.' I just want you to recognize Paul has no problem using the name, the title of Christ in describing us as joint members of His body. We are anointed.
II Corinthians 1:21 says, [21] Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Can I be called by His name? I'm anointed.
We as the church--a corporate entity, a corporate organism--are called by Jesus Christ's name. We are that intimately connected in oneness.
Do you know any place in the Bible where a plurality of people can be called by someone's name? Genesis 5 says, [1] This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; [2] Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
As far as God's concerned, He called their name a singular Adam. What does God see in the dispensation of grace as He's forming this glorious body, which is His body? We adopt His name. You understand, Eve does not become Adam but she is called by Adam's name.
We don't BECOME Jesus Christ but we're called by His name. That should stir our hearts because God sees Christ when He sees you and I.
God has no problem calling Eve Adam. There is this spiritual oneness that qualifies us by Christ's name. That is startling. It almost borders on heresy, but it isn't anymore heresy than it would be to call Eve by Adam's name.
Where did Eve come from? That's critically important because, in order for you and I to be called by the name of Jesus Christ, where did we come from?
Genesis 2:7 says, [7] And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
I Corinthians 15 says, [47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Now what is characteristic of the Lord Jesus? As the last Adam, the second man, He's spiritual; He's the Lord from heaven. Eve has the right to be called Adam. She qualifies to be called Adam because Eve was not a separate external species. Eve was not a foreign kind.
So what parallel can we draw from that? Christ's body cannot be some sort of external species, some sort of foreign kind of creature. Just as Eve was taken out of Adam, guess where we come from? You see, in order to be called by Christ's name, where do we come from? We're not an external, independent separate kind of creature. Christ's body is taken out of who? Christ. That's why we, corporately, get to be called by His name.
Genesis 2 says, [18] And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
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19] And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
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20] And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
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21] And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
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22] And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
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23] And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
[24] Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
There's a lot of discussion about that language. Drop down to verse 20: [20] And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
Did those animals come out of Adam? God says not one of those creatures can be meet; a help meet for Adam. They're disqualified. You talk about incompatibility. When it comes to these other kinds and types of creatures, they're not meet. God has to do something to produce and to create a help meet because no external species qualifies.
That term help meet came from the Bible. That's true of the word beloved, too. There was no English word prior to the King James Bible that was coined beloved. The Oxford English Dictionary tells you it is a Bible word; it wasn't coined by linguists.
So you have the Bible that will produce words that convey doctrine. By the way, the voice from Heaven came saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'
Guess what, in Christ you and I are qualified to now be as equally, excessively, greatly first-loved and adored. Because where are we? In the beloved one.
What right does God have to love you with such fury? With such excessive extravagance? Because He places us in the object of His love.
The word help meet, in the 1600s, they put the two words together. Oxford says that's absurd. Well, it might be absurd if you're a linguist, but it's not absurd if you believe the Bible. I've said it before that the Bible is sometimes accused of having bad grammar.
You see how at the end of verse 20 there was not found a help meet. The concept of being a help meet, yes, it carries the idea of being suitable, but suitable in what way? Suitable because what God wanted for Adam was an individual who was truly His counterpart. Someone who is truly equal with Adam.
Even the Oxford dictionary, they understand that word meet carries with it the meaning, 'even with, equal to, on the same level.' God wanted Adam to have someone who was a reflection, a replica of Adam. How can you get a replica, or a mirror image, or a reflection of Adam in a cow, an eagle, or any other kind of animal?
The idea of being meet has to do with God producing a counterpart of Adam. In other words, one that is now formed out of and from Adam. And whoever is going to come out of or from Adam is an individual who possesses a perfect resemblance to Adam. Eve is now going to signify one who is like Adam, standing opposite to or before Him. That is going to imply that Eve--she truly is an equal to Adam. Eve was not created to be inferior or superior to Adam.
God took a rib from Adam. He didn't take a bone from the foot, which would suggest she's under his feet. Nor did He take a bone from the head to suggest she now is going to be superior. God took it from the rib. She's supposed to be by my side. This was before the Fall in Genesis 3.
Eve now can only be a help meet, someone who is truly suitable. Whoever's going to help Adam has to be made out of the same material. It has to be of the same type, same species, of the same kind, so the only way that Eve can ever be called a help meet is if God takes the DNA, takes the material Adam already possesses. Eve is a counterpart of Adam because she came out of him. The only way we can be a counterpart of the Lord Jesus is if we have His life.
How can you be called by the name of Christ unless you possess His spiritual DNA? Just as Eve was taken out of Adam, guess what God is doing in forming the church the Body of Christ? He's going to take something out of His beloved Son and create a new creature possessing the identity of His Son; the spiritual DNA of His Son, possessing the life of His Son.
Galatians 2:20 says, [20] I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Christ liveth in ME! I get to be called by His name because I share in His life. Does Eve share in Adam's life? She came out of him. Notice Genesis 2:[21] And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Just remember there's a reason for God doing what He's doing in verse 19. You notice how Adam is naming the animals? Adam was the first scientist, if you really think about it. What God's doing is enjoying the creative genius, the wisdom of His son, Adam. He didn't call a cow 'green.' He didn't call a bird 'water'? Why are there specific names? Those names carry meaning. But none of them were named 'Adam' because they're external creatures.
Verse 20. There's a connection to these foreign species. None of them are qualified to be called Adam so God caused a deep sleep. Deep sleep in the Bible typifies death. In order for Eve to be taken out of Adam what has to happen to Adam first? Go to sleep.
Before you can be taken out of Christ, that is possessing His DNA, what did Christ have to do first? He had to die. Do you know that when they first introduced anesthesia, there were in some ranks of the church an aversion to it and they actually used verse 21 to convince people that anesthesia was okay? Didn't God put Adam to sleep to perform surgery?
God's a surgeon. Why did He have to cut the flesh open? Do you think God had a scar? Here's an idea. What reminds me that I'm married? What did Adam possess that always served as a reminder for the almost 900 years that he lived? He had a scar. Jesus is going to retain His human scars forever, do you understand that?
Could God have just miraculously created a rib? God cuts Adam open, removes a rib and closes the flesh thereof. I think it's a safe bet to say Adam always had a scar. Boy, you talk about typology. Can you imagine an emotional scar that he also carried the rest of his life when he in Genesis 3 partook of the fruit?
If you take a slice of cake is that cake complete with a missing slice? Isn't there a vacancy there? So God takes something out of Adam and there is an empty space. But did God leave Adam incomplete, lacking something? God did something better.
Notice we don't fill the vacancy in that cake with a banana or pickle. What do you need to bring the cake back to its fullness? The slice of cake. God doesn't just fill the void with something that is extremely distinct and foreign. He takes Adam's material; He takes what already is Adam, belongs to Adam and He now creates Eve, who is an equal counterpart. He brings Eve to Adam and God says, 'You're name, Adam and Eve, is Adam.' Eve is a counterpart because she's made out of Adam. She came out of him.
Look at how complete, how deep, the union is between Adam and Eve. Verse 22: [22] And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
[23] And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Who quotes verse 23 in his epistles, specifically the Book of Ephesians? Why does Paul use this verse to describe a glorious relationship?
Think about a parallel in Ephesians 1: [4] According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
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5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
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6] To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Did God choose Eve to be Adam's help meet? Is there any record of Adam saying, 'Oh, God, I wish you'd give me a help meet'? There is no record of Adam asking for it. It was God who said, 'I'm going to choose a help meet and it's got to be you; a part of you.'
Salvation is not about you. Eternal life, justification, imputed righteousness has everything to do with what the Father and the Son achieve. God already saw something; God already saw Eve before Adam knew anything about it. Eve was already in him; she was hidden. Now isn't that a parallel there?!
Ephesians 3:9: [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
We're joint members. We're permanently, eternally attached one to another. That's why Paul is using the human body. The finger can't say I'm better than the toe. The eyeball can't say I'm better than the heart. We're all one whole and that demands that we reject inferiority and superiority. We're all equal; We're counterparts one to another.
Adam never said, 'I'm going to name that Adam.' There was no suitable help meet but God already knew, 'I know where I'm going to get the help meet; I'm pulling it out of him.' You see what's happening here; the parallels?
Ephesians 5 is called the great Magna Carta for marriage. Notice verse 30: [30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
What did we just read in Genesis 2? You see we are a counterpart. And that's why I get to be called by Christ's name. Just like Eve had every right to be called Adam. We are an extension of Jesus Christ. We are members of His Body, of His flesh, of His bones.
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31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
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32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Our union is so complete, so inseparable we're called His body, we're called His flesh, we're called His bones. Just like Eve. They two, the both of them, are called Adam.
The counterpart is going to have to come out of Adam. Eve's got to possess his life, his identity. That's why God says, 'You're one.' 'I just took something from you, Adam, and I gave it back to you in a better vehicle.'
Romans 8:32 says, [32] He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Jesus was delivered up for our offenses. He was delivered up. God the Father did not hold back. He spared not. I mean, when God's wrath was poured out against His Son who was made sin for us, made a curse for us, the Father didn't spare the full fury of offended righteousness.
But notice, 'How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?' Isn't that interesting. Via Christ's death we now are given all things. When you go back to the Garden, via Adam being put to sleep, a type of death. Adam gets a far better package. He got the better end of the deal, by the way.
Ultimately, why did God insist that Adam have a help meet? What was God's purpose in creating Adam in the first place. Genesis 1:28: [28] And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Listen, the reason God created Eve, by taking her out of Adam, is because in order for Adam to reign and rule, he needed a co-regent. The two of them TOGETHER are now given the position of dominion.
There is this joint-rulership that was entrusted to Adam and Eve. What is the church the Body of Christ ultimately destined to do? Ephesians 1: [21] Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
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22] And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
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23] Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Was Eve the fullness of Adam? Remember there was an empty spot. God says, 'Adam, here is your complement. Here is the one completes you.'
Now, the world steals that. Remember that movie with Jerry Macguire and everybody just melted when he ran up to the girl and said, 'You complete me.' Wait a minute, God took Eve out of Adam and brings her back and she now is by right his fullness. Adam was the one who had the right to say to Eve, 'You complete me.'
Our Savior is so gracious that He has a body which came out of Him. A body which God chose. It was hidden in God's thinking, His mind, just like Eve.
We were chosen in Christ. As His fullness, we're going to reign and rule together with Jesus Christ in the heavenly places, just as Adam and Eve were commissioned to reign as co-regents having dominion over the earth.
Paul sets the stage before providing tremendous detail about the inner workings and the relationship of the body. He begins when describing the inner function by saying, 'Christ, don't forget your name.'
Galatians 3:27: [27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
This is a positional statement; Paul's not talking about 'put on, put on' like he does in Ephesians. Pointing to I Corinthians 12:13 ([13] For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.) Paul to the Galatians says, 'We've been baptized into Christ.' What's the difference? There is none. Did you catch that? Do you understand what a high calling? You and I are called by His name.
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Jordan from last Sunday evening: "Israel was called my son and yet Israel is also identified as a woman. Why would Israel be called a son and then a woman? The Body of Christ is called the one new man and yet it's likened to a chaste virgin. Why would the different genders be identified that way?
"Genders and pronouns that represent gender are used as metaphors to describe the roles and the functioning of things and that's what's going on. The issue of Israel being a son is not the issue of Israel being a male in gender. It's what it means to be a son."
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Jordan from his message on divorce: "When Paul talks about departing, divorcing, leaving your marriage, that always takes place before the paperwork gets filed. The paperwork catches up with that. That reality, those choices have been made before the paperwork. Sometimes people say, 'Well, I'm not going to be the one to divorce my spouse because I'm not going to be the one to file the paperwork,' but they've already departed from the marriage. It's not the issue of filing it, it's the issue of departing that's the big thing. Sometime people torment themselves about things that aren't what the reality is and they focus on the wrong things and they can't solve the right things."
(new article later today)
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