The Carpenter’s workshop — the Church as the workplace of God
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- God has a workshop in the world
The Church can be likened to the magnum opus of God, since the Church is a creature of God. The Church is the workmanship of the master craftsman, the handicraft of the creator. Surely, the Church is a phenomenal initiative of God, in the sense that, it is a creation among creatures, a unique world in the world, an establishment of grace, of people who are in the world, but are not of the world. The Church is analogous to the commonwealth of God in the world. But the Church is also the workshop of God, the workplace of the messianic God — where God works, where God is working and where God keeps working. The Church is the factory of God’s project of salvation; the agency of the civilization of God in the world. The Church is the workshop of the civilization of the Gospel. The Church is the workshop of the carpenter’s Son, where he and his Father are yet working (cf. Jn 5:17)
Therefore, God’s many instruments of work are found in the Church. The Church is God’s new tent of meeting (cf. Ex 33:7,9) with his people of the New Covenant. The Church is the tabernacle of the new Israel (cf. Mt 27:51; Ex 26;27), built on a high and holy rock, (Mt 16:18) within whose bosom, mankind gathers to encounter the Messiah-God. For this purpose, God enriched the Church with many treasures, many powers, many charisms, many children, many forms and levels of life, many spheres of influence and with many dimensions of operations.[1]
The Church is the house of God; the new temple of God. Every good thing is found in her. The Church is the treasure-base of God in the world. Within her, through her and for her, God works out his wonders and his mysteries. In her, by her and for her, God manifests his omnipotence — the mystery of his principality and supreme pre-eminence. The Church is endowed with the treasures of God and conferred with the powers of the Christ of God. (cf. Jn 20:21; 15:19) To the Church it is conceded, the keys of the kingdom of heaven (cf. Mt 16:19), which grants it the prerogative of participation in divine faculties, in divine potency and in the dominion of God. The Church and those withing the Church, have the power to bind and to lose, (cf Mt 18:18) with a jurisdiction extending from the earth to the heavens and even to the underworld. (Mt 28:18–20)
- the Church is a foretaste of Jesus’ everlasting kingdom
The Church is a type of the kingdom of God. It is man’s foretaste of the dominion of the eternal God. The Church is the rudiment or preliminary element of the long-foretold everlasting kingdom; that kingdom which will never pass away; (cf. Lk 1:33; Dn 7:14, 27; Gn 49:10; Is 9:7; 2Sam 7:13,16); the dominion of Jesus Christ, the ‘coming King of Zion’ (Zech 9:10), the Son of Man, whose sovereignty is divine (Dan 7:13; Is 9:6); whose province is from sea to sea, ‘from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth’ (Ps 72:8) The Church is a precursor of the reign of the one who ‘rules in the midst of his foes’ (Ps 110:2); to whom has been given dominion, glory, and kingship, so that ‘the people of every nation and language should serve him’. (Dan 7:14,18,27) Though the Church is localised on the earth and is administered by mere mortals, it possesses sacred power and transcendental authority.
The Church is invested with such authority, such power and glory, so that in her and by her the works of God will be done on earth. The Church functions as the workshop of God, the Carpenter’s workshop, because, in her and by her, the inscrutable designs of the messianic-God, the Saviour-God are consummated in the world. The Church is paragonised, not only as God’s temple and tent of meeting for the new Israel, but also as a place of divine workmanship, where the works of God are accomplished. Even today, the Church is like a foundry where God is working; where he is working out his wonders and filling the world with his goods.
- God’s instruments of work are found in the Church
The instruments and vessels of God’s work are therefore found also in the Church. The workmen of God, the divine workforce, are domiciled in the Church, the Carpenter’s workshop. This workforce of God consists of divine, angelic and human personnel. In the Church are found essentially, both the personnel and the powers by which God works in the world. Thus, as Paul instructed Timothy, the Church is divinely equipped for every good work. (2Tim 3:17)
This is why the Church is suited for both natural and supernatural dominion; this is why she holds the two keys[2] of temporal and spiritual powers; this is why the Church is capable of divine and human prodigies; this is why the Church can intervene in matters, both spiritual and material; this is why the Church is competent in dealing with both the affairs of the natural order, as well as those of the supernatural order.
By God, the Church has been endowed with many instruments of work, many spheres of influence and dimensions of operation. But God’s greatest gift to Jesus’ Church, is the gift of his Spirit, the Holy Spirit — which is the gift of power, spiritual power. With the gift of the Spirit and of power, with the gift of so many instruments and dimensions of operation, the Church has a legitimate and divine mandate to exercise authority and power in the world, in the everyday affairs of men and in the vicissitudes of life.
Michael Richmond Duru
3rd June 2022
https://michaelrichmondduru.medium.com/subscribe
[1] In the subsequent pages, we shall identify various dimensions of the operations of the Church. By this is referred, the various unique elements or structures of the Church and her various spheres of influence.
[2] Scott Butler, et al, Jesus, Peter & the Keys: A Scriptural Handbook on the Papacy, Queenship Pub Co, 1997, elaborates on the significances of Peter’s keys.
