God's Message In Ephesians

Joshua 21
43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

I have been, this past few days, reading about the Church of God, the body of Christ, the true church, in comparison to the local church.

Scofield describes the theme of the true church in Ephesians here:

[Ephesians] contains the highest church truth, but has nothing about church order. The church here is the true church, "His body," not the local church, as in Philippians, Corinthians...

Scofield describes the theme of the local church in 1 Timothy here:

As the churches of Christ increased in number, the questions of church order, of soundness in the faith, and of discipline became important. At first the apostles regulated these things directly, but the approaching end of the apostolic period made it necessary that a clear revelation should be made for the guidance of the churches. Such a revelation is in First Timothy, and in Titus. The key-phrase of the Epistle is, "That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God."

The distinction between a local church and the Church of God, the body of Christ, is important to me. It is wonderful to be a member of a local church; but things do not always go well. Being a member of a local church can, indeed, at times, be a painful experience; and not edifying.  It is, however, always wonderful to be a member of the Church of God, the body of Christ, the true church; it is always a blessing. In the Church of God, things never go wrong.

And finally, the quote from Joshua above tells of the Hebrews receiving Israel, a gift from God.  In Ephesians, we Christians receive salvation, a gift from God, which is, "glory in the church."

Ephesians 3
19 .... know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.