Well, people of God in Christ, it all comes down to this. I'm sure you've heard this expression before. It all comes down to this. Perhaps at the end of the big game, with two seconds left on the clock, a man at the free throw line with his team trailing by one point. Or maybe at the end of a hard-fought football game, with one team lining up to kick what could be the game-winning field goal. Or maybe it's election night, after many months of campaigning, so that the newscaster says, ladies and gentlemen, it all comes down to this, the final moments that will decide the outcome and the winner of the election. It all comes down to this. That might have made a good title for this sermon, but as it is, the title we are using basically means the same thing. When it comes to the work of Christ, the Church of Christ, the title of this sermon, is the this, in the expression, it all comes down to this. We have spent the last six weeks considering the teaching of God's Word regarding the birth of Christ, and the life of Christ, and the suffering and death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, and the spirit of Christ. But it all comes down to this, the Church of Christ. In Matthew 16, Jesus makes this famous promise and declaration, I will build my church. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And what we must see is that with this statement, Jesus was not referring to something extra from what He was currently doing, or something other than His ministry as our Savior. As we've said, the reason He was born was so that He might live. The reason He lived was so that He might suffer and die. The reason He suffered and died was so that He might rise again from the dead, and the reason He rose again from the dead is so that He might ascend into heaven, and the reason He ascended to the right hand of the Father was to send His Spirit into this world, and brothers and sisters, it all comes down to this, that by sending His Spirit into the world, He might build His church. When we hear the word church, I think we are likely to think of a building, a physical structure made of wood and concrete, traditionally with a sharply gabled roof and a steeple. But when Jesus said, I will build my church, He had no such structure in mind. Instead, He was talking about people. He was talking about His people, so that the Apostle Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 2, As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But notice that as Jesus promised to build His church, notice the absolute certainty of it. In theological language, we would say the sovereignty of it. Jesus wasn't announcing a campaign, an effort. Jesus wasn't declaring his hope that enough people would respond to the gospel and become part of his church. Instead, Jesus said, I will build my church. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And so it all comes down to this, the Church of Christ. And as it does, let's take this as a first point, the Church is a new creation. And from the start, let's even get more specific, the Church is the new creation of Christ. In other words, the work that Christ did as our Savior was the work of a new creation. And to some degree, we started in on this point last time as we considered the Spirit of Christ. But we can carry it forward this time as we consider the Spirit of Christ and the Church of Christ. We can carry it forward by noting that in Scripture, the Spirit of God is a creative Spirit, is a creative force, capital F, force. Psalm 104 says of the Spirit of God and of all living things, when you send forth your spirit, they were created and you renew the face of the ground. And even from the beginning, do you remember in Genesis 1 verse 2, God's Word says, the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. So as we also said last time, so we say again, Christ did not do His work in order to make salvation available to sinners, but rather to accomplish salvation for them and to accomplish salvation in them. And so what we want to see even further this morning is that the church is this accomplishment. The church is a new creation. The church is the new creation of Christ. And here's the encouraging truth that we must keep in mind, that even as the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters in the beginning, even so now, the Spirit is hovering. hovering, as it were, over this world, always ready, always active, always working to further the new creation of Christ. In the creation story of Genesis 1, we see the Spirit of God hovering over a chaotic earth, a dark and formless earth, and that's really where we are today. People of this earth are committed to their sin. They are lovers of darkness, as John writes in the introduction to his Gospel. But even as the Spirit of God was hovering over the chaotic waters in the beginning, so now, by the finished work of Christ, the Spirit of God, His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, is hovering over this world of sin and of sinners. And it's not just hovering in the sense of waiting. That's not really what the Hebrew means when it says hovering. It's not just waiting. It's not just poised to work, but it's actually working. The Spirit applying the finished work of Christ to sinners, those who need salvation. but to sinners who need not just any salvation, but the salvation that is the matter of a new creation. And as a result, the church is the new creation of Christ. The church that has always existed, certainly since Jesus first said, I will build my church, that church has always existed because the Spirit of God is at work in this world, creating, creating, creating that church and sustaining, sustaining, sustaining that church in a world that is committed to its destruction. So even as we see from John's introduction to his gospel that John is telling us a new creation story so we can hear and learn from the apostles later on that the church is that new creation, Paul writes, This way, in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. And Paul writes this way because he is calling the church to see herself in this way, to understand herself, to understand that this is who she is in Christ. previous verse in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 16 says, "...from now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh." Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. And the point that Paul is making is not that Christ isn't still in our flesh at the right hand of the Father. We've covered that already. The point, instead, is that we know now that there was and is more to Christ than just the flesh. We no longer look upon Christ with just our physical eyes. We no longer regard Christ as just a figure from history. Instead, we must come to see that Christ is even our Creator. And as we look at each other now, as believers in Christ, we are looking not just at fellow creatures, but each of us is a new creation. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, writes Paul. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Again, Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 is a passage we looked at earlier to make it clear that Christ did not just make salvation available, but that He accomplished salvation in us. And it's a passage that starts out making it clear that salvation had come this way because it had to, because sinners are dead in sin. Paul writes, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. So Paul is not referring to sinners as being physically dead, although they soon will be, but Paul is referring to those who are spiritually dead in sin, so that they are following the devil, so that they are living in the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, so that they live every day as children of wrath. like the rest of mankind," says Paul. That's the state of man in sin. He's not physically dead, although he soon will be, but he is spiritually dead, which means that sinners are fully committed to their sin and to their own destruction under the wrath of God. But God, writes Paul, And here's the good news to match the bad news of sin, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ. And we can even put it this way, that the good news of salvation is that God in Christ recreated us. Because Paul even finishes in Ephesians 2, verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. And do we see it now? Do we see it clearly that Christians are not just those who have accepted a salvation made available to them? Instead, believers in Christ are the workmanship of God. Each of them a new creation, together a church created by Christ. And so Paul finishes, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. In other words, the church of Christ is the new creation created by God through the finished work of Christ our Savior. And so the second point, the church is the coming of the kingdom. The coming of the kingdom is a difficult teaching of God's Word because, on one hand, the kingdom is already here. In fact, the kingdom of God has always existed and has always been fully here. The entire universe is ruled by God every day. And yet, within His kingdom, there is another kingdom, the kingdom of the evil one. And mankind has come under the rule of the evil one himself. So, on the other hand, the Kingdom of God must come. And it must come in exactly this way, that more and more sinners are brought out of the Kingdom of Darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Christ. And that's what it means for the Kingdom to come. We might say, but how can the Kingdom come when God is already King of the entire universe? The Kingdom comes as sinners are recreated, as the Church grows by the ongoing work of the Spirit of Christ in this world. There are those in the Church today who get all upset, all disturbed when we equate to the Church and the Kingdom. The Westminster Confession of Faith even says, the visible Church consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion and of their children and is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what's wrong with that? Well, some would say it's wrong because it denies that the whole world is the Kingdom of God. But that's not the point that it's trying to make. And Jesus himself spoke clearly of the coming, the coming of the kingdom. And according to him, how does the kingdom come? It comes as more and more people, those who are rebel sinners, as they repent and believe in him and bow down to him as their king. In Luke 17, verse 20, it says, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, look, here it is or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And so regrettably, some of those who refuse to equate the kingdom and the church have wandered even further from the truth by claiming that the kingdom is coming all over the place these days. In fact, the kingdom is coming wherever secular humanism is working to end any kind of oppression in the world. The hungry are fed, minorities are better treated. The kingdom of God, they say, the kingdom of God. But where are the converts? Where are the knees bowing to Christ? You know, we can be well-fed and politically free and be just as bound for hell as the slave and the hungry. The Church is the Kingdom of Christ. It's in the Church where we see the coming of the Kingdom of Christ, because the Church is made up of those who are a new creation, and the Church is made up of those no longer in rebellion against Christ. Back to Matthew 16, Jesus said this, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So yes, there is a conflict of kingdoms within this world. The gates of hell represent the rule of the evil one within this world. And what's interesting in this teaching of Jesus is that the kingdom of the evil one is referred to here as being on the defensive. It's the church that is on the offensive and advancing in the world. But again, it's the church that is advancing against the gates of hell, against the kingdom of Satan. It's the Church. It's not the Red Cross. It's not the ACLU. It's not the American government, or any mere human government. Where is the Spirit of Christ at work? In the Church. So by all means, let's not cower in the corner. Let's be in the world, doing the work of Christ in this world. Let's advance against the gates of hell. And how is the Spirit of Christ at work? We go back to last time, through the preaching of the Word. And what happens when the Word of God is preached and the Spirit is at work? Sinners are converted to Christ. Rebel knees bow to Him, and a just society is formed. But where? In the church. In the church. The point, of course, is not that organizations like the Red Cross cannot do good in this world. It's not even that Christians shouldn't be involved in the work of such organizations. But woe to us when we leave off the work of the church. Because the Spirit of Christ is at work in the church. And the Spirit of Christ is at work for the building of the church and the coming of the kingdom. How else can the kingdom of Christ come? The kingdom of Christ is already here. Christ is ruling over this entire world. So the kingdom comes as rebels repent. And yes, as justice and righteousness prevail. So we've got work to do. and we must quit expecting the government to do it. It's the church that Christ is building, and it's the church that Christ has promised shall prevail, even against the gates of hell. Third, the church is the body of Christ. Here is a teaching that surely we know. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 27 says, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Ephesians 5, 29 and 30 says, For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Colossians 1, 24 says, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. Paul clarifies. We know that the Church is the Body of Christ, but do we realize the significance? Let's not just be into the vocabulary. To start with, if the Church is the Body of Christ, then we must be part of it as believers in Christ. If we belong to Christ by faith, then we belong to the Church. Even more, if the Church is the Body of Christ, then we must love the Church as we love Christ. It's His Body. Can we confess love for Christ and yet not love His body? Try that with someone else you love. I love you, but just not your body. I love you, but I'm not gonna care for your body. And it will always be a great challenge to love the church because the church is made up of sinners. So here we see that love is a verb. Essentially, love is not what we feel, at least not firstly so, but what we do. So, if we believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, then regardless of how we feel toward our fellow sinners and saints in the Church, we are called to love the Church. And we need to trust that as we, in faith, love the Church, then Christ, by His Spirit, will give us a growing feeling of love for the Church. According to the wisdom of this world, first you feel love, and then maybe you act in love. But we are called to act in love first, trusting that Christ by His Spirit will give us the feeling of love more and more. And why love the church? Because the church is the body of Christ, and we love Christ, our Savior and our King. But even further, if the Church is the Body of Christ, then we must expect that Christ will be doing His work through the Church. How do you do your work in this world? With your body. And you do it in your body. What sense does it make to say that the Spirit of Christ is at work in this world, but that He does His work apart from His body? And so again, the kingdom comes in the building of the church and the church is built, the work of Christ is done by the body of Christ, which is the church. And this again calls us to be part of the church. If we love Christ, then we must be counted among those who are carrying out the work of Christ. Of the Church, we can say this, that the Church is the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, carrying out the ministry of Christ, and all for the glory of Christ our King. Fourth, another teaching of God's Word is that the Church is the Bride of Christ. Revelation 21, verse 2 says, And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Next weekend, the Lord willing, I have a wedding to officiate, and once again I'm sure I will witness a bride in white walking down an aisle to be united with her husband. And here is a picture of Christ and the church. And it's a beautiful picture that God has given us in his word, and its beauty is found in this, that in this way we are given to understand how deeply, how deeply Christ loves his church. Surely Christ loves His Bride. Truly Christ will always, always care for us, His Bride. And what comfort it affords us to know that we are the Bride of Christ. But with this picture comes a calling as well, that again, we must love Christ. It's not enough that we should confess Christ, we must be part of the body of Christ. But it's not yet enough that we should be part of the body of Christ, we must love the body, exactly because the body is the body of Christ whom we love. But even more, if we love Christ, then we will love the church. And we will love Christ because we are His bride. So it all comes down to this, the Church of Christ. And what does God's Word teach us about the Church? It teaches us that the Church is that which Christ has built and that He is building in this world. And the church is nothing less than a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Behold, look upon the church and see the work of Christ. The birth of Christ, the life of Christ, the suffering and death of Christ, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the coming of Christ's Spirit, it all comes down to this. the Church, the coming of the Kingdom, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ. Amen. Please pray with me. Father in Heaven, our gracious God, we thank You for the finished work of Jesus Christ, and we thank You that according to Your eternal plan, For our salvation, this work of Christ is a new creation. O Lord, we look at each other and we can hardly believe it. We sit here so few in number and We must go by Your Word, not what our physical eyes would show us or tell us, and certainly not by how the world looks at us and scorns us and finds us so very pathetic. O Lord, You display Your strength in our weakness. And so here we are, full of weakness, very pathetic in this world, and yet we are Your new creation. Help us to see ourselves in this way, and O Lord, use us in Your power. And O Lord, may we indeed love the Church, even as we love Christ, because we are His body. This we ask and pray in Jesus' name. Amen.