Greetings,
We are joined to one another for the purpose of bringing God’s life into the earth. We are the fullness of Christ in bodily form, but without one another we lack the ability to be the full expression of the body of Christ. Only as joined members can we express the fullness of Christ in bodily form. This is the church. It is not meant to be a religious organization filled with rules and forms of structure, but a living body filled with the life and presence of Christ for the purpose of the kingdom of God upon the earth.
I believe that the body of Christ is the virtuous wife of eternal Adam, Jesus Christ. We are members of the help-mate of Christ, the help-mate of Christ in all things. The attributes of the Proverb’s chapter 31 woman are to be attributes each of our lives as members of the body of Christ. Let’s look at some of those attributes and I will continue with this in my blog next week.
Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
The help-mate of Jesus, the church, lives to do good. She lives to make the world around her a better place. She is the life-giving womb of God that changes the environment around her to an environment of life. She changes thigs to become things of true value. She is secure in who she is. She lives for the family name. This is true for each member and for the corporate expression of the body of Christ in every form.
Proverbs 31:11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain.
She is trustworthy and has full access to all that her husband has. The church is growing in the character of Christ and has access to the full name given to her in Christ. The name of Jesus is the head of her life and His salvation brings to her the true identity of all that she is. She knows her husband and her husband knows her. She expands the boundaries of her husband’s posterity, because she comes alongside of Him in all things. All that is His is hers and she brings the fullness of His life into all that she is and does.
Proverbs 31:12 She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
The church does good for her husband’s name. When you see her, you see her husband and she walks in all of the life-giving authority that is found in Christ the head and Christ the body. The will of the Father is made known in all of her ways.
Proverbs 31:13 She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.
Wool and flax are the substance of weaving. Weaving consists of intertwined stands that bind together to create a strong material of purpose. The strength of woven material is found in the relationship of strands intertwined with one another. The Church sees ‘relationship’ as the purpose of her hands and her hands empower ‘relationships’. She lives for significance, not success. She lives to empower others, not to become powerful because of them. She is the substance of Christ and she lives to love and doesn’t get her identity out of what she does.
Proverbs 31:14 She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.
The Church lives to embrace new things. She is willing to reach for her supply, like a merchant ship is willing to trust the wind in its sails to go on ventures that secure provisions for visions beyond the present horizon. The Church, like the Proverb’s 31 woman, is willing to stretch to do new things and go new places. In this venture, she is willing to discover new things for the purpose and glory of God in the earth. She seeks new things for the family inheritance.
Proverbs 31:15 She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.
She lives for purpose and not comfort. She is not afraid of the unknown, for faith is her motivator and that faith is facilitated by love. It is that love that inspires her to rise in the darkness to provide food for her household. She lives for the wellbeing of others. She provides for friends and servants of her household. Her destiny is that of Christ, to bring life to the world.
Proverbs 31:16 She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard.
She has a 100-year plan. The plan includes a third and fourth generation. She knows that the things that cannot change today will be changed tomorrow because she lives to be a blessing and to multiply life in that is beyond her own generation. In this, she purchases real estate and establishes vineyards. She seeks to possess the earth and to cause the earth to give life to the community. She invests her profits for future generations. She lives to change the world through generational inheritance. This is the ekklisea, the Church, the sanctified wife of Jesus, the body of Christ.
Proverbs 31:17 She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms.
She strengthens herself for she knows her purpose to reach out to others. She knows that her destiny is to bring salvation to people and situations. Her strength is not the strength of the flesh, but the power of the Spirit within her. She is one who carries an anointing and an impartation of life. She knows how to be strong in everyday situations. Her strength comes from within her.
As leaders in the body of Christ, we must set an example in and leading others in:
- Living to do good, being secure in who we are, and living for the family name.
- Being trustworthy and knowing we have full access to all that Jesus has.
- Knowing Jesus and knowing Jesus knows us.
- Expanding the boundaries of the posterity of Jesus.
- Doing good for Jesus’ name.
- Being living examples of who Jesus is.
- In seeing ‘relationship’ as the purpose of our hands and our hands as the empowerment of ‘relationships’ in life.
- Living to embrace new things.
- Living for purpose and not comfort.
- Having a 100-year plan and seeking to change the world through generational inheritance.
- Strengthening ourselves because we live to bring salvation to people and situations around us.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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