In God’s Eyes the Church is Sanctified, Perfect, and Beautiful for it is Full of Christ

Praise the Lord, in the eyes of God the church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful, for the church is full of Christ!

Balaam’s parables in Num. 23-24 portray Israel as being holy, perfect, and fair; in its standing the church is holy, in the sight of God the church is perfect, and in appearance the church is beautiful, fair. Hallelujah!

It really matters the way we see things; we deal with the same person in a positive or not so positive way depending on the way we view him. When God looks at us, His people, He doesn’t see us according to what we are in ourselves but according to what we are in Christ.

In Numbers we see the story of this king, Balak, who hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel; however, Balaam cooperated with God to bless them instead of cursing them, and three times he uttered blessing toward Israel.

If we were to look at the people of Israel with our human view, we would see a lot of troubles, rebellion, iniquities, and sins, but in this prophecy of Balaam, there is no such thing.

This word was spoken not according to the human view but according to the divine view; according to our human view, we see only the bad things and the spots, but according to God’s view, He sees the church as being perfect, wonderful, glorious, and beautiful.

This is not merely to speak positively concerning the church and thus ignoring all the bad things; rather, this is to speak from the divine point of view, according to the way that God sees things.

We need to be careful how we speak of the saints, the church, and the people of God; if we are careless, we may draw God’s curse instead of His blessing, for in speaking negatively of God’s people, we touch the pupil of His eye.

It’s not that God chooses not to see the sins and iniquities or that He turns a blind eye; rather, He sees us in Christ, and in Christ we have no blemish.

In God’s redemption and in Christ we have no defects; when God looks at us, He sees us according to what we are in Christ.

When we look at the saints, we need to see them as persons in Christ who are redeemed, accepted by God, and they are perfect, glorious, and beautiful.

When we have the divine view of His people, we will relate to them in a different way, and we will honor them even as God would, dealing with them according to God because we have the divine view of things.

Think about it: if God doesn’t see us in Christ, we are in big trouble; if we are not in Christ, the divine wrath comes in, and sinful man is under God’s judgment, but if we’re in Christ, we are in His beloved, and we are beloved to Him.

God loves Christ; He delights in Christ, for Christ is perfect, wonderful, and lovable, and we were put in Christ, so we are perfect, wonderful, and lovable by virtue of being in Christ.

At the Lord’s Table we come to worship the Father, being led by the Firstborn Son, to sing praises to Him; we hymn the Father in His hymning, and the Father sees us as being in Christ, so He has no choice but to receive us, love us, and do everything for us for we are in Christ.

Hallelujah, we have been transferred out of the old Adam and into Christ, so we should evaluate one another as being in Christ! When we see one another in Christ, we will no longer despise the saints or criticize the saints, for we realize that, if God would evaluate us that way, we would not stand.

The Church is Sanctified, Perfect, and Beautiful when it is full of Christ

When Balaam spoke of the children of Israel, he spoke both in prophecy and in type; on one hand he prophesied in the sense of foretelling how Israel will be, and in type he spoke of the church.

Balaam spoke three parables in his prophesying; in the first one he revealed that Israel is holy (Num. 23:9), in the second that Israel is perfect (v. 21), and in the third that Israel is beautiful (24:5).

If we read the book of Numbers we may never consider that the children of Israel are holy, perfect, and beautiful, but according to God, they are. “How fair are your tents, o Jacob, / Your tabernacles, O Israel!” (Num. 24:5)

Balaam’s first parable reveals that Israel is holy (23:9); the second, that Israel is perfect (v. 21); and the third, that Israel is beautiful, as indicated by the word fair (24:5). Hallelujah!

If we look at ourselves and have our human fallen view of ourselves, we may see a group of people who are quite terrible, who are wandering around…but God sees us in Christ, and He has promised that in Christ we are blessed.

In Christ as the Spirit all the nations are blessed, for the real blessing of Abraham is the Spirit, which we have received through faith. The blessing of the Spirit has come to the nations through Christ.

In its standing the church is holy, in the sight of God the church is perfect, and in appearance the church is beautiful, fair (see Eph. 5:27).

There may be some valleys in the church life, and we may go through the underpass; but we are going toward the goal, and we must learn to see through things to the goal of God’s calling.

May we see through things to the goal with insight and with foresight, realising that the church can never be defeated but it will be victorious!

In God’s eyes the church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful, for the church is full of Christ.

On one hand the church is out of Christ, being constituted only of the element of Christ, and on the other, the church is full of Christ; therefore, the church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful in God’s eyes.

God has chosen us, redeemed us, saved us, separated us, uplifted us, perfected us, and beautified us as His people, and we are His holy, perfect, and beautiful church.

This is how God sees the church and this is what Christ is working toward – He wants to present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Hallelujah!

In God’s eyes the church is sanctified, for the church is holy in its standing; the church is perfect, and in appearance the church is beautiful, fair.

Why? The church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful when it is full of Christ (Eph. 3:15-21; 4:13, 15); when Christ makes His home in our heart and the Triune God works Himself into us, we are beautiful, perfect, and sanctified.

In one sense we are in the process of being Christified and sanctified, and in another sense, we are being beautified, being adorned to be fully saved, full of Christ. May we see what God sees in the church, and may we see the church the way that God sees it.

May we realize that Christ is the content, the constituent, and every part of the church as the new man (Col. 3:10-11); when Christ fills all and in all, the church is the new man. So our focus should be on Christ, not pointing out the problems that occur in the process of our becoming the same as He is.

Hallelujah, the church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful when it is full of Christ! Thank You Lord for choosing us, selecting us, sanctifying us, saving us, perfecting us, and beautifying us to be Your holy, perfect, and beautiful church. We give ourselves to You, Lord, to be in this process of being Christified, sanctified, and beautified. Change our way of seeing things so that we may realize that in its standing the church is holy, in the sight of God the church is perfect, and in appearance the church is beautiful! Hallelujah!

Seeing the Actual Condition of Israel in the Millennium: they will be a Blessing to all the nations!

Though Balaam was a heathen prophet, God uttered some amazing prophecies through him, for he cooperated with God in that instance.

He said, ”Balaam the son of Beor declares, / And the man whose eye is opened declares; / He declares, he who hears the words of God, / Who sees the vision of the All-sufficient One, / Falling down, but having his eyes uncovered” (Num. 24:3b-4).

This means that his eye was open to the vision from God and his ear was on the alert to hear the word of God; Balaam cooperated with God to utter what was in God’s heart concerning His people.

He said that, ”Here is a people who live alone / And do not reckon themselves among the nations” (23:9b); this indicates that Israel is a holy people, a people sanctified unto God.

In God’s eyes, Israel is not reckoned among the nations; even today, if we have God’s view, we will regard Israel as a particular and separate people, a sanctified and holy nation.

Furthermore, Balaam said, ”He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob, / Nor has He seen trouble in Israel” (Num. 23:21a). This means that in God’s eyes Israel was without fault. Finally, in the sight of God Israel is fair, as indicated by the word fair (24:5).

God’s chosen people – His earthly people Israel – are chosen, redeemed, saved, separated, uplifted, perfected, and beautified in God’s eyes.

According to the Bible, this will be the actual situation of Israel during the millennium; today the Jews are not welcomed by the nations in this age, but they will be welcomed by the nations after the Lord Jesus comes back.

God promised to their forefather Abraham that his seed will be a blessing to all the nations (see Gen. 12:2-3); on one hand this seed refers to Christ who, as the Spirit, is the blessing to all the nations, and on the other hand, this seed refers to the people of Israel.

Eventually the Jewish people will be fully blessed by God, and they will be a blessing to the entire human race; this will take place in the millennium, after the Lord’s return.

One day, after the Lord returns, the nation of Israel will be a blessing to all the nations. Today the church is sanctified, perfect, and beautiful because it is full of Christ; this is the spiritual people of God.

The earthly people of God – the Jewish people – will be a blessing to all the nations.

We could say that God initially turned from Adam to Abraham, the called one, but then later He turned from Abraham back to the whole Adamic race through Christ, who is the seed of Abraham; after the Lord’s return, He will restore His earthly people and make them a blessing to all the nations in the millennium. Praise the Lord!

Praise You Lord for the promised blessing for all the nations in Christ Jesus who is the Spirit! Hallelujah, in Abraham all the nations are blessed, for out of him came forth Christ, and this One is the Spirit today to be the unique blessing! Amen, Lord, may we have the divine telescope to see the church the way God sees it, and to bless the church and also bless the nation of Israel! Lord, bless the church! Lord, bless Israel! May many come to enjoy the blessing of Abraham through Christ as the Spirit, and may Israel be restored in the millennium to become a blessing to all the nations!

Read this article in the Romanian language / citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, În ochii lui Dumnezeu, biserica este sfințită, desăvârșită și frumoasă, pentru că este plină de Cristos.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Numbers, pp. 258-259 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 11, The Vision of the All-Sufficient One – the Divine View of God’s People.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The Church is Christ’s own Body, / The Father’s dwelling-place, / The gathering of the called ones, / God blended with man’s race; / Elect before creation, / Redeemed by Calv’ry’s death, / Her character and standing / Of heaven, not of earth. (Hymns #824)
  # How glorious is Thy church, Oh Lord— / No trace of sin in her. / What myst’ry this: God died as man, / For, oh, He loves her so! / Glorious, Glorious church, / She is Thy dear Bride; / She was built from Thine own side; / She is the same as Thee. (Song on, How glorious is Thy church, Oh Lord)
  # Church of God, beloved and chosen, / Church of Christ for whom He died, / Claim thy gifts and praise the Giver, / Ye are washed and sanctified. / Sanctified by God the Father, / And by Jesus Christ His Son, / And by God the Holy Spirit, / Holy, Holy, Three in One. (Hymns #825)