The Reflection of Heaven in the Local Church

"[E]ach local church is not seen primarily as one member parallel to a lot of other member churches, together constituting one body, one church; nor is each local church seen as the body of Christ parallel to other earthly churches that are also the body of Christ--as if Christ had many bodies. Rather, each church is the full manifestation in space and time of the one, true, heavenly, eschatological, new covenant church. Local churches should see themselves as outcroppings of heaven, analogies of 'the Jerusalem that is above,' indeed colonies of the new Jerusalem, providing on earth a corporate and visible expression of 'the glorious freedom of the children of God.'"
D.A. Carson, Evangelicals, Ecumenism, and the Church (pg. 366)
Quoted in Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ (pg. 148)

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7 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Mike
    Apr 1st 2007

    How does accountability of different churches work in this idea? It seems to me that if each church is a stans alone rep of heaven and as stated in one of your previous articles, the body of Christ, then each church should just look out for themselves. Maybe I am way off, I am rather tired.

  2. Chris
    Apr 1st 2007

    @Mike: Ya, you are way off, but since you were tired we'll let it slide this time! :) He is basically that each individual local church should be a reflection of what take place at the gathering of the universal which is in heave. See my first "Similar Post" for more info.

  3. Mike
    Apr 3rd 2007

    alright. I am glad I was wrong. I read it. Very interesting.

  4. Tom
    Apr 14th 2007

    Chris,

    Do you see a difference between Carson's statement and this from an E. Orthodox brother?...

    "But the Church is not simply the aggregate addition of all the Christians. It is, rather, the mystical Body of Christ that incarnately exists in time and space and has real, historical and uninterrupted continuity with the New Testament Church." T.

  5. Chris
    Apr 15th 2007

    @Tom: From that short quote it seems that the writer is referring to the "church" in terms of the sum total of the redeemed and not how the local church should reflect heaven.

  6. Tom
    Apr 15th 2007

    Chris,

    Actually, I see the statement as going beyond the aggregate of all Christians. The last phrase is stated very definitively..."real, historical and uninterrupted continuity with the NT Church."

    I guess the question is; Can a local body of Believers be the Incarnate Body of Christ if it doesn't have historical continuity with the NT church? Tom

  7. Chris
    Apr 15th 2007

    @Tom: Maybe I'm not understanding something. I'm afraid I just don't understand what is being asked. Could you elaborate more and give a link to more context surrounding that quote above?

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