Ever since God created Man, He has desired to live in harmonious community with him. Beginning with
Abraham, we see the longest-standing community of people who were pledged to walk with God - the people of the nation Israel.
Through promises and covenants, God made Himself known and available to the people of Israel, and they were meant to live
in fellowship with Him by following His laws and worshiping Him with pure hearts. They often failed to do these things
along the way, but God remained faithful to His promises.
When Jesus came to earth in mortal flesh just over two thousand years ago, He intended to expand and purify
that community of God's people that formed in the Old Testament. He came first to the lost sheep of Israel because it
was to Israel that the Messiah had been promised for so long. He came to call them to repentance and pure worship once
again. He also indicated, though, that He had come for sheep of another pen (Gentiles) and that they would come from
the east and the west (corners of the earth) to join in the eternal Kingdom of God.
This is all directly related to your relationship with Christ's people. You have entered into a covenant relationship
with God's and His people. That means you have agreed to submit to His ways and to accept His promises and provisions.
As you read the New Testament Scriptures, you'll find that living in obedience to Jesus Christ requires us to live in loving
community with other believers (i.e. in a church community).
The importance of being faithfully involved in a Christ-honoring local church is summed up in these two statements: 1)
We need to love God's children, and 2) We need to act in unity if we are going to accomplish the task Jesus left for us.
