The Apostles’ Creed: The ChurchSample

Union with Believers: John 17:22-23 Because every person in the invisible church is united to Christ, believers are also united to one another in Him. We see this in Romans 12:5, Galatians 3:26-28, Ephesians 4:25, and a number of other places. Consider the way Jesus spoke to the Father about this communion in John 17:22-23: > I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:22-23). Whereas our union with the visible church is relational and experiential, our union with the invisible church is spiritual and ontological. Our very beings are knit together through Christ and His Spirit. As a result, we all have equal dignity in Christ, as Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:14-16, Galatians 3:28, and Colossians 3:11. And we even experience each other’s joys and pains, as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:26. And the communion of the invisible church is not limited to the church on earth; it also extends to the church in heaven, to those believers who have already died and gone to be with the Lord. Just as believers on earth have a mystical communion with each other in and through Christ, we have the same communion with everyone who is united to Christ — including the believers who are now in heaven. Scripture teaches this idea in places like Hebrews 11:4 and 12:22-24. One striking image Scripture uses to teach this fact is the portrayal of the church as the bride of Christ. There is a sense in which the visible church is treated as the bride of Christ, but this is always with a view toward the perfection of the bride in the invisible church. We see this in the Old Testament in Isaiah 54:5-8, Hosea 2:19-20, and Ephesians 5:26-27. And the fulfillment of these images appears in the perfected invisible church in Revelation 19. Consider the account of John’s vision in Revelation 19:6-8: > Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (Revelation 19:6-8).