Jesus Christ's relationship with His church is deep and profound. The Bible compares it to the marriage relationship between and husband and wife. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it...For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:25,30). Marriage unites two formerly independent and separate people into "one body" that now lives together and shares experiences. In the same way, the Bible reveals that Christ wants to become "one" with His people, living with (and in) them, and sharing the experiences of life with them.

The Bible puts it this way: "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Indeed, throughout all of history, God's church on earth has "walked in the footsteps" of Jesus Christ. From Israel's formation in the Old Testament, to the Christian church's founding in the New Testament, to the "remnant of the woman's seed" (Revelation 12:17) at the end of time, God's people--the body--have always shared the experiences that Jesus Christ--the Head--went through during His earthly life.

For example, God formed the ancient nation of Israel through Abraham's descendents. His son, Isaac, was promised to Abraham before he was conceived, was born miraculously, and his name was declared before his birth. All of these things also happened with Christ's birth. Joseph, Isaac's grandson, led his family into Egypt for survival, just as Joseph, the human father of Jesus, led his family for safety into Egypt. Centuries later, as God pulled Israel out of slavery, the male Hebrew children were killed by Pharoah, just as King Herod killed all the male babies in Bethlehem after Christ's birth. After leaving Egypt, Israel passed through the Red Sea, and was then given the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. Similarly, Christ began His public ministry with baptism in the Jordan River, and later He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, an amplification of the Ten Commandments.

These parallels continue throughout the history of God's organized, visible church. The formation of the early Christian church, the centuries of spiritual compromise and persecution in the middle ages, and even the Protestant Reformation all find echoes in the life of the Head, Jesus Christ. Why? Because what happens to the Head, happens to the body!