Many Christians do not have such an awareness of the church. Their thought is that the church is a group of fallen people who are saved and who come together to worship God. This is right, but it is a concept far below God's economy. The heavenly and eternal view of the church is much higher than this. It is the very central matter of God's economy. In God's dispensation, in God's administration, in God's arrangement, in God's governmental stewardship, He has eternally planned the church. 

Nearly all of the things revealed about God's eternal plan for the church are found in the two books of Ephesians and Colossians. The book to the Ephesians is the revelation of the Body, and the book to the Colossians is the revelation of the Head. When put together, these two books reveal a universal man, composed of Christ the Head, and the Church the Body!