The Ekklesia of God

Introduction -

The word “ekklesia” is the Greek word that is often translated “church” in the New Testament Scriptures. It is a compound word that means “called out ones” (i.e. the saints). The ekklesia is the Body of Christ. There is but one ekklesia. All of the
commands to the saints are given in light of their being a part of that Body.

A. The Focus of the Ekklesia -

Jesus Christ is the life blood of the ekklesia. He is the center, the circumference, the content, the focus, and the gathering point of the new covenant community. [Note: If you ever want to find out if indeed Christ is the center in any given assembly, listen to the conversations. What is the general theme being discussed? From out of the heart the mouth speaks!] The saints who gather as an ekklesia in a visible sense, in a particular locale, have a goal. It is to make Christ visible in their community and beyond. Their desire is a growing knowledge of the Lord. Their testimony is an unmistakeable love for one another.

B. The Function of the Ekklesia

Is it said of us, “Behold how they love one another”? This should be our testimony, for the ekklesia functions as a person. It is one new man in Christ, Ephesians 2:15 says. It is described as a woman - the Bride of Christ (in a one flesh union with
Christ). It is not essentially a structure or institution. It is Jesus Christ in corporate human expression! The church is the body of Christ. The purpose of a body is to express one’s personality and life!
The church is the physical expression of Christ. Just as Christ manifested the Father physically, (i.e. “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”) so too, are we, the church, to make visible our Lord. We are begotten for that purpose - to display the fullness of grace and truth in Jesus Christ - that people might behold His glory. We are the body - the flesh of Christ in the world. People who come into our midst should know that God is among us. They should see His life manifest in the functioning of the Body.
The ekklesia is Jesus Christ in corporate human expression. Read carefully Acts 2:46-47; Acts 5:14; Acts 9:4; and 1 Cor. 12:12-13. This is the Spirit’s work and thus He makes the Body to testify of Christ - to glorify Him. (See the goal of the Spirit in John 15:26 and John 16:14!) Therefore, when the church assembles, Christ should be central - the Word and the Spirit come together to glorify the Son.

C. The Fellowship of the Ekklesia -

Long before the ekklesia (the new creation of God), and even before the first creation of God, there was God. “In the beginning, God...” Before the foundation of the world; before creation, there was God. Within the Godhead was shared a perfect love. The triune God exchanged divine love within Himself. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit shared an intimate, mutual, and passionate love for one another. The ekklesia is called by God into this love relationship. Wow! And we are to be and display the glory and likeness of God - as a community of oneness in love! Read carefully John 13:34-35 and John 17:20-26! The Divine Unity enjoyed eternal fellowship. Daily they were each other’s delight. The Son is beloved by the Father and the Father is loved by the Son. The Spirit is one with the Father and Son. They had a shared life - an absolute unity. What sweet communion was theirs (John 1:1, 18; 14:16; 15:26; 17:5). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit experienced “Koinonia” - a shared life and communion - fellowship! We are to preach Christ to men that the ekklesia may be built. The ekklesia is a human community of called out ones that live by Divine life (John 6:57; 15:4-5; Gal. 2:20; 2 Peter 1:4).  

D. The Fruit of the Ekklesia -

(i) As revealed in Christ

At the appointed time, the Son of God stepped out of the heavenly portals of glory and became a man. It is He who would build the ekklesia - the one spiritual Body - unified in love and in fellowship with God and each other. This ekklesia is the new
creation established in the new covenant through the blood of Christ. The ekklesia was created to reflect the image and glory of God Himself for His own delight and to display the beauty and grandeur of His Person. Jesus showed us how to live in the ekklesia. He showed us and commanded us to love as He loved. He showed us the way to enjoy and live in fellowship with His Father. This is the one Man who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and who may stand in His holy place and enter into the fellowship of the spiritual Godhead. Through the cross, He brings us with Him into the fellowship - the koinonia with God Himself!

(ii) As revealed in the apostles

Then Christ called and sent out His apostles, through whom He would build His ekklesia. God the Father had called His Son, prepared Him for 30 years, anointed Him with the Spirit, and sent Him to accomplish His work. This, in turn, is what Christ does for the ekklesia - the saints.

He prayed:
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. ... But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ... They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world... As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” (John 17: 9-11, 13, 16, 18)
Read also John 17:20-26.

Jesus started with a small piece of leaven. He started the kingdom with just a small mustard seed of disciples. Jesus introduced them to the life of the ekklesia - as they sat at His feet and listened to His Word in homes, on shores, along dusty roads, on mountains, and around campfires. They shared life. They enjoyed table fellowship, breaking bread together. They were recepients of Divine love, though they weren’t much givers of it yet! However, when they were anointed by the Holy Spirit - moving from the stage of immaturity to full sonship as mature sons, what a difference!
What they had before was the embryo of the ekklesia. It was a foreshadowing of what was to come: humanity in fellowship with God and one another in the age of the Spirit.
Before the Spirit was poured out on the elect at Jerusalem during Pentecost, Christ had modeled and taught them how to live as true spiritual men, for the glory of God. He taught them about ministry (service), prayer, love, humilty, compassion, handing conflict, and how to function in relationships with God and people.
We must remember that the twelve not only lived with Jesus, they lived with one another in a shared community life. It was in this shared community life that the twelve were exposed. Ugly, sinful, fleshly things were made manifest in their lives as they rubbed against each other. Their fears and lack of faith (Mt. 8:25-26), their unbelief (Mt. 17:19-20; Mk. 16:14), their hard-heartedness (Mk. 6:52), even rebuking the Lord (Mk. 10:13-14), their pride and self-seeking (Mk. 10:35-37,41; Mk. 14:29-31), their argumentative spirit (Luke 9:46), their impatience and lack of compassion (Luke 9:54), their trying to lord it over one another (Luke 22:24), were made manifest in their close living. Much is exposed in living in close fellowship and in that time of living in an intimate, shared-life community with Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, at the center, the twelve were exposed, tried, and broken. Within that corporate context, they learned the priceless lessons of inter-relatedness, forebearance, patience, longsuffering, humility, forgiveness, compassion, and dependence. These were humbling lessons, but so needed as they became useful vessels, fit for the Master’s use.
Then came time for their final lessons as Jesus died and rose again. In so doing, He reconciled them ultimately, removing their curse that they might be cleansed and brought into the koinonia of the holy triune God. As Lord, Christ sent His Spirit and
anointed His people (even as the Father had done to Him) and He united them into His koinonia in one spiritual Body. Now the eleven had an indwelling Lord (Jn. 17:23).
Their mission was to continue the work of building the ekklesia, as their Lord worked through them by His Spirit. On that very first day, 3000 souls were added to them - to the ekklesia - to the Lord! Then the Holy Spirit, to magnify the Son, moved them out beyond Jerusalem, into Judea, and then Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. They proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom and the Spirit granted life to dead stony hearts. Christ takes these “living stones” and adds them to the ekklesia - that spiritual house - that most holy place - He is building with living stones, where there is communion with the living God.

(iii) As revealed in the church in a given locale

As the gospel went forth, others were called into the ekklesia, anointed by God’s Spirit, and trained in the ekklesia. There, in close community, they learned to live by faith through the indwelling life of the Spirit of God Himself. In the ekklesia, they learned to live under the Headship of Jesus Christ as free sons. In the ekklesia, they caught a glorious, breath-taking revelation of Christ, in the Word of truth, and in the lives bearing the Christ-like fruit of the Spirit. This spurred them to impart the truth to others in word and deed.
The saints grew in love for God and one another. Members were sent out sowing the Seed in the footsteps of their Master. Many were added to the ekklesia and visible representations of the ekklesia grew in towns and cities throughout the Roman world and then beyond.
Often, it seemed, that once members of the ekklesia in a given area were established and just beginning to crawl, the ones who had given them the truth left (even before elders were appointed). What confidence they had in the risen Christ to build and shepherd His church. The church planters did keep contact and sometimes returned to help the assembly grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, for the most part, the members were left to the Spirit and the Word. This would indeed be a test, as by fire, for the new converts. However, despite set backs, the church would continue to grow and bear fruit, for built into the spiritual “DNA” of every member is a love of the Lord and one another.
Let us make Jesus Christ, in all His fullness, visible on this planet. We are members of the ekklesia - in fellowship with God - the Father, Jesus Christ, His Spirit, and one another. We are members of the ekklesia, with all the glory, and suffering (that is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us), and humbling that involves.

F. The Responsibility of the Ekklesia -

What is the expectation or responsibility of membership in the Body of Christ and thus, in a visible assembly of saints? We who believe, have been immersed into the Body of Christ. The church is the community of the Spirit. Thus, we are our brother’s keeper.
Many today give little thought to their role in the Body. It is easy for people to just attend. Participation in the Body, to many, means little more than opening one’s mouth to sing when the church is singing; closing one’s eyes and bowing their head when the church is praying; putting some money in a collection plate; and sitting still and listening and perhaps taking notes when a pastor is teaching. Membership to some requires little more than showing up. Some even look at the minimal level of participation that must be met in order for one to consider themselves a member in good standing. However, there is no minimum given in Scripture. Rather, the Scriptures continually direct us to all that is expected of us who are in koinonia, and never to the least that is expected of us.