Eternal Concepts and Figures
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It was no surprise to God that the fall would eventually lead to human confusion in regard to His original purpose and plan for His beloved bride, the New Testament church. Therefore, He graciously provided a number of descriptive concepts and figures that serve to distinguish the function and form of His heavenly body on earth from its worldly imitation.
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Some of the New Testament concepts and figures that describe the ecclesia include: |
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Household of God
The ecclesia of God is described in the New Testament as a house. It is called the house of Christ (Hebrews 3:6 [2x]); the house of God (Hebrews 10:21); and “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). The English word “house” is translated from the Greek word oikos. Literally speaking, oikos means “dwelling” or “house”. However, in no manner does the word oikos suggest that the church is a physical house or building. The Greek word oikos is often used figuratively in the New Testament to describe a house that is spiritual in nature. The Apostle Peter calls the New Testament church a “spiritual house”. Additionally, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that the ecclesia of God is “being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). Thus, both apostles clarified that the house of the New Testament church is spiritual in nature, created by God as a spiritual habitation on earth during this present age. The church is also described in the New Testament as “the household of the faith” (Galatians 6:10); “God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19); and “the household of God” (1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Peter 4:17). The word “household” is translated from the Greek oikeios (oy-ki'-os), a derivative of oikos. Generally speaking, while a household may be inclusive of a physical house and its contents, it is commonly used in a figurative sense in reference to the inhabitants of the house. Indeed, “the household of the faith”; “God’s household”; and “the household of God” are examples of figurative language. Used figuratively, the ecclesia is not only a spiritual house for the habitation of God, but for the human members of His family, made alive in the Spirit by the redemptive work of the Savior. Family of God Family is an important theme in the New Testament. It is a concept that is referenced often in regard to both God and His people. First and foremost, the New Testament uses familial language in describing the members of the Godhead. It calls heavenly God “Father” (236 times) and God incarnated on earth “Son” (233 times). In addition, the people that comprise the distinct church of the New Testament household are eternal family. Resurrected to new life, Jesus is called the “firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). He is the head of a new race of eternal beings born after His kind. The “many brethren” are the eternal life (zoe) sharing men and women that comprise the New Testament church. They enter a familial relationship with Christ and one another by spiritual birth. Born of the Spirit, they are joined to God in a union of shared life and, thereby, become the children of God (John 1:12-13; 11:52; Romans 8:16; 21; 9:8; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 3:1-2; 10; 5:2). The children of God relate to one another as brother and sister. They are called brothers and sisters 236 times in the New Testament. In familial union, the brothers and sisters of the New Testament church are an eternal household. |
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Body of Christ
The distinct church of the New Testament is one spiritual body comprised of many individual members. Thus, it is referred to as “one body in Christ (Romans 12:5), “one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17, 12:13, Ephesians 2:16, 4:4, Colossians 3:15), “the body” (1 Corinthians 12:14-26, Ephesians 3:6, 4:12, 16, 5:23), Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27), “His body” (Ephesians 1:23, 5:30, Colossians 1:24), “the whole body” (Ephesians 4:16) and “the entire body” (Colossians 2:19). Jesus Christ is the head of His body, the New Testament church (Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:15-16, 5:23; Colossians 1:18-19, 2:18-19). As such, He serves His body through the role of headship or representative leadership. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul describes the body of Christ as a shared life community. “For even as the [human] body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is [the body of] Christ” (12:12). The many individual members of the body of Christ are not united together in accord with human desire and effort, but by the baptizing work of the Spirit of God. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (12:13a). Thus, the individual members of the body are spiritually united or identified with both the head of the body, Jesus Christ, and the fellow members of His body, the ecclesia. They are “all made to drink of one Spirit” (12:13c). Baptized by the Spirit, each individual member of the New Testament church, male or female, young or old, is forever part of a spiritual community; the body of Christ. Describing the church as one body, Paul makes clear that the distinct church of the New Testament is an interdependent body comprised of equally important, individual parts. Each has a significant role in the collective body that is necessary for its optimal functioning (1 Corinthians 12:14-26). |
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Field and Building
The Apostle Paul figuratively described the New Testament church as “God’s field” and “God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Through his use of these two metaphors, he clarified that God alone cultivates and builds His ecclesia as a place for His personal dwelling. Temple The Apostle Paul refers to the New Testament church as a “temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Relative to life shared between God and His people, the ecclesia is set apart as a dwelling of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:21-22). It is a temple or sanctuary that is accommodative of His living (zoe) presence. Bride of Christ The New Testament refers to Jesus Christ as a bridegroom (cf. Matthew 9:15; 25:1, 5, 6, 10; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29). It is implied that the ecclesia is His bride (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:6-9; 21:9-22:5, 17). Through instrumentation of the New Testament church, the elect of the Gentile nations are “grafted in” to the eternal, redemptive plan of God as the espoused bride of Christ. Thus, elect Gentiles are privileged to partake of the wedding promises of God illustrated by ancient Jewish tradition. First, the espousal (2 Corinthians 11:2); second, the process of sanctification or maturing of the bride (Ephesians 5:25-27); third, the marriage (Revelation 19:6-9); fourth, the marriage feast (Revelation 19:9); and, fifth, the bride existing in her eternal abode with Christ (Revelation 21:9-22:5). There are few concepts that elicit more anticipation than that of bride and bridegroom. As the bride of Christ, the New Testament church is privileged to look forward with great excitement to its future entrance into the presence of its glorious bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Hamilton Smith, “In the Church as the Bride we see, not only a company of people who find in Christ a satisfying Object for their hearts, but a company of people who become a suited object for His love. This is the marvel and blessedness of the Church viewed as the Bride of Christ - the Father's bridal gift to His Beloved Son. It is little wonder that the Church should find in Christ an Object of love, but that in the Bride an object should be found entirely suited for the Son to love is indeed a great wonder.”[1] Pillar and Support of the Truth In 1 Timothy, Paul describes the church as “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). While God is the source and disseminator of the truth, the church is the instrument through which He has chosen to communicate His truth to the world during this present age. The head of the church, Jesus Christ, is the embodiment and messenger of God’s truth. The New Testament says that He is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14); through Him “grace and truth were realized” (John 1:17); His truth sets free (John 8:32); He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6); He came “into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37); “truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21); He is the “belt of truth” (Ephesians 6:13); His message and teaching is “the word of truth” (Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15); and He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). In addition, the New Testament reveals that the ecclesia of God has “been established in the truth” (2 Peter 1:12); is “of the truth” (1 John 3:19); and has the truth abiding in it (2 John 2). |
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Kingdom of Priests
Long before the origination of the church on earth, ancient Israel was given a conditional opportunity by God to be “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). Its fulfillment required strict adherence to covenantal law. The primary responsibility of Israel’s conditional priesthood was mediation between God and the pagan nations of the world. It was to be fulfilled through the agency of sacrifice and intercession. Relative to the disobedience of covenantal law, however, Israel failed to meet the conditions of their priestly responsibility. Therefore, they were temporarily suspended from their appointment as a kingdom of priests. Consequently, the function of the priesthood was left unfulfilled on earth. As demonstrated through the nation of Israel, fallen mankind proved incapable of satisfying the conditional requirement of the eternal priesthood. Therefore, God sent His own Son, the perfect high priest, to satisfy what mankind could not (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:1-10; 6:20; 7:1-10; 18; 26; 8:1; 9:11). The priesthood of Jesus Christ was superior to the priesthood of Israel. Thus, the author of Hebrews revealed that His priesthood is “perfect” (5:9, 7:28); “according to the order of Melchizedek” (5:6-10; 6:20; 7:11-17); “according to the power of an indestructible life” (7:16); immutable (7:11-14; 20-22); “the guarantee of a better covenant” (7:22); “holy, innocent” and “undefiled” (7:26). In addition, it “continues forever” (7:24-28); and He is “a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man” (8:2). Moreover, Jesus is “the source of eternal salvation” (5:9); “able….to save forever those who draw near to God through Him” (7:25-27; 10:1-14); “the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises” (8:6); and the perfect sacrifice (9:11-15, 24-28; 10:12-14). The incarnate Christ fulfilled the eternal purpose of the priesthood by His perfect ministry of sacrifice and intercession. It was ultimately satisfied by His sacrificial role in the fulfillment of the Eternal Covenant and His subsequent position of eternal intercession at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 13:20). Relative to the ministry of Jesus Christ for the New Testament church, its priesthood was quite different from the priesthood of ancient Israel. It was not dependent on the temporal works of sacrifice and intercession by a human priesthood. Therefore, the priestly obligation of the New Testament church, individually and collectively, is not its own. Instead, it is the priesthood of the perfect high priest, Jesus Christ. As a result, the priesthood of the body of Christ is unconditional in nature and, therefore, satisfied by grace through faith alone. As indicated, ancient Israel “had” a priesthood. Its priests were obligated to perform the conditional ministry of sacrifice and intercession for God. Conditioned on obedience to covenantal law, the fulfillment of the service was not guaranteed. Evidenced by the biblical record, ancient Israel proved incapable of satisfying the conditions of its priestly obligation. Rather than “having” a priesthood, the New Testament church “is” an eternal priesthood. Spiritually “baptized into” Jesus Christ, the church was identified with His perfect priesthood (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). Consequently, the obligation of the priesthood was satisfied unconditionally in the church. Therefore, its members, individually and collectively, are part of an eternal priesthood. They are “a holy [and royal] priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5, 9; cf. Revelation 1:6; 5:10). As part of a holy and royal priesthood, every member of the New Testament church is obligated to continue the gracious ministry of the eternal priesthood. However, it does not constitute a conditional performance, fulfilled by obedience to covenantal law. Instead, through faith alone the New Testament church is to serve as a revelation of the perfect high priest on earth through a gracious, sacrificial, intercessory lifestyle. Rather than compulsion by covenantal law, the indwelling presence of Christ provides the motive for obedience. By the indwelling Christ, the perfect high priest, the shared life (zoe) community of the New Testament church is comprised of believer-priests. The concept of the believer-priest is given strong emphasis throughout the New Testament. The sacrificial, intercessory lifestyle of the believer-priest was designed to point the world to the ultimate priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. |
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Flock of God
Peter describes the ecclesia as “the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2). The analogy of shepherd and flock is a recurring theme in the Bible. Speaking of Israel, the Prophet Isaiah said of God, “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (Isaiah 40:11). In an intimate relationship of shared life, it can be presumed that the New Testament church enjoys the loving care of its Lord and Shepherd to an extent beyond what could be comprehended by the nation of Israel during the Old Testament era. The church is described by some very distinct concepts and figures in the New Testament. Together, they serve to clarify that the ecclesia is unlike anything else known to mankind. An eternal, shared life community created and cultivated by God alone, the distinct church of the New Testament is, among other things, a household, body, field, building, temple, bride, pillar and support of the truth, priesthood and flock. © 2018 James Hiatt |
