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Eternal Concepts and Figures |
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It was no surprise to God that the fall of mankind 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” born after the "kind" of Jesus 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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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 also referred 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 described 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). |