The Nature & Organization of the Church

 

The Church in the New Testament was a group of people which heard the loving call of Jesus, and responded with trusting obedience to the Apostles, gathering together to glorify God and grow fruit from the Holy Spirit which God in Jesus Christ had given them. This gathering was exactly what the word “church” means; ‘an assembly of people called out of the world into a venue of holiness’.  What makes it special is that God is the one calling and in the meeting, His gift of holiness is tasted, and the people involved grow in holiness. Here are descriptions of God’s assembly which reflect God’s authority in the church.

 

Kingdom, Colossians 1:13-18, Luke 23:3, John 19:19-22. 1st Timothy 6:14-15.

Pillar and Ground of The Truth, 1st Timothy 3:15.

Temple , 1st Corinthians 3:9, 1st Peter 2:4-5, Ephesians 2:19-21.

There are many more descriptions of the Church, but these deal with power and strength.

 

The best description of authority or power in the church is in it’s analogy with the Kingdom.  If we can learn the nature of the church as His Kingdom, then no one single member will struggle with cooperation, unity and service with one another in working as a team in submission with it’s leadership.

 

The nature of the Kingdom is spiritual not physical, Luke 17:21

The Kingdom came on Pentecost, Mark 9:1 and Acts 2.

The Kingdom now belongs to the Son of His love, Colossians 1:13-18

This Kingdom today will one day be delivered up to the Father, 1st Corinthians 15:24-28.

 

Revelation is singular, it has many visions, revealing only one single fact, The Kingdom of Christ wins over the kingdom of Satan in this world, in the lives of 1st century Christians and in the lives of 21st  century Christians.  Revelation does not reveal many different new facts of the future, it is a singular one time act of prophecy revealed once, over 2000 years ago. The ultimate victory of Christ’s Kingdom will be seen in all it’s glory when He comes again in the future, once and for all. 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18.

There is only to be one final resurrection of both the good and evil, John 5:28-29. The false teaching and belief that there is another Kingdom to come and to be established on earth in the future is based only upon one single passage of Scripture being misunderstood, Revelation 20:7. Once a person has a proper understanding of the “thousand years” in Revelation 20:7, the rest of his or her ideology or theology fits with the rest of the entirety of Scripture and the mind of Christ, on our victory and His second coming. If we view ourselves as citizens of the Kingdom of Christ, then we will see the necessity of submitting to one another in love and working together to accomplish God’s common purpose, Philippians 3:20.

 

Until Jesus returns, the church is governed by Him the Head of the church (Col. 1:18) and we follow his example as we see Him in the…

… Apostle’s teaching, Acts 2:42 & 1st Cor. 11:1

… Lifestyle and teaching of our ruling elders, Acts 15:1-6, 1st Tim. 5:17.

… Word from evangelists, preachers & teachers, Jas. 3:1, Rom. 10:14-15, Eph. 4:11.

 

Prayer pointer for the week: Do we pray for the future of our leadership? Do we discuss with the leadership of the church about new leaders? Do we pray for our elders?