Life today, among literally thousands of religions and religious denominations, is far different, even though there are some similarities to the situation when Jesus the Christ came to this earth to establish his kingdom. Nothing was referred to on a regular basis as a “church” until Jesus used the term.
The term church is derived from the Greek “ekklesia” which was a combination of “ek” meaning “out” , and “kalein” meaning “to call”. It’s original use was that of heralding the entire citizenry of a city or state, region, etc., together for discussing and making decisions concerning business. Literally, “the called out.”
And, Jesus used it in that sense also. He made no reference to some formal club or institution of a literal nature. It was simply intended as His “called out”. Those who became citizens of His spiritual kingdom, out of the physical worldly sense. Men have used it in terms of their formal organizations and it has even come to mean, in most minds, the buildings themselves that form the places where they meet for worship.
It is only used one time in the Bible in reference to anything other than the church (called out) of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The exception came from the martyr Stephen as he preached unto the Jews and he used the term ekklesia in Acts 7:38 as follows:
This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Jesus went about preaching His doctrine, comparing His own law in comparison to the Law of Moses, to the masses as well as to his chosen apostles. The prophecies throughout the Old Testament foretold of His coming and the establishment of his kingdom and that it would never be destroyed, all nations would flow into it, and so on. But the prophecies failed to define it perfectly as the coming of a spiritual kingdom, and the people were looking for a literal kingdom to rule over Israel.
He gave His apostles the first real mention of His church in the following verses:
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-19).
Notice in the final paragraph, he uses the term “church” and “kingdom” interchangeably.
When he faced the questioning by Pilate on the eve of His crucifixion, and when asked if he was a king, He made this statement:
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (John 18:36)
He then spoke on several occasions to his apostles telling them of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them which would bring to their remembrance all things which he had spoken unto them, would guide them into all truths and at this time the fulfillment of His statement in Matthew 16:19, above would occur.
The first and second chapters in the book of Acts, describes in detail the fulfillment of this coming of his kingdom. His church. The church flourished even though it suffered enormous persecutions. These scriptures explain the coming of the Lord’s kingdom strongly enough that so many would not still be laboring under the illusion that it is yet to come. It is here and is nearing 2,000 years old. Christ is the King and is ruling on His throne.
This is one in a series of studies of the history of the Lord’s church.
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