Ekklesia

There is a great need today to understand the essential nature of the church from what Scripture teaches and not firstly from the role some claim she ought to play in society. We cannot continue to define the church existentially, that is, by the way she interacts with the world and the resultant changes she undergoes. We must begin with the word of God in order to get a sense of the kind of entity she is, and from there we can decide on the kind of tasks she ought to be engaged in.

The word "church" in the New Testament (Greek ekklesia) refers to a group of people who are brought together for some special reason. In the religious sense, the word refers to those people who have been brought together by God by being forgiven of their sins; they have become children of God and have the hope of eternal life.

One of the cardinal truths we must understand today is that Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church. As the Son of the living God, who gave himself to redeem people to God, He is the reason the church exists. When a foundation is weakened, there is the danger that the building will fall or be condemned. It should not surprise us then that enemies of Christianity have always attacked the Foundation. They ridicule and reject the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His blood atonement, His bodily resurrection and ascension, and His second coming.

Paul in Eph. 2:25 – 27, likened the church to be the bride of Christ. Christ first loved His bride (the church) so much that He gave His life for her. The responsibility of the church therefore, is to be faithful to Him. As a sheep of his pasture, Jesus will be our Good Shepherd. How have we fared as sheep of God’s flock? As part of Christ’s body, are we working in harmony with all other members? Are we eagerly anticipating and preparing ourselves for the coming of the bridegroom?

We as a church, are a community of faith in whom God lives by His Spirit because, we are people who have been reconciled to God. Does the way we live reflect this reality? The church is relevant in today’s world when we live as the body of Christ. He can work through us to bring people who are spiritually far from Him back to God and make them part of the holy temple in which God lives by His spirit.