6.
The Ecclesia—“Out-Called”
Just
as the Greek word aiōn is lost
in a sea of confusion in most English translations of Scripture, so is another
Greek word, that is, the word ekklesia,
which is often translated as church
or assembly. To understand the purpose
of the eons, it is important that we understand the meaning of the word ekklesia and how it is used in
Scripture.
We
are immediately faced with a challenge, for when one mentions the word church many people think of a building
where believers gather or an organization to join. In Scripture, the church, as many call it, is simply the body of believers in Christ and not
some great, powerful institution as viewed by the world and even many
believers. The emphasis as given by the spirit of God is on Christ’s body,
which is unique in God’s purpose and plan, for the body of Christ is seated
together among the celestials in Christ and through this vessel God is making
known His multifarious wisdom among the celestials (see Ephesians 2.6; 3.8-12).
The
word church is a translation of the
Greek word ekklesia, which means
“out-called” or “a called-out company.” In English Bibles, this word is
translated in different ways, depending on the context. If it refers to believers,
it is most often translated church. When
ekklesia refers to other groups or
people who are “out-called,” translators use other words such as assembly or congregation. And yet, some of the translations that seek a more
literal rendering use the word assembly
in all places of the word ekklesia. The
Concordant Version uses the equivalent word ecclesia
in all cases. Henceforth, the word ecclesia
will be used for the Greek word ekklesia.
[1]
Before
looking at some ecclesia references,
a word is needed about the equivalent Hebrew word, which is kahal. It is usually translated congregation or assembly in the Old Testament. By comparing a verse in the New
Testament quoted from the Old Testament, we discover that kahal and ecclesia are
equivalent words.
I will declare Your name to My brothers; I will praise You
in the midst of the assembly [kahal].
(Psalm 22.22 LITV)
“I will announce Your name to My brothers; I will hymn to
You in the midst of the assembly
[ekklesia].” Psa. 22:22 (Hebrews 2.12 LITV)
Thus,
ecclesia is not a building, an institution or an organization. It is people! A
people called out to assemble together.
Now,
the word ecclesia is not exclusively
used in reference to believers. In fact, it is a common noun (generic term) that
refers to any company or gathering of people that fits the description of “out-called.”
There are two examples.
First, in
Others, indeed, then, cried some other thing, for the ecclesia was in confusion, and the
majority were not aware on what account they had come together. Now they unite
on Alexander, one of the throng, the Jews pushing him forward. Now Alexander,
gesturing with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the populace. … For we are
also in danger of being indicted concerning today’s commotion, there inhering
not one cause concerning which we shall be able to render any account
concerning this riot. And, saying these things, he dismisses the ecclesia. (Acts 19.32-33, 40-41 CV)
This
mob of silversmiths was a distinct “called-out” group based on their profession
and their riot against Paul. Who would ever think of an ecclesia as a mob? What
if we replaced the word ecclesia with
the translated word church? The
church of the riotous silversmiths!
Second, within this same story about the mob and Paul,
there is another ecclesia mentioned
that refers to a legal or governing council that put down the mob of
silversmiths. This was a legal council or ecclesia
that settled disputes in
Now if you are seeking for anything concerning other
things, in the legal ecclesia will
it be explained. (Acts 19.39 CV)
So,
we have an ecclesia of riotous
silversmiths and an ecclesia of legal
authorities in
It
is unfortunate how this common noun has been changed to the word church and made into a proper noun and capitalized
as the Church. The emphasis has
shifted from simply a “called-out” people to a great institution called the “Church.”
Consequently, the word church has
taken on a meaning far greater than Scripture presents. Throughout Christendom,
it has become many things that Scripture never assigns to it. Say the word church and to many it means a great
institution, an organization or enterprise with much machinery (activities,
programs) that has to be maintained and supported with a big bank account, a
building, a membership roll in a denomination, a bunch of people sitting in
pews every Sunday doing something they call “worship” and then listening to
the pastor, much of which looks more like a rendition of Judaism.
Groups
of people who are the ecclesia or “out-called”
are to stand out from others around them. They are called out from others, and
thus they are to stand apart from them. However, there is nothing unique about
the word ecclesia, for many
gatherings could be considered “out-called.” The uniqueness is found in the “out-called”
themselves, in the people.
It
could be argued that the uniqueness of the “church” has been lost. In fact, the
“church” has failed in this regard. What is called the “church” does not stand
out as a spiritual body, which is its
uniqueness from every other type of ecclesia. It is safe to say that the
so-called “church” of our day hardly looks like a unique called-out body, for it looks, acts and functions with little
difference from organizations of the world. Most of what is called the “church”
has lost its distinctiveness from the world around. Thus, when people of the
world hear the word “church,” they associate it with a building on a street
corner and people who meet there to do “church” things. Contrast this concept
with 1 Corinthians 16.19.
Consequently,
the word translated church is just
like the words translated hell and eternal, for it has taken on a meaning
foreign to the original language.
Let
us not grow discouraged over the failure we see in what is called the “church.”
It is all in accord with the purpose and plan of God. Failure is necessary to
prove the futility of the flesh. Failures among denominations, non-denominations,
house churches and church houses will occur, for the flesh profits nothing;
that which is of the carnal man must fail and will fail. After all, God locks up all together in stubbornness,
that He should be merciful to all (Romans 11.32 CV). Only Christ can build His ecclesia.
Now,
let us look at how the word ecclesia
is used in reference to the Lord’s people. Just as the
Ecclesia
in the wilderness.
The
first obvious indication of the ecclesia
of God is revealed through the ancient nation of
In
Acts, Stephen, a man full of grace and power, was doing great miracles and
signs among the people, which caused a stir among those of a synagogue termed
Freedmen (Acts 6.8-9 CV). All that listened to Stephen could not withstand
the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. True to form, since they could
not cope with a man of such stature, they spoke falsely against him and dragged
him before the Sanhedrin. However, Stephen sat before these men as if he had
the face of a messenger (angel), and he began to recount the entire history of
the nation of
This is the Moses who says to the sons of
Moses
stood in the midst of the ecclesia in
the wilderness. Using our modern-day term, we could call this the church in the wilderness, for they
were a people called out of
Whole
ecclesia.
Stephen
himself was part of the ecclesia of
Pentecost that started with a handful of disciples called to follow the
Lord. Peter, Andrew, James, John and the other disciples of Christ were the
embryo and the nucleus of the ecclesia that was given an earnest of the spirit.
After Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, a small gathering of Jews
numbering about 120, along with the twelve apostles, waited in an upper room as
commanded by the Lord.
On
the day of Pentecost as they waited together in a house, tongues as if of fire
came upon them; they were filled with the spirit and they began to speak in
different languages (Acts 2.1-4). These were not strange tongues but the known
languages of the Jews from many countries of different languages that were
gathered in
Peter,
who was given the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, stood before the throngs
of Israelites to declare the truth and call for repentance.
Men! Israelites! Hear these words: Jesus, the
Nazarene, a Man demonstrated to be from God for you by powerful deeds and
miracles and signs, which God does through Him in the midst of you, according
as you yourselves are aware—This One,
given up in the specific counsel and foreknowledge of God, you, gibbeting by
the hand of the lawless, assassinate. … Now Peter is averring to them, “Repent and be baptized each of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the pardon of your sins, and you shall be obtaining
the gratuity of the holy spirit. For to you is the promise and to your
children, and to all those afar, whosoever the Lord our God should be calling
to Him.” (Acts 2.22-23, 38-39 CV)
Notice
the distinctiveness of Peter’s declaration. It was to a very specific audience,
the Israelites. Peter was calling his blood brethren unto sonship. He reminded
them of the powerful deeds done by Jesus in their midst. It rightly accused them
of offering up their Messiah and held them responsible for killing Jesus. It
required that they repent and be baptized, in order to receive a pardon for
their sins and to receive the Holy Spirit.
It
is noteworthy that this message was directed only to the Israelites and was not
directed to the gentiles or the nations. This message had limited meaning to those
who were outside the
It
seems that we often think that everything fell into place all at once,
including the good news of salvation. However, this is not how the Lord has
worked in the history of mankind. He shines increasing levels of light on
matters as He unfolds truths to mankind. Scripture is the unfolding of the
truth of God. His truth goes forth in progressive stages.
We
see the same progression when it comes to the spirit of God. The ecclesia in
the wilderness had the spirit of God in their midst (Isaiah 63.11; Haggai 2.5).
The ecclesia of Pentecost has an earnest of the spirit within each person. The
coming ecclesia of the Tabernacles will have the full anointing of the spirit
of God within each one of the conquerors that are glorified as Christ is
glorified. Further, each conqueror is being connected together as God’s
dwelling place, in spirit (Ephesians
2.22 CV).
The
initial message to the Israelites did not contain the depth of the message that
later went out, particularly through Paul, the apostle of the nations, that is,
salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2.8), justification by faith (Romans
3.28; 5.1) and the conciliation of all (2 Corinthians 5.18-19; Colossians 1.20).
It
is safe to state that the emphasis and expectation of the ecclesia that came
forth at Pentecost was not quite the same as that which evolved, because they
were still looking through the lens of ancient
Building
My ecclesia.
Like
Stephen, let us recount a little of the history of the ecclesia.
Based
on the prophets, the Jews were looking for the King of Israel to come and set
up His earthly kingdom. John the baptist appeared on the scene declaring the
kingdom was near and the need for repentance. He pointed to the Messiah who
walked among the people. Jesus took up John’s message and then passed it on to His
disciples, who were commanded to take the message to the lost sheep of the
house of
As
He approached the cross, Jesus began to tell His disciples that He must be
killed but that He would rise on the third day. Before He began to expose them
to the horror that He faced, He asked them who they thought He was. Peter made
that famous declaration: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God” (Matthew 16.16). To this, Jesus responded: “Now I, also, am saying to you that you are Peter, and on this rock will I be building My ecclesia,
and the gates of the unseen shall not be prevailing against it” (Matthew
16.18 CV).
This
is the first reference in the New Testament of an ecclesia, and Christ takes ownership of this ecclesia. He will
build it. But when did He begin to build this ecclesia? For a long time, I have
held that He began this process at Pentecost, but this I no longer believe. In
studying Scripture, it has become apparent that the first obvious indication of
the building of His ecclesia began when the sons of
The
key to seeing that the ecclesia in the wilderness is the first obvious
indication of the building of the ecclesia of Christ is discovered in the use
of the word rock in the above verse. On this
rock I will be building My ecclesia!
When
He spoke these words, Jesus was declaring what would happen on the day of
Pentecost as Peter stood before the Jews. Peter was a little rock standing on
the testimony that the one true Rock is the Christ, the Anointed Son of the
living God. Peter was not the first pope as the Roman Catholics believe. Simply,
Peter was the one who led the other disciples in the call for repentance to his
fellow brethren. He held the keys to the kingdom of the heavens.
The
Greek word for Peter is petros, which means a “piece of rock,”
and the word for rock is
We need to see that
Christ the Rock was not a new concept. The sons of
And they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer. (Psalm
78.35 NASB; also Psalm 18.2, 31, 46; 19.14; 28.1; 31.3; 62.2, 6, 7)
However,
Paul gives us the clearest connection to Christ as the Rock in relation to the
ecclesia in the wilderness.
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our
fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same
spiritual drink, for they were drinking
from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not
well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. (1 Corinthians 10.1-5 NASB; see Exodus 17.6; 33.21, 22; Numbers 20.8, 10, 11;
Deuteronomy 8.15; 32.15).
Christ,
the Son of the living God, was the One who led the sons of
We could say that this building of the ecclesia was the
building under Passover, for they had applied the blood, but had not been given
an earnest of the spirit.
Now,
fast forwarding to the day of Pentecost, Peter stood before the men of
After
Pentecost, Peter was confronted by the rulers and elders of the Jews that
wanted to know by what power or name they could heal a sick man. Peter was
filled with the Holy Spirit and answered them with authority (Acts 4.5-10).
Let it be known to you all and to the entire people of
Peter
quoted Psalm 118.22, which Jesus also quoted as recorded in Mark 12.10-12. We
must not overlook the fact that the Israelites were originally called to build
on the Rock. They scorned the Stone that is to be head of the corner, which means
that Christ is the very foundation of this building. The vast majority of Israelites
rejected this foundation, and because of this, Jesus declared that He would
build His ecclesia; He was no longer entrusting it to the rulers and elders of
the Israelites. Instead, He chose a diverse group of men, including some lowly
fisherman, through whom He would continue to build.
With
Peter in the lead, Christ began to build under the Pentecostal anointing, for His ecclesia was given an earnest of the
spirit. This initial group of apostles was commanded to go to the lost sheep of
the house of
Starting
with Pentecost, the “out-called” from
Proceeding
to Acts 5, we discover the story of Ananias and Sapphira who were stricken dead
for lying to the Holy Spirit. They received a gehenna-type judgment. Peter was
exercising one of the keys of the kingdom when he challenged this couple.
We
find a type of this gehenna-type judgment in Joshua 7 when Achan took and hid
some of the booty of war banned by the Lord. As a result of one act of disobedience,
Joshua and his army could not prevail against the men of Ai. To remedy the
situation, Achan was sentenced to death.
They took them from inside the tent and brought them to
Joshua and to all the sons of
This
is one of the clearest pictures of judgment by gehenna fire in Scripture. But take note that they were not cast
into some eternal oven to be tormented forever and ever. No; they DIED and their DEAD bodies were burned.
Entering
the kingdom was, and still is, very serious business, and Peter was given the
authority to keep out any who did not live up to the righteous standard as
given by Jesus in Matthew 5-7. It is recorded that great fear came on the whole ecclesia and on all those who
hear these things (Acts 5.11 CV).
At
this point in its history, the whole
ecclesia was made up of Jewish believers and some proselytes. However, this
was about to dramatically change as the evangel revealed to Paul began to go
forth to the nations.
Ecclesia
of the firstborn.
Now,
the epistle to the Hebrews refers to the ecclesia
of the firstborn. Before looking at this reference, it is helpful to review
some of the history of the word Hebrew,
for the title in itself reveals the heart of the epistle.
The
word Hebrew (Genesis 14.13; 40.15)
comes from the root word abar, which
means “to cross over,” or refers to a person from the “further bank,” “the
opposite side of the river, or “passing beyond, a region across.” Thus, a true
Hebrew is one who is a passer from beyond or one who immigrates.
The
origin of this word is traced to Eber, a descendant of Shem. Following the
flood, Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth repopulated the whole earth. However,
Noah said of his first-born son Shem: “Blessed
be the LORD, the God of Shem” (Genesis 9.26). The Lord was the God of Shem
in a very special way that was not so stated regarding Shem’s brothers. It was
through the line of Shem that the Hebrews came forth and the promises of God
were fulfilled. God was beginning a new work which would bring forth a new
creation: “
Shem
lived 600 years and was called the father of the children of Eber, for he lived
long enough to see the entire ten generations that followed him, plus the
generation of Isaac. His great grandson Eber lived 464 years, and he not only
saw the same generations as Shem did but also the generation of Jacob. Eber died
after Shem and Abraham did. It was after Eber’s passing that the twelve tribes
of
Eber
was significant in the history of mankind, for it was during his time that God
began to bring about changes in the material creation. He was born in the
fourth generation of Shem. His order in the line of Shem’s descendants is
significant because the number four
relates to the material creation. It is the number of the earth and the number
of man in relation to the earth. What is significant is that during Eber’s
life, the Lord began to divide the earth.
First, in Eber’s day, the whole earth used the same
language and the same words. The descendants of Noah journeyed east to a plain
in the
So,
most likely, in Eber’s early years, the
Second, Eber begot a son named Peleg, which means “division,”
for in his days the earth was divided (Genesis 10.25). The Hebrew word for division means “split,” which may
indicate that it was during Peleg’s life the land masses (continents) as we now
know them were divided. With man beginning to scatter across the earth, God
divided the land upon which they traveled. [It is possible that the division
occurred as a further receding of the waters from the flood.] However, other historical
sources indicate that Peleg divided the land by lot among his brethren.
It
is also noteworthy that starting with Peleg’s generation, the life span of man
was reduced to almost half of what it was after the flood. Prior to the flood,
the average life span of man was over 800 years. After the flood, man’s life
span was nearly halved (average life span over 400 years); and after man was
scattered from the
However,
the significance of Eber lies in the thought that the origin of the word Hebrew seems to be traced to him. As a
Hebrew, he was a passer from beyond or one who migrated. It is possible that
Eber was singled out as a Hebrew, or one who passed beyond the region, or one
who went to the opposite side of the river, because he was the first to move
out as God had commanded. It is also possible that he passed beyond the river,
which most likely was the River Euphrates, even before the
In
the twentieth generation from Adam, the tenth generation from Shem or the
seventh from Eber, God began to unfold His purpose and plan through a Hebrew
named Abram.
Ten is the number that signifies the perfection of divine order. With the
completion of ten generations, God finished one work and began a new one that
would lead to the birth of a nation. [Note that the 20th generation brings to
completion two sets of ten. Noah was the tenth in line from Adam.] Also, seven is the number of completion
meaning the perfection and completeness of what is in view. In other words, God
had completed what He intended through the line of Eber. He brought forth the
Hebrew that would be the father of nations and through whom would come the
promises.
After
about two days (two 1,000-year days) from Adam, God brought forth Abraham who
would become a father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17.4-5) and the first
man recorded to whom the Lord spoke a word in a vision.
Now,
through Abraham’s descendants, God raised up a nation, the sons of Israel, that
were called out of Egypt to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation
(Exodus 19.5-6). On the night of Passover, the firstborn of the children of
Well,
what does this have to do with the Hebrews epistle and the ecclesia of the
firstborn? Being the firstborn refers to receiving the inheritance, and in the
case of the
Some
of the Hebrew believers that came out of the circumcision were in danger of
returning to Judaism and the old covenant. Unfortunately, many within the
so-called “church” of our day are in the same danger as they relinquish their
on-high calling to the apostate state of
The
Hebrews epistle was written to deal with this danger. The problem was that the
kingdom had not come on the earth in their day, and they were in danger of
falling into unbelief just as those did that came out of
To
encourage them to stay the course, the writer wanted them to see with spiritual
eyes that they had come to mount Zion and
the city of the living God, celestial Jerusalem, and to ten thousand
messengers, to a universal convocation, and to the ecclesia of the firstborn,
registered in the heavens (Hebrews 12.22-23 CV). Here
we discover another progressive unfolding of the ecclesia, for not only had they come to the new Jerusalem which
comes into view in God’s day, but
they had come to the ecclesia of the
firstborn. This is the ecclesia of many sons that will be brought unto
glory (Hebrews 2.10).
The
old
We
must understand that the true Hebrew is not one who has the sign of physical
circumcision. The true Hebrew is one who has “crossed over,” who has passed to
the other side, who is a sojourner and pilgrim who has migrated to the
Jerusalem above, which leads us to Paul’s revelation of the ecclesia-body.
Ecclesia,
which is the body.
The
revelation of the ecclesia truly was unfolded by Paul, as given to him by the
Lord. Paul declared that what was entrusted to him was previously a secret that
was concealed from the eons but was revealed.
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for you, and am
filling up in my flesh, in His stead, the deficiencies of the afflictions of
Christ, for His body, which is the
ecclesia of which I became a dispenser, in accord with the administration
of God, which is granted to me for you, to complete the word of God—the secret which has been concealed from
the eons and from the generations, yet now was made manifest to His
saints…. (Colossians 1.24-26 CV)
In
these few words, we are told something quite profound that is part of the
progressive unfolding of the ecclesia of God. Consider this one phrase: His body, which is the ecclesia of which I
became a dispenser. Do you see the significance in what Paul wrote? Paul’s
emphasis was on the body, not on the ecclesia per se. We could restate his
words: “I was given charge to dispense the secret of the body of Christ, which
is an ecclesia.” In other words, Paul was a dispenser of the ecclesia called
His body or the body of Christ. He did not state that he became the dispenser
of the ecclesia or the church. He became the dispenser of the body, and then he
identified it as an ecclesia.
As
he began to take the revealed secret to the nations, Paul used the word ecclesia exclusively to refer to the
body of Christ (or, to a local assembly). Simply, there was no other ecclesia
in view for Paul, the apostle of the nations. Interestingly, outside of Paul’s epistles,
the word ecclesia is used sparingly
(Hebrews 2.12; 12.23; James 5.14; 1 Peter 5.13; 3 John 9, 10).
In
Acts 13, the evangel given to Paul began to go forth to the nations (Acts
13.46; 28.28). Since then, the evangel has been going forth to the nations and
will continue to do so until the full number of the nations has come into the
body of Christ (Romans 11.25-27), and then all the conquering saints will be snatched
away to the presence of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4.13-17).
Further,
Paul saw Christ as the Head of the ecclesia,
which is His body. In other words,
Paul was given revelation of a “called-out” people who are joined to Christ the
Head as His body.
Now you are the
body of Christ, and members of a part, whom also God, indeed, placed in the
ecclesia… (1 Corinthians 12.27-28a CV)
And subjects all under His feet, and gives Him, as
Head over all, to the ecclesia which is
His body, the complement of the One completing the all in all. (Ephesians
1.22-23 CV)
For no one at any time hates his own flesh, but is
nurturing and cherishing it, according as Christ also the ecclesia, for we are members of His body. (Ephesians 5.29-30 CV)
And He is the
Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the
dead, that in all He may be becoming first…. (Colossians 1.18 CV)
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for you, and am
filling up in my flesh, in His stead, the deficiencies of the afflictions of
Christ, for His body, which is the
ecclesia…. (Colossians 1.24 CV)
Notice
that Paul states this revelation in two ways: His body, which is the ecclesia, and the ecclesia, which is His body. The point of all this is that the
emphasis of Paul was not just on the word ecclesia
but on the word body. We could call
it the ecclesia-body, which is the out-called body, something presented by
Paul alone.
But the question arises
as to whether the body was a unique teaching of Paul, or as to whether there was
something about the body that was unique. I propose that the latter is true and
that Paul knew that
Joint
body, joint heirs.
In
the following verses, Paul gives us the secret of the joint body.
Wherefore, remember, that ye were once the nations in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by
that called Circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that ye were at that
time apart from Christ, having been alienated
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the
promise, having no hope, and without God, in the world; and now, in Christ Jesus, ye being once afar off
became nigh in the blood of the Christ, for he is our peace, who did make
both one, and the middle wall of the enclosure did break down, the enmity in
his flesh, the law of the commands in ordinances having done away, that the two
he might create in himself into one
new man, making peace, and might reconcile both in one body to God through
the cross, having slain the enmity in it, and having come, he did proclaim
good news―peace to you―the far-off and the nigh, because through him we have the access―we
both―in one Spirit unto the Father. Then, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God, being built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
chief corner-stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together doth
increase to an holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom also ye are builded
together, for a habitation of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2.11-22 YLT)
For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for
you the nations, if, indeed, ye did
hear of the dispensation of the grace of
God that was given to me in regard to you, that by revelation He made known to me the secret, according as I wrote
before in few words―in regard to which ye are able, reading it , to
understand my knowledge in the secret of
the Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men,
as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the
Spirit―that the nations be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of His promise in the Christ, through the good news…. (Ephesians
3.1-6 YLT)
The secret that was made known in spirit through the apostles and prophets is that the nations
have been made fellow-heirs or, in some translations joint-heirs, of the same body. In other words, Paul
intimates that the
There is no
distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
(Colossians 3.11 NASB)
For by one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,
whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For
the body is not one member, but many. (1 Corinthians 12.13-14 NASB)
There is one
body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one
hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all
and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4.4-6 NASB)
The more that I read Paul’s epistles, the more real the All of God becomes. It is as if there
are two truths that run through his writings. The first truth is that which pertains to all who believe in Jesus and
the need to press on toward the goal. The second
truth is that the very same things that pertain to us who believe in this eon
also apply to all mankind eventually.
There is no longer a distinction upon which any born of Adam’s race is to be
excluded. Christ is all, and in all.
There will be only one body, for there is only one God and Father of all who is
over all and through all and in all. This is a mighty grand view of the All of
God. Who will be left out of this all at the consummation of the eons? We must
conclude that not a single soul will be left out of God’s All. Praise God!
Now,
pressing on in this matter of the body, Paul reveals to us that the body of
Christ goes back even further than the nation of
Christ
loves His body, the ecclesia.
In
one of his greatest epistles, Paul unveiled the whole matter of the body and
related it to Adam and Eve.
Let the wives be subject to their own husbands, as
to the Lord, for the husband is head of
the wife even as Christ is Head of the ecclesia, and He is the Saviour of the body. Nevertheless, as the ecclesia is subject to Christ, thus are the wives also to
their husbands in everything. Husbands, be loving your wives according as Christ also loves the ecclesia, and
gives Himself up for its sake, that He should be hallowing it, cleansing it in
the bath of the water (with His declaration), that He should be presenting to Himself a glorious ecclesia, not
having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it may be holy and flawless.
Thus, the husbands also ought to be loving
their own wives as their own bodies. He who is loving his own wife is
loving himself. For no one at any time hates his own flesh, but is nurturing
and cherishing it, according as Christ
also the ecclesia, for we are members of His body. For this “a man shall
leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall
be one flesh.” This secret is great: yet I am saying this as to Christ and as to the ecclesia.
(Ephesians 5.22-32 CV)
The
entire emphasis of these verses is on a body. The husband and wife relationship
represents the closest of relationships, and this relationship is of a body of
two made into one. The husband is the head of the wife, which refers to Christ
as the Head of the body. Christ is the Savior of the body, which means that He
alone is responsible to see His body through to the end. “I will build My ecclesia.” Christ loves the ecclesia, which is His
body. Husbands ought to love their wives as their own body just as Christ loves
His own body. Christ is nurturing and cherishing His body, which is made up of
many members.
Then,
Paul brought the whole matter back to the very beginning when Eve was taken out
of the side of Adam’s body. She was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh.
Eve was literally part of Adam’s body since she came out of Adam’s body. She
was part of him, and as such, Adam could not reject her when she was deceived
by the serpent of old. Adam loved his body in the form of Eve and had to sin to
save her. This is love! It could be called body
love.
This
is a type of what Jesus has done and will do to bring all mankind into His body,
eventually. This is why Adam is a
type of Christ (Romans 5.14).
Paul’s
emphasis is on the fact that when two become one flesh, there is a certain
order of the two (a head and a body), with the head loving his body. This is a
picture of Christ and His body, the ecclesia. However, let us not lose sight of
the fact that the body of Christ is a spiritual body and not a fleshly one.
According to Paul, the body of saints will all be changed in the twinkling of
an eye and each member will become a spiritual body in the image of the
Celestial [heavenly], that is, Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15.42-53 CV [NASB]).
I
realize that some see these verses in Ephesians as referencing the bride of the
Lamb, but to me the primary emphasis is on the body that makes the bond of
marriage much stronger. On the carnal level, a bride is taken from other flesh
and can be rejected or divorced. But a body cannot divorce itself, for it is of
the same flesh. Consequently, a body can never be rejected, for one who does so
is rejecting himself. This is why Adam had to follow Eve. He could not reject
his own body, Eve. If he had, then there would have been no love. This explains
what Paul wrote to the Ephesians.
Now, being true, in love we should be making all grow into Him, Who is the Head—Christ—out
of Whom the entire body, being articulated together and united through every
assimilation of the supply, in accord with the operation in measure of each
one’s part, is making for the growth of the body, for the upbuilding of itself in love. (Ephesians 4.15-16 CV)
Truly,
Christ is building this ecclesia, but notice that it is the body holding to the
Head that upbuilds itself in love. The love of God that has been poured out in
the hearts of its members (Romans 5.5) causes the growth or upbuilding of the
body. It is God’s love flowing through the body from the Head.
This
is the wonder of the body of Christ. Those who believe on Jesus have been so
united with Him that in the eyes of God they are an entirely new creation of
love that is bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh (see Genesis 2.23). The
body is of Christ; therefore, the body must be and will be presented to Him as
a glorious ecclesia. Christ cannot fail, has not failed and will not fail. He
is the Savior of His body. He loves His body!
A body prepared.
In inspiring the writer of the Hebrews epistle, the spirit
of God quoted Psalm 40.6-8 and added but
a body you have prepared for Me.
Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME….” (Hebrews 10.5 NASB)
In its primary application, the body prepared for the Son
was the body that went to
However, could this not have a secondary application?
Through the offering of His body came forth the sanctified ecclesia,
which is the body of Christ. Could we not state that the body that was prepared
for Him is the corporate, spiritual body that is comprised of the sanctified
believers in Christ, and ultimately all mankind? God sees things as they are
meant to be. We see them unfolding, and He sees them as a finished work. Space
and time are not a hindrance to God.
Through His sacrifice, His side was opened and out from
His broken body came forth what was needed for the coming forth of the ecclesia,
which is His body. This was represented by the blood, which provides the
forgiveness of sins and by the water, which cleanses. Again, Paul brings this
together in Ephesians.
Husbands, be loving your wives according as Christ also loves the ecclesia, and
gives Himself up for its sake, that He
should be hallowing it, cleansing it
in the bath of the water (with His declaration), that He should be
presenting to Himself a glorious
ecclesia, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such things, but that it may be holy and flawless. (Ephesians
5.25-27 CV)
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water
with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such
thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5.25-27 NASB)
Is
it not the implanted word that cleanses us and saves our soul in this day?
Wherefore, putting off all filthiness and
superabundance of evil, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1.21 CV)
The
spirit, the water, the blood.
John also brings these thoughts
together in his first epistle.
Now who is he who
is conquering the world if not he who is believing that Jesus is the Son of
God? This is He Who is coming through water
and blood and spirit―Jesus Christ―not in the water only, but in
the water and in the blood. And the
spirit it is which is testifying, for the spirit is the truth, seeing that
three there are that are testifying, the
spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are for the one thing.
If we are obtaining the testimony of men, the
testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God, that He has
testified concerning His Son. (1 John 5.5-9 CV)
The testimony of God concerning His
Son is contained in the water, the blood and the spirit. The water speaks of His baptism and the
Father’s testimony regarding His Son. The blood
speaks of His crucifixion. The spirit speaks of His glorification.
This is the threefold testimony of God regarding His Son,
for they prove that Jesus is the Son of God. This is what one is to believe in
order to enter eonian life in the oncoming eons, and this life is in His Son.
He who is believing
in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; he who is not believing God has
made Him a liar, for he has not believed in the testimony which God has
testified concerning His Son. And this
is the testimony, that God gives us life eonian, and this life is in His Son.
He who has the Son has the life; he
who has not the Son of God has not the life. These things I write to you that
you who are believing in the name of the son of God may be perceiving that you
have life eonian. (1 John 5.11-13 CV)
At Jesus’ baptism, the Father testified that Jesus is His
beloved Son.
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the
water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the
heavens said, “This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3.16-17 NASB)
Then at Jesus’ crucifixion, John recorded that blood and water
came out of His side.
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out.
(John 19.34 NASB)
The blood clearly speaks of the forgiveness of sins, for without shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness (Hebrews 9.22 NASB). Paul
reminds us that He rescued us from the
domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins (Colossians 1.13-14 NASB). Again,
the water refers to cleansing through the implanted word.
The spirit speaks of the glorification of Christ when He
ascended back to His Father to sit at His right hand. As proof of His
glorification, the spirit of truth was poured forth upon the 120 waiting in the
upper room.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his
innermost being will flow rivers of
living water.’” But this He spoke of
the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit
was not yet given, because Jesus was not
yet glorified. (John 7.38-39 NASB)
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together
in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent
rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there
appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on
each one of them. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in
Later, as recorded in Acts, Stephen, a man full of faith
and of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6.5 NASB),
testified before the Jewish Council, which became enraged at his testimony and
decided he was worthy of death for speaking the truth.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and
they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and
saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the
right hand of God.” (Acts 7.54-56 NASB)
As if to provide a double witness of Jesus’ glorification,
heaven opened up for this dear saint to see the glory of God and Jesus standing
at the right hand of God. He was not sitting; He was standing to see if the
ecclesia would be true Hebrews and set their sights on crossing over into the
promise. But the ecclesia that came out under the Passover refused to enter by
looking unto the Rock and coming into the Pentecostal anointing that leads to the
land of promise. As he neared his death, Stephen called on the Lord and cried
out just as His Savior had done on the cross.
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and
said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then
falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he
fell asleep. (Acts 7.59-60 NASB)
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY
SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23.46 NASB)
But Jesus was saying, “Father,
forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23.34 NASB)
This is the testimony of the conquerors filled with the
spirit of God. They entrust their spirit to the God of the living who is able
to raise the dead, and they are forgivers, for they heed the command to forgive
others for their transgressions (Matthew 6.14-15). They even love their enemies
and pray for them (Matthew 5.44). These are the ones who are more than
conquering through Him who loves us (Romans 8.37). These are the ones who will
reign with Christ in the oncoming eons (Revelation 22.5), all to the praise,
honor and glory of God, and all in accord with the purpose of the eons.
In conclusion, the ecclesia has been on a wilderness
journey waiting for the day to cross over into the land of promise. In its
journey, the ecclesia has received an earnest of the Holy Spirit to continue on
until the full anointing comes. The conquerors are being prepared to receive
the full anointing of glorified bodies in order to cross over to be among the
celestials. God’s plan in His Son is marching forward, for the dwelling of God in spirit is being built up until it is among
the celestials reigning with Christ as He sums up all in the heavens and on the
earth. The ecclesia is the out-called
of God that is now upbuilding itself in love, the love of God poured into
hearts of believers. This vessel of love is the ecclesia, which is the body of Christ, the one new man in
Christ (Ephesians 2.15 NASB), being
built together for God’s dwelling place,
in spirit (Ephesians 2.22 CV). Spiritually speaking, the two have become one.
The secret
is great; yet I am saying this as to Christ and as to the ecclesia!
[1] Notice that in the English equivalent form of the
Greek transliteration, the only difference is the use of the letter c instead of the letter k.