The church

We are in the days of restoration! God is bringing all things back to His standard. All things are being restored to the church including the Lord’s table, the experience of Sonship and many more. Among the several things being restored is the clear scriptural understanding of what the church is, its authority, position and its purpose on the earth.

The church – the called-out ones
The word church is the Greek word ecclesia which means the called-out ones. The church is the called-out ones; those who have received Jesus in their lives, have been justified by His blood and are part of God’s household.  
1Pet 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

Several people from denominational backgrounds have confused the church to be a structure/building where people meet, whereas this is not what Jesus meant while He first mentioned building His church. The ecclesia (church) that Christ purchased with His own blood are the people He called out of the Kingdom of darkness into his marvellous light! Everyone is called! Everyone can accept Jesus and become a child of God to be part of His household. According to scripture, many are called but few are chosen because few are willing to take up Christ in their lives to live as disciples, fully following Him.
The word ecclesia was used by Jesus from a Greek context where, the ecclesia (popular assembly) was a group of trusted, mature, and understanding men of age 30 years and above, who were very key in governance; responsible for choosing magistrates, voting on laws and decrees etc. Similarly, Jesus has established his ecclesia/assembly that brings His rulership into the earth.  
Whoever hears the call of God through the gospel being preached, repents, believes and is baptized in the name of Jesus becomes part of the church which is a many-membered body.
In the history of the church, there has been teaching throughout ages that: to be part of the church is to be part of a certain denomination/organisation – which is not true. We understand that we become part of the church after receiving the Holy Spirit in us when we repent, believe Jesus and are baptized. We were baptized into/made part of the body/church by receiving the Holy Spirit. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” 1Cor 12:13-14. It is through the Spirit of God that we become part of the church. However, one needs to have an assembly/fellowship that they are part of because it is the way we can be made disciples to mature in God.

The house of God.
In the old testament, the House of God was the temple in Jerusalem that was constructed by Solomon.
 “And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually,” 1 Kings 9:3
The second temple was constructed by the returnees from captivity in
Ezra 6:13-18. This was a literal structure where all sacrifices, tithes, and offerings were brought in the Old Testament and it was a very important place for worship. It was the dwelling place of God in the earth in the Old Testament.  

In the New Testament, after Christ came, died and rose again, all who believe in Jesus become the dwelling place of God in the spirit; “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1Cor3:16  
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor 6:19-20
Eph 2:21-22 “…  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
“…but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” Heb 3:6

God reoccupied His true dwelling place which is the church. The church is the house of God in the Earth. “…but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.” 1Tim 3:15
Right now, God is dwelling in His house – the church on the earth, doing the work of restoration of all things through His Church!

The body of Christ
In the book Ephesians, the apostle Paul reveals a deep mystery about the church being the body of Christ.
“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. ” Eph 1:22-23. This means that Christ and the church are one. The scripture refers to Christ as the Head of the body which means that Christ’s authority and power can be exercised by His Church.
“…Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.” Isaiah 9:6 Here, the prophet Isaiah is speaking of the authority of the Son being on the shoulders. Taking the example of the human body, the shoulders are on the body which means that the authority of the Son (God in the flesh) rests on the shoulders/body which is the church.

The church carries a very high position of authority! We just need to grow in our relationship with the head -Christ for us to come to a good understanding of who we are and the great spiritual authority bestowed upon us, the Church.
In Acts 12, we see the church exercising its authority when Herod wanted to kill Peter after killing James. The Church stood in agreement and prayed and Peter was miraculously released from prison. The chains fell off him and the prison doors swung open! Peter walked out of prison free. Even throughout history, we have seen the Church pray/speak and great things happen or change. This is the authority of the church.
The church is the body of the King. What a mystery! This Eternal King is Jesus the everlasting God.

The church was bought at a price.

There is a very great price upon the church. 2Sam 24, is a chapter that explains the consequences of sin, a deadly plague had broken out against Israel when David sinned after numbering the people in disobedience to God’s will. God commanded David through the prophet Gad
“Go up, erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of  Ornan (Araunah) the Jebusite.” v18 This was to offer burnt and peace offerings for the plague to cease. David bought the threshing floor for a price even though Ornan wanted to freely give it to the king,
“…David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver” v24
It was on this site on Mount Moriah, in the very place of the threshing floor of Ornan where Solomon built the temple (the house of God)
“Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” 2Chr 3:1
This was the very mountain where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac in Gen 22:2.
Just like David bought this plot of Land where the temple was built in the old testament for a price, Christ also bought the church – His temple at a price!
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  1Cor 6:20
We are being built for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit – “…in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” Eph 2:22, 1Cor 6:19, 1Cor 3:16-17.
Christ purchased the spiritual ground (the Church) for His spiritual temple (house) at the price of His life! He did that for you and me.
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Act 20:28
David paid fifty shekels of silver to purchase a plot of land where the temple would be built but Christ paid with His life to purchase you and me. We are now the dwelling place of God in the spirit. How awesome is that!

The church has a foundation

After Peter received the revelation of who Jesus is, Jesus made a very important statement, He said “……. on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” Matt 16:13-18. Jesus mentions building His church on the rock which the powers of darkness will never prevail against. The foundation of the church according to this scripture is a rock. Jesus says “On this rock”, which means that the rock was available. Peter had just received an understanding/ revelation from the Father about who Jesus is.
Some people in the contemporary church thought that the rock on which the church is built was Peter. This is wrong and unscriptural. Peter as a person is not the one on whom the church is built. Jesus was referring to the revelation of who He is as the rock on which the church is built! “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1Cor 3:11  Jesus Himself is the foundation upon which the church is built.

The church, the City of the Living God

When David ascended to the throne of the whole nation of Israel, he went and fought against the Jebusites who were inhabitants of Jerusalem. David took Jerusalem which was also called the stronghold of Zion or the city of David (2 Sam 5:6-7). David established his Kingship militarily and politically in Zion /City of David. He later brought the ark of the covenant from the house of Obed-Edom to Zion/ city of David and this became the center of worship in Isreal. Jerusalem, Zion and the City of David are the same. This was where the God-chosen king, David, established his reign, rule and worship in the old testament.

All these were shadows pointing to the reality that God was to manifest in the New Testament.
“…I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” Psalm 2:6  This is a messianic psalm speaking of the true King – Jesus – set in Zion as King forever.

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect” Heb 12:22-23
This scripture shows that we who are born again have come to Mount Zion, no longer the City of David but the City of the living God, not physically located in Jerusalem in the Middle East, but the heavenly Jerusalem – which is the church. The church without physical boundaries is the true city of the living God, where the King Jesus is reigning and judging the nations.
In Revelation 21, when John saw the new Jerusalem coming out of heaven from God, he said it is as a bride adorned for her husband! The church is the bride of Christ. The new Jerusalem is the perfect Church that is continuously manifesting in the earth. Amen

About author

Innocent Ntabaazi

Innocent is a church elder at Anointed Christian Healing Church, Zana, Uganda. He is a passionate teacher of God’s word and a practicing psychiatric nurse.