Most comprehensively ekklesia gathers the whole body of the faithful both in heaven and on earth, all in the past, present, and future whom the LORD calls to be the Church. Eph 1:22, “. . . and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the ekklesia . . . .” Eph 3:10, 5:22–33, 5:27, 32; Col 1:18, 24; etc.
All this means that the New Testament Church is essentially one with the Old Church, the people of the covenant whom Christ gathers to the exclusion of all others. She is the new Israel, Phil 3:3.
As the international character of the New Church appeared her sense of nationhood changed. The Church, however, remains a nation, i.e., a kingdom, a commonwealth, Eph 2:19; Phil 3:20. A nation equals a kingdom, although the extent of a king’s authority may reach beyond the borders of a nation. Under David and Solomon, Israel was a nation and a kingdom. Now more scattered than in the Old Testament, the Church is indeed global, nevertheless with a nation-character, a peculiar people, meant for reformation, whose King rules with a kingship not of this world, John 18:36. At the heart of Christ’s Kingdom throbs the Church.
With the coming of Christ and his completed work of salvation, and also on account of Israel’s stubbornness with respect to the Gospel, he pushed the missionary character of the New Church more definitively. Matt 28:19–20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, . . ..” This expands upon the Old Testament mandate, as in Ps 9:11, “Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!” The appointment of Paul to be the Apostle to the Gentiles speaks of this missionary character as much as anything in the New Testament, as well as the fact that Christians walking the roads of the Roman Empire established ekklesiae wherever they settled. Thus the primary missionaries, the members of the New Church, brought the Gospel to all nations, gathering her from all languages and races.
It is noteworthy in this regard that worship patterns, liturgy, also changed; instead of numerous rules and regulations for sacrifices and Tabernacle/Temple care, the fulfilled promises and obligations of the LORD simplified and intensified liturgy, concentrating completely on his accomplished work of salvation, in which the glory of the Father dominates.
The unity of the Old and New Church appears also in various names:
The New Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and of God the Father, 1 Cor 3:16–17; Eph 2:21–22; 1 Pet 2:5; etc. Whereas the Temple Solomon constructed was made of stone and precious metals, the New Testament Temple, the Church, consists of all whom Christ Jesus calls into membership. Thus the Church is holy and inviolable, the New Temple, as solid as the flesh and blood of her members.
The current Church is also the New Jerusalem, the city of the great King, now no more a locality in the Middle East, where the LORD promised to dwell with his people of the first dispensation, but spread globally, wherever ekklesiae exist, Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22; Rev 21:2, 9, 10.
The New Church is also the Bride of Christ, Isa 62:4–5; Jer 3:14; Hos 2:19, “And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.” In ways past comprehension this comes to expression in and for the New Church. Eph 5:32; Rev 19:7, 21:2, 9; etc.
Always, the Church,16 Old and New, is made up of the covenant people.
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The New Church differs from the Old in that Christ accomplished in his living and dying the covenant promises as well as obligations, but the one issue remains; the Church existed in the Old Testament dispensation and the New Church is essential the same as the old, whatever the differences.17 Such reflection on and study of the Church remains necessary in order 1) to believe and live the great grace of the LORD and Savior for salvation; 2) to counteract the erosion of the Church, with the understanding that there is no salvation outside her; the fact also that there are thousands of different bodies means also thousands of different voices claiming to speak in the name of the LORD. This babel of voices, of course, indicates the departure of the Holy Spirit and the result thereof: a chaos of ideological expressions. And not to forget, 3) to move against every erroneous interpretation of Church History.
The Church remains the community that Christ faithful to the covenant promises gathers; she existed from the beginning of the first dispensation, will exist at the conclusion of the second dispensation, to be taken, raptured into heaven at the conclusion of the Tribulation, which ends Christ’s one thousand-year reign.
2000/2015
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campbell, D.K., and J.F. Townsend. A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus. Chicago: Moody, 1992.
Jeffrey, G.R. Armageddon: Appointment with Destiny. New York: Bantam, 1988.
Kee, Howard Clark. Jesus in History: An Approach to the Study of the Gospels. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970.
Lindsey, H. There’s A New World Coming: A Prophetic Odyssey. Santa Ana, California: Vision House, 1973.
Saucy, R.L. The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism: The Interface between Dispensational and Non-dispensational Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.
Stam, C.R. Things That Differ: the Fundamentals of Dispensationalism. Germantown, Wisconsin : Berean Bible Society, 1951/82.
Walwoord, John F. Armageddon: Oil and the Middle East Crisis. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974.
1 Art 28 of the 1561 Confession of Faith, in part, “We believe, since this holy assembly and congregation is the assembly of the redeemed and there is no salvation outside of it, that no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself, no matter what his state or quality may be.”
2 Heidelberg Catechism, Q/A 21p, “I believe that the Son of God, out of the whole human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, defends, and preserves for Himself by His Spirit and Word, in the unity of the true faith, a church chosen to everlasting life.”
3 Jacob’s twelve sons are also called patriarchs, Acts 7:8. Patriarchs were leaders in the Old Church.
4 Gen 4:26b, “At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.” It is next to impossible to determine in this context the meaning of calling upon the LORD.
An explanatory word: LORD = Yahweh, a primary Old Testament covenant name of Jesus Christ.
5 Shem is the father of the Semites, out of whom the LORD later drew Abram/Abraham.
6 There is a missionary element to the rite of circumcision. Gen 17:12, “He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring . . ..” Specifically male slaves, also those purchased, were subject to the covenant of circumcision.
It goes without saying slavery in the covenant community is an issue separate from the matter at hand, the one Church.
7. Kee, Jesus in History, 156, “The Greek word for church, ekklesia, has long been recognized as a translation of the Semitic word used in the Old Testament for the covenant community of Israel, qahal.”
8 According to Judg 14:8, ‘edhah may also apply to a swarm of