Ekklesia: What is The Church?

Jesus himself was the first one to speak about His intention to build the Church. He revealed this part of His plan to Peter when He said, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it”.  The word “church” in our Bibles was translated from the Greek word ekklesia, which simply put, means a gathering of people called out for a specific purpose. A search of this word in the New Testament gives us a picture of how the earliest followers of Jesus acted upon the instructions He gave them before ascending to Heaven.

Instructions

In the first chapter of Acts, Luke records the last instructions of Jesus: “While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. ‘Which,’ he said, ‘you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?’”

“He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

And in Matthew’s account (28:18-20), Jesus told them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We learn in Acts 2 that on the day of Pentecost the promised Holy Spirit came, and empowered them – beginning with flames and tongues, and Peter’s bold sermon. And then as evidence of their obedience to the command of Jesus in the power of the Spirit, the church grew and thrived, especially in the face of persecution.

Later, when Paul was writing to the churches that had been established, he mentioned in several letters how the gifts of the Holy Spirit were intended to equip and support a healthy “body” which is another picture of the church, of which Christ is the head. The result of this would be a healthy and fruitful church that worked as an interdependent system of unique parts which was designed and empowered by Jesus through the Spirit. (Ephesians 4)