A lot of these issues in worship stem from a misunderstanding of what the church of God really is. Some of it can be attributed to the Greek Word ekklesia translated as Church in the English language. The word church has institutional connotations and often represents a formal structure that gathers in a building or as a reference to the building itself. It doesn’t accurately represent what the apostles meant when they used ekklesia. Some have understood the term ekklesia to be a sum of two different words. The prefix ex meaning out of and the verb kaleo meaning to call. This they understand to mean called out ones. Now this could be a legitimate understanding of the term. However, when the apostles used the term ekklesia, it already had a colloquial usage in the Koine Greek of the time. Moreover, it is often used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, which the apostles used. Therefore, to understand this term, it is good to look into its colloquial usage and its usage in the Septuagint.
Tag: New Covenant
The New Covenant and Antithesis: Part 2 – Religious Separation and Worship
The second aspect that defines the Christian’s antithesis from the world is religious separation. In the Old Covenant, we see it first in Abraham who built altars to YHWH wherever he pitched his tent. These altars signified that Abraham was a YHWH worshipper and did not worship the gods of the nations around him. Similarly, under Moses, God gave the Israelite nation diverse laws that set them apart as a holy people of God. These laws pertained to purity and holiness and intended to teach them the requirements of God as they worshipped Him. Even when the Jews were taken in exile they continued to worship Him in a distinct way, remembering God’s promise to Solomon and turning towards the temple to pray.
The New Covenant and Antithesis: Part 1 – Pilgrim Identity
The Lord instructs His disciples on their antithesis from the world in saying - “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). It is because the Christian does not belong to this world, that its citizens hate him. According to our Lord, this hatred is to be an expected aspect of the Christian life and not one that we will see abated in this present age. In fact Christ emphasises this pilgrim separation in His prayer for His people (John 17:14-16). The Christian is not of the world even as their king is not of the world (John 17:16). Looking at this through a kingdom lens helps us understand why Christ emphasises that both He and His people are not of this world. It aligns with the theme that the Scriptures have drawn out so far, that the world belongs to Satan and is under a curse, awaiting destruction.
Redemptive Kingdom Structure in the New Covenant: Part 3 – King and Holy War
In the Old Covenant, the Israelites waged holy war against the Caananites within the boundaries of the promised land. Likewise the Christian is also engaged in holy war. In the New Covenant, there are two categories in which this war is waged and these categories are not mutually exclusive. Since the Christian himself is the domain of God’s Kingdom, we wage an internal holy war to cleanse ourselves. Then we also wage an external holy war against the forces of darkness. Since the Kingdom of God is not a physical kingdom, this war is not a physical one but spiritual in nature.
Redemptive Kingdom Structure in the New Covenant: Part 2 – Nation
The second aspect of a kingdom is its people. Whom does the king rule over? We saw that when the sons of Adam rebelled at Babel, they were handed over as possessions to false gods. However, God set apart Abraham and His descendents to be His special possession and also promised that all the nations, i.e. the sons of Adam would be blessed through his Seed. We have already seen that the Seed spoken of is Christ and how those in Christ are inheritors of the Abrahamic promise. Our hearts are cleansed to make place for God to work in us. How does God accept clean vessels as His special people?
Redemptive Kingdom Structure in the New Covenant: Part 1 – Land
Our studies in the Old Covenant has shown us that God’s kingdom manifests itself with a King, a land over which He rules and a nation or people who serve Him as priests and kings. In the Old Covenant this was revealed in types and shadows. The land of Canaan was the holy land, the territory set apart by God for His Divine rule. The Hebrews were God’s chosen people, His own nation, who were set apart when the rest of the sons of Adam were disinherited at Babel. Finally, David and his sons were appointed as kings, to rule over this holy nation as the image and representation of their God, just as the kings of the nations around them, imaged their own gods.
Deo Vicit Mundum 