Essence of the Church

[Joshua-777]

Here is the Finished research paper, please proof read, and if you see any errors let me know. Now on to the Purpose of the Church paper.

Our Divine Essence, By Joshua Shaw

The church is something created beautiful and precious, set apart from this world, yet at many times she plays the harlot, accepting a worldly image and division as clothing. She has lost her identity in independence. In this research paper I hope to shed light on who she is, that we may see her beautiful once again. The church is a community created by the triune God, redeemed and devoted to Christ, and unified with each other as one body that is and is in the very presence of God the Father, and the Son through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

I will start at the church being a community created by the triune God. Let’s go back to the beginning when we were created. Genesis 1:26 says “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;” giving us a hint of humanity’s essence as the church. Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger in the book Exploring Ecclesiology state; “As the Triune God, the Lord Almighty freely fashions a world and a people as an overflowing expression of the holy love experienced in the communion of the divine life.” (Harper, Metzger, 21) We were created to be united with each other as an expression of the tri-unity of God. Peter Althouse, in his article in the Journal of Pentecostal Theology, writes, “God is not a static monad decreeing from all eternity, but a relational and dynamic community of persons, who in unity call and send, self-sacrifice, guide and gather. The church reflects the community of God.” (Althouse, 236) We are a reflection of the tri-unity of God in identity and purpose.

Looking at our creation, we can get a deeper understanding of this community. When sin entered this world, it separated us from this intimacy with God, and each other. We have been reconciled from this fall by the blood of Jesus Christ and through our devotion to Him, we now live in a right relationship with God, and with each other. This relationship restored is the nature of the church. Craig Van Gelder says in his book The Essence of the Church, “The nature of the

Church is to live in reconciled relationship with God and one another as a new people of God.” (Gelder, 109) This is a key to first understanding the church.

In John 17:21 Jesus prays, “that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they may also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” This verse reveals that all believers are one as the Father and the Son are one. This oneness is a major part of the churches identity. Referring to this oneness, Van Gelder wrote, “God invites redeemed humanity into a oneness that is to reflect fully the oneness of the Godhead. The church receives this oneness as a gift” (Gelder, 122) We therefore are all one, yet individual members of each other as one body has many different parts, we can have diversity and oneness with each other as the people of God. In 1 Corinthians 12:12 Paul says, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body. So also is Christ.”

The church is the bride of Christ, and God uses marriage to symbolize this mystery. Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” The church is the bride of Christ, and as the bride of Christ, we are one with Christ. “The two will become one flesh.” (Eph. 5:31, Gen. 2:24) As the bride of Christ, we as the body are subject to Christ. (Eph. 5:24, Eph. 1:22-23)

This body is and is in the very presence of Christ in this world through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Miroslav Volf writes in The Ecclesiality of the Church, “A church is a network of relations, and the constitutive presence of Christ is mediated through these relations, that is, through the communal confession of faith.” (Volf, 16-17) The very presence of Jesus flows through the relations of the church. Volf also writes referring to the church “It stands on its own spiritual feet because the whole Christ is present in it through the Spirit.” (Volf, 16) In the church the fullness of God dwells. (Eph. 1:23) In John 14:19-21 Jesus says to those who keep His commands, “I will manifest myself to him” Jesus manifests Himself to us through the Holy Spirit, referred to as the “Spirit of Truth.” (John 14:17) Through the Holy Spirit the Father and the Son make their home in us. (John 14:24) Upon us receiving the Holy Spirit, We become the very temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19) and therefore the church stands as the presence of God in this world. Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the mist of them.” This shows the church as an assembly for the presence of Christ to flow through.

We receive the Holy Spirit through our confession of faith. The first reference to the word “church” in the New Testament is Matthew 16:18. Jesus said to Peter “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” This verse is not referring to Peter as the rock, but his confession. Jesus said this in response to Peter saying “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) The church is built on the testimony of Jesus Christ. This confession of faith in the divine nature of Jesus is the doorway to salvation. (Romans 10:9).

As we shed off the man-made image and our divisions of independence and step into our true identity as a creation of God, through the transformation of His Spirit we can walk in the beauty of the divine nature as an expression of the tri-unity of God, set apart and united as His children. I would communicate the essence of the church more simply by saying the church is the gathering of people who testify that Jesus is Lord, and who have a restored intimacy with God and each other, which the Lord manifests Himself to and through.

Bibliography

New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Inc. 1982

Van Gelder, Crag. The Essence of the Church: a community created by the spirit. Grand Rapids, Baker 1991.

Harper, Brad. Metzger, Paul Louis. Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction. Brazos Press 2009

Volv, Miroslav. After our likeness: The Church as the Image of the trinity. Grand Rapids: Erdmanns, 1998 Ch. 3

Althouse, Peter. Toward a Pentecostal Ecclesiology: Participation in the Missional life of the triune God. Journal of Pentecostal Theology, Sep2009, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p230-245

[Botz]

Here is the Finished research paper, please proof read, and if you see any errors let me know. Now on to the Purpose of the Church paper.

Hi Joshua, Good read....I noticed one mistake here This body is and is in the very presence of Christ .....

I also thought about these words that you wrote: 'The church is something created beautiful and precious, set apart from this world, yet at many times she plays the harlot accepting a worldly image and division as clothing. She has lost her identity.'

Naturally we understand that we the Believers, make up the Body of Messiah....and I understand that at times the image of the Church is tainted by her words and her works....but this is not necessarily true of the whole Body. When we look in the first chapters of Revelation, we see the Spirit speaking to various sections of the Body, in other words, although we are One in Messiah, due to our locations and our practices (both spiritual and practical), none of us is entirely representative of the whole....and the Spirit addresses this natural diversity to each specific Body of Believers.

My point being that rather than collectively admonishing the whole Body...if we feel so inclined we should take our leading from the Holy Ghost, and be specific and direct....confronting exactly what constitutes playing the harlot, or accepting worldly standards.

You can see the same sort of thing worked out especially through the ministry of Paul...who went around ministering to the communities of Believers, many of which had been established through his own ministry....each of them needed to be addressed in various areas regarding specific practices....those that were bad were admonished, those that were godly were praised, and all were encouraged to stay the course, live by the Spirit and unashamedly declare the truth of the Gospel.

I believe there are certain things that can be applied to the Body as a whole, but they are more on a historical basis than an ongoing life-style.

Anyway...a few of my personal thoughts. Best regards. Botz

[Joshua-777]

Hi Joshua, Good read....I noticed one mistake here This body is and is in the very presence of Christ .....

I also thought about these words that you wrote: 'The church is something created beautiful and precious, set apart from this world, yet at many times she plays the harlot accepting a worldly image and division as clothing. She has lost her identity.'

Naturally we understand that we the Believers, make up the Body of Messiah....and I understand that at times the image of the Church is tainted by her words and her works....but this is not necessarily true of the whole Body. When we look in the first chapters of Revelation, we see the Spirit speaking to various sections of the Body, in other words, although we are One in Messiah, due to our locations and our practices (both spiritual and practical), none of us is entirely representative of the whole....and the Spirit addresses this natural diversity to each specific Body of Believers.

My point being that rather than collectively admonishing the whole Body...if we feel so inclined we should take our leading from the Holy Ghost, and be specific and direct....confronting exactly what constitutes playing the harlot, or accepting worldly standards.

You can see the same sort of thing worked out especially through the ministry of Paul...who went around ministering to the communities of Believers, many of which had been established through his own ministry....each of them needed to be addressed in various areas regarding specific practices....those that were bad were admonished, those that were godly were praised, and all were encouraged to stay the course, live by the Spirit and unashamedly declare the truth of the Gospel.

I believe there are certain things that can be applied to the Body as a whole, but they are more on a historical basis than an ongoing life-style.

Anyway...a few of my personal thoughts. Best regards. Botz

Hi, thanks for your thoughts

What I meant by The Church is, and is in the presence of God, is that the Lord manifests himself to us, and through us.

About the Church playing the harlot, there is a few reasons why I started out there. I wanted to amplify the oneness of the church by bring up the division and worldly image. What I intended that to portray is the though tof denominations and independance, rather than being dependant on eachother in unity. I will revise that and try to make that more clear. Thanks for bringing that up.

I Changed the conclusion to reflect what I meant in the begining.

As we shed off the man-made image and our divisions of independence and step into our true identity as a creation of God, through the transformation of His Spirit we can walk in the beauty of the divine nature as an expression of the tri-unity of God, set apart and united as His children. I would communicate the essence of the church more simply by saying the church is the gathering of people who testify that Jesus is Lord, and who have a restored intimacy with God and each other, which the Lord manifests Himself to and through.

[Seriousseeker]

The church began in Acts 2, not in Genesis.

- Seriousseeker

[Guest]

The church began in Acts 2, not in Genesis.

A Long

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? Genesis 3:8-9

Long Time Ago

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 2 Peter 2:5

God Called His Beloved To Him

And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. Leviticus 20:26

You See

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Hebrews 11:1-2

Yes

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2:15-19

One Body

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: Ephesians 2:16

One House

And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; Ephesians 2:17-19

Glory To The KING OF THE JEWS~!

I Love You Jesus

I Love You

[nebula]

Hey - finally had time to read this.

Nice job!

One point I would address is this:

"The first reference to the word

[Seriousseeker]

I am not sure what all are trying to say about the church, but the fact remains that the church (called out assembly of God) was first spoken of in Matthew 16 as that which the Lord Jesus would establish in time. That time was in Acts 2. All other ideas or ministry about the saints of God and His testimony in the world must fit into this fundamental truth.

- Seriousseeker

Edited March 2, 2011 by Seriousseeker

[nebula]

I am not sure what you are trying to say about the church,

Just noting the term.

[Joshua-777]

Hey - finally had time to read this.

Nice job!

One point I would address is this:

"The first reference to the word

[Joshua-777]

I am not sure what you are trying to say about the church,

Just noting the term.

Just reworded it. Now what I have up as my first post is the finished paper.