CHRIST
& HIS EKKLESIA
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
In
his work on Ekklesia Translations, Cooper P. Abrahams,111 states
that the Greek word 'ekklesia' which means 'called out
assemblies or congregations’ had been in use since 5 B.C.
It was also used for gatherings of Christians since the First
Century, A.D. The word ‘church’ is taken from the Greek
word ‘kyriakon’ which correctly refers to ‘the
house of the Lord’.
What
is masquerading in this 21st Century as
Christian Churches in various parts of the globe is very confusing
and disturbing, indeed. Although there are millions of God-fearing
and true Christians gathering in Assemblies around the world, there
are many who are not truly ‘called out from the world and sin
and paganism’.
My
prayer is that this paper on Christ and His Church will
help bring clarity to those who are struggling in their Christian
walk and those who have been led astray by the false teachings of
those who have substituted the slippery slope of the “wide and
broad way” for the “straight and narrow way” that
our Lord Jesus Christ taught! (Matt.7:13, 14)
"If
ye then be RISEN with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on
things above, not on the things on the earth. For ye are dead
and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ Who is our Life
shall APPEAR, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."
(Col.3:1-4)
When
Christ died, we died with Him. When Christ was buried, we were buried
with Him. When Christ arose, we arose with Him. When Christ sat down
on His Father's right hand, we sat down with Him. When Christ
returns, we will return with Him. When Christ reigns, we will reign
with Him. We will be with Him eternally!
St.
Paul states: "Know ye not, that as many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death. Therefore, we
are BURIED with Him by Baptism into death: that like as
Christ was RAISED up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life.
"For
if we have been planted together in the likeness of His
death, we shall be also in the likeness of His RESURRECTION:
Knowing this, that our old man isCRUCIFIED with Him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin. For he that is dead is freed from SIN.
"Now
if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also LIVE with
Him: Knowing that Christ being RAISED from the dead, dies
no more: death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died,
He died unto sin ONCE: but in that He lives, He lives unto
God." (Rom.6: 6-10)
POPISH
MASS: STRIKING THE ROCK!
Roman
Catholic priests crucify Jesus Christ repeatedly in their mass, much
like Moses striking the Rock instead of speaking to it. Moses
paid a high price because of his anger and irritation with the
Israelites, when he disobeyed Almighty God.
In
the first instance where they were without water at Massah, he
cried out to God and the Lord told him to strike the Rock (Ex.17:6)
and when he did, water gushed out quenching their great thirst. On
the second occasion at Kadesh (Nu.20:11), God commanded
Moses to speak to the Rock (Type of Christ). He
disobeyed and in anger he twice struck the ROCK.
Water
gushed out, however, God was sore displeased and would not allow the
great Lawgiver to enter the Promised Land! WHY? The ROCK
represented CHRIST! The first strike against the ROCK was a TYPE
of Christ being CRUCIFIED to meet our great need of Salvation. On the
second occasion, Moses dishonoured Almighty God by striking the ROCK
twice instead of speaking to it. You CANNOT Crucify Christ again. All
you need to do is to SPEAK to Him in prayer!
MARTIN
LUTHER, refuted the Popish Mass as follows: "First, the blood of
Christ remains the blood of the same Christ. For we believe and hold
that the BLOOD of Christ that is at the right hand of God was shed
for us only once." (Church and Works, Vol.40,
P.215)
The Bible is clear on the
fact that CHRIST'S vicarious death on our behalf satisfied the
Demands of Divine Justice and that He will NEVER die again: "For
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are
the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us:
"Nor yet that He
should offer Himself OFTEN, as the high priest enters into the
holy place every year with blood of others; For then must
He often have suffered since the foundation of the world;
but now ONCE in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. So Christ was ONCE offered
to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall
He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." (Heb.9:
24-28)
THE
PURE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!
The
Bible says: "But God, who is rich in MERCY, for His
great LOVE wherewith He loved us; even when we were DEAD in
sins hath quickened together with Christ, by grace are ye saved. And
hath raised us up TOGETHER and made us toSIT together
in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His GRACE in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus." (Eph.2: 4-7)
When Christ
died on the cross, our sins died with Him. When Christ was buried, we
were buried with Him by (emersion) Baptism. When Christ ascended
and sat down on His Father's right hand, we are now "sitting
with Him in Heavenly places" and when He returns, the
saints will be return with Him. And we will be with Him eternally.
(Eph.1: 3)
God's
Word declares: "And ye are complete in Him, which is the
head of all principality and power...Buried with Him in baptism,
wherein ye also are risen with Him through the faith of the operation
of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.
"And
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath He quickened (made alive) together with Him, having
forgiven you all trespasses: Blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it
out of the way, nailing it to His Cross." (Col.2:
10-14)
The
Bible teaches that believers in Christ are "born again" and
have been"baptized into the body of Christ" by the
Holy Spirit. We are "heirs of God and joint heirs
with Jesus Christ" and have been "accepted in the
Beloved". We are"washed in the precious blood of
Christ", have become "new creatures in Christ"and
through God's Word are being daily "transformed by the
renewing of our minds". (John 3:3,7; 1 Cor.12:13; Rom.8:17;
Eph.1:6; 2 Cor.5:17; Rom.12:1,2).
St.
Paul states: "Know ye not that your bodies are the members
of Christ? What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Cor.6:15,19,20)
WE
ARE ONE WITH CHRIST
The
Bible affirms that "Christ lives in me and I in
Him" (John 14:16-23), and we are "hidden with
Christ in God." (Col.3:3) The Apostle prays, "That
He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might in the inner man: That Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith." (Eph.3:16.17)
In
St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, we are confronted with the
greatness of the Gospel of Christ in what he calls the "Mystery
of the Ages", which is Jesus Christ actually entering and
taking up residence in the believer:
"Even
the Mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but
now is made manifest to His saints: To whom God would make known what
is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which
is CHRIST IN YOU, the Hope of Glory." (Col. 1: 26, 27)
St.
Paul conveyed through the Holy Spirit the good news that even though
we are sinners by birth, nature and choice, through Jesus Christ's
vicarious death on the Cross, we can be forgiven if we have faith in
Him!
The
Bible states: "For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man, some would even
dare to die, but God commended His love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom.5: 6-8)
What
does the word 'IMPUTE' mean?" The Bible declares: "Wherefore,
as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned...Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam)judgment came
upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of
one (Jesus Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made
righteous." (Rom.5: 12-19)
OUR
SINS IMPUTED TO CHRIST:
HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED TO US!
Adam's
sin was imputed or credited to our account making us guilty
in the sight of God, but through His MERCY and LOVE for us Jesus
Christ left Heaven's glory to be incarnated (God in human
flesh) so that "He could taste DEATH for
every man".(Heb.2: 9). As He hung on Calvary's Cross, the sins
of the entire world were laid upon Him and He became SIN (sin
offering) so that He could destroy our sins!
He
willingly and gladly gave His life for us. The Bible says, "Looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher (perfecter) of our
faith; who for the JOY that was set before Him endured the
Cross, despising the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the
throne of God." (Heb.12:2).
Our
sins were IMPUTED to Him and He died as God's Pascal Lamb,
paying the price of our salvation by meeting the demands of Divine
Justice. (Phil.2:5-11; John 1:29; Rev.5: 6)
The
Bible states: "That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto Himself, not IMPUTING their trespasses unto
them: and hath committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation...For
He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knewNO SIN: that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor.5: 19-21)
Seven
hundred years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah prophesied: "Surely
He hath borne our sicknesses and carried our pains:
yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and
with His stripes we are healed.
"All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own
way; and the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.(Is. 53:
4-6) Who His own Self bare our sins in His own body on the TREE,
that we, being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: By Whose
stripes ye were healed." (1 Peter 2: 24)
OUR
NATURE FOR HIS NATURE!
In
his great spiritual wisdom and knowledge, St. Paul gives us a peak
into what he calls the 'ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD' for the Church, which
is His Body:
"For
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ,
of Whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named. That He would
grant unto you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man: That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
"That
ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and to know
the LOVE of Christ which passes knowledge, and
that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.
"Now
unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. Unto Him be
glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen." (Eph.3: 11-21)
In
His great compassion for humankind our Lord and Saviour initiated
what I call'THE GREAT EXCHANGE'. Through the shedding of His
pure and perfect blood for the sins of the world, He took upon
Himself our sin, guilt and unrighteous nature and in
return, gave us His Divine Nature and His righteousness.
St.
Peter says: "Grace and truth be multiplied to you through the
KNOWLEDGE of God and our Saviour Jesus our Lord. According as His
Divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory
and virtue:
PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE!
"Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by
these ye might be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter
1: 2-4)
St.
Paul wrote: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through thesanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the BLOOD of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace,
be multiplied.
"Blessed
be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: which according to His
abundant mercy hath BEGOTTEN us again unto a lively hope by the
RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in
Heaven for you. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:
2-5)
The Greek word 'Theosis' is used
to define the great spiritual truth, 'Partaking of the Divine
Nature'. We are united with Almighty God by His wondrous grace
in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is "God come in the
flesh". (1 John 4: 2) Through the divine gift of sanctification
by God's grace alone, we are able to mortify the deeds of the flesh!
(Rom.8:13)
The NICENE CREED states: "Jesus
Christ, Who for us and our salvation descended from Heaven and became
incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became a
man." - Third
Article.
Church Fathers John Chrysostom andAthanasias the
Great preached that, "Christ became man in Nature and
in Truth and assumed human nature with all its properties: not
another kind of flesh, but the same one with which we are
afflicted."
The HOLY BIBLE
states: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God and the Word was God, The same was in the beginning with
God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the Only begotten of the Father, full of
Grace and Truth." (John 1: 1,2. 14)
Jesus Christ was True God from Eternity and True
Man born of a virgin without the aid of a human father. St. Paul
wrote concerning Him: "For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points tempted like as we are, Yet WITHOUT SIN."
(Heb.4:15)
With absolute faith, the Church
Fathers believed in and declared the Divinity of Jesus Christ. St.
Eirinaeos believed in One God, Father Almighty and in one Christ
Jesus, the Son of God, incarnate, for our Salvation. Proving that
'God the Son' was indeed God, he declared: "If a man had
not been joined to God (united in Christ) He would not have been able
to partake of incorruption."
The
ministry of the Holy Spirit is beautifully evident everywhere in the
Scriptures. The Holy Spirit convicts sinners and points them to the
Saviour, but is unable to work in their lives until they have
received Christ as Saviour! Then, He works through the shed
blood of Jesus Christ to work miracles. Here are some of His great
works for God's glory and the deliverance of people!
THE
GREAT WORKS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
1.
We are baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit - 1
Cor.12: 13
2.
The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit -
Rom.5: 5
3.
We are led by the blessed Holy Spirit of God - Rom.8: 17; Gal.5: 18
4.
By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit our bodies are the temples of
God - 1 Cor.6:15-20
5.
We become partakers of Christ through the Holy Spirit - 2 Peter 1:
2-4
6.
The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit - Eph.6: 17
8.
We are sealed by the Holy Spirit, Who is the Earnest of our
inheritance - Eph. 1: 13,14
9.
He gives us the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of
Him - Eph.1:17
10.
The Holy Spirit of God brings us into the Holy of Holies - Eph.2: 18
11.
The Holy Spirit calls us into the Ministry of our Lord - 1 Tim.1: 12;
2 Tim.1: 9
12.
The Holy Spirit manifests signs, wonders and miracles by the Gifts of
the Spirit - 1 Cor.12:7-12; Gal.3:5, 14
13.
We are sanctified (set apart) by the Holy Spirit - Gal.5:24, 25;
Eph.5:26, 27
14.
Through the Holy Spirit, we receive the Fruit of the Spirit - Gal.5:
22, 23
15:
The Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God
- Gal.4: 6, 7
16.
The Holy Spirit reveals the Son of God; not only to us, but in us -
Gal.1: 16
It
is evident that the LIFE OF CHRIST we receive through His shed BLOOD
brings the Holy Spirit into operation in the lives of Believers in
Christ!
CHRIST:
THE HEAD THE CHURCH!
St.
Paul so masterfully lays out in systematic order as well as
repetatively in all his epistles the Gospel of Christ and Who Jesus
Christ really is! And Who is He really? For starters, Jesus Christ is
all in all, in us all, over all and for us all!
The
great Apostle wastes no in letting people know Who Jesus is. He
begins his epistle the Ephesians thusly: “Grace be to you, and
peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” In this
salutation he reveals that Grace (unmerited favour) and Peace comes
from the Father and the Son!
Then
he reveals that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God: “Blessed be
the God and FATHER of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with
ALL spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians
1: 2,3)
CHRIST
IN US: WORKING THROUGH US!
For
nearly 2,000 Years, the Church has heralded this worthy Slogan as our
Theological Doctrine: Christ Has Died ~ Christ Is Risen ~ Christ Will
Come Again! What more can we say? Nothing can better that great
Salutation! We can only build on that marvellous Confession of Faith
in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, Thrice Holy
God, Indivisible, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Immutable,
Incomprehensible, Immortal, Infallible, Good, Merciful, Gracious,
Holy, True & Just! Amen.
