The Nature of the Church Pt. 2
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Biblical Images of the Church
Biblical Images of the Church
The Bible gives several “images” or figures of speech that describe the nature of the church.
The first image, the temple
, is described using Biblical Theology above. In other words, the above section traced the change in the mediation of the presence of God in prophecy and narrative. The prophecy anticipated a change in the temple which was fulfilled in the narrative about the church. There is also more direct teaching regarding the relation between the church and the temple.
Read Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Paul illustrates those who have been redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice as no longer being strangers in three different ways in verse 19: fellow citizens, saints, members of the household. These are not representative of different classes of church membership, but rather all serve as different pictures of the same group. In verse 20, Paul begins the illustration of a building with a foundation. He notes the continuity between the prophets and apostles, and the main foundation of Christ. The very things built on the foundation is the subject of verse 19: you (plural); i.e., those who were reconciled to God. The “whole structure” is identified in verse 21 as, “The holy temple in the Lord.”
The church, the people of God, is the very place where God dwells.
The church is the institution that fulfills God’s desire to be with his people and be their God (Jer. 30:22).
A similar picture that communicates this same idea is “the house of God.”
Read Hebrews 3:5-6
Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
“We are God’s house,” does not just mean that faithful believers are God’s dwelling place, but also his family. “House” is a term used to communicate more than just a dwelling place, but also a “household” which is similar to a clan or dynasty. So, being part of God’s household has moral implications.
Read 1 Timothy 3:14-15
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
Being in the “household of God” is not a physical location (of which there were no such structures when Paul was writing this to Timothy); but rather,
it refers to being a part of God’s family where God himself is the “head of household”
in a manner of speaking. Being a part of God’s family demands godly behavior. It also forms the believer’s identity.
Read 1 Peter 2:5
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Being part of the household of God makes people into the holy priesthood. In this verse the focus of the illustration of being priests is the ability to draw near to God and do things pleasing to him (rather than mediate for others). Every believer in the household is a priest in this sense, there is not an alternate class or division of priests in the church.
The priesthood of all believers is the equal ability of every believer to draw near to God and do that which pleases him.
Read 1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
This priestly status is identity forming. And because it forms the believer’s new identity, it also influences how the believer presents himself to the outside world. In 1 Peter 2:11 and following, Peter goes on to explain just how this holy nation should be seen by and interact with unbelievers.
Although there are many other biblical images of the church, a final one worth noting is the bride of Christ.
This image shows Christ’s great, sacrificial love for the church. It also shows the church as something to be completely fulfilled in the future.
Read Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship to the church. Christ pursues the church, sacrifices for it, purifies it. Then, finally, Christ is united to the church forever. This two becoming one forever in marriage is just a shadow of the reality of Christ and the church.
Read Ephesians 5:31-32
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
The Church and the Kingdom of God
The Church and the Kingdom of God
This union will not be totally finalized until the end times.
Read Revelation 19:6-9
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
This is what is often referred to as the “already-not-yet” nature of the church. The Christian is saved from sin now, but continues to deal with sin, until one day will be completely free from it. That is the “already-not-yet” in the individual believer’s life. In a similar way, the church acknowledges Christ’s headship but in an imperfect way until the kingdom of God is fully known.
When Jesus first started his public ministry, his first sermons were about the kingdom of God. “Repent,” Jesus said, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2, 4:17). In fact, Jesus frequently preaches about the kingdom of God and rarely (save Matt. 18) does he speak about the church. The kingdom of God coming to mankind is predicted in the dream of a pagan king.
Read Daniel 2:34-35
As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a statue. Daniel recounts the dream to him then interprets it for him. The statue itself is various human kingdoms; however, special attention is given to the stone.
Read Daniel 2:44
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
The stone which is seemingly small and insignificant represents the kingdom of God. It grows into a big mountain. Jesus tells similar parables about the kingdom of God.
Read Matthew 13:31-33
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
And so, the kingdom of God is something that starts small but will eventually be great and change everything.
The kingdom of God is the rule of God and the domain in which that rule is fully experienced without any rebellion.
[1] This kingdom was brought by Christ and started small and seemingly insignificant. It continues in the church to this day, yet imperfectly. Thus, the church is alreadyin the kingdom, but not yet free from all rebellion. This is why the church is pictured as a bride awaiting her wedding day. This is also why Christians still have responsibility to their earthly rulers. Jesus commands, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” This responsibility is continued after the inauguration of the church.
Read 1 Peter 2:13-14
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
This truth is often stated that church is “in the world but not of the world.” This distinction between the church and the world is similar to the distinction between the church and the kingdom of God. The church is in the kingdom of God but not completely of it (yet). This distinction is made clear by what happens in the book of Acts. After Jesus’s resurrection, he continues to proclaim the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Jesus promises the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). The disciples assume that this means it is the time to “restore the kingdom” (Acts 1:6). To this, Jesus responds that it is not for them to know the times or seasons (Acts 1:7). So while the church is inaugurated, the kingdom is not fully restored in it (again already, but not yet). A further distinguishing mark between the church and the kingdom of God is the fact that the church continues to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God.
Read Acts 8:12
But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Read Acts 28:31
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
Recognizing the distinction between the church and the kingdom of God has one major implication. The church does not operate like human governments to usher people into the kingdom of God. Repenting and recognizing God’s rule in the heart is not something that can be brought about by use of force or coercion. Helping unbelievers to see the goodness of God’s morality and law will bring benefits to society, but forcing people to obey God’s laws will not make them a member of God’s kingdom. That work is only brought about by the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. So, the church is one people living in two kingdoms, sojourning from one, yearning for the other.
Read Hebrews 11:13-16
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Dr. Micheal Horton emphasizes already, but not yet realm the church lives in by discussing the two missions given to the church in his Systematic Theology:
Like Joseph and Daniel, who held positions of secular leadership during periods of exile, some believers may become rulers of state and leaders in many other cultural labors. Nevertheless, like Joseph and Daniel, they are not to confuse their cultural mandate [“to be fruitful and multiply and full the earth and subdue it” Gen. 1:26-28] and their evangelical mandate to spread God’s kingdom. While refusing to accommodate their faith and practice to the idolatry of the nations they serve, such leaders also do not seek to advance and expand God’s kingdom by means of the powers that they are given as secular rulers. . .Rather than offer a blueprint for establishing Christ’s kingdom through cultural, political, or societal power, Paul’s instructions for daily conduct of believers in civil society seem rather modest (1 Thess. 4:11-12). . . Believers and unbelievers continue to share equally in cultural vocations, by God’s common grace. However, Christ’s kingdom of grace is advanced in the Great Commission, by God’s saving grace
[1]Definition adapted from Wayne A Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 1058. Grudem quotes George Ladd to define the kingdom of God. This adaptation has specifically added “without any rebellion” to convey the fact that in final form no other idea, power, or person will want to usurp authority from God.