In part 1, we discussed the topic, "What is the church?"  Then we discussed the relationship between the church and the kingdom in part 2.  Last week we discussed the requirements for a kingdom in our 3rd lesson on the church.

This week, let's take a look at scripture to learn the terms used to describe the church.

1.  The Church of God
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."  (Acts 20:28)

In the early church, they had a huge problem with Gnosticism (part of this false teaching is that Jesus was not God/Deity).  Since this verse says, "...God, which he hath purchased with his own blood," we can see that this verse is referring to Jesus and that he was God.

If you purchase a car, we understand that the car belongs to you.  You own the car that you bought.  In the same way, Jesus owns the church that he paid for with his blood.  This is also mentioned in Romans 16:16:  "The churches of Christ salute you."

There are many other instances in the New Testament where the phrase 'church of God' is used.  For example, "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:"  (1 Corinthians 1:2)  God, having sent his Son to the earth to establish the church, is the ultimate creator of it.

2.   The Body of Christ
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."  (1 Corinthians 12:27)

This verse really has a lot to say for a little thing.  It clears up some misconceptions about the church.  The church is not a building.  It is not all the different denominations in the world.

This clears up something that is becoming more and more popular.  Have you heard the saying, "Visit the church of your choice"?  What they mean is out of all the 'churches' out there - Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist, Methodist, etc., pick your favorite and go there.  They believe God is happy no matter how he is worshiped.

Think about this:  How many heads does a body have?  Now, we know there are a few 'accident's out there where a human or animal is born conjoined with two heads, but that is not the norm.  Most bodies have one head.  Who is the head of the church?  Take a look at this passage:
"Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."  (Ephesians 1:20-23)

Now God created beings with only one head and one body.  This scripture says that he appointed Jesus to have dominion over the church.  Remember, in lesson two we talked about Jesus being the potentate or king over the kingdom.  Here we see that he is the head, the only head over the one body.  

What is the body?  Or, more appropriately, WHO is the body?  Look again at 1 Corinthians 12:27:    "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."  Paul is talking to the Christians in Corinth.  He says, "ye," which is the plural "you".  He tells them that Christians make up the body of Christ and each individual is a part within the body of Christ.  The people are the body of Christ, the church.  The church is not a building.

This is by no means an exhaustive list.  There are other phrases used to describe the church but we will not look at them today.


In the next few lessons we will look at citizenship in the kingdom of God.

In church part 1 we discussed several things about the building of the church -- who built it, who owns it, what it was built upon, how many were built and how strong it is.

Today, let's look at the connection between the church and the kingdom.  We'll begin with more of what Jesus said in Matthew 16: 18-19:

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 

Here, Jesus mentions the church and the kingdom in these verses.  What is the kingdom that he is referring to?

To answer that question, we will go back into the Old Testament.  Daniel relates a story of how King Nebuchadnezzer had a dream.  The king saw in his dream a huge statue.  Its head was gold, chest of silver, middle and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet of iron and clay.  Then a stone that was not cut by man struck the feet and broke the statue to pieces.  Daniel goes on to interpret:  the head was King Nebuchadnezzer's kingdom.  Then a kingdom inferior to his would take over and then a third and forth.  Of that fourth kingdom, Daniel says:  "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," (Daniel 2:44)  Remember what Jesus said to Peter?  "...and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)  His church/kingdom is so strong it will last forever and even the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Jesus and John the immerser both preached that the kingdom was at hand or near.

Now, we will fast forward to after Christ's resurrection.  If we look at history, it is during the time of Roman rule that Daniel spoke of the kingdom that would be established coming into existence.  The book of Acts records this about Jesus:  "He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God."  (Acts 1:3)  The disciples were eager for him to establish a kingdom because they asked in verse 6, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"  Jesus answered them in verses 7 and 8:  "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

In Acts 2 they received that power from the Holy Spirit and began to preach and teach on the day of Pentecost.  Peter (remember Jesus gave him the keys to the king quoted Old Testament passages (Joel) that had prophesied of that time and the events fit with those things that had been prophesied in other scriptures as well (Isaiah 2). What we learn is that the kingdom prophesied was the church Jesus promised to build. We can study more evidence of this in another lesson, however, both were spoken of as coming in the future before the events of Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost and both are spoken of as already being in existence after this chapter.