The Church of God

 •  15 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
Is it by accident (an accident of no importance) that the term (which is become in our days almost the sole designation for the church, namely, the church of Christ) is nowhere to be found in the New Testament; whereas the very expression, " the church of God" is met with seven times? This does not imply that the church is not Christ's, as well as God's. That it is so is too plain to require a proof. Though it would be established, if doubted, by what is written in John 17:9, 109I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. (John 17:9‑10); and 16: 15.
But it is of all importance, in a time such as the present, to weigh deliberately the very words of God (ipsissima verba); especially upon such a subject as that of the church. Now, according to the word, there is something special as to the kind of relationship of Christ with the -church, which can only be understood by entering into the scriptural force of the expression, " The church of God."
When the Spirit speaks of the church as belonging to Christ, He is most careful to set forth this truth in such a way as to make us see that the church has for Christ all the savor of His Father's name upon it; and that, as to ourselves, never should we think of it without remembering its close and inseparable relationship with Him as the Son of God. To say the church is Christ's would be too feeble an expression. What the Spirit of God desires is, that the nature and closeness of the relationship should be recognized as well as its existence. Communion and mutual sympathy are expressed by both of these. The Spirit speaks of the church as the " body. of Christ"; "the Lamb's wife"•' or as that which belongs to Christ because it belongs to His Father, etc.
This is seen by the following passages: Eph. 1:22,23; 5:24-3222And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23)
24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:24‑32); Col. 1:18, 2418And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)
24Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: (Colossians 1:24); Rev. 21 and 22, etc.; but never once is the expression " the church of Christ" employed. When the church is spoken of as belonging to Christ, it is as "the body" which is absolutely necessary to the Head; as "the wife" which expresses a relationship necessarily existing where there is a husband, etc. The following are the seven passages in which the Spirit speaks to us of the church as being the church of God:-
" Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God." (1 Cor. 10:3232Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:32).)
" I am the least of the apostles, which am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." (1 Cor. 15:99For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:9).)
" If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?" (1 Tim. 3:55(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) (1 Timothy 3:5).)
I do not know of the Lord Jesus once saying, "MY CHURCH," except it be in the following passage, "And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter [Petros, in Greek], and on this rock [Petra, in Greek] I will build my church." But here (Matt. 16:1616And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16)) it is rather speaking of a testimony to be given to the world, and upon earth, than of anything else. He whose title is King of kings for the earth has been rejected by the Jews, the subjects of His kingdom here below: but there, at the right hand of God, His title of King is acknowledged; and it is most evident also in this world to those who are the friends of the King. For though the subjects of the King are in rebellion against Him; and though He has been driven out of the world, He has friends who love Him and who own His title. He admits them into His counsels, and He strengthens and encourages them. There is that which one has well named, " The kingdom in mystery"; and it is the church under this point of view, as the church bound up with the government of the heavens, which is brought before us here.)
"The house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Tim. 3:1515But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15))
Many things are disclosed to us in this last verse. " Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh; justified in the Spirit; seen of angels; preached unto the Gentiles; believed on in the world; and received up into glory." The words " God was manifest in the flesh," do not give the meaning of the " mystery of godliness" if they are separated from what follows. Though many do so read them and would have it so; as though the expression, " the mystery of godliness" were synonymous with the person of the God-man, and as though that which is intended by the one expression were the same as that which is intended by the other. If it were so, the child Jesus in the cradle, or Jesus on the cross, would present to us the meaning of this expression, " the mystery of godliness." But in the verse which is now before us, there are, after the expression
God was manifest in the flesh," five other characteristic terms, namely, 1. "justified in the Spirit;" 2. "seen of angels"; 3. "preached unto the Gentiles"; 4. "believed on in the world"; and 5. "received up into glory." That is to say, the God-man, in His present position, is the meaning of this mystery. The God-man has now been received up into a certain glory. The Word teaches us that many things are waiting for Him to do when He leaves this His present position. But He is now received up into glory. " God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory." Without a question, it is Christ that is spoken of here; but Christ in such a manifestation of Him as supposes the church; the church as that which God has formed of Him, by Him, and for Him.
All things are, in a sense, of Him, by Him, and for Him (Rom. 11:3636For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)); but the church is so in a way peculiar to itself. There is a relationship between God in His eternal state, in that eternity which belongs to Him, and the church, which distinguishes it in a way peculiarly its own. Of not one of the divine works besides, is it said in the word that it is the expression of His counsel before the world was; of His election before the foundation of the world. Whilst beyond all controversy it is so stated of the church; but, I repeat it, of it alone.
In the following passages, Ex. 2:22-25; 3:15; 6:3-822And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. 23And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. (Exodus 2:22‑25)
15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (Exodus 3:15)
3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. 4And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord. (Exodus 6:3‑8); Lev. 26:4242Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. (Leviticus 26:42); Deut. 30:2020That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (Deuteronomy 30:20); Neh. 9:77Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; (Nehemiah 9:7); Psa. 105:8-108He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: (Psalm 105:8‑10); Ezek. 16:6060Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. (Ezekiel 16:60); and especially Rom. 11:2828As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. (Romans 11:28); we see that God, when speaking of the blessing of the Jews, hardly ever goes further back than to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom He had formed a covenant which the wickedness of the nation could not disannul. Abraham was called to turn from idolatry to walk with the true God (Gen. 12; Deut. 6:44Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: (Deuteronomy 6:4); Isa. 43:1212I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. (Isaiah 43:12); Jer. 24:15); and God shows His faithfulness to the call which He-Himself addressed to Abraham. Nevertheless we are never told of the blessing of the Jews as being the result of a divine counsel and choice formed before the world was, and as such to be looked upon by us. Again, as to the nations, we see the faithfulness of
God in his providential arrangements; for we find the very same distribution which He made of the nations in the day of Noah (Gen. 10) again in Ezekiel; and in like manner the providence of God is ever bearing Him witness (Psa. 19; Matt. 5:4545That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)); nevertheless, His providence is never spoken of to us as being the result of His divine counsel and choice before the world was, and as such to be looked upon by us.
Again, the world is that which bears witness to the creative power of God (according to Rom. 1). The way in which God introduces the history of the creation is this: "In the beginning God created," etc.; nevertheless this creation is never held out to us as being the recognized result of the divine counsel and choice before the world was, and as such to be looked upon by us. But it is not so with the church. When desiring to set before us what is the power and the blessedness distinctive to the church, God begins thus:
" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [This is plainly before Gen. 1:11In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1), as the Creator is before his creation.] All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
" And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father."
We find ourselves then here in quite another sphere, whether we consider the sphere of the creation (including all created things); or, again, that of providence (with its ordinances for the seasons, etc.); or, even that of the family of Abraham, who was upon earth the individual whom God had chosen and set apart for Himself from amongst idolaters. What we have in the opening of John's gospel, as cited, is the glory of God shown to us as in His own self; eternal life in Him through whom God alone has ever revealed it; and this life declared to be communicable to whomsoever God wills. It is the fountain of living water whose source is in God, and which pours itself forth through the church. It is then, impossible to find any beginning for the church without going back to Him who was in the beginning. It is His glory which John is sheaving to us in the three first verses of his first epistle.
" That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of Life; for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and do show unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us; that which we have heard and seen declare we unto you; that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.'
This is the way, peculiarly its own, in which the church is OF GOD. It has its beginning in Him who was from the beginning; for as the body could not exist without the head, as there would be no meaning in a bride without a bridegroom, so the church could have no existence without Him who is the Son of God.
If I am right, it seems to me that here is the reason why the counsels of God, formed before the world was, are so naturally brought in the moment that the church appears.
Perhaps some explanation of the difference in the four cases of which we have spoken, may be found in the truths contained in the different names under which God reveals Himself. First of all we find Elohim, the name of God, in the first chapter of Genesis, and it is Elohim who reveals Himself as Creator through the means of the creation. These are the things which are seen, and it is by their means that the Creator reveals Himself to us. Next, He makes himself known as Jehovah, the God of providence, by the care which He has for His own. We see this in His way of acting after Noah left the ark, He revealed His name in the system which He set up. And, lastly, the name by which God reveals Himself to Abraham is El-Shaddai, the God whose bosom contains every blessing for His people, then only an earthly people.
In the kingdom of creation as well as that of providence, we have, it is true, blessed and glorious testimonies to the divine attributes; but it is God revealing Himself by His attributes in the things which He Himself has created, and which must ever remain entirely below Himself and His own state of blessedness.
In the name of God, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (the nursing-place as well as the birth-place of the church), there is a difference which distinguishes it from every other. The value of this name is eternal and divine; it is before all creation, and even before all revelation. It expresses relationship within the bosom of Divinity itself-the Word was with God and was God.
In the Divine foreknowledge all was foreseen. It is needless to repeat it; as it is said in Acts 15:1818Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Acts 15:18), "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world."
God, when bringing before us creation, providence, and the call of the Jews, saw it good to do so in the light of His actions; but the church it was His good pleasure to present to us in the light of His choice and His counsels. Now, it is our wisdom to look upon everything, even to the least detail, in the manner in which God has taught it to us; for surely His way is wiser than ours. But, in order to enter into the height and depth of this truth (that the church is of God), we must meditate upon John 17; Rom. 8; Eph.; Col. 1; 2; 3, and 1 John, etc.
May God bless us graciously, and open our hearts more and more to these precious truths I