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The Church: Called to Communion

Adult Study –Eva church of Christ

Introduction:

In this study of the Church we will set out to accomplish the following:

-Explore God’s original intent for man and how the ‘Fall’ brought about a rupture in that relationship with God and the plan for man in the Garden.

-Investigate God’s triune nature and the communion of Love within the Godhead and how that plays out in God’s desire for communion with man.

-Delve into the Biblical understanding of the Church and expose some common misconceptions about that term.

Eva Church of Christ Adult Study 2013

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-Lay out the basic elements of the Church that are distinctive to the Restoration Movement and their Biblical backgrounds.

- We will look at the Biblical teaching on Baptism and why a proper understanding of baptism is essential.

- We will also discuss in depth the Lord’s Supper and its role in the life of the Church.

- We will finally conclude our study with a look at the assembly of the saints and why it is imperative that Christians understand the importance of regular assembly with the saints.

Part 1: Communion as God’s Desire

I. God as Trinity

One of the basic tenets of the Christian faith is the idea of a triune God that reveals Himself and is characterized as perfect love.

The Trinitarian nature of God would not be known by man unless it was revealed by God. One could not just look at the created order around him and determine that God is Triune. This fact must be revealed by God.

A. God the Father, Son, and Spirit


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The Old Testament reveals God as ‘Father’ as the creator of the world (Deut 32:6). Israel is known as God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). God is also known as the Father of the King of Israel. God is also revealed in the Old Testament as the Father of the poor, the orphaned, and the widowed (2 Samuel 7:14, Psalms 68:6).

From the Old Testament revelation of God the Father we can learn two things about His nature and they are the following: He is the origin of all things and He is intimately involved with His creation.

The Son Reveals the Father: Jesus states in Matthew 11: 27, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father ; and no one knows the Son except the Father ; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”(NASB)

Jesus states that the Son reveals the Father and one can turn to the pages of the New Testament and find this to be true. It is in the pages of the New Testament that the doctrine of the Trinity is made clear in the annals of salvation history. The Father’s relationship to the Son is an eternal relationship in which the Father is eternally the Father and the Son is eternally the Son. In other words, there was never a time that the Father did not exist or the Son. The Father –Son relationship revealed in Scripture does not mean that the Father created the Son but just denotes the relationship.

John 1:1-2 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

John leaves no doubt that the Word (Son) has always existed through all eternity with the Father.

Jesus, just before His final Passover, mentions another ‘Helper’ (Paraclete) that will be sent to empower the Church (John 14: 17, 26; 16:13).

John 14:16-18, 26

16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever ; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you as orphans ; I will come to


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you. 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

John 16: 12-15

12 "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth ; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak ; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine ; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. (NASB)

The completion of Christ’s revelation of the Trinity is found in the sending of the Holy Spirit into the world especially after His glorification by the resurrection from the dead and coronation in Heaven (John 7:39)

The Spirit will share in the life of God the Father and the Son to Christ’s followers after His glorious ascension.

Jesus taught His disciples that it would be better for Him to ascend to the Father because of the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit would bond the followers of Jesus together but would also reveal God’s truth to them. This idea of truth and unity go hand and hand.

Spheres of Work in the Trinity:

In the relational names of the persons of the Godhead we can observe the following: the Father is related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in relation to one another we believe that they are one nature or substance (the early Church used the term ‘Consubstantial’ to illustrate this one nature- which literally means of the same substance).

1) All Things Come from and originate in the Father (Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 8:6)


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2) All things are created through the Son- The Son is the instrument of the Father in Creation.John 1: 1-3 “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” (NASB)

3) The Holy Spirit brings life into the world and energizes. The word Spirit in Hebrew (Ruah) is synonymous with breath or wind. The word in Greek (Pneuma) is also connected with breath or wind. The Holy Spirit also brought order from the primordial chaos in the beginning. (Job 26:13; 33:4, Psalms 33: 6; 104: 30, Genesis 1:2; 2:7)

This community of Love found in the Trinity is evidenced in the role of the Trinity in the redemption of man.

One of the earliest evidences of this is found in the baptism of Jesus found in Matthew 3: 13-17. In this passage we see Jesus go into the waters of the Jordan River and when he comes out of the water we witness the descending of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father. In this one instance we see the confirmation of the Trinity together in the plan of redemption by the ratification of Christ’s mission in His baptism.

The most obvious place in the New Testament that we witness the role of the Trinity in God’s plan of salvation is in the Great Commission of Matthew 28. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus instructs His followers to baptize new converts in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit thus tying in the entrance into the Church with calling on the authoritative name of the Triune God.

The epistles of the New Testament make it clear the Trinitarian shape of our redemption.

Ephesians 2: 18

18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father (NASB)

Ephesians 2: 18 shows that through Jesus we have access to the Father through the Spirit. Paul tells us that it is the work of Christ on the Cross and the mediating of the Spirit that brings us back into the courts of God the Father and back to the family relationship that God had planned for us from the beginning.

God as Love:


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God’s Love is first revealed in the Creation of the Universe. God does not need anything but created man to be able to share His love with man. Pure love is always expressed by wanting to share and that is exactly what the Bible reveals as God’s nature and desire. God wants to share His love and glory with us.

One analogy may help us understand why God wanted to create the Universe. We may ask ourselves, “Why do people have children?” The purest answer to this question is for the woman and man to be able to share their love with a child. In marriage we see an example of Trinitarian love (in a very limited and imperfect sense). A man and woman love one another so much that they become ONE flesh and that unity is so real that in nine months in becomes a tri-unity. That love that a child shares with their parents was already there in the family before the child arrives. In the same way God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit already existed in a community of love before we were created. We were created to share in that divine love and to live in a covenantal family bond with God.

One of most revealing passages about the love of God comes from Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer found in John 17.

John 17:22-26 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one ; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (NASB)

Jesus makes it clear that the ultimate purpose for His ministry is for man to share in the love of God and that love had already existed for eternity between the Father and Son. The Church is to ‘image’ that love of God by loving one another. The love that the church has one for another is to be a sign to the world about the unity and love of God.

1 John 4:8 expounds a spiritual law that is unshakeable and that is God is Agape. God is Love. One should consider God’s love as a spiritual gravity that pulls all men to Him. This is God’s ultimate purpose is to call man back into communion.

Christ tells us in John 17 and in John 14: 23 that the person that keeps His words will have fellowship with God the Son and the Father.

One can see this displayed in the worship scene before the throne of God in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. We see in Revelation chapter 4 that the human representatives and the Eva Church of Christ Adult Study 2013

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entire created order worships God the Father as Creator and a shift occurs in Revelation chapter 5 when that worship and adoration is shifted to the Lamb (the Son) for redemption. This worship is all enabled through the Spirit and this worship is all in the Spirit.

Another way to understand the life of the Trinity is to understand the inner workings of the love reflected in the Godhead. Christ is the very image of God and God the Father gives love to the Son in the form of the Spirit. The Son then reflects that love back to the Father through the Spirit. This love is then offered to man through the victory won on the cross. That victory on the cross was a victory over sin and death. When Christ was resurrected and glorified in His heavenly coronation the Spirit was sent into the Creation to enable the communion with God.

We can see this theme over and over again in Scripture. We can summarize it as follows:

1) God the Father sends His Son Christ in an act of Love (John 3:16)2) Christ the Son submits Himself to God the Father in humility and out of self-sacrificial

love gives up His life for man (see Philippians 2)3) Because of this sacrifice and victory the Spirit is sent into the world to bring communion

between the Father and man. (John 14, John 16, Acts 1 and 2, et al)

Through this brief investigation of the Trinity we can see that God’s purpose is to have communion with man and bring His just Kingdom rule to this earth.

In this study, I will propose that the vehicle to bring about this communion is the Church. The Church is best understood in this light.

Summary of Part 1:

- God is Triune in the Persons of the Father, Son, and Spirit- The members of the Godhead are of the same substance (consubstantial) and are not

three Gods but ONE God. - The Father, Son, and Spirit are eternal and have no beginning or ending.- Love was shared in the Godhead before man was created and God created man to share

in His divine love and in the ‘family of God’. - God is love and it is God’s love that always directs His purposes and plans for our lives.- The Father, Son, and Spirit all had roles in the Creation of the Cosmos and also have a

role in our Redemption.


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Questions to Consider:

1) How does the love that God shares between Father, Son and Spirit help us understand the Church?

2) ‘God is Love’ is an axiom and law of Scripture. Do you believe the statement, “Love is the gravity that pulls men toward God”, helps in understanding the nature of God and what he is trying to accomplish?

3) What were the roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit in the Creation account?4) What are the roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit in Redemption?5) What is the role of the Holy Spirit in accomplishing God’s purposes?6) When you envision a loving person what attributes would you expect to see in that

person?7) How does God exhibit His love to us? Does having a Trinitarian picture of God’s love

help in understanding God?

Part 2: The Church –Qahal and the Ingathering

I. Church as Qahal

Studies on the Church usually focus on the term Ecclesia which is the Latin term for the Biblical Greek term ekkalein.

Ekkalein literally means “to call out of”

Many have undertaken to show that the Church in the sense that it is used in the New Testament is best understood in terms of the Greek City-State usage of the term for the Eva Church of Christ Adult Study 2013

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gatherings of land owning males that would assemble to determine the business of a particular town. This is not a total understanding of how the Bible uses this term and is an incomplete usage that neglects its Old Testament background.

To understand the New Testament usage of ‘ekkalein’ we must go to the Septuagint. The Septuagint was the most influential translation of the Old Testament in the time of Jesus.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, but around 200 years before Christ a group of scholars in Alexandria, Egypt translated the Old Testament to Greek.

When the Hebrew word ‘Qahal’ was translated into Greek, the translators chose to use the word ‘ekkalein’. Knowing this we need to go back to the Old Testament usage of the term ‘Qahal’ to get a grasp of the Church.

The two places where this idea of Qahal was most important was at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law and the story of Ezra with his reading of the Law and the return from Exile. In Exodus we read the story of the Israelites gathering at Sinai and this gathering of the people of God was called the Qahal.

Qahal can be best understood as GOD’S ASSEMBLY in which the covenant is either enacted or renewed.

The Qahal is a term used in the OT in Deut 9:10; 10:4; 18:16, et al, in regards to the Assembly of Israel. This assembly was the people of God that were gathered together to hear the reading the Law and assent to a covenant with God. These were truly God’s people formed by Covenant.

One can now attach the two general meanings of ekklesia and put them together. In the Greco-Roman sense we see the ekklesia as the ‘Called Out’ and in the sense of Qahal we have ‘God’s Assembly’

We can best understand the NT usage of ekklesia as a group of people called out to be holy and to be a part of God’s Assembly.

To understand God’s Assembly and the calling together we must understand the hopes of Israel and the abolition of the Exile or the INGATHERING

The Ingathering – Israel’s Hope – Return from Exile

This idea is consistent with the Jewish hope of the ingathering that would take place in the Messianic age.


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To make sense of this we must look at Judaism and the hope of the Jewish people in the time of Jesus (Judaism during the time of Jesus is called Second Temple Judaism because the Temple that stood at the time was the rebuilt Temple after the Babylonians destroyed the first Temple). 2nd Temple Judaism had some specific hopes and symbols. One hope was that God would finally reconstitute the 12 tribes of Israel.

Remember, the Assyrians had come in 722 BC and deported the 10 tribes to the North known as Israel. They were dispersed and forced to intermarry and they were never to be heard from again. The 2 southern tribes called Judah were taken into Babylonian Captivity in 586 BC but would return 70 years later to the land.

Zerubabel would lead the first group home and rebuild the Temple.

Ezra would lead a second group home and reestablish the preeminence of the Law of Moses in the Land (he would actually call a Qahal or an assembly)

Nehemiah would lead the third and final group home to help rebuild the walls to the city of Jerusalem.

All-in-all only the 2 southern tribes would return from exile and there would be a hope found in Daniel, Jeremiah and the prophets that eventually there would be a full return from Exile.

To understand the Messianic hopes of the 1st century AD and the times of Jesus we must understand that this was the outlook of the Jews.

They felt that the Messiah would come in and reconstitute the 12 tribes and Israel’s Messiah would become King over the Gentiles also.

World renowned conservative Bible scholar N.T. Wright puts it this way:

Deuteronomy (29-30) warned that if Israel disobeyed YHWH [the ancient Israelite name for God from at least the time of the Exodus (Exodus 6.2f)], he would send his people into exile, but that if they then repented he would bring them back. When the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and took the people into exile, prophets such as Jeremiah interpreted this as the fulfillment of this prophecy, and made further promises about how long exile would last (70 years, according to Jeremiah 25.12; 29.10). Sure enough, exiles began to return in the late sixth century BC (Ezra 1.1). However, the post-exilic period was largely a disappointment, since the people were still enslaved to foreigners (Nehemiah 9.36); and at the height of persecution by the Syrians. Daniel 9.2,24 spoke of the 'real' exile lasting not for 70 years but for 70 weeks of years, i.e. 490 years. Longing for the real 'return from exile', when the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. would be fulfilled, and redemption from pagan oppression accomplished,


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continued to characterize many Jewish movements, and was a major theme in Jesus' proclamation and his summons to repentance." (Mark for Today, "Glossary", 229)

We must understand that Daniel made it clear that the EXILE WOULD CONTINUE FOR 490 YEARS.

The end of Daniel’s chronology would take us right to the time of Jesus. It was during the time of Jesus that the real return from Exile would return and the pagans would be dealt with.

I propose in this study that the work of Christ is to usher in this time of expectation of a true return from Exile and the ingathering that God had always planned that would fulfill the promise made to Abraham.

This is what is spoken of by the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah.

Ezekiel 36:24-28I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Jeremiah 31: 31-33"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

In Christ God was reconstituting Israel and the 12 tribes and the ingathering was about to occur. As Jesus said many times, “the Kingdom of God is at hand”.


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The in breaking of God’s Kingdom was occurring and the true Davidic King was about to be enthroned.

In Genesis 22 we witness God make a promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed in his seed. The Gentiles as well as the Jewish people would one day become the children of Abraham.

From the very early stages of Jesus ministry we witness this theme of return from Exile, reconstitution of Israel’s 12 tribes, and an ingathering of all nations. This theme would wrap up all the major symbols and things of importance to the Jews. Throughout Jesus ministry we witness how Jesus wrapped up all the promises made by the prophets. He will be the great Davidic King promised and He would be a true Temple builder.

These themes we will pick up in detail later in this study as they pertain to the church.

John the Baptist – The Forerunner

We see this theme of the return from Exile begin with John the Baptist’s ministry. In Matthew 3 John the Baptist quotes a prophecy from Isaiah about the return from exile when he proclaims that his role is to be a voice crying in the wilderness to make the paths straight.

There was a common belief among Jews of this time that a forerunner would go into the wilderness and plow a road through the wilderness for the children of Israel to return home from exile. John the Baptist is correct in how he uses this passage. The true return from exile is freedom from sin. John was paving the way for the work of Jesus. In John 8 Jesus tells us that anyone that sins is a slave to sin. Sin is the true taskmaster and is the one that holds us in exile and bondage.

Jesus came to wage war against Satan and the forces of darkness. 1 John 3:8 tells us that Jesus appeared for the purpose to destroy the works of the devil.

12 Tribes of Israel – Remaking Israel

We see the theme of remaking the 12 tribes of Israel begin in Mark 3: 14. In this passage Mark tells us, literally in the Greek, that Jesus MADE TWELVE. This passage is referring to the selection of the 12 disciples. By doing this Jesus is placing Himself in the place of Yahweh and is in essence redefining what it means to be of the 12 tribes of Israel.In this passage we will see two keys that define this identity:

1) “that they might be with Him” – they are defined by those that are with Jesus2) “He may send them out” - they will be sent out by Jesus


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So being with Jesus and being sent out will be the theme of the 12 disciples and we will see that this same theme is carried over into the Church.

In Luke 10 we see Jesus select 70 others and send them out. This number is significant because it was the number 70 that represented all of the Israelites from Jacob (Israel) in Exodus 1:5 that went into Egypt. This number of 12 would hearken to any Jew of Jesus’ time the 12 Patriarchs and the number 70 was a recurring theme in the Old Testament that referred to the entire nation of Israel.

Temple/Sabbath

In symbolic terms Jesus is redefining what it means to be an Israelite. We will see Jesus do this over and over again by challenging the basic structures of Judaism such as Sabbath and the Temple and redefine those ideas around Him. Jesus was the true Temple (destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again) and Jesus was the true Sabbath rest (come to Me if you are heavy laden and I will give you rest).

Diaspora and Return from Exile

The theme of the return from exile continues in Acts 2. In Acts 2: 5 we see a direct reference to the Diaspora. The Diaspora is the dispersion of Jews around the world that occurred during the Babylonian Exile. These dispersed Jews were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. Also, Acts 2:7-11 lists 12 nationalities of people that were present at Pentecost. These nationalities were all part of the Zodiac of the ancient world that represented the entire world. In other words, Luke is saying that representatives from the whole world are gathered to gather in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

Good News From Zion

Isaiah 2:3, Isaiah 40, Isaiah 59, and Isaiah 60 all speak of a time when the good news will be proclaimed from Zion. It would be from Jerusalem that the gospel would first burst forth and start to fill the earth. With each new convert and new addition to the church we will witness God’s wisdom and just rule start to fill the earth just as Isaiah predicted.


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This Chart Helps Illustrate the Major Events of the Old Testament and How They Play into God’s Grand Cosmic Theme to Bring Man into Communion

This Chart Helps Illustrate How the Promises of Abraham are fulfilled in Jesus and the Overturning of the Adamic Curse


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Summary of Part 2:

- Qahal in the OT is the best way to imagine the usage of the term ekklesia in the NT.- God wants to assemble and call men back to Him in the Church.- The calling of the 12 apostles and the redefining of the Sabbath obligations as well as

the Temple would have been seen by Jews in Jesus’ day as Messianic acts that were ushering in the true Return from Exile.

- John the Baptist role as the forerunner and Jesus baptism in the Jordan would be seen as the beginning of a return as well as a re-conquest of the Land.

- In the Church God is remaking what it meant to be a true child or Abraham around ‘being with Jesus’ as well as ‘being sent by Jesus.’


1) Does understanding the OT concept of the Qahal help you in understanding the NT church?

2) How is the Church connected with the great promises of the OT?3) What does the calling of the 12 and sending of the 70 have to do with Israel’s hope of a

true return from Exile?

Part 3: The Church as the Body of Christ

One of the most striking things that the Apostle Paul tells is that the Church is the Body of Christ.


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Ephesians 1:22-23

22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (NASB)

Paul makes it clear that Christ has triumphed over all things and in His triumph is now FULLY present in His Church.

The word for Fullness in verse 23 denotes COMPLETION. The Church is Christ’s completion or complete presence on earth. Jesus told His disciples that it would be better for Him to ascend to the Father. Christ now dwells in His Church through His Spirit.

Just like our spirits in our body animate our bodies, the Holy Spirit animates and brings to life the Body of Christ which is the Church.

The story in Acts concerning Paul’s persecution against the Church illustrates how the Church is the Body of Christ.

We witness how Paul is bringing a persecution against Christ.

Acts 8:1

1 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (NASB)

Acts 9: 4-5

4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul , Saul , why are you persecuting Me?" 5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord ?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do." (NASB)

Notice that Jesus does not tell Saul/Paul, “why are persecuting the Church or my disciples?” but Jesus specifically says, “Why are you persecuting ME?”

We cannot emphasize this point enough as we try to discern the nature of the Church. The Church in the mind of Christ is HIM. He is the Church and the Church is HIM. We ARE the Body of Christ.

Triune Love in the Body

Ephesians 4: 15-16


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15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (NASB)

Christ is the head and we see the theme of the unity of Love played out in this passage.

From Part 1 of our study we remember that ‘God is Love’ and it is a Triune love of Father, Son, and Spirit. Now we learn that the Church is the Body of Christ and to be animated and living and growing up into our Head, which is Christ, we must build up ourselves in LOVE. We see a recapitulation of themes that we have studied earlier all throughout Paul’s teachings on the Church.

Ingathering and Return from Exile in the Body

In the Body of Christ we find that the old things that once divided humanity have now been done away with. The Division between Jew and Gentile has been destroyed and now Israel’s Messiah is now King of the entire world

Ephesians 2: 12-16

12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. (NASB)

The Temple had a dividing wall that kept out the Gentiles and women from the Temple proper. Now in Christ the dividing wall has been destroyed and all men and women are invited into the presence of God.

Paul tells us that Christ has fused these two divided groups into a New Man but more importantly – ONE BODY to God through the Cross.

This reality of a new humanity is seen in Acts when the Church held all things in common and spent time in constant fellowship. In the Church there were no longer distinctions even to the point that people shared their possessions.


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One of the effects of the Fall and the entry of death into our world was that selfishness and hoarding of possessions that entered into the human personality. Because people feared their own mortality and death they, out of fear, carved up the world and became greedy. The Church overturns this reality by ushering in the coming Jubilee and sharing all things in common.

Connection to Christ Supplies the Body

Paul in talking to the brethren at Colossae warns them:

Colossians 2: 19

19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. (NASB)

Paul exhorts this church that they were in danger because they were not holding fast to the head. Without the head the body will die and the Church without Christ will die or cease to exist. We must be so closely associated with Christ and his teaching that the body is animated by the head.

Paul gives a more detailed teaching concerning this in Ephesians 5

Ephesians 5: 22-32

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing ; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself ; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great ; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. (NASB)

The Apostle tells us that Christ is the head of the Church and the Church is subjected to Christ. Christ is our head because He gave Himself for us.


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Paul also tells us that the Church is SANCTIFIED (this word is the same as set apart and should remind you of the words ekklesia and qahal that we discussed in an earlier study) by water and the word. We will discuss baptism in one of the subsequent studies and this is what Paul is referring to. We are birthed into the Church by Baptism and God’s word. These are the two instruments that will bring people into the Church. The preaching of the word of God and the response in baptism will bring more into God’s Assembly.

To be Christ’s body we must be ONE with Christ. We must be so intimately involved in the Life of God that the world sees the Church and sees Christ.

Summary of Part 3:

-Paul makes it very clear that the Church is the Fullness of Christ, Christ’s Body.- Fullness means that the Church lacks for nothing when it comes to God’s provision-The Church must imitate and GROW UP into the head of the Church which is Christ.-This body will be knit together with LOVE and all human distinctions will melt away.-Christ sees the Church as Himself and fills the Church with His Spirit that brings life to the Church.-When people see the Church on earth they should see Christ.


1) How does seeing the Church as the Body of Christ change your impression of this local congregation?

2) Does God still equip his Church today just as He did in Paul’s time?3) How does this local congregation continue to grow up into the image of Christ?4) Does the world see Christ when they see the Church? Has the church missed

opportunities? How do we show Christ to a skeptical world?5) How would Christ minister to Fayetteville, TN? If Christ were here today what things

would he go about doing in our city and state? 6) Should the Church be doing the same thing that Christ would be doing? Why or Why

not?


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Part 4: The Church and the In-Breaking of God’s Kingdom

In Genesis 2: 15 we read that God put man in the garden to ‘keep’ or ‘cultivate’ the garden. The word in Hebrew is AVAD and this word is translated as ‘keep’ or ‘cultivate’.

This word has multiple meanings and one of the most common is to serve as a priest or to worship.

We see that God also put man in the garden to have dominion. In Genesis 1:26-28 we see that man is to rule over the Garden.

There are two roles that Adam is to have in the Garden and that is a priestly role and a kingly role.

It is interesting to note that God calls Israel to be a kingdom of priests. From the very beginning God wanted man to be both King and Priest. He wanted man to be His coregent in the Garden and practice a stewardship of just rule.

Man abdicates that role to the serpent by sinning. Satan wrests the role of ruler of the earth from man by brining sin into the human condition. Now men would serve the serpent and not the true Creator.

Man misses his true calling by falling short of this majestic view that God had for him.

God does not give up on man and continues to show grace and mercy. God enacts a plan that includes the call of Abraham.

Hebrew Rabbis put in God’s mouth the following, “I will create Adam but if he gets it wrong I will call Abraham to fix it.” This is a very accurate view of how the Jews of Jesus’ time saw Abraham.

Abraham would become a nation of priests and God would go into the slave market of Egypt and redeem His people.

It would not take long for the Israelites to fall short of their calling and have their own national Fall at Sinai by worshipping the Golden Calf in Exodus 32. Because of this, God will have to call a special order of priests in the Levites and set up zones of holiness for the Hebrews. The camp will now be divided to teach them that God is holy and they are not.

Even with this failure of Israel God will continue to love them and show them mercy. Eva Church of Christ Adult Study 2013

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Kingship In Israel

We must have a king to have a kingdom so we need to lay the groundwork for the idea of a King.

Promises made to Abraham in Genesis 17:6 figures this very idea of a king because Abraham is told that ‘Kings will come from you’. From the family of Abraham will come kings.

Moses predicts Israel’s wanting of a King and evidence of this is found in Deuteronomy 17.

In I Samuel 8 the people ask for a king and God is not pleased because they are rejecting God as their only king. This decision will come back to haunt the Israelite people.

Eventually a King will be raised up from among them that will be a foreshadowing to the true King of Israel.

In the Davidic Kingdom we will see the promise of an eternal king that will sit on the throne of Israel and rule over all the nations.

In 2 Samuel 7 God makes a promise to David. David wants to build God a Temple and it is a noble endeavor, but God wants David’s son Solomon to build this Temple.

2 Samuel 7: 11-16

11 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel ; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you. 12 "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever . 14 "I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 "Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever ; your throne shall be established forever ."

Here in this passage we see a play on words – God will build a House for David and David’s son will build a house for God. In this we see that God will establish a Kingdom from David’s seed but David’s seed will build God a Temple.

Much of this prophecy is dealing with Solomon and his kingdom. Solomon will be the wise King that will build God’s Temple. Solomon will be God’s son and will be the anointed one (Messiah) of Israel. But there will be one coming that will be greater than Solomon and will


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build a true Temple by the resurrection from the dead. This Son of God will sit on David’s throne forever.

The Jews pondered this prophecy made to David because after the Babylonian deportation of the southern tribes the line of David was broken.

They wondered, Had God broken His promise to David? He told David that a descendant of his would sit on the throne forever.

The Psalms in the Bible bear out this quandary. The Hebrew Psalms were divided into 5 books and these books follow a pattern and were written during different times in Israel’s history. The Psalms were collected over 1000 years of Israel’s history.

In Psalm 2 we read a scene that is looking forward to a much greater Davidic King. This will be a cosmic King. It is no surprise that this is one of the most frequently quoted Psalms in the OT by the NT writers in regards to Jesus.

We leave the positive attitude of Psalm 2 about God’s promises in the day of David to a later cynicism of the deportation period some 500 years before Jesus.

Psalm 89 is found in BOOK 3 of the Psalms.

Psalm 89 quotes the promise God made in 2 Samuel 7 and this Psalm is written during the deportation by Babylon. It is asking the important question, Has God broken His promise?

Book 3 is more negative and cynical as it relates to a cynical time period in Israel’s history.

In Book 4 we see a more positive view starting to emerge. In Book 4 we see the appearance of Moses. Why is this important? Moses is the great liberator and is attached to the Exodus. The Hebrews are seeing that God will lead them home once again out of Exile just like he lead them out of Egypt. In Book 4 we see that God is their King. God is the true King of Israel that will sit on the throne. All through Book 4 you see this idea of Yahweh reigning over Israel as their true King.

This still leaves open the question and the Psalter finished with an unanswered question. As a matter of fact, the entire OT ends with many questions unanswered.

How will God rule over Israel as well as a descendent of David too? How can both of these be true at the same time?

The only way this will happen is through Jesus Christ. Jesus is fully God and fully man. Being the Son of God, He will reign over Israel as Yahweh. Being the son of David (Matt 1:1) and of the Davidic line, He will rule over Israel as the Davidic King.


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Jesus solves the issue of God’s faithfulness to His promise made to David as well as His desire to be Israel’s only King.

With the ministry of Jesus we see this in-breaking of God’s Kingdom. God is calling back man to his true role as a kingdom of priests.

We see the curse of Babel overturned from Genesis 11 in Acts 2. In Genesis 11 man is unfaithful and is a bad steward by trying to make a NAME (Hebrew –Shem) for himself. In Acts 2 we see obedience and we see the languages are no longer confused but everyone can hear the apostles in their own language.

In Exodus 32 we see 3000 men are killed for their unfaithfulness to Yahweh but in Acts 2 we see 3000 men faithful.

In Revelation 5:10 we see this culminate with the Christians being the kings and priests that God had originally planned.

Revelation 5:10

"You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God ; and they will reign upon the earth." (NASB)

Temple and the Davidic Kingdom

In Acts 2 we witness Peter’s sermon preached on the Temple mount. This is significant because the Temple served as an important symbol to the Jews.

The Temple was sacred space that had been reclaimed by God. The Temple was the New Eden in the Jewish frame of mind. The Temple was on a mountain just like Eden was on a mountain (Ezek 28). The Temple was where God was present just as Eden was where God was present with man. One can see the similarities of Moses blessing the Tabernacle and the Creation account by reading Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 and comparing it to Exodus 39:1-40:33. As Creation takes seven days, the Temple takes seven years to build (1 Kings 6:38). It is dedicated during the seven-day feast of Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:2). Solomon’s dedication speech is built upon seven petitions (1 Kings 8:31-53). As God completed Creation by ‘resting’ on the seventh day, the Temple is built by a man of ‘rest’ (1 Chron 22:9) to be a ‘house of rest’ for the Ark of the Covenant. (1 Chron 28:2; 2 Chron 6:41) This sacred space of the Temple was a foreshadowing of God’s ultimate goal to reclaim all of Creation (read Romans 8). Jesus alludes to this in his discourse with the Samaritan woman in John 4 about where one should worship. He speaks of a day when location will not matter but just the manner should be in Spirit and Truth. Eden and Zion are tied together even more closely by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 40-48 with the life giving river flowing from the Temple.


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The Temple is tied intimately to the Davidic Kingdom and the two ideas are inseparable. It is from Zion that the Kingdom of God – the Davidic Kingdom prophesied to David- is inaugurated.

As one reads through the book of Acts you will see that the New Temple of the Messiah is the Church. The Church will replace the Temple as the dwelling place of God with man. Paul will make this even more radical by telling us in 1 Corinthians that individual Christians are God’s Temple.

In other words, God is reclaiming the Creation one person at a time or one Christian at a time.

In the life of Christ we see over and over again this idea of the Davidic Kingdom. We are made aware of this in His genealogy ( son of David), his place of birth (Bethlehem-the City of David), and his baptism. When God calls from Heaven and says, “this is My beloved Son” He is hearkening back to the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7.

Paul pulls all these themes together in Romans 1

Romans 1:1-4

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

The themes that come out in this passage are plentiful and all go back to the idea of the Davidic Promise.

The Gospel proclamation is tied to Isaiah 40-55 which speaks of a time when the Good News would go out from Zion. The Gospel is a kingly proclamation. In the ancient world heralds would go into a city and proclaim the good news of the coming of the king or some good works that that king was accomplishing. This good news (euangellion in Greek) is very much tied to kingdom language. The good news is the fact that Jesus is King and is enthroned.

The idea of Sonship goes back to 2 Samuel 7 and is found all through the Psalms and is tied to the idea of Kingdom.

Paul reminds us that Jesus is a descendent according to the flesh of David.


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The fact that accomplished Jesus’ Sonship and proves his identify is His resurrection from the dead and this is actually predicted by David in Psalm 16.

Apostles Role as Co-Regents in the Kingdom

In Matthew 16 we read the confession of Peter and many times miss the OT background to this passage.

Matthew 16: 13-19

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist ; and others, Elijah ; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am ?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church ; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

Jesus mentions building His Church which shows his intention of having a Church and one can see the close association with the Church and the Kingdom with this passage.

One important point in this passage is that Jesus promises Peter the Keys to the Kingdom. This is a quote from the OT passage of Isaiah 22. In Isaiah 22 we have the story of Hezekiah’s viceroy Shebna and Eliakim.

Isaiah 22: 15-22

15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, "Come, go to this steward, To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household, 16 'What right do you have here, And whom do you have here, That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here, You who hew a tomb on the height, You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock ? 17 'Behold, the LORD is about to hurl you headlong, O man. And He is about to grasp you firmly 18 And roll you tightly like a ball, To be cast into a vast country ; There you will die And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master's house.' 19 "I will depose you from your office, And I will pull you down from your station. 20 "Then it will come about in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 And I will clothe him with your tunic And tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your authority, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 "Then I will set the key of the


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house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.

In Isaiah 22 we see that Shebna has acted wickedly and is being replaced by Eliakim. The office that they hold is head over the household of the King or a type of viceroy over Israel. This is an office of a Davidic King that was part of the kingdom.

The passage in Matthew 16 makes much more sense in light of Isaiah 22. Peter is the viceroy that will open the doors to the kingdom just like Eliakim.

We see this role of Peter in the early Church when he preaches the first gospel sermon at Pentecost and the door is opened to the Kingdom.

All of the apostles would share in this role as vice-regents to Christ when he ascended back into heaven.

This is evidenced in Luke 22

Luke 22: 28-30

28 "You are those who have stood by Me in My trials ; 29 and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Greek of Luke 22:29 reads literally as follows, “I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, A Kingdom” – Jesus is giving them a role of leadership over His kingdom and we see this clearly in Acts. The Church will be based on Apostolic authority and the Apostles will be the locus of authority (Acts 2:42-apostles’ doctrine- Ananias and Sapphira- you have lied to God and the Holy Spirit)

Also, siting on thrones judging the 12 tribes is an allusion to the Davidic Kingdom.

Psalm 122

1 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD." 2 Our feet are standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem, 3 Jerusalem, that is built As a city that is compact together ; 4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD - An ordinance for Israel - To give thanks to the name of the LORD. 5 For there thrones were set for judgment, The thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : "May they prosper who love you. 7 "May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces." 8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, "May peace be within you." 9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.


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It is interesting to note that the 12 apostles will rule over the church in the book of Acts from Jerusalem. This is all tied to the Davidic Kingdom that is to come that finds its fulfillment in the Church.

When we read through the Acts of the Apostles we see the Church ruled by the Apostles as Christ’s vice-regents (Ephesians 2:20 the Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.)

This kingdom will be different because the 1st will become last the last first. It will be a kingdom where all are welcome no matter what their social status might be. It is an educational kingdom that teaches men how to become the kings and priests that God had in store from the beginning.

The Kingdom of God is place where we come to be trained, taught, and shaped to reign and have dominion over creation like God originally intended.

Paul alludes to this role of our reign with Christ in 1 Corinthians 6

I Corinthians 6: 1-3

1 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints ? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world ? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts ? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels ? How much more matters of this life ?

We are being prepared because God will give us great responsibility. God’s kingdom is breaking into our world now and we are part of it now but there will be a greater realization of this Kingdom after the resurrection from the dead. On that day the curse will be reversed and God’s full presence will be with us again. Just as God walked through the Garden, we will have face to face fellowship with God.

Revelation 21:1-3

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them


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Summary of Part 4:

-God’s original plan for man was for man to be a kingdom of priests.-Man was to rule over Creation and do so in a wise and just manner.-Man abdicated our reign by allowing Satan to take over.-God’s answer was to set up a kingdom plan in which His Son would reign over the earth.-The kingdom is a thread that runs from Abraham all the way to Revelation.-The Temple (God’s House) and the Davidic Kingdom (House of David) are closely tied together. -In Christ we see the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom throughout His ministry.-Jesus spoke of the Kingdom 122 times in the NT.-The apostles were set up as vice-regents to Christ by exercising authority over the Church.-God’s ultimate goal is to reign in the New Heavens and New Earth and the New Jerusalem. This reign will be one that brings peace back to our world (Shalom) that was lost in Eden. All things will be made new and redeemed.


1) How did God want Adam to rule over the Creation? 2) How do you relate the kingdom of priests in the OT with Israel and the NT idea of the

priesthood of all believers?3) How did Exodus 32 and the golden calf incident bring about a change in Israel’s priestly

role? What role did the Levites have?4) How was the kingdom part of God’s plan all through the Bible?5) What is our role in the Kingdom?6) Do we proclaim the gospel as a fact or something that we have to convince people of?

Why would this emphasis matter?7) How do you think the kingdom announcement of the early Church got them into hot

water with the Roman Empire? Are there any examples of this conflict in Acts?8) What is the importance of our training in the Kingdom of God now?


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Part 5: Baptism, The Lord’s Table, and the Assembly as acts of Communion with God

Three significant ordinances (sometimes called Sacraments by other churches) are important in the life of the church and act as channels of God’s grace through faith.

The Lord’s Supper focuses on the death of Christ.

Baptism focuses on the burial of Christ.

The Lord’s Day worship focuses on the resurrection and New life in Christ.

All three of these actions of Christians are best understood as things that bring us into communion with the Triune God.

These three ordinances of the Church signify the gospel of Jesus Christ- His death, burial, and resurrection. These are the most important acts of the Church in that they were practiced by the Church in the NT and were central in the life of the church for three centuries of church history.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are called the Dominical Sacraments because they were specifically commanded by Christ. The Assembling of the saints was something that became evident in the Acts of the Apostles as an imperative of Apostolic Teaching.

BAPTISM

Baptism is best understood as an act of God that brings us into communion with Him. Many people emphasize the role of man in baptism so much they forget God’s role. Baptism is an event that brings us into communion with God.

One cannon overemphasize the Trinitarian formula of baptism. We are baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

We are invited into the Divine family and to share in the love of the Triune God that was there for all eternity.

To invoke the name of God was not something to take lightly in the OT and it is something that we take for granted. To be baptized into the revealed name of God (remember in the OT they did not know God’s name nor did they even think about uttering that name) is a serious action that has eternal consequences.


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I propose to best understand baptism we need to look at the two analogies made to baptism and OT salvation history events and those events are the Flood and the Exodus.

Peter uses an analogy of the flood to describe baptism in 1 Peter 3

The Flood

1 Peter 3: 18-21

18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit ; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience -through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (NASB)

God used the waters of the flood to wash away the sin that was on the earth. In this image of the flood Peter draws out an analogy with the waters of baptism. Baptism puts the old man to death. Just as the waters separated sinful humanity from Noah and his family, the waters of baptism bury the old person that we once were.

Paul tells us in Romans 6:4 that we have been buried with Christ in baptism. Just as Christ’s body was buried, we bury our sinful flesh in water to be raised anew.

Peter tells us that BAPTISM NOW SAVES YOU. This is scandalous to some but it is a fact that over the history of the Church baptism’s link to salvation was never questioned until the Reformer Zwingli in the 1500’s. The Church has always understood that baptism is linked to our salvation. It is not because of the special quality of the water or some type of magic but it is because of the work of Christ. Christ died, was buried, and was raised. In baptism we are linked to that work of Christ. In baptism we reenact the gospel by dying to our old self (I am crucified with Christ), being buried, and raised from the water.

There is another important point that Peter points out in this passage that is often overlooked. The Greek word for APPEAL in verse 21 is closely related to the idea of a request or a prayer. What Peter is telling us is that in our water baptism we are appealing to God because of God’s promises. Because of the work of Christ we appeal to God in our baptism that we want to be saved. We want to totally rely on Him.

Many people claim that it is in a sinner’s prayer that one makes an appeal to God for salvation but the Bible teaches that the appeal is made in baptism. Baptism is the Biblical Sinner’s prayer. Compare this with Paul’s baptism in Acts 22 and you will see a match in terminology.Eva Church of Christ Adult Study 2013

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Ananias makes the appeal to Paul in Acts 22:16

16 'Now why do you delay ? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.

According to Ananias, one calls on the name of the Lord in their baptism. This matches up with what Peter says in that baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscious.

This brings out another point and that is baptism affects inner change. Baptism is not just an external event that gets one wet but it brings about an inner change as one is baptized ‘Into Christ’ and ‘raised up with Christ’ (Col 2).

The Exodus

1 Corinthians 10:1-3

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea ; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea ; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food

Paul in this passage is likening our Christian baptism to that of the Israelite crossing the Red Sea. This event would mark their leaving of slavery to find freedom by following Moses. It was a water-shed moment in which they cast their lot with Moses.

The same is true for our baptism. We leave the slavery of Sin to become free in Christ. Paul is making this same argument in Romans 6. Romans 6 is about baptism being the event that frees us from the slavery of Sin. (Romans 6,7, and 8 are set up to mimic the Exodus story – Romans 6- is about the Red Sea, Romans 7 is about the Law, and Romans 8 is about the inheritance)

When we go into the waters of baptism we are telling the world that we are with Christ and He is the New-Moses that will liberate us from slavery (one of the major themes of Matthew’s Gospel is that Jesus is the New Moses).

It is interesting that we see the Israelites cross the Red Sea and 40 days later they are making their way to Sinai for the great Qahal and receiving of the Law. In Acts we see the Church begin with baptism and then they are assembled as the ekklesia.


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Baptism as a unifying event

Galatians 3: 26-29

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female ; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. (NASB)

Paul informs us that it is in baptism that we are placed into Christ (clothed with Christ) and when this happens we witness a new humanity. The old human distinctions are done away with and we are unified. We realize what we were meant to be because we are in God’s family again.

Not only has god Created us but He has begotten us as His children. Created and begotten are two different ideas all together. We must keep in mind that we are not just created but we have been adopted into God’s family.

When we are in Christ everything changes and our identity is different. We are now heirs of the promises made to Abraham. We are more the children of Abraham than an ethnic Jew that does not believe in Christ.

1 Corinthians 12: 13

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Paul adds a dimension to this verse by telling us that it is by the Spirit that we are baptized and the same theme of unity of humanity is brought out again. This connection of the Spirit and baptism reminds one of the baptism of Christ and the descending of the Spirit on Christ. The Spirit has always had a close connection with Baptism.

In John 3:5 we learn that one must be born of water and spirit to be born of above and in Acts 2:38 baptism is linked with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Another passage that connects water and spirit is Titus 3:5. The word used in this passage for washing of regeneration specifically is connected to water washings used in the OT for ritual immersions. Titus is literally speaking of a connection between water immersion and the Holy Spirit.


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Raised up with Christ

Colossians 2: 11-12

11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead

Paul gives us the image of coming up out of the water and being raised up with Christ. Paul connects baptism and being raised up with Christ. There is a forward looking component to baptism. Not only does baptism look at the past work of Christ on the cross but also looks forward to our resurrection that will occur. We can look to Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of the resurrection of the dead as a guarantee of our future.

This is the event that Paul is talking about in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2: 4-6

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved ), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

This is past tense that Paul uses in referring to us being ‘raised up with Him’. We are in some way already reigning with Christ even though it doesn’t seem like it. We are living in the ‘already but not yet’ of this world. We are living between the resurrection of Christ and the general resurrection that is to come.

The Lord’s Table

Passover Element

One cannot understand the Lord’s Supper separate and apart from the Passover feast. It was on Passover that Jesus partook of the Last Supper.

The Passover was in celebration of God’s liberation of Israel from Egypt. For the sake of this study we do not have time to get into the specifics of the Supper in detail. We will just cover what is pertinent to the study at hand.

1st of all the idea of Anamnesis is important to understanding the Lord’s Supper. We are told to take the Lord’s Supper ‘in Remembrance’ of Him. This is a very Jewish idea that is lost on many modern Westerners. The word for Remembrance in Greek is Anamnesis and it means to not Eva Church of Christ Adult Study 2013

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just remember a past event but to be a participant. The Jews did not just look at Passover as a past event but saw themselves, in a mysterious manner, as present in Egypt on the original Passover.

This means that each time we partake of the Supper we see our own lives caught up in the drama of the Cross. We are part of God’s story and God’s narrative. We ALIGN our lives with God’s story. We TAKE UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW HIM. This is a sobering thought as we contemplate the Supper. We are crucifying our own selfish desires each time we come to the table.

We also must understand the Lord’s Supper as a covenant oath renewal. WE made our initial oath at our baptism and each time we partake the Supper we are saying YES to God all over again.

One can look at Baptism as our birth and the Supper as our spiritual feeding.

Mystery and Presence of Christ at the Supper

We forget many times that Christ is the one that presides over the Supper. We may not see Him there with us at the Table but with the eyes of faith we must see Jesus there serving us the bread and the cup. It is Jesus that calls us to His Table and it is Jesus that is the focal point.

One story that illustrates this best is the Emmaus Road story.

This may seem like a strange place to start but it emphasizes the mystery of the Supper. In our modern world we don’t like to have mystery involved in anything we do but some things in the Bible have to be left to that.

I would propose that the story found in Luke 24 gives a model for how the Supper will be celebrated in the Church and has all the elements found in the Last Supper of Luke 22. Before the men on the road recount this story we see that Jesus opened up the Scriptures to them and because of this their hearts were burning.

It is at this time that they share in the 'breaking of bread' with Jesus.

In Luke 24: 30-31 we see Jesus follow the same order of events that he did in the Last Supper with the offertory (He took bread), the blessing (gave thanks), the fracture (broke it), and the communion (began to give it to them).We see this same formula play out with Luke in his later volume of Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 2 we see in verse 42 that the followers of Christ 'devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the breaking of bread'.


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I think this formula is important to Christians today in two different ways.

First of all, it shows the all importance of the ministry of the word to a community of believers. Reading of Scripture along with the proper teaching office of a minister of God's word is critical. We see Jesus explain the Scripture to the apostles in Luke 24 and he 'opened' up the meaning to the men.

We also see the authoritative teaching office of the apostles in Acts 2:42 when we are informed that the new community of believers devoted themselves to apostolic teaching.

Lastly, these passages shine forth the importance of the Lord's Table.

Imagine a group of believers that assemble on a Sunday morning with their hearts burning from His word, and that same group comes before His table in communion.

What would that communion look like?

I propose it would have the elements of the offertory, blessing, fracture, and communion.

Not mentioned explicitly in the passages was the Cup, but that would be assumed from the institution passages of the Lord's Supper found in the Gospels and I Corinthians.

Also, I believe that passage lays out the importance of koinonia fellowship with Christians. A group of believers that assemble together with their hearts on fire for Christ, communing together at his Table, and then impassioned to go out and become agents of His Kingdom on earth.

Another element of this story is important and that is that they RECONGNIZED CHRIST IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD. This is the mysterious element of this story but it is at the breaking of the bread that Jesus makes His identity know to the men and then disappears.

The Altar and the Table

At some point in Church history the Lord’s Supper table was transformed into an altar. It was believed that on this altar that Christ was represented and His crucifixion made authentic again in space and time. In a crude way many would say that Christ was re-crucified every Sunday at worship services.

I would like to provide a Biblical framework for seeing the Lord’s Supper as the Table and then describe the proper place of the altar in a Christian faith.


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We must remember that the Cross is the altar. The cross is the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus. When Jesus tells us that the bread is His body broken for us it is a direct connection to the Cross. It is on the cross that His body will be fully given and it is His body that is opened by the spear and it is His body that opens up the way of salvation.

This is another reason we do not have altar calls in the Church. The only altar of the Christian faith was the once for all offering of Christ on the cross.

The cup is the new covenant in His blood. It was on the cross that Jesus spilled His blood to redeem us and establish the New Covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 31.

We cannot disconnect the cross from the Table. The cross is the altar that brings us back in fellowship with God. It is the cross that atones for our sins. The Table is the celebratory meal that celebrates the altar. The Cross brings us into communion with God and the Table is the place where that communion is celebrated.

The best way to understand that Table of the Lord is to go back to the Thank Offerings of the Old Testament known as Todahs. The Greek word used for Thank Offerings is Eucharist which is the first word used by the Early Christians to describe the Lord’s Supper.

This offering in the OT was initiated by the worshipper immersing themselves in water. They would offer this sacrifice in praise of thanksgiving, to seal a vow, or just to show happiness in God. It would require an offering to be sacrificed, a grain offering (bread), and a drink offering (wine). It included a sacrifice, bread, and wine. The worshipper burned the fat of the offering to the Lord on the altar, gave the breast and thigh to the priest for the priest to eat with his family, and kept the rest of the offering to eat in celebration with friends and family. (see Lev 3 and Lev 7) The altar brought the worshipper into communion with God but the Table was the celebration of that communion. The Table was a festive event that joyfully celebrated eating before God. The worshipper understood that the meal consumed at the Table was a meal consumed in the presence of God. Eating in the presence of God was a sacred event in Israel.

We don’t realize it but every Sunday we eat the Lord’s Supper in the presence of God. We are celebrating the communion that we have through the altar of the cross.

Serving and the Table

Jesus has closely connected the Table with the Kingdom

Jesus tells us in Luke 22:18 that He will not partake of the fruit of the vine until the coming of the Kingdom. He connects this kingdom mindset later in this chapter in the Disciples disputes about who is greatest among them.


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Luke 22: 24-30

24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' 26 "But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27 "For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves ? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. 28 "You are those who have stood by Me in My trials ; 29 and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus acted as both Host and Server at the Lord’s Supper and sets up a model for us. Jesus lets His followers know that they will eat and drink in His kingdom. This is a direct reference to the Lord’s Supper that will be celebrated in the Church. This also looks forward to the great marriage supper of the Lamb at the end of the eschaton.

The Table of the Lord is a time to remember that we are to be servants. Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom of service and self-emptying love.

In our churches we don’t have a clergy laity distinction. We don’t make the Lord’s Table a place for a hierarchy. This would fly in the face of the precedence set up by Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is the host but He doesn’t Lord it over us and is the servant too. Any Christian male can serve at the Lord’s Table because it is not a place of distinction or worldly hierarchy.

In Mark 10:45 Jesus tells us that the Son of man came to serve and not be served. The Lord’s Supper is the ultimate symbol of service and sacrifice. Jesus would serve His disciples but ultimately invest the Supper with meaning by dying for all. Without the sacrificial death of Jesus the Supper would be meaningless.

The Supper is a place to remember that we are called to Serve. When we partake of this Table we should be renewed to go into the world and bring God’s kingdom rule to our workplaces and those that we come in contact with us.


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Lord’s Supper as communion

1 Corinthians 10: 1616 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ ? Is not the bread

which we break a sharing in the body of Christ ?

The word used by Paul in this passage for ‘sharing’ is the word Koinonia which means to partake, fellowship, or even commune. This is a word that denotes a close bond. In the ancient world, to eat with someone meant you shared a close bond. That is why the Jews got in huff over Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus was ‘Koinonia’ or communing with sinners. Paul tells us that when we partake of the Supper we are Communing with the risen Christ. That is why in chapter 11 of this same book Paul tells them to inspect their lives before they take the supper in an unworthy manner. To commune with Christ is serious business.

Future Element

The Lord’s Supper has a very important forward looking element. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 that we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes when we take the Supper. That means that each time we take the Supper we are looking forward to the face and face encounter with Christ at the Banquet Feast of the Lamb.

I find it fascinating that the Bible begins with eating (Adam and Eve and the fruit) and ends with eating.

In Revelation 19 we have the invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I believe that each time we come together to take the Lord’s Supper we are preparing and looking forward to the day we dine with Christ face to face.

Something is lost if we lose the forward looking aspect of the Table.

Elements of the Supper From Scripture

Much has been debated over the years as to how one should conduct the Lord’s Supper. Much of how churches celebrate the Supper has arisen from cultural concerns. In the early days of the Restoration Movement real wine was used. During the time of the temperance movement and prohibition this was changed to grape juice (Welches brand was developed just to provide Churches with communion resources that were non-alcoholic.) Wine in the NT times was less alcoholic than the wine of today. I do think it is prudent for Churches to avoid causing stumbling blocks to recovering alcoholics by providing pure grape juice


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instead of alcoholic wine. The imperative is that it is the fruit of the vine and that is exactly what grape juice is.

Also, the early Restoration Churches used one cup or chalice early on. As people became more germ aware this changed to individual communion cups. This does not matter Scripturally but has taken away some of the communal aspects of the Supper. When there was one chalice the worshippers were more in tune with the people around them than just having an individualized worship experience in their seat.

The non-negotiables of the Lord’s Supper are the fruit of the vine and unleavened bread. These elements are clear from Scripture and the history of the Church.

Other elements found in the Scripture are the four verbs associated with Christ’s Last Supper and the Emmaus Road Story.

They are the taking of the bread (offertory), blessing the bread, breaking the bread (fracture), and the distributing of the elements.

Churches are getting away from the fracture or the breaking of the bread. This may seem legalistic but it is more in line with the symbolism of Christ’s broken body. From the earliest times the Church put an emphasis on the one that presided over the Table actually breaking the bread and distributing the broken bread.

The offertory in the early Restoration Movement and in the early Church was symbolized by a member of the church providing the bread for the service and before the Lord’s Supper that member would bring the elements of bread and up to the Table. It was highly symbolic in showing that this is Christ’s Table FOR THE PEOPLE. It is a common man’s table and has no place of hierarchy.

Another element of the Table that is getting less and less common are the Words of Institution. For centuries the Church has always read the words of Christ at the Table. Some in the early days of the Restoration Movement would argue that not reading the words of Institution from the Last Supper narrative of the Bible would be the same as not proclaiming the words of the Trinitarian formula at a baptism.

In other words, it would make sense to read the very words of Jesus from the Last Supper at every Lord’s Supper to fully memorialize that meal that He had with His disciples.


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The Assembly

Day of Christian Worship

In book of Acts (Acts 20) we learn that it was on the first day of the week that the Church came together for the assembly. This is significant because it was on the first day of the week that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

We see this gathering or assembling on the first day of the week continue in the epistles when Paul instructs the Corinthians to have a special collection taken up on the first day of the week when they assembled together. Paul speaks of their assembling as a matter of fact (I Cor 16).

John 20:1, 19 gives us a theological imperative for the worship of the Church being on the first day of the week. According to John’s Gospel this was when the New Creation began in Christ. Going back to the motif of the Creation Week we realize that day one was the day that the Creation was kicked off. When John emphasizes twice that Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, he is making the point that something new is kicked off in Jesus. We see more of this motif play out in Jesus breathing on His disciples to give them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22) and this reminds us of God breathing the breath of life into man (Gen 2:7).

There would be no other day as significant as the first day of the week for the early Christians and this day was simply called the Lord’s Day.

In Revelation 1:10 we read of John being in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and this is a reference to Sunday.

Biblical Shape of Worship

There is one place in the NT that gives us a concept to the shape of Christian worship in the early Church and it comes from an unlikely place. It is found in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is best understood as a book about worship. The book of Revelation is a very liturgical book (Liturgy is a word that comes from Leitorgia which is one of the Greek words in the NT used for worship).

John tells us that this revelation from the Lord begins on Sunday, the day of Worship. In Revelation chapters 4 and 5 we get a glimpse into Heaven during this day of worship. People that read Revelation chapters 4 and 5 as future events in history are misreading this book and miss the point of what John is saying.


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In Revelation 4:10-11 we read about this worship scene.

10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power ; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." (NASB)

The 24 elders (24 could connect the New Covenant apostles with the 12 Patriarchs of the OT) fall down before God the Father and give Him praise for Creation. He is worthy of praise because He is the Creator of all. The shape of the worship in Heaven begins with God’s great act of Creation.

In Chapter 5 of Revelation we see the focus shift in the worship service.

Revelation 5:11-14

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders ; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.

The worship in this scene has shifted to the Lamb or to Christ for Redemption. Christ has won our redemption by the cross and now the Church in Heaven and on earth are both adoring Christ for His work.

This is a beautiful picture of what Sunday worship is in reality. Heaven and Earth are combined together in worship God. While we are firmly planted on terra firma we are somehow worshiping together with the Heavenly realm. Much like how Paul refers to us being ‘raised up with Christ’ in Ephesians 2. Our worship is somehow elevated to join Heaven’s worship.

John wants us to understand that the entire created order of seen and unseen are worshipping together. The Church militant and the Church triumphant are together in their praise.

We see that this worship has a Trinitarian shape. John is ‘In the Spirit’ and that is exactly what we are ‘in’ when we give praise to God. It is through the Spirit that worship can happen in the first place. No one can say that Jesus is the Son of God except by the Holy Spirit. We see that the worship is directed to the Father and to the Son.


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Early records of Christian worship in the history of the Church show that the Church kept this emphasis of worshiping God for Creation and Christ for Redemption.

In Matthew 26:30, Mark 14:26, Acts 16: 25, Romans 5:19, I Cor 14:15, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 2:12, and James 5:13 we see that singing was a response to God’s grace. Christians felt compelled to sing to God about the great things that He had done for them. This emphasis comes from a very rich hymn tradition of Judaism. The Temple service and the synagogue services were rich in singing. Christian singing was probably most influenced by the singing of the Synagogue. Synagogue singing was usually antiphonal and accapella. Most of these songs would come from the Psalms. There is evidence in Paul’s writings that he included some early Christian hymns in his epistles.

There is a great deal of teaching on prayer given by Christ. It is a given that Christians should pray in response to God. Matthew 7, Matt 21, Luke 11, and John 16 displays Jesus rich teaching on prayer and the attitude toward prayer. We see prayer in the early church in the toughest situations. We see that the apostles continued in some degree to pray the Jewish hours of prayer. In Acts 1:14 the disciples were devoting themselves to prayer as they awaited the coming Holy Spirit. The Apostles saw their role as to be devoted to ministry of the word and prayer in Acts 6.

Teaching and preaching of the word was part of the earliest Christian assemblies. We witness Paul preaching into the night in Acts 20 on the first day of the week. This was one of the main roles of the Apostles in the early parts of Acts.

Acts 2:41-42

41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized ; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

In this one passage we get a good picture of early Christian worship. They were devoted to Apostolic teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer.

Paul informs Timothy not to neglect the public reading of Scripture and this was an important part of Christian worship. Public reading of Scripture was so important in the early Church that many scholars believe that this is what shaped our canon of Scripture. In other words, how a book was decided early on to be authoritative or not was whether or not it could be read in public assemblies of worship. Only apostolic books or books with apostolic authority could be read or taught. This goes together with the early Christian mandate in Acts 2:42 to abide by apostolic teaching.


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We can summarize Christian worship with singing, teaching, praying, the Lord’s Table, public reading of Scripture, and fellowship.

This pretty much sums up Christian worship and we see this shape of worship in the history of the Church.

Early Christian Worship from History and early Restoration Assemblies

The earliest worship of the church occurred in two parts. Very early on, the Christians would attend the synagogue service and then assemble on Saturday night (this was the beginning of the 1st day of the week for a Jew) for the Lord’s Supper along with an Agape meal. The service at this point was divided into two parts. The ministry of the Word is what the synagogue service was called and the Service of the Table was what the communion service was called.

Once the Christians were kicked out of the synagogues they combined these two services into one. Christian worship today still bears the marks of this combining of the two. Usually the service would begin like the synagogue service with the ministry of the Word. Just like the synagogue there would be accapella singing, prayers, public reading of Scripture, and preaching (homily) on the reading of that day. We see Jesus do this in the synagogue at Nazareth. Jesus reads the Scripture and then sits down and teaches (Luke 4). In the Christian assembly someone would give teaching on the selected Scripture passage of the day.

After the ministry of the Word was complete the Christians would give one another the kiss of peace and all non-Christians would be dismissed from the assembly. The ministry of the Word was open to all but the ministry of the Table could only be attended by Christians. The service would then shift to the Lord’s Supper in which the institution passages would be read from Scripture and prayers would be offered over the elements of bread and wine. Usually one of the elders would preside over the Table and the deacons would assist in handing out the bread and wine to the people. The deacons would then take the Lord’s Supper to those that could not be at the service.

Justin Martyr is an early Christian that describes this service in 140 AD. The following is a description of an early Christian service:

On Baptism and the Lord’s Supper:

But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized illuminated person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an


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everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito so be it. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.

On the Lord’s Supper:

And this food is called among us Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.

On Sunday Assemblies:

And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or


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any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration

This account gives you a picture as to what Christian worship looked like just 30 to 40 years after the last Apostle died. It is interesting to look at worship in the early parts of the Restoration Movement. The following is an example of a worship recommended by Alexander Campbell in his book Breaking the Loaf:

-Call to Worship by a presbyter (elder)-Congregational singing-Reading from a Gospel-Prayer with the whole church answering Amen-Reading from an epistle-Congregational singing-Members sit around the Lord’s Table with visitors sitting at a more remote location.-President (presbyter) offers exhortation-Thanks for the one loaf-Raising of the loaf by the presbyter, braking of the bread, distribution of the bread-Thanks for the Cup-Raised Cup and then handed to members to be passed around-President calls on the members to remember the poor-Prayer (kneeling)-Contribution (Fellowship)-Invitation to all men to exhort or teach or read Scripture (preaching)- Congregational singing-Benediction

Early Restoration meetings could go for 2 to 3 hours with rounds of singing, reading of Scripture, the Table, and more teaching. The Lord’s Supper formed the very focus of the entire worship service in most early Restoration meetings. It was not something rushed through for expedience but was savored and meditated on.


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Discipleship and Worship

Discipleship and worship go together in the life of a Christian. God wants us to be obedient from the heart before we enter into worship.

Amos 5 tells us that God demands obedience before any attempt at worship should be started.

Amos 5: 21-24

21 "I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs ; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

God was tired of their heartless sacrifices and desired both right living and right worship.

Right living goes along with good worship as Paul tells us in Romans 12

Romans 12:1

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Our own bodies are the offering that we bring to God each first day of the week. We come to the assembly to be conformed to the image of Christ and not only do we edify one another in this endeavor but also receive grace and strength from our God.


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Summary of Part 5:

-Means of communion with God in the Church from the earliest days were baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Sunday Assembly.

-Baptism is the action by God to place us into His family and put us ‘into Christ’. We need to see baptism as an act of God in response to our plea for salvation. We humble ourselves and realize our total inadequacy when we are plunged into the water and realize that the New Life in Christ is an act of Divine grace.

-The Lord’s Table is a meeting place for Christians to celebrate communion with God and to actually commune with God. The cross is the altar and the Table is the celebration of that fact of redemption. At the Lord’s table we are taking part in a covenant renewal that will proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. The Lord Himself is the host of the Table. This is in line with the rich history of Israel in which the Israelites would eat in the presence of God when they entered into covenant with Him or offered a sacrifice. Christ is our Passover Lamb and we eat the bread and drink the cup to commune with our Lord.

-The assembly of the saints was very important to the earliest Christians. It was at the assembly that they met God each Sunday and joined in the Heavenly liturgy in worship of God for Creation and Redemption. This event not only edified the saints but also infused their life with Divine transformative grace.


1) What is the significance of baptism?2) How is Christian baptism tied to the Old Testament?3) How do we make an appeal to God for a good conscious to God in our baptism?4) Why is the Lord’s Supper important?5) Do Churches of Christ put enough emphasis on the Lord’s Supper today?6) What can we learn from Scripture and our past to help us form a better view of the

Lord’s Supper?7) Why is it important to assemble with the saints on Sunday?8) How does the scene in Revelation 4 and 5 inform us about our own worship?


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