I have had many conversations over the years about my vision and commitment to corporate gatherings. Most of the time it centers around talking with some other believer who has a bit of a Lone Ranger attitude toward fellowship…. seeing the gathering of two or three as “Me, Myself, and God”. And, while I certainly enjoy personal intimacy with the Lord by the Holy Spirit, and I am grateful to know Jesus as a personal saviour, I can’t dig into the scriptures without seeing God’s eternal purpose focused on fellowship that goes far beyond me to His desire for a corporate expression that is summed up nicely in three, or perhaps four, Biblical pictures, or analogies, we find from Genesis to Revelation. A Temple or house for God’s habitation, A body for the Son, A bride for the Son, A family for the Father. Each of these is presented in corporate terms.
Most of the Western evangelical church has been consumed with defining the purpose for God in Christ and the gospel as to save individuals from judgment and hell. And, there is no doubt that the gospel, Good News, does exactly that. Hearing and comprehending it does bring an end to death and the fear associated with it and, in fact, brings eternal life to all who will embrace it. It is interesting to note that hearing it opens our eyes to see the Kingdom.
[John 3:3 NASB95] 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
[1Peter 1:3-12 NASB95] 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to [obtain] an inheritance [which is] imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, [being] more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that [would come] to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things into which angels long to look. (literally “angels long to gain a clear glimpse)
While it is true hearing and understanding the gospel regarding Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection brings us salvation. That salvation is intended to simply be the portal, the entry place for comprehending/seeing the Kingdom of God and His eternal purpose. A purpose going beyond the salvation of individuals from death and hell and that existed in Hm before the foundations of the world and there was even a fall or the need of salvation.
So back to the matter of why emphasize fellowship and the corporate nature of the church (ekklesia), which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23)
God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, existing as one in an inseparable Fellowship of One, Unity, purposed to draw His creation, the likes of you and me as sons of Adam, into that fellowship and communion. That fellowship, unity, being made one in Him, is the Kingdom. It is where heaven meets the stuff of earth that is us and it is joined together so His will, purpose, is done on earth as it is in heaven.
One of our first glimpses of the analogies I mentioned is in Genesis when God looked at creation and after each part “(he) saw that it was good” The first and only thing we see that He sees in all His creation that is not good is Adam being alone.
[Genesis 1:31 NASB95] 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
[Genesis 2:18, 21-22 NASB95] 18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” … 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
I think this is just a glimpse of His eternal purpose for the Son to have a bride, a Body, and to expand the family.
The gospel simply continues expanding our vision of His purpose. It does carry a message of individual salvation from judgement and death. But it is primarily about eternal life in Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill God’s eternal purpose, which the church has too long embraced as beginning and ending with individual salvation.
We see in Paul’s mission and plan. He was not simply a street evangelist garnering decisions for Christ (although there is nothing wrong with that as part of carrying the evangel to a fallen world). His mission was to establish corporate communities to express this Kingdom. The ekklesia (these ekklesias) would be an expression/manifestation of Jesus’ Body on the planet, they would carry the beauty of His Bride, they would be a temple of living stones for God’s habitation. They would exhibit a heavenly colony or family (one of the reasons I think many of the early churches established were of whole households/families).
Through these communities of believers God would reclaim His creation from the fall, the power of the adversary in the world, and manifest His Kingdom, His reign in the world. He would exhibit that God and man may enjoy fellowship and be joined with Him, the stuff of heaven enveloping the stuff of earth, heaven poured out onto and through the likes of us. He would also demonstrate that we can be joined with each other in unity as a body with Jesus as our head, and be bound and serve one another, and Him by love.
So much more could be touched upon here. But let it suffice to say, we have been saved for and unto an eternal purpose that reaches far beyond our personal salvation to His heart for drawing us into the fellowship of Christ.
some scripture for consideration.
From Jesus through the eyewitness hearer John:
[John 17:20-24 NASB95] 20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, [are] in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity (literally “perfected into one”), so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 “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.
From the eyewitness and hearer John:
[1John 1:3 NASB95] 3 what we have seen and heard (John speaking of personally hearing seeing Jesus) we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
A walk through Paul’s vision communicated to the church at Ephesus.
[Ephesians 1:16b-23 NASB95] … making mention [of you] in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 [I pray that] the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. [These are] in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly [places,] 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 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.
[Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB95] 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
[Ephesians 2:19-22 NASB95] 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner [stone,] 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
[Ephesians 3:8-11 NASB95] 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly [places.] 11 [This was] in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
[Ephesians 4:1-4, 6 NASB95] 1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 [There is] one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; … 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
[Ephesiasns 5:28-32 NASB95] 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.