Paul used the word ekklesia 9 times in Ephesians.
The word ekklesia means assembly.
Jesus used ekklesia when he said, "I will build my ekklesia."
When Jesus said he would build his ekklesia, he was specifically stating he would assemble believers together from all nations to form the spiritual temple of God on earth.
Jesus gave this revelation of the spiritual temple to Paul - Ephesians 3:1-13.
The Spirit revealed the mystery of the spiritual temple to the apostles around the time Paul was writing Ephesians - Ephesians 3:5.
The ekklesia Jesus said he would build and the ekklesia Paul explained in Ephesians is the same ekklesia.
The ekklesia is the spiritual temple of God that Jesus would build with himself as the chief cornerstone.
Paul explained the assembling of spiritual temple in Ephesians 2:11-22.
This temple consists of believers from all nations.
It is the temple of grace.
It is the temple where God dwells by his Spirit.
In this temple, sons and daughters of the Father...
- are fully forgiven and holy and blameless because of the blood of Jesus
- are valued members of the worldwide family of God
- have direct access to God
- relate to God with freedom and confidence.
The spiritual temple of God, the ekklesia, eternally expands as people from all over the world hear the good news of God's grace in Jesus and place their faith in him.
It is this ekklesia that has changed the world and will continue to do so as the...
- message of Jesus is communicated all over the world and as
- members of the ekklesia impact the world with their God-given gifts and abilities.
As valued members of the ekklesia, the spiritual temple of God...his dwelling place on earth...we have the wonderful privilege of carrying the presence of God into our homes and communities.
Never under estimate your value as member of the ekklesia.
Wherever we go, the presence of God within us goes to bring light into darkness, life into death, and hope into hopelessness.
This is the ekklesia Jesus is building and Paul explained in Ephesians.
