Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
The New Testament term which is translated church in the New Testament is the Greek word for “assembly” (ekklesia). The same Greek word is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) to translate the Hebrew term qahal which also means “assembly.” Another Greek word used to translate qahal is sunagoge which means “congregation” and is the transliterated word “synagogue”. So we could say that the church linguistically stretches back even before Israel.
What these terms have in common is that they describe God’s covenant community. In this sense, the ekklesia stretches back theologically to the Garden of Eden. The various gatherings of God’s covenant community are indicative of those who made a lifelong commitment to serve God.
Whether it be the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, or Davidic covenant, they all are precursors to the New Covenant under which we live today.
The visible ekklesia has looked different at various stages of history. The ekklesia at Sinai was essentially family or clan centered. As Israel developed, the ekklesia took on the form of a theocratic nation. Whether it be the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, or Davidic covenant, they all are precursors to the New Covenant under which we live today.
Redemptive history shaped the ekklesia as it approached the cross. In essence it is made up of those who have entered a covenant relationship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ.
God’s covenant people, the born again believers, may not always agree on the interpretation of various parts of Scripture, they may have a variety of culturally religious traditions, they may have a different name over the door of their congregational gathering, but they are still the Church of God.
By Dr. Gayle Woods