The church is God's ultimate goal. God's goal is not just to have many individual believers. His goal is to have a corporate church that can be His house and the Body of His Son. This church is God's expression. The church is both God's household expressing God the Father and the Body of Christ expressing Christ as the One who is the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). What we are going to cover in this chapter is an extract of the divine revelation concerning the church in the New Testament.
The church is firstly an ekklesia. This Greek word denotes a called-out congregation. In ancient times when the city called its citizens together for a gathering, that congregation was an ekklesia. The New Testament, beginning with the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16, uses this word to denote the church (v. 18). The church is a congregation called out by God unto Himself. The Brethren prefer to use the word assembly. I believe this is a better word to use, because the word church in English has been very much spoiled.
When I was growing up in China, we understood the word church to mean a building with a bell tower. To many of us the church was a building. Today many people think the same. They say they are going to church, meaning to a building. This concept is absolutely off. We must drop this thought. The church is not a lifeless building, but something organic, full of life.
The church is an assembly of living persons, not a physical building without life. However, to consider the church as merely a called-out congregation, an assembly, is still superficial. There may be a congregation, an assembly, yet without life. Today there are many large congregations in our society which are without the divine life.