What is Church?

SHORT DEFINITION:
The Church is the people of Christ and the body of Christ who bow down and worship Christ as their Savior, Lord, God, and King. (Colossians 1:18;
Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:27; 1 Peter 2:5)
Church is the assembly of Christians, not one but two or more, in His name and as His people. (Matthew 18:20; Acts 2:42-47)

LONG DEFINITION:
Church is the gathering of God's people in His name. They assemble to proclaim Him, worship Him, and acknowledge Him. Coming together in His name means that they come together to represent Him. Christians are joined together by Christ. They share Him in common. He is the one who makes them one.

The Church is a people seperated out of the world and reserved for Christ alone. These are people that God has chosen or elected to be His people. They are saved from sin. They are devoted to Christ. They seek to serve Him in whatever they do.

Church is not a casual matter. Sin has separated all of humanity from God. There is a great divide and disconnect between humanity and God. Sin has set us against God and His ways. It is not in our nature to obey God. Rather, our sinfulness has lead to selfishness. It is our sinful nature to seek our own way. We want things our way. In some ways, we may agree with God. We may say, "I agree it is wrong to murder." But to accept this principle or law does not mean we have accepted God Himself. To accept God means that we accept all of God. We invited His authority over life. We don't just agree with God, we believe God is the source of life and authority of goodness.

Humanity has been separated from God. The Church are those who have been reunited with God by reconciliation through Christ. We may be united with God by dying to ourselves and having faith in Christ. This means humbling ourselves by realizing we are not God. Only God has all power, all knowledge, and all presence. Only God knows what is good. Only God can bring about good. Only God is good. When we realize this, we have only one response and that is repentance. We have sinned against God and need His help in restoration. We need the power of Christ to be transformed, aided and guided toward new life.

Christ brought us reconciliation. We may know God through Christ. Jesus Christ is God coming down from Heaven and making Himself known. Jesus is God. When Christ came to earth, He showed us who God is. In addition, He made a way to restore our lost relationship with God. He gave His life in exchange for ours that we might be forgiven for our sins. He also gave His life that we might share in His resurrection. Because Christ lives, we may also live. Because Christ lives, we may know God by an intimate union with His Spirit.

By calling upon Christ for salvation, we may recieve new life. The very Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, can come down from Heaven and wash away our sins. He can then make a home in our heart. By this, God lives with us. He is always with us. We are separated from the world because we have the Holy Spirit in us. We are holy because the Holy Spirit is in us. We are clean because God is with us. It is the Holy Spirit that sets us apart, makes us Christian, and marks us as God's people. Christians have something the world has lost. Christians have God in them.

The Bible calls the church "the body of Christ." This metaphor illustrates the indwelling of Jesus in His people. Christ lives in His people. As such, His people are His body. Christ rules over His people, guiding and directing them. Much like a brain tells the body how to operate, Christ tells His people how to live. (Though He never forces anyone which is why many Christians still sin.)

Church is the gathering of Christ's people. They come together for one purpose, to worship God united as one. God is one and God is love. When God's people come together in worship, bowing down to Christ their Lord, they showcase this truth. They are many people united as one in love because of Jesus Christ. They fulfill Christ's prayer.

John 17:20-23 (NIV)
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."