Ever Near

‘…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matt.28:20

When we do church and Jesus is not present, that is not church; it is just a waste of time. But thank God Jesus is always present. Ekklesia never referred to a physical building. The church is an assembly, a congregation, a community; the church is not an individual. You have heard people say ‘you are the church’. You are not the church; you are part of the church. The same way your finger is not your body but a part of your body. You are an individual and an important part of the church but you are not the church. The church is an assembly. If the Greek word ekklesia means gathering, then why didn’t our English Bible just say gathering? That would have changed a lot of things. Where did the word church come from? This is big picture church history but guess what, these things are so important for your faith. In the first three hundred years of the church, persecution was rampant. People were being killed for saying they are Christians. Heavy persecution from some emperor called Trajan to Nero. They were very brutal, feeding Christians to lions. Then came emperor Constantan that came up with the Edict of Milan in February 313. They came up with an edict because Christians were beginning to rise in power and they were beginning to influence policy. The edict simply granted all persons freedom to worship whatever deity they pleased, freedom of religion. Wasn’t that a victory for the church? Then the shocker came, Constantine declared himself a Christian. When that happened, all his governors and officials began to say they were Christians too. So Christianity became fashionable. Does that sound familiar? They now turned the shrines that had been lifted up to other gods into churches. And the church that used to hide to meet now had the state giving it buildings. So the church became recognized. But with that came ceremonies, processions, incense burning, regalia wearing, and carrying a pole that they turned into a cross. All these things had nothing to do with the church. Idol worship became a norm and the church now had a major problem.

Thought: Christianity is God’s way to man while religion is man’s way to God.

Prayer: My Ever-present God, let Your presence make the difference in my life and all that concerns me, in Jesus Name.