I was brought to faith in a fellowship that had a stated goal of reproducing the New Testament church in our day. That was actually a thought that gained traction in the 1800’s long after the Reformation had opened the way for numerous denominations to spring up and splinter the body of Christ. The idea was that unity could be restored in the body if we took the Bible as our only source of authority and reproduced the church as we saw it in the New Testament. One of the things they looked for were patternsthat emerged in the way the church functioned.
A cornerstone passage for the goal was taken from Paul’s second letter to Timothy. “What you heard from me, keep as the patternof sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us (2 Tim.1:13-14). The 1stcentury church met on the first day of the week, so we must. The church in the New Testament had evangelists, elders and deacons, so me must. The early churched immersed believers in water (baptism) so we must. You get the idea and it makes perfect sense. The problem was that we picked some patterns to follow and dismissed others that made us uncomfortable.
For instance, Jesus established a very discernible pattern in his ministry. In fact, it was a pattern that would mark the Messiah and his followers. When John, the baptizer, found himself in prison, he began to doubt his own judgment about the Messiah. He sent some of his followers to confirm that Jesus was who John believed him to be. “At that very time, Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (Lk.7:21-23). He not only preached the kingdom, but demonstrated the kingdom as well.
He instructed others to do the same. “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (Matt. 10:5-8). Later, he sent out seventy-two others with the same instructions. Then, in “The Great Commission,” Jesus commanded his followers to go into all the world and to make disciples of all nations by teaching them to obey everythingthat he had commanded them to do. Whatever Jesus had commanded his apostles and close circle of disciples to do, they were to teach others to do. He doesn’t seem to make any exceptions in his teachings. Therefore, the pattern for all believers was to preach the kingdom and then demonstrate it with signs and wonders.
When Jesus sent out the twelve and the seventy-two to represent him throughout Israel, they could not truly re-present Jesus without doing the works he did. Neither can we re-present Jesus without doing those same works. There are some who believe such authority was given only to a few in the first century. However, Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (Jn.14:12-14, emphasis added).
Jesus clearly stated that anyone who has faith in him will do what he had been doing and even greater things. He posted no shelf life and no expiration date on his offer because it was a matter of bringing glory to the Father. In addition, Jesus gave gifts to the church through the Holy Spirit by which “the household of God” could exercise authority and demonstrate the Kingdom as well. That is how the church is to represent Jesus. We can do so because Jesus was given all authority by the Father and we, as believers, share in that authority,
Remember that the Father raised Jesus from the dead and “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Eph.1:20-21). Then “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms” (Eph.2:6). In the same vein, Paul wrote, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (Col.2:9-10). If you can receive it, the truth is that we also are seated above all rule, authority, power, and dominion and have been given his fullness because we are seated with him. We possess that authority now.
The church’s failure to push back the borders of darkness as Jesus did is not due to any lack in what Jesus has provided, but due to a lack of faith or understanding by God’s people, so that we don’t claim and operate in the power and authority reserved for us. Until we are committed to reproduce the New Testament Church in its fullness, we will never be all that Jesus wants us to be and his glory will not cover the earth until we demonstrate his glory through his authority and power. No matter how many “patterns” we reproduce, we will not truly reproduce the church Jesus died for, without the exercise of his power and authority as we share the gospel.
