The Nature and Development of the

Early Church

INTRODUCTION

When we look at the church after study, you receive

such a great understanding of the church, what the
church is really all about, why we are here and where we
have come from. After 2,000 years and more, we are
still here, displaying the love of God and communicating
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to this world who are in
desperate need of God.

In this assignment, I will bring across my understanding

of why the church of God is so important to this world
and why the church will always be an important part of
human history.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

As we look at the church it is important to look at the Old

Testament to see the foundation of the church and to
see God’s plan of redemption. Two verses from
Genesis, gives us a glimpse into God’s plan of
redemption.

The promise of salvation

Knowing that man was fallen (Genesis 3:1-19) God

made a plan to redeem mankind from their fallen state
and bring them back into a relationship with Him:

1. “And I will put enmity between

you and the woman and between
your seed and her Seed; He shall
bruise your head and you shall
bruise His heel.”

Genesis 3:15 (AV)

This shows that God had a plan to save man from sin.
In the New Testament we see this plan come to pass
through the coming of Christ.

God's promise to Abram/Abraham

1. Now the LORD had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country, from your
family and from your father’s house,
to a land that I will show you. 2. I
will make you a great nation; I will
bless you and make your name
great; and you shall be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you
 and I will curse him who curses you;
and in you all the families of the
earth shall be blessed”.

Genesis 12:1-3 (AV)

This Scripture illustrates God's plan to bless the world

through Abram. Shortly after, Issac is born and then
Jacob is born though Issac and Jacob's twelve sons
came out of him and this birthed the nation of Israel.

Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, it resulted in the

fall of man (Genesis 3:1-19). That means every human
is under the curse God pronounced on Adam and Eve
after their disobedience. Therefore every person is in
danger of the penalty of sin which is eternal damnation
in hell. Because Adam was our representative, when he
sinned, the curse and sin was imputed to his
descendants.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

There was 400 years when God didn't speak to Israel,

but God had never forgotten Israel and the rest of the
world. Many years later we have Jesus, the Son of God,
whom had come from Heaven, who was born through a
woman to accomplish what He was sent for, which was
to free man from their sin. Whilst He was on earth,
Jesus strictly followed His Father’s will and it resulted in
Jesus dying for sinful man. Then He would be
resurrected, defeating death and the grave and would
give humans the hope of eternal life.

Before the church physically formed, Jesus spoke about

the church in His teachings, especially Matthew 16:18
where He said the church will last forever despite
oppositon.

JESUS CHRIST

The second person of the Trinity, the Saviour of

mankind, Jesus is one of the reasons why we have
salvation and why we have the church. After the fall,
God’s plan of redemption was in motion. As much as
God and the Holy Spirit were working in the plan of
redemption respectively through history, the Son
completed one part of the plan in which the sins of men
would be atoned and covered for.

Christ the Sacrificial Lamb

As a human, He was sinless. In the Old Testament, to
appease the anger of God against Israel, there was a
sacrificial system that atoned and covered the sins of the
people:

“Blessed is he whose sin is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.”

Psalm 32:1 (AV)

This Scripture states that even then, God was still able
to forgive sins through the sacrifices of animals.

One requirement of the animal sacrifices was that the

animals had to be without blemish or spot so the people
could be accepted. The book of Leviticus describes the
sacrifices in more detail.

These sacrifices was a foreshadowing event of what

was to come when Jesus, the sinless Lamb, would be
slain so that man would be forgiven.

The consequences of the death of Christ

One consequence was Jesus taking the full wrath of

God whilst on the cross. His death fully satisfied the
wrath of God and paid the debt of sin that every human
owes to God. Jesus’ resurrection showed that Jesus
defeated death and had all power and now those who
accept Jesus into their lives can gain victory over death
and enter into a place of eternal rest.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, a co-

equal member alongside God the Father and God the
Son. After the death, resurrection and ascension of
Christ, the Holy Spirit had come and now dwells within
the elect.

In the Old Testament, we see Him in Genesis 1 hovering

over the face of the sea in creation. We also see Him
coming down mightily on men of the Bible such as
Samson (Judges 14:19) and David (Acts 2:25-31).
Acts 2:17-21 reiterates that same Scripture which
related to the coming of the Holy Spirit. In the early
chapters of Luke, the Holy Spirit is seen in action
working in the lives of Zachariah, Elizabeth, Simeon and
Mary. Throughout the New Testament, He is
acknowledged as the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit
of Christ and many other names. Also in the New
Testament, especially the Gospel of John, He is spoken
of exclusively as a Teacher (John 14:26), a Judge
(John 16:11) and many other examples of His
personality.

THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH

The second chapter of Acts states the birth of the

church:

“2. And suddenly there came a

sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting. 3.
Then there appeared to them
divided tongues, as of fire, and one
sat upon each of them. 4. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance.”

Acts 2:2-4

The birth of the church

With the pre-destination of the Trinity, the calling by God

the Father to specific people, then the work of Christ on
earth and the coming of the Holy Sprit at Pentecost, the
church was birthed.

Theologians call the church ecclesia, meaning an

assembly of people.

Shortly after the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Trinity

began to work within the church by proclaiming the good
news of Christ to Israel and beyond performing miracles
in the sight of all the people.

The first members of the early church

The first members who were added to the church were

recorded in Acts 2:41. We see 3,000 people added to
the church after the sermon of Peter from Acts 2:14-39.
After this we see God’s work within the redeemed
brethren who were one, whom broke bread with each
other and praised God and continued to tell people
about Christ and to see people added to the church
daily.

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon
Me, because the LORD has anointed
Me, to preach good tidings to the
poor, He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to those who are bound.
2. To proclaim the acceptable year of
the LORD, and the day of vengeance
of our God; to comfort all who
mourn.

Isaiah 61: 1-2 (AV)

The Scripture above describes the gospel beautifully.

The word gospel means “good news”. In the Old
Testament, there were times that the love of God was
proclaimed to the lost generation outside of Israel and
within Israel. Examples such as the prophets who were
sent to backslidden Israel and Jonah going to Nineveh
showed that the gospel was publicly acknowledged
before Jesus.

The gospel can be put like this:

“I tell you, no; but unless you repent

you will all likewise perish”

Luke 13:3 & 5 (AV)

The unbeliever is presented with a term I have phrased

“A chance and a choice”, meaning the unbeliever is alive
to hear the gospel and to accept Jesus, that is their
chance, and upon hearing the gospel, they have a
choice to accept Him into their lives as Saviour and
Lord.

The choice is mainly down to the unbeliever in the light

that God does not force man to accept Him, but yet
desires all men to be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

THE IMPACT OF THE CHURCH

The impact of the early church shortly after her birth was
massive. When Jesus said to His disciples that He had
to go, He announced that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will
come and continue the work.

Events such as Peter and John healing the lame man at

the gate Beautiful through the power of the Holy Spirit,
the persecution of the church and how the gospel was
spread and pagan countries that was introduced to God
showed that the eary church made a huge impact. As a
result, the gospel is now preached in all countries
throughout the world because of the foundation the early
church had laid.
THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLY
CHURCH

The nature of the early church

“Now the multitude of those who

believed were of one heart and one
soul; neither did anyone say that
any of the things he possessed was
his own, but they had all things in
common.”

Acts 5:32 (AV)

Through the Trinity, these redeemed men and women

were set free from sin to enjoy the benefits of a God-
governed life. Throughout the New Testament; we see
that God is the only Person that can truly satisfy the
needs of man. The nature of the early church showed
the fruits of the Spirit which drew unbelievers to Jesus
Christ and which made the early church so beautiful to
behold.

The development of the early church

Through the Holy Spirit who empowered the early

church, thousands of souls were added to the church
daily. Also, when the brethren went abroad to preach
Christ, more and more people were added to the Body
of Christ. Not only were they developed in members
adding to the church, they were developed spiritually
through the Holy Spirit, being in one mind and one heart.

Acts 9:31 describes that they were in complete unity

underneath the Government of the Trinity. This showed
where the church got the power to make such an impact
and why they developed so greatly.

THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH

1. Now Saul was consenting to his

death. At that time a great
persecution arose against the
church which was at Jerusalem; and
they were all scattered throughout
the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except for the apostles. 3. As for
Saul, he made havoc of the church,
entering into every house, and
dragging off men and women,
committing them to prison. 4.
Therefore those who were scattered
went everywhere preaching the
word.

Acts 8:1, 3 & 4

As harsh as it might sound, persecution had helped

spread the gospel beyond Israel. If the church had
stayed in Israel and never spread the Gospel, the rest of
the world would most likely be in darkness.

First of all, we have the impact of the Gospel within

Israel and from Israel we see the disciples and apostles
moving outwards towards countries like Malta, Cyprus,
Ephesus, Corinth and Rome.

Most of these journeys weren’t only through persecution,

but persecution had helped the church move to other
cities wherein the good news could be proclaimed to
those who had never heard.

EVANGELISM

Evangelism means the believer shares the gospel with

an unbeliever who does not know Jesus Christ. They
present the unbeliever with Jesus Christ and what He
had done for them. The book of Acts have many
examples of evangelism; these Scriptures below will
describe how evangelism took place:

Acts 5:42, Acts 8:4-8, 12, and 35, Acts 9:20, Acts
10:34-43, Acts 13:16-41, Acts 16:31-32 and Acts
17:22-31.

HERESIES

Heresies means false doctrine or deviation from the

truth. Heresies were very profound during the first
century of the church and they came from other religious
groups whom made their own doctrines which opposed
Jesus Christ and the church. In defence, the church
made doctrines, which were created so that Christians
could gain a deeper understanding of God and further
defend the church against heresies.

DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH

Doctrine means the act of teaching and how it is taught

and the methods used to deliver the subject. During the
time of heresies and even before heresies arose,
doctrines were made to help the church keep in order
and to answer and solve difficult problems. There are
different types of doctrines such as the doctrine of God
which is called Theology, the doctrine of Jesus Christ
which is called Christology, then Pneumatology, which is
the study of the Holy Spirit and then we have
Ecclesiology which is the study of the church. Doctrines
were mainly highlighted and used during the time when
heresies first challenged the church. Even to this day,
the church is defended by the church themselves from
opposition to the truth of Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

As I draw to a close on this assignment, it had occurred

to me that there is a lot about the church that was
revealed to me. The nature of the early church
compared to now is very similar, but what truly stands
out with the early church is the unity, love, power and
that they were of one heart and one mind.

Yes, there were problems between the early church and

they sometimes argued amongst each other, but they
still had love that was evident for all to see. So it made
me think about the 21st century church. I am not bashing
the church, but I realise that there is a lot missing with
us. I also understand that we as the church are
humans, whether then or now, we do make mistakes
and we are limited in seeing how other Christians are
impacting their countries, but understanding this, I
realise that I am not doing as much as I should and this
makes me examine myself and see where I am and
where I am in my relationship with God first and humans
secondly. If we, as the church, are meant to impact the
world through the Holy Spirit, we really do need to get
back to the basics; not through our emotions or rituals,
but through the power of God. Because if we really look
at the 21st century church, is our nature anywhere near
the nature of the early church? Nonetheless, I hope and
pray that the church can get back to that place where
the power and love of Christ was evident and where the
beauty of the church drew sinners to God through Christ.