The Ekklesia: Agents for Societal Transformation
Introducing Ekklesia: Identity and Mission of the Church
The concept of the Ekklesia, a term that Jesus first used in Matthew 16:17-19, did not originate in the context of religion, but instead had significant socio-political connotations, and it was not the intent of Jesus to drastically change its context. When Christ declared, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it," He was not just speaking about a gathering of believers. He was referring to the establishment of a spiritual governing body, a collective, that would have the authority to confront and dismantle regional Satanic strongholds that were contrary to the ways of His Kingdom. This profound declaration marked the first mention of the 'church' as we now understand it, but to fully grasp its significance, we need to delve into the historical context of the term “Ekklesia”.
Ekklesia in Ancient Greece: Transformational Collective of Individuals
In ancient Greece, specifically in Athens, the Ekklesia was a democratic assembly with considerable authority, including making military decisions. They had the power to declare war, strategize military actions, and make peace treaties. But their role extended beyond the assembly; each individual who was part of this collective had a responsibility to carry the decisions and ethos of the Ekklesia back to society. They weren't just passive participants in the assembly; they were active agents of change, shaping and sometimes reshaping the culture around them.
When Jesus used the term 'Ekklesia', He was drawing on this rich tapestry of meaning the disciples would understand. He was establishing a spiritual entity, a collective of believers, that would not only gather in His name but also go forth into society to release what was experienced in the assembly—His love, His grace, His power, and His Kingdom authority. This Ekklesia would be endowed with divine authority, empowered to confront the powers of darkness, and commissioned to bring forth societal transformation. The gates of hell would not stand a chance.
The Law of First Mention: Setting the Stage for a Divine Mandate
The Law of First Mention is a principle used for studying the Bible that suggests the first mention of a concept, idea, or term in the scriptures sets the stage for its meaning and its prophetic significance throughout the rest of the text.
In Matthew 16:17-19, under the law of first mention, we see Jesus laying the foundation for His Ekklesia. An entity designed not to be passive or defensive, but an active, governing body, ready and equipped to storm the gates of hell. This is the divine mandate of God’s Ekklesia, a call that resonates today as powerfully as it did when Jesus laid the cornerstone with His own life.
Satan's Strongholds: The Aftermath of Adam's Fall
Since Adam's fall, mankind ceded its authority to Satan. Consequently, the devil has been constructing his kingdom of darkness anywhere he can get a foothold. Wherever he can find men or women to succumb to his deception, he is able to begin shaping culture according to his evil blueprint, designed to wreak havoc on humanity, affecting entire regions.
However, Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). But what exactly was lost? What did Jesus come to restore?
Restoring What Was Lost
God's initial plan was for mankind, created in love, to enjoy the earth in perfect harmony with Him. Through this structure, Heaven would permeate the earth, and we would experience a perfect revelation of God through this unity.
So what happened? Did God create everything only to have His intentions thwarted? Did Satan emerge victorious?
Has God abandoned His original blueprint for a Plan B, resigning Himself to merely saving a handful of souls from an earth now under Satan's dominion?
If yes, then is His plan to relinquish complete control of the earth (that He created) to the rule and reign of Satan until God destroys Satan and the earth? This still sounds like a win for Satan, even if millions were to get saved.
It is important to understand that God has never lost a battle to Satan. God and Satan are not equals in any shape, form, or fashion. Satan tried to rise up in Heaven and was instantly cast out of Heaven into the earth. Satan is no match for God, nor is he any match for God in man, when man understands who he is in his true nature.
When God made man in His own image and likeness, He also gave him the powerful gift of free will, the freedom to choose life or death, good or evil, God’s truth or Satan’s deception. Adam chose deception over truth, as though God had lied to him. In so doing, man lost to Satan. It wasn’t God who lost a battle to Satan, but man. Jesus, however, is God's plan to restore our loss to the original intent, thus fulfilling Plan A.
To fully grasp the depth of this, let’s take another look…
In the Garden, Adam and Eve lived in perfect union with God, a relationship characterized by love, trust, and intimate fellowship. They were given authority over all creation, including Satan. However, when they succumbed to temptation, their union with God was broken, and their authority was forfeited. Consequently, Satan was able to exert influence and shape culture throughout history, creating a world system that opposes God's nature and intentions.
Jesus' mission, therefore, extends beyond individual salvation. It involves restoring the lost union between God and humanity and retrieving the authority that was given away. By reconciling us to God through His death and resurrection, Jesus enables us to regain our position as God's children and reclaim the authority originally intended for us.
His mission is societal transformation – liberating humanity from the grip of evil and re-establishing God's rule, a rule characterized by love, justice, righteousness, and peace.
Jesus underscores this mission with His blueprint on prayer: "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." This statement underlines the mandate of the apostolic ekklesia. They are called to confront Satan's works, foster reconciliation, bring healing, and restoration, and pave the way for the manifestation of Heaven on earth.
Caesarea Philippi & The Apostolic Ekklesia
The territory where Jesus made his proclamation in Matthew 16:17-19 was Caesarea Philippi. It stands as a potent illustration of a spiritual stronghold. The region was known for a devotion to the Greek God Pan. There was a sanctuary in the area referred to as “The Gates of Hell,” its influence, steeped in satanic rituals and practices, cast a dark shadow over the region, turning it into a hub of corruption and darkness that most devout Jews steered clear of. Despite this, Jesus, accompanied by His disciples, made a purposeful journey to this place. His aim? To drill into his disciples the revelation of what He was building, an ekklesia whose mission was to confront strongholds in the darkest regions of society. He needed his message to have a dramatic impact on them, a deeper understanding of what it meant to walk in the Kingdom, a revelation of their authority to dismantle such strongholds and reestablish Heaven's dominion on the earth—a restoration of what Adam had forfeited.
Ephesus: A Stronghold of Demonic Influence
Another vivid example of a Satanic stronghold over a region is found in the city of Ephesus. Satan strategically chose Ephesus because of its regional influence; a city rife with strongholds of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, and the worship of Artemis, also referred to as Diana by the Romans. Young girls were indoctrinated between the ages of 5 to 10 with demonic doctrines, taken from their families to serve the temple. Those who worshiped in the temple of Artemis practiced demonic rituals involving temple prostitutes. These acts of worship were the open invitation necessary for Satan’s demonic government to be unleashed on the region. As long as people partner with Satan, they enable these entities referred to in scripture to be principalities, powers, mights and dominions, demonic forces that influence culture and shape society.
Paul's Work in Ephesus
God’s answer for spiritually impoverished societies is His ekklesia. In comes the apostle to break open the region and release God’s blueprint for Kingdom invasion and the birth of an apostolic movement aka the regional ekklesia of Ephesus. During his third missionary journey, Paul spent a significant amount of time in Ephesus, possibly up to three years, teaching and preaching the Gospel. In Acts 19:1-10, Paul arrives in Ephesus, finds a group of disciples, teaches them, baptizes them in the name of Jesus Christ; they receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with power, and the equipping begins. Paul’s work led to the establishment of a strong and influential ekklesia in Ephesus.
Societal Transformation through the Ekklesia
Paul’s tenure in Ephesus encountered extraordinary miracles (Acts 19:11-12), large-scale burning of magic books (Acts 19:18-19), and the quelling of a riot caused by silversmiths threatened by his preaching against idolatry (Acts 19:23-41). As he demonstrated the superiority of the gospel of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus, the masses began to repent, breaking free from the influence of the devils, rendering Satan’s influence in the region greatly diminished. In this manner God began to dismantle the cultic practices, bankrupting their system, leading to societal transformation. When he later wrote his letter to the Ephesians, it wasn’t based on theory; it was the revelation that he had lived out while in Ephesus, laying the groundwork for the supernatural culture of the Kingdom of heaven in the church.
Paul's Teachings and the Power of the Ekklesia
Continuing our journey, we delve into Paul's teachings while under house arrest in Rome. His letter to the Ephesians was a circular one, intended to be read by several churches in the region. It was his goal for the regional ekklesia to understand how to continue the work he had begun during his time in Ephesus (see Acts 19).
Paul didn’t write his letter based upon theory, as one might learn from lectures in a seminary; instead, he was sharing knowledge gained from the battlefield. He was well known for being an apostolic warrior who broke ground for the church in Ephesus, having battle tested experience with massive results.
Building on the foundation laid by Jesus in Matthew 16:17-19, Paul teaches that through His death and resurrection, Jesus accomplished a restoration of the authority that Adam gave up. He equipped the Ephesian ekklesia with the spiritual tools necessary to dismantle the strongholds that held their city captive.
Seated with Christ: Our Place of Authority
In "The Believer's Authority," Kenneth E. Hagin uses Paul’s teaching in the book of Ephesians to emphasize the significance of Jesus' victory. Through Christ's resurrection and ascension, believers are spiritually seated with Him in heavenly places, sharing His authority over all powers and dominions.
We see this with Paul's teachings in Ephesians 1:20-22. Understanding our spiritual position—seated with Christ in heavenly places, far above all the powers of darkness—is the key to exercising our authority. By recognizing that the powers of darkness are already under our feet, and that we have greater authority, we have the foundation we need to take a stand in our regions. However, having authority alone, without accessing God’s strategy, does not tear down strongholds.
A Collective with Divine Authority
The church, or ekklesia in Greek, has great authority because it is a collective of individuals, everyday believers endowed with the divine authority of Christ Himself. This concept is powerfully encapsulated repeatedly in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
As we see in Ephesians 1:22, Paul writes, "He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church (ekklesia)." This passage clearly signifies that Christ, having triumphed over all earthly and spiritual powers, has delegated His authority to the church—the ekklesia.
Paul elaborates on this profound truth in Ephesians 2:6, where he reiterates God, "raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Paul uses the plural pronoun 'us,' because the promise of shared authority with Christ is not just to a select few, but to all believers who are part of the ekklesia - individuals who are part of a collective. We are called to walk in community with others, but we cannot give up our responsibility to carry out our mandate to walk in authority, thinking that it is someone else’s to carry. It is every believer’s calling to walk this out.
Walking in Authority with Divine Intelligence
In Ephesians 3:10, Paul builds on this point where he explains the dynamic of how we walk out our authority with practical instruction: "that through the church (ekklesia) the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places." This verse underscores the believer's privilege, role, and responsibility to catch the heart of God for a region and declare what God says about that region to the powers of darkness. It is in the place of intercession that everyday believers are able to receive revelation from God about the Satanic forces, principalities and powers that are reigning over that territory.
Activating Angelic Forces
When we obey this call to abide with God in prayer until we catch the manifold wisdom of God for our region, laying hold of His heart for what that region is supposed to look like, declaring it into the heavenly realm with authority, we are actually dispatching angels to perform our declarations. Psalm 103:20 says “you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word”. 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 tells us that the rulers of darkness are terrified of our capacity to receive this divine wisdom. It says that “had they known” that through the blood of Jesus, everyday believers would catch this wisdom and use it against them, knowing that it could be used to tear down what Satan has built (I’m paraphrasing) “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”.
Shifting Atmospheres: Breaking Strongholds
In my early years as a young preacher, I would sit back in awe of my spiritual Pops, Lenny Weston, who would come in to any situation, whether in a church or on the streets, regardless of the spiritual atmosphere, and break open the atmosphere. When he began to preach, he would hit things in the spirit and you could actually feel the spiritual atmosphere shift as chains began falling off of people. The beauty of my vantage point was that I got to see in his life, the firsthand account of his prayer life and the intercession that produced these manifestations. He would connect the dots for us saying, “Your preaching is a direct correlation of how you pray”. He also taught us that we don’t just preach to the people, but we preach to the atmosphere. This kind of preaching doesn’t come from merely studying the Word and then crafting a sermon (both are necessary). But this kind of preaching is birthed through a place of prayer that lays hold of the heart of God for people.
Our Mission: Establish His Kingdom
This type of manifestation is not just for people who occupy a pulpit. It is for sons and daughters, everyday believers, tasked with the authority, role, and responsibility to deal with the spiritual strongholds in their region. This is indicative of our being individuals that make up God’s ekklesia. Our mission as the ekklesia—the sons and daughters of God—is to dismantle the works of the devil and establish the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. This is the authority and responsibility that Paul's teachings instill in us. As we respond to Paul’s call to action, according to these teachings, we’ll begin to deal with the strongholds God has called us to tear down beginning with our marriages, families, and our immediate communities.
Join the Firehouse Community
If any of this resonates with you, and you want to run with a community committed to building the supernatural culture of the Kingdom of Heaven in everyday life through a lifestyle of prayer, fasting, and missional living, we invite you to click the link to learn about the Firehouse Community.