The Kingdom of God is the essence of the church. Jesus Christ came to establish it by communicating to fallen men a divine life. The Reformers had this in mind when, in January, 1537, they had presented to the Council the first articles concerning the organization of the church, ‘because it had pleased the Lord the better to _establish his kingdom here_.’ But this kingdom can be established only by means of _the church_ or _the assembly_ of believers. It is, therefore, important that this church should be organized in conformity with holy Scripture; and this is Calvin’s practical point of view in the new Ordinances. They begin with the following words: ‘In the name of God Almighty: ‘We, Syndics, Little and Great Councils, with our people assembled at the sound of the trumpet and of the great bell, according to our ancient customs, ‘Having considered that it is a matter worthy above all others of recommendation that the doctrine of the holy Gospel of our Lord should be indeed preserved in its purity, that the Christian church should be duly maintained, that the young should for the future be faithfully instructed, and that the hospital should be kept in good condition for the support of the poor, it has seemed good to us that the spiritual government, _as our Lord institutes it by his Word_, should be reduced into proper form to be kept among us; and thus we have ordained and established for observance in our own town and territory the ecclesiastical policy set forth below, _seeing that it is taken_ from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.’[123] Thus Calvin wished to establish the church of Geneva after the model of the primitive church. More than that, it was in the _word_ itself, in _the Gospel of Jesus Christ_, that he would seek its nature, its rules, and its character. Here is no question of tradition, not even of the most ancient. This is the characteristic feature of the church as Calvin wished to establish it. [Sidenote: Geneva An Evangelical Fortress.]