Getting to Know Jesus, #8 – The Church
A couple of weeks ago, we had some friends come to visit us for a few days. They also came to visit us here at WCC. But their main purpose in coming was to build something, along with friends of theirs, and some of their friends, etc, etc…
Their friend is a master builder, an award winning, nationally acclaimed designer. He has spent virtually his life building. He builds not just one thing but many things, but he builds them all out of the same thing; in general. The parts are unique in that they are all individuals, yet each has similarities with other parts, and some aspects which are totally unique.
And what is built with these parts is not limited to one or even a few different things; the only limitation is imagination.
Are you wondering who this is? I’ll tell you later…First, turn in your bible to Matthew chapter 16, verses 13-18
Peter's Confession of Christ
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus and the church; it’s not a topic you can read a lot about in the NT, though He is the centre of the church, and the reason we exist as ‘the church’. Yes, there is TONS of teaching on the church throughout the NT, but the church then was only just beginning, for Jesus was about to build it…one piece at a time.
When we formed WCC as a church, and when any society is formed these days, there is a process to go through legally which involves meetings, paperwork, forms, constitutions, bylaws, votes, members, directors, signatures, recognition, fees, more paperwork and on and on it goes; until we have what is recognized by the world as a ‘church’.
Bits of history…pay attention! E. F. Scott in The Gospel and its Tributaries (1928) wrote: Jesus “had not consciously formed a society,” though “the Church was the inevitable outcome of His work.” Of course much depends on what is intended by the word “church.” It is true that Jesus did not organize the Church in the sense of laying down a constitution, but He did bring into being a new religious community when He chose His disciples. Referring to Peter’s confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi, Charles Gore writes: “In virtue of this personal faith vivifying their discipleship, the apostles became themselves the first little Ecclesia constituting a living rock upon which a far larger and ever enlarging Ecclesia should very shortly be built slowly up, living stone by living stone, as each new faithful convert was added to the society.” The use of the word “church” by Paul in Galatians 1:13 proves that the apostle found this word existing within Christian circles at the time of his conversion. There is no reason therefore to doubt the fact that the Lord Himself used it. At the same time it would be true to say that Christianity began as one of several different parties in first century Palestinian Judaism. The earliest Christians were known as Nazarenes. They constituted a separate “synagogue” or community within the larger community of Judaism.
Whew…enough big language? All that to say that Jesus STARTED the church as we know it. Yes, there was a church system in place already, the synagogues and of course the temple in Jerusalem, but Jesus was starting something new, and it began with the disciples.
The fact is that Jesus gathered in the first instance a band of disciples, and these in turn became the nucleus of the “new Israel.” To that “little flock” He directed His ethical teaching—to them He gave a missionary commission. His followers were committed to a new way of life, but they were also promised divine power to enable them to attain it. Dr. R. Newton Flew in Jesus and His Church (1943) comments: “The idea of the Ecclesia as a community, on earth, indwelt by the Spirit of God, carrying the word of revelation, unique alike in its origin, its fellowship, its allegiance, its message, and its mission, is essential to Christian theology if theology is to be measured by the writings of the New Testament.”
The Church is essentially divine in its origin and is not a merely human institution.
And it begins with one man’s testimony about WHO Jesus is. Jesus asked Simon a simple question, ‘Who do you say I am?’ And the same question is, I believe, asked of every single person who is here in this church or any Baptist church or Pentecostal church or any evangelical church that preaches Jesus as Lord and Saviour of the world; and also to everyone who is not in any church today, and that question is, ‘who do YOU say Jesus is?’
The answer to that question reveals whether we recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Creator of the Universe, the One and Only way to the Father…or not. Our answer reveals whether we have faith that can be built on, or not.
Simon’s answer was foundational to his faith, and to the building of the church…literally. Jesus said that he was PETER (which means rock) and on that rock, on that foundation, Jesus was going to build HIS church. And church was going to be different now. Rather than a building, like the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus was going to build the church on people, and on their faith in Him as the saviour of the world, the saviour of the church, the saviour of each and every person who would have such a faith, such an understanding, such a solid foundation to build on.
And this foundation, this ‘building’ is STRONG! So strong in fact, that hell itself, the devil and all his attacks, will not then, now or ever be able to destroy it. BUT, and this we and every church needs to remember, is that if the foundation we build the church upon, our faith in Jesus as the Christ, crumbles, or is weak, then just like any building, we will be weak, and then our ability to overcome our adversary is weakened also. Do all churches preach Christ, do all follow the Word, are all obedient to Jesus’ teaching? If not, then Hell has a chance against them.
We need to be A ROCK. When people ask you about this church and its beliefs and teachings, what will we tell them? Oh, it’s a nice place with great coffee, good kids programs, interesting music, but hard wooden pews. Or will the first thing we say be, Westshore Community Church is a Christ-centred, Gospel-teaching, Jesus-is-Lord community of believers?
I pray it is just that!
I did a lot of reading this week on Jesus and the church, here is some more info on the special relationship of Jesus and the church: I just officiated at my brother’s wedding yesterday…it was cool. I like weddings, do you? Marriage is a God-created relationship. The marriage relationship is used in Scripture as an illustration of the relation between God and His people Israel, and between Christ and His Church.
In the gospels there are a number of references picturing Christ as the heavenly Bridegroom (e.g., Matt 9:15 ; 25:1-12 ; Mark 2:19 ; Luke 5:34, 35). John the Baptist is represented as the “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29 ). In the Book of Revelation there are the most explicit references to the Church as being the Bride of Christ. In Revelation 19:7 the Church is seen as the Bride of the Lamb. In the same ch. the “wedding” is pictured whereby the Bride begins her consummated life in the new age.
The NT has a number of different metaphorical descriptions of the Church, which reveal varied names which are used to describe those who make up the membership of the Church. Originally the Church appeared as a sect within Judaism, the “sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). Christians themselves preferred to be known as those who belonged to “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9 , 23 ; 22:4 ; 24:14 ). When Paul wrote to the different churches which he had founded, he almost invariably addressed them as “saints” (Rom 1:7, etc.). These same people were reminded on various occasions that they were witnesses ( Acts 1:8 ), fellow citizens ( Eph 2:19 ), soldiers of Jesus Christ ( 2 Tim 2:3 ), stewards of the grace ( 1 Pet 4:10 ), and aliens and exiles as far as this world is concerned ( 1 Pet 2:11 ). They were to see themselves as constituting “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” ( 1 Pet 2:9 ).
The Church may truly be described as apostolic since it is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” ( Eph 2:20 ).
Christ pictured His disciples as exerting a salutary influence in the community. They were to have the antiseptic qualities of “salt.” At the same time they were to be as “lights” in a dark world and by reason of their calling they would inevitably find themselves as conspicuous as “a city set on a hill” (Matt 5:13-16).
• "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Psalm 118:22
Jesus is that stone. He is the starting point for the building of his church. He is the guiding point for every stone that has been added to the church since that day when He started with Peter.
Remember the friend I spoke of a while ago? I said he was a builder, and he is a certified professional builder…of LEGO. He is one of 6 on the world, and the only one in Canada. And he has built many things out of small and large, short and long, thin and thick bricks of LEGO. Here are some pictures: each of these uses thousands of bricks of all sorts and sizes, to create something unique and wonderful, and cool!
Jesus is THE Master Builder of His church, and this church. He uses lots of different people in many different ways to create something wonderful, unique, and pretty cool I might add. The church is a lot different than LEGO though, as the church is alive. It is made with people. But it is not just that the church is built with people as much as it is built for the building OF people. Our focus here is not to simply grow in numbers of bodies in this room, but to grow and encourage the people that are here now, and those that would come in the doors of this building, or our homes, or wherever we find ourselves meeting with people.
Jesus is creating different kinds of places with different kinds of people, but all with the same purpose, and that is the beauty of having different kinds of churches. Some people may not ‘fit’ into what God is doing at this church, or at that church, or the one over there, or the one across town. And THAT’S OKAY. As long as we stay true to the gospel message of Christ as our foundation, God will build and grow this building of believers, one brick at a time, one person at a time, or maybe the floodgates will open and revival will come, a re-awakening of this community by the Holy Spirit calling people to come home to their heavenly Father. Are we ready for the next brick, the next person to come into place? Are we united in the purpose of reaching out in love to all who would come to this place? Are we committed to learn and obey Jesus’ teachings that we as the building blocks of this work will pass those truths along to the next generation of believers?
Will we allow Jesus to shape us, build upon us, create new things among us, perhaps even change us every now and then so that the final creation, the bride of Christ, will be beautiful and radiant? Are we ready to stand up against the attacks of the evil one? May the Master Builder help us and guide us and teach us and make us into the church HE wants us to be!
