The Church's Foundation: Jesus Christ
We often speak of our church. We have many reasons to be proud of our church. On the other hand, we realize that our church is not perfect. We have invested a lot of ourselves, of our talents, time, energy, and money, in the church and have good reasons to have a clear sense of ownership. However, in the final analysis the church is not ours. It is God's. And that makes a decisive difference.
What did Christ Himself state in answer to the question to whom the church belongs? Matt. 16:18.
The statement by Christ about the rock upon which God's church was to be built has been grossly misunderstood by many. When the full context and all other biblical evidence is taken into consideration, there is no ground for suggesting that Peter was the rock upon whom the church was founded and that special authority was transferred from him to the future bishops of Rome. Peter's confession of Christ as the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16) was the rock upon which God founded His church.
Consider the meaning of some other symbols used to underline the same truth, i.e., that the church is built on Jesus Christ and that it is His church rather than ours. Eph. 2:20; Eph. 4:15, 16; Rev. 1:12-16, 20.
Like so many passages in the book of Revelation, the description of Jesus Christ in 1:12-20 is full of Old Testament imagery. Christ is presented as walking in the midst of seven lampstands, clothed as the High Priest. Our mind automatically goes back to the symbol of the lampstand in the ancient tabernacle that proclaimed God's presence among His people. Before the book of Revelation goes into detail about "what must soon take place" (1:1, NIV), it makes sure that we see everything from the right perspective. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, our heavenly High Priest, who is not some distant, static deity but the One who walks in the midst of His church. If, ultimately, the church belongs to God, what is our role in it? Are we, then, not stewards of it? What kind of responsibilities does this place on us? How well are you living up to this responsibility? What can you do better?
No comments:
Post a Comment