I Will Build My Church (Part 1)
10-1-2022
C.Hayden
I Will Build My Church, Part 1
Often people that live in the world without Christ, and even many of those that may have received Christ, get the wrong idea of what certain things mean to God. When we think of someone getting saved, we see them as just having a change of heart to be a better person. God, however, sees them as being born again from spiritual
death and being raised to spiritual life as one of His children. When we think of prayer, often we define the word as just reciting a pre-written poem mentioning God. God sees it as communing with God himself through verbal and audio exchanges with the Almighty Himself. And when we define the Church, we think of it as a building or a gathering place for Christians. God defines the Church as the very people of
God, the very Body of Christ united as one family in Him. People like you and
me don’t just go to the church, we are the Church.
Matthew 16:18 says, “And I also say to you that you are Peter (little
rock), and on this rock (Rock of salvation through Christ) I will build My
Church , and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The word
Church in this scripture is the Greek word “ekklesia.” It is where we get
our word ecclesiastic from and it means a community of believing members
or more directly, “the called-out ones.” We are the called-out ones. We are the Church.
Have you ever heard someone make one of the following types of statements:
– I don’t attend Church, the TV is my church,
– I don’t believe in organized religion (Jesus organized His disciples?)
– I don’t believe in Church, it is full of hypocrites,
– It does not matter if you go to Church, just be a good person,
– God knows my heart, I don’t need Church,
– I can be a Christian without church.
The problem with these statements (there are several) are monumental. First of all, if you have made one of these statements, you have misinterpreted what the Church is. If you are a Christian, you are a called out one and therefore are a part of the Church, like it or not. The Church is not a building. To look down your nose and snub the Church is to not only make insult of yourself as a Christian, but to make insult of what Jesus calls His very “Bride.”
The Church is the “Bride of Christ” and it is an insult to Him when we mock His Bride. It is through the Church of Christ that the gift of salvation is extended to the world, and through which the Holy Spirit brings spiritual growth to His children. If you say you love Jesus, how can you say I don’t need to or want to be a part of His Body or His Work? Next month, more on “I Will Build My Church.”
Be blessed even more,
Pastor Chris
