Matthew 16:1-20
Sunday, 01 January 2023
“…and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” –Matthew 16:18
Christ is the Master Builder who builds the Church. Therefore, the Church will bear evidence of His design. The Church is the Bride of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:1-4: We are married to one Husband, and that is to Christ. And in Revelation 21:9-11, the Church is called “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” According to Colossians 1:18, Church is the body of Christ. It is the Church of God (Acts 20:28) and it is the Church of Christ (Eph.5:32). Christ is the head of the Church (Eph.5.23). God has given Christ to be head over all things to the Church (Ephesians 1:22).
The Bible explicitly portrays God, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit as builders! Hebrews 11:10 refers God as the “Architect and Builder” of the city in heaven. In John 14:1& 2 Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you…” Isaiah 64:8 says: But now, LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter, and all of us are the work of Your hand. In Jeremiah 18:6 tells Israel that like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are they in His hands. The Master builder’s hands can be seen when man was created out of the dust from the ground - Gen.2:7 says God “formed “man from the dust.
The Holy Spirit builds! Ephesians 2:22: “…in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” The building process of the Holy Spirit begins in a person when he is saved. John 16:13-14: But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. The building process of the Holy Spirit begins by revealing the Truth, which is the word of God. Therefore, we can understand from the Bible that the building process of the Church is carried out by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit together.
The Holy Spirit started the building process of the Church on earth. Acts 2:2-4 is the evidence of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the believers who were gathered in unity in the upper room, with one focus – to receive Holy Spirit, the promise of Jesus Christ. Once they received the Holy Spirit we can see a step-by-step building of the Church and growth according to the design of the Master Builder!
The same is true even today – both in the case of an individual and in the case of a local church. The Master Builder’s imprint will be etched when the Holy Spirit carries out the building process.
In fact, it is the induvial that is the building block of a church. Therefore, it is very apt to state that when the Holy Spirit builds the Church, each believer is being built. This concept is clear when we study Matt. 16:18, Eph.2:22 and Acts 2:2-4 together. The Book of Acts further reveals the process of building the Church in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 6:7 as FIVE STEPS:
· Teaching of the Word
· Fellowship
· Worship (including Breaking of the Bread)
· Prayer
· Preaching (Evangelism).
When Jesus declared that “I will build My Church,” He was also announcing that the Church belonged to Him. We need to keep in mind that we remain as the most valuable possession of God on earth as it is written in Acts 20:28 “… the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” So Jesus is keen to see that the above FIVE STEP building process happens in every believer and in every local Church.
As Jesus reminds us in this New Year that He will do a building process on the “ROCK” which is the revelation of Christ in each of us (like Peter received), can we submit like clay into His hands to be built into His design?
PrayMay the stamp of the Master Builder be revealed on me! :