Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
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Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him
Here is God’s story– how He loved us so much and how He journeyed from eternity into time and joined Himself to you and me. He was incarnated– becoming a man named Jesus. He did the unthinkable– He lived a sinless human life and died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice to solve all our problems. We can never thank Him enough! If that wasn’t all, He resurrected and came all the way into us to be our life forever! God presents this salvation to all humanity, offering it for free to all who believe and call on His name. This is truly wonderful!
The Bible presents this story to us and much, much more. We are beginning to see that God also has something in His heart for the church. For us to see the church takes God’s revelation. Look at this marvelous exchange between the Lord Jesus and Peter.
13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of Man is? 14 And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 15 He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 13-18)
Just as it was with Peter, that the Father revealed the Son of God to him, and that Christ revealed the church to him, so we need Christ Himself to say to us, “I will build My church.” Even if we know the word, “church”, we still need God to shine on us. We want to really see the church that is revealed in the Bible. We want to see the church as Christ’s building and as Christ’s Body.
Whenever we read the words in the Bible about the church, and especially when we pray over these words, these words become Christ’s speaking to us again today. Through the Bible, we can receive a personal speaking from the Lord about His church. We can go to Christ personally and we can even ask Him to reveal the church to us, to show us His church.