Reclaiming Authentic Christianity: I Will Build My Ekklesia (Church) – Part 3

“…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ” Matthew 16:18

After warning the disciples to beware “of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi. He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13)

The disciples answered, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” Jesus said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” God gave the revelation to Peter of who Christ truly is. Jesus goes on to emphatically state “upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Perhaps this is a question we can ask ourselves today. Who do you say that the “Son of Man is?”

…revelation is the divine exposure of what has been written already but not yet apprehended. ¹
Dr. Mark Chironna, The Prophetic Perspective: Seeing and Seizing Our God-Intended Future.

The Church was built upon the revelation of Jesus Christ becoming fully operational only after the ascension of the Savior. “ But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).

Paul prayed for the church of Ephesus “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

This is my prayer for the church today. I pray that we come into a greater understanding of who Christ is and who we are in Him. That as the Church of Jesus Christ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ being the chief cornerstone will we press on to do our part to fulfill the commission given to the early Church. “So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).

In His Service,

Notes:

All Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.