The Rock
One
day long ago Jesus was walking with a fisherman He later named Peter but who, at
the time, was called Simon Barjonas. Jesus turned to this fierce, powerful,
hard-working fisherman and asked, “Who do men say I am, Simon?”
The fisherman replied, “Some say you are John the Baptist, whom Herod beheaded. Others say you
are Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets who died long ago.”
“But
who do you say I am?” the Lord asked with loving eyes that looked
deep into the fisherman’s soul for the world-changing answer the fisherman was
about to
give.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” Simon Barjonas replied.
Jesus
then said, “Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.
You did not learn it from men nor from the teachings of men. My Father in heaven revealed
this to you.”
Jesus
then gave Simon a new name, adding a play on words, a statement understood by
only a few, a prophecy that would change the world forever and yet has not had
its full effect on us because of our ignorance and pride, “Thou art Peter, and upon
this Rock I will build my Church.”
From this statement wars have been fought and unity disrupted.
Division is the tool our enemy
uses to destroy our faith and take away
our joy in fellowship. By dividing us on little issues, he causes irritation
that erodes our affections. By dividing us on giant issues, however, he prevents
the Kingdom of Christ from being established in fullness and power to transform
the world for Jesus as the Savior wishes us to do. This division in the church
persists through theological interpretation of the meaning of this conversation between Jesus
the Lord and a simple fisherman.
The church is divided.
Apostolic authority has been thrown into an arena of doctrinal contention,
as men strive to gain authority over other men in search of an impossible lie.
One says this.
Another says that.
Men and women (who would otherwise be brothers and sisters
sharing the love of Christ together as equals, making the earth a safer place to live) are
separated into camps of bickering disagreement and suspicion.
What
is the Rock on which Jesus builds his Church?
Is it
a man?
Or is
it a miracle?
Preachers, priests, and theological theoreticians have argued this point for centuries, but that’s exactly
the point! We are divided ... when we should be united!
Jesus
explains to Peter that the wisdom that revealed Jesus as the
Christ of God was revealed to the fisherman by God, not men. It was not revealed by flesh
and blood. It didn't come by arguing over words or debating theological theories. The soul-saving wisdom Peter received from
God was revealed (as all eternal truths are revealed) within the fisherman's
heart as a miracle of God's Grace ... the gift of God, lest any man
should boast.
God
will never share His Glory with a man. All true wisdom is from above, i.e., from
God, not men. Whether they're apostles, priests, evangelists, prophets,
or writers like me, we are but men. Revelation does not come by us. True
revelation comes from God alone, enlightening our souls. The saving knowledge
that brings faith to our lives is a gift from God that cannot be obtained by
any other means.
Much
is said over Jesus’ use of the Greek masculine word “Pevtro” to refer to the man Peter
and the feminine word “pevtra” to refer to the foundation on
which His Church would be built. The masculine form, “Pevtro” (capitalized as
Peter’s name), refers to a rock or stone, while the feminine form, “pevtra” (not
capitalized) refers to a cliff or ledge, a projecting rock, a large stone. Some
arguers of doctrine insist that “Pevtro” refers to a small stone, while
“pevtra” refers to a large rock, and there may be some merit in this
distinction, but there’s a greater message that is missed in all the contention
over these two words.
Jesus
did not say he’d build His Church on Peter the man, large rock or small. Jesus
said he would build His Church on another type of rock … adding that the powers
of hell would not prevail against it. Jesus did not say He would build His
Church on Pevtros. Jesus said He would build His Church on the pevtras that was
(and is) the direct revelation Peter received from God.
The rock on which
Christ builds his True Church is the direct revelation
from God that made possible for Peter to see Who Jesus truly IS.
Why is
this interpretation of the rock important to us today? Because it makes us equals in Christ!
For
those who believe in the necessity of apostolic succession in church leadership,
i.e., those who insist today’s leaders are direct spiritual descendants of those
who walked with Jesus 2,000 years ago, men who received authority to teach and
lead the church by laying on of hands in unbroken apostleship from long ago,
Peter is the rock on which their Church is built. They see the fisherman as
founder of Christ’s Church and their present human leadership as Peter’s direct
spiritual descendants. They justify the authority of their leaders as a right
received by the laying on of hands through years of apostolic succession tracing
its roots back to the fisherman Peter. They are rooted and grounded in this
tradition … right or wrong.
Among
those who believe apostolic succession is unnecessary, i.e., that knowing Christ
is a free gift of faith received directly from God, the power to change lives
and save souls regardless of claims of authority made by other human beings, the
rock is revelation. The church is a body of believers transformed and being
transformed by nothing other than the work of Truth revealed to human hearts and
minds by a Sovereign God acting without compulsion in a mystery of grace.
The
words “Pevtro” and “pevtra” come from the same root. One is a masculine stone.
One is feminine. One may be larger than the other. One may be a man’s name. The
other may refer to a huge cliff of granite while the first refers to a tiny
pebble.
But,
in the final analysis, God’s Church in Christ and Christ in us as believers is
not a rock or a stone or a pebble or even a mountain! God’s Church is a living
spirit greater than any one of us, greater than any denomination, greater than
any claims of apostolic succession, greater than all the disputers over
doctrine, greater than all the efforts ever made to erect cathedrals or empower
kings in the name of Christ. The Church is love in action, a fire set ablaze
within us by the life of one who is always living, always powerful, always able
to change the stoniest heart into a power for peace and redemption. We who have
received the revelation of who Christ is, just as Peter received that same
revelation that saves us, are each an important part of that living fire.
Jesus
builds His Church on our faith. It is not faith we receive from apostles or
teachers or prophets. It is not faith we receive from long study in the Bible
nor from the writings of wise men and women who seek to share with us the truth
they have discovered. Study may lead us toward faith, but faith is not the
result of study. Faith is a free gift given by the grace of God. As we are
unable to make ourselves taller by taking thought, so we are unable to acquire
the faith that saves our souls by any effort we might make. No sacrifice will
bring it to us. No charitable works will make it ours. We can lead the music. We
can be faithful in Sunday school attendance. We can serve as leaders in the
church and even receive the apostolic authority men give to each other by the
laying on of hands. Yet without faith we cannot please God, and without faith we
are no church.
We
are, you see, bound together by God’s mercies. Our love for each other is a
response to the forgiveness of God for our own shortcomings. If we say we have
no sin we make God a liar, and the truth is not in us. We love because God loves
us. We forgive because God forgives us. We believe because God planted faith in
our hearts by His mercy through Christ Jesus!
The
church is a body of souls who’ve been touched by God’s mercies, a family of
souls who’ve received revelation from God as to Who Jesus IS. We have not
decided this on our own. We do not submit ourselves to Christ by any
pre-existing virtue in ourselves. We do not make ourselves righteous by making
an effort to do so any more than the lilies of the field clothe themselves in
beauty by taking thought and purposing to grow blossoms.
We are sheep in God’s
pasture.
We are clay on His Potter’s Wheel.
We are merely instruments. He is the
Musician and the Music, also!
What
we become depends entirely on what we receive by His Grace.
There is no other way.
What
we are together depends entirely on what we believe about ourselves.
This
is the rock on which God builds the Church of Christ.
The
Church is not built on a man, nor men, nor men’s traditions.
The
Church is built on Truth that is the most important truth of all.
Jesus
is the Christ of God … the Only Perfect Being.
We are
merely vessels, either willing to receive or rebelliously denying the Truth on
which Christ’s Church is being built. If we receive the Truth, we receive it
from God in heaven, just as Jesus said to Peter, “Blessed art thou, for flesh
and blood has not revealed this unto you but my Father in heaven.”
If we
reject the Truth, we do so of our own free will, refusing to allow God to be
God, refusing to allow Jesus to be the Christ of God, and foolishly refusing to
appropriate the only Power that can save our souls … the Truth that Christ alone is Lord of All!
If you
never accepted Jesus as Lord … if you never asked Him to reveal Who He IS to
your heart – if you never asked God to transform you by faith that cannot be
obtained by study or sacrifice but comes only as a free gift or not at all –
then this is a good time to ask for that gift! Indeed, this may be the only time
you have, for none of us knows the moment when we will be called to die.
Ask
now.
Receive
the Power of His Life and Love within you now!
On
this rock alone rests the hope of humanity. In this rock are all the teachings of
the church and its prophets of old. By this rock alone can any of us be saved
from the destruction our selfish minds will lead us to if we refuse to submit to
Truth, confess our sin, and acknowledge that every good thing comes from God alone … a free gift.
This
is the rock of the church ... not a men or any set of men nor ideas nor
theologies nor religious practices.
The
rock is a free gift, given only to those who ask.
Ask
today.
Ask God to show
you who Jesus truly is ... who you are in Him ... and who He is in you!
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