Monday – August 22, 2016
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a new week and a new opportunity to further, grow, the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom of God by the way is our kingdom as well, since the Cross it is God and sons. What a deal! As we explore the Word of God today let’s make a commitment to ourselves and to our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus that we will yield our will to His. Chose to allow the Holy Spirit to shine a bright light on our understanding, that we might be better children and sons, more like Him, in the Kingdom.
Ephesians 1:3-4 (KJV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Before we focus on our text above there is another topic that is important to our discussions. There are those who believe that the Book of Ephesians is a book specifically to the Church, the whole body of believers. That is certainly true but so is the rest of the Bible in one context or another. Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. The number ten (10) in Biblical Numerology has to do with responsibility. With that in mind we would expect this book to outline or point specifically at what our responsibilities are as believers. As I hope all of you realize, the exercise of our responsibilities brings great benefits into our lives. So we can expect the Book or Epistle (letter) to the Ephesians to tell us about our responsibilities and our exceedingly great benefits.
Now let us take a look at this concept of the Church. There is no mention of a Church in the Old Testament. There were gatherings of believers mostly at the Tabernacle and the Temple but no mention of Church. Jesus is the first to mention the Church.
Matthew 16:18 (KJV)
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Jesus refers to the Church as His Church. Jesus is talking to the Apostle Peter and other the disciples. I do not believe that this verse is telling us that the Church was built upon Peter although Peter was a very important person in the establishment of the Church. The Church is established upon a rock much greater than Peter and that is Jesus, the Christ, the sinless sacrifice. Let’s look at this in the Amplified translation.
Matthew 16:18-19 (AMP)
18 And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.
Imagine Jesus standing facing Peter and talking to Peter and the others. He points to Peter and says you are a little rock but I am a big rock and upon me the Church will be built and nothing not even the gates of hell will prevail. Jesus, not Peter, is the one who defeated hell and death.
Revelation 1:17-18 (KJV)
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Brother and sister, the hand of Jesus is upon each of us and His first instruction is “fear not”. Fear is deadly and allows no place for victory in the Kingdom of God. Fear is the opposite of love and love is obedience to the Word of God. When we are in fear we are in disobedience of the Word of God which is sin. The keys of the Kingdom were not given to Peter exclusively but to the Church corporately and each of us individually. In Him we also have the keys of hell and death. Tomorrow I will continue this discussion about the Church.
By Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
