"I Will Build My Church"

In Genesis 12:1-3, we read of God’s promise to Abram that, in him, “all the nations of the earth would be blessed.”  In Genesis 17:5, we read this: “Neither shall thy name any more be Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.”

            In Exodus, we read of Abraham’s descendants (the Israelites) coming out of Egypt and living under the law of Moses.  In Galatians 3:24-25, speaking of this old law of Moses, the apostle Paul wrote, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But, after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”  The law was fulfilled and nailed to the cross of Jesus the Christ.  Colossians 2:14 says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.”

            In the Gospel accounts, we read of the lineage of Jesus.  Matthew 1:17 says, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away in Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”  Later, regarding the birth of Jesus the Christ, Matthew 1:22-24 reads, “Now all of this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is interpreted ‘God with us’.”

            Also in the Gospel accounts, we read of the teaching of Jesus.  In John 17:8, Jesus prayed to His Father, “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest Me; and they [the apostles] have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that thou didst send Me.”  After Jesus was baptized by John, in Matthew 3:17, we read “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased’.”

            As Jesus began His earthly ministry, in Matthew 4:17, we read Him teach “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  In verse 23, we read that “Jesus went all about Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”  In Luke 9:27, Jesus said, “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste death, till they see the kingdom of God.”

            And, in Colossians 1:13-14, Paul says, “[God]Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”

            In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus sent His apostles out with this command: “Go ye therefore into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

            The GOSPEL (which literally means “good news”) of the kingdom is the message of eternal life that Jesus received from God the Father.  In Acts 2:41, we read where 3,000 were baptized in response to the gospel being preached.  In Acts 2:47, God added these to the Church (ekklesia, meaning “a called out, an assembly, or congregation”).  To what church were they added?  Could it have been the church Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:18 when He said, “I will build My Church.”  The answer has to be YES!  There is no other church mentioned in the New Testament.  None of the churches we know of today (save His true Church) were in existence until 606AD at the earliest.  Speaking of Jesus, Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12).

--Eugene McNabb