BASIC BIBLE STUDIES
# 019
The Establishment of the Church
"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18,
New King James Version).
Before looking at the specifics regarding the establishment of the church, it
is in order for us to do a quick review of our last few lessons. Beginning
with # 012, we studied the birth of Christ. From that lesson we moved to a
study of the life of Christ. Then we had two Studies on the death of Christ.
Next, we examined the evidence for the resurrection of Christ. Following
that, we studied the fact of Christ's ascension back to heaven and His
coronation. In our last lesson we studied about the coming of the Holy Spirit
upon the apostles to empower them to proclaim the message (the gospel) by
which people could be saved from their sins and brought into a proper
spiritual relationship with God. The observant student will see that these
last several lessons are sequentially connected, providing a step by step
development of events leading to a grand climax, namely the bringing into
existence a body of people--the church--that is uniquely the people of
God. Let us now see how the church was created.
Jesus Christ came into the world for constructive purposes. He came to
fulfill the Law (of Moses) and the prophets (Matthew 5:17). He came to bring
to fruition all that the Old Testament had been leading up to and for which
the prophets had been preparing mankind (Luke 24:44). Christ came to
inaugurate the kingdom of God. Early in His ministry He preached: "The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the
gospel" (Mark 1:15). Jesus came to "save His people from their sins" (Matthew
1:21). He came "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). He
came to give Himself "a ransom for all"
(I Timothy 2:5-6). In order to achieve these divine purposes, Christ died for
the sins of the world. He shed His blood so that humanity might be forgiven
of sin, be brought into spiritual fellowship with God, and have the hope of
everlasting life. These purposes all came together with the establishment of
the church.
Just as the death of Christ was fixed in the mind of God "from the foundation
of the world" (Revelation 13:8), so the church was in the mind of God from the
very beginning. The apostle Paul describes the church as the manifestation of
"the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been
hidden in God who created all things by Jesus Christ..." (Ephesians 3:9). He
goes on to say that the church is the divine display "of the manifold
(multi-faceted and splendorous) wisdom of God" because God's wisdom is "made
known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places"
(the spiritual realm of life and thought, hf) and is "according to the eternal
purpose which He (God) purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord"
(Ephesians 3:10-11).
In the light of the above, it is not surprising that following His death for
the sins of the world, Jesus said to His apostles: "Thus it is written, and
thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the
third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His
name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-47). Before anyone
could have remission of sins, Christ had to die and shed His blood "for the
remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). But after having suffered for the sins
of the world and having been resurrected, Christ commanded His apostles to "go
into all the world and preach the gospel (the good news of His death, burial,
and resurrection, I Corinthians 15:3-4) to every creature" (Mark 16:15). To
enable the apostles to carry out this tremendous responsibility, Christ
promised them that they would "receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem (the beginning place,
Luke 24:47), and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts
1:8). (See the previous Study: # 018 - "The Coming Of The Holy Spirit").
When we move to Acts 2 we find the Holy Spirit filling the
apostles, empowering them to speak in the languages of the thousands of
Jews who were in Jerusalem "from every nation under heaven" for the observance
of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). Peter, along with the rest of the
apostles, explains the phenomenon that was taking place, showing that it was
the fulfillment of what God had foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament
(Acts 2:14-21). The Spirit-filled apostles then proceed to proclaim the
death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coronation of Christ, building to
a grand crescendo: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).
As a result of this first proclamation of the gospel in the fullness of its
accomplished facts (the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ), many in
the audience "were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the
apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' " (Acts 2:37). The divine
reply is given: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
What were the results? "Then those who gladly received his word were
baptized; and the same day about three thousand souls were added to them"
(Acts 2:41). Thus, the church was established. People heard the good news of
Christ's death for their sins, they believed the message, they acted upon the
divine instructions given to them, and they became numbered with the embryonic
group of 120 left behind by Christ when He ascended back to heaven (Acts
1:15). Thereafter, "the Lord added to the church daily those who were being
saved" (Acts 2:47).
From the above, the following truths emerge:
1. The church began in the city of Jerusalem, for that was the place where
"repentance and remission of sins" were first preached (Luke 24:47).
2. The church had its beginning on the first Day of Pentecost following the
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, for until Christ's death and the
shedding of His blood the church could not exist as an historical reality
(Acts 20:28).
3. Christ alone is the founder of the church, the body of blood-redeemed
people, because He alone paid the price for human redemption (Romans 5:8-9;
Matthew 16:18).
4. Christ alone is the foundation of the church, because the faith of its
members rests solely on Christ (I Corinthians 3:11; I Peter 2:6-8).
5. Christ alone is the head of the church, for He alone is worthy of our
allegiance (Ephesians 1:22-23).
6. The church is the collective body of people that has been cleansed of its
sins by the blood of Christ and purchased to God by Christ's blood (I Peter
1:18-19; Acts 20:28).
7. The church is composed of those people who have been delivered from "the
power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His (God's)
love" (Colossians 1:13), which is the same as "and the Lord added to the
church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).
8. The church is now God's "holy nation, His own special people (a people
for His own possession, American Standard Version)" (I Peter 2:9).
How significant the church! How vital the church! How necessary the church!
Without it the manifold wisdom of God is never displayed. Without it the
redemptive work of Christ is never realized in the existence of a body of
redeemed people. Without it the kingdom of God does not exist. Without it
there is no place in which to glorify God since "to Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Ephesians
3:21).
If this essay has blessed your life, feel free to forward it to others who may
benefit from it.
Hugh Fulford