Is There is a Difference Between So-called Christian Churches and the Church that Jesus, the Christ Promised to Build?

One day as Jesus, the Christ and his disciples traveled through the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them: " 'Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, is?' They replied: 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But what about you?' he asked 'Who do you say that I am."'Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ,' the Son of the living God.'" (All Scripture quotes from the New International Version unless noted otherwise)

From the New American Heritage Dictionary, we get this definition of the word "Christ:"Middle English Crist, from Old English Crst, from Latin Chrstus, from Greek Khrstos, from khrstos, anointed, verbal adj. of khrein, to anoint . . ." The Greek word "Christ" is the same as the Hebrew term "Messiah." Both mean "to anoint," or the anointed one.

So Peter said the Jesus, Mary's boy, is the son of God, anointed to complete a work his Father gave him to do. "Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tellyou that you are Peter (Gk. petros, a small peeble), and on this rock (Gk. petra, a great mass of stone), I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.'" In this response, Jesus used three Greek words we must explain. First, "Peter,"because here Jesus used a Greek word that means a small stone. But Jesus did not declare that he would build the church on a Peter, a small stone. Rather, he said that the church is built on a Petra. Who or what is this "Rock?" In his epistle to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul explained: " . . . our forefathers were all under the cloud and . . .they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized untoMoses in the cloud and in the sea. They allate the same spiritual food and drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.'" (1Cor. 10:1-4). Here, Paul also uses the Greek word "Petra" and clearly refers to Jesus as the "Petra,: or the great Rock. Describing the church again, this time in his letter to the congregation at Ephesus, Paul wrote: "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus, himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord and in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-21). Now consider the witness of Peter who wrote: "As you come to him, the living Stone (Gk. Petra)--rejected by men but chosen bygod, and precious to him--you also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: 'See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' Now to you who believe, the stone (Petra) is precious . . ." (1Peter 2:4-7).

So we've established that Jesus declared that he would build his church. Here, the word translated "church" is the Greek term "ecclesia," and here's the definition given by Wikipedia, the online enclyclopedia. Ecclesia (lat) is a term derived from the Greek root ekklesia [åêêëçóßá], which literally means a "gathering" of citizens, in an ancient Greek city-state, or a "called-out assembly"; usually defined as "gathering of the called-out ones"^[1] or "gathering of those summoned"^[2]. Theologically it has been equated from the New Testament passages, originally written in Greek language, as the Church (though the origin of the term "Church" is the Greek root kyriakon [from kyriake, kyriakos; kyrios; kyros])^[3] and also as the Body of Christ, a view which reflects a deeper Spiritual and invisible dimension into the use of the term Ecclesia.

Thus, in this conversation with these disciples that day, Jesus declared that he would build a group of "called ones." called out of this age, aka, "the end times," and build them into a unified body of people who will serve as his instruments after the ascension of Jesus to heaven, and before his return. Well, according to the Bible, who did God called? "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Rom. 8:29-30). Now, we're faced with the question, just who did God foreknow and also justify? "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to e adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely give unin the One he loves." (Eph. 1:3-6).

Jesus made another declaration about his church. He said the gates of hell will not prevail against it. There are three Greek words translated by the one english word, "hell," and the one Jesus used in this context is "hades" and means the grave. Therefore, this statement from Jesus means at least two things. First, it means that his church, once launched, will never die. Secondly, that statement also means that when a saint, a member of the body of Christ, dies, the person does not cease being a member of the church that Jesus, the Christ is building.

Let's summarize the facts as we have them now! Jesus declared that he would 1) build his church, group of called citizens, 2) who had been previously selected during eternity for this honor, 3) and he will build this group into a holy and righteous, justified, glorified and unified group of people through whom he completes his work on earth during these endtimes.

Well, did he do this? When did he begin? How did it occur? Is it occurring today? If so, how, where and among whom? I will answer these questions in a series of articles and I will use the Bible as my principal research resource for these answers.

First, let's establish historical perspective. On a Wednesday afternoon, Nisan 14--the Jewish Passover Day--about 31 AD, a contingent of Roman soldiers executed three men. One of them was Jesus, the Christ. He died about 3pm that afternoon. Later, just before sunset, two men--Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus--took the body of Jesus from the cross, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a new tomb. According to Luke's account of this historical event: "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they enteredd, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead. He is not here; he has risen.'" (Luke 24:1-6) Please note that these two men--obviously angels--did not say that Jesus had just resurrected. They said: "He is risen." As a historical fact, the resurrection of Jesus could not have occurred on that morning, as many traditionally suppose. I will explain this historical fact in an article following this series on Jesus building his church. These women--Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James and several others, shared this amazing news with the other disciples, and Luke wrote: "But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, geot up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened." (Luke 24: 10-12). The Apostle John provides a more complete account: "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciples, the one Jesus loved (John, himself) and said: 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!' So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, bu the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linenlying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head . . . Finally the other disciple who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead." (John 20:1-9)

John continues: "Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated there jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she said, 'and I don't know where they have put him.' At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.'" (verses 10-14)

Consider this point! None of the individuals who went to the tomb on the first day of the week went to witness the resurrection of Jesus. The women went to anoint his body. The men went to check out the women's story and maybe to discover what the Romans had done with the body. We see nothing in these Scriptures so far to indiciate that the people closest to Jesus thought that the resurrection occurred that morning. They had no idea that it had occurred. They were puzzled, even disbelieving, and as John wrote--they did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Now we are about to investigate one of the most significant encounters in human history.

" 'Woman,' he said, 'why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?' Please note, even now, how hard it is to accept the concept of resurrection. "Thinking he was the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him--the wonder and the amazement of what she was experiencing washing over her--"She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, 'Rabboni' (which meant Teacher.'" (verses 15-16). According to the Scriptures, Jesus appeared to others at least twice that same day, first two disciples who were walking to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. Later, he also appeared to other disciples as they were discussing the days events in a locked room.

For the next 40 days, Jesus spent considerable time with the disciples and now we come to his final day on earth. Luke picks up the story in his treatise called the Acts of the Apostles: "In my former book Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: 'do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift may Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So when they met together, they asked him 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samnaria, and to the ends of the earth.' After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men in white stood beside them 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:1-8).

Ten days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to earth, and for the first time in human history, became available to the "called, justified and glorified" ones, causing them to become new creations in a process called being born from above. That event records the establishing and launching of the church Jesus promised to build.

In summary, when we consider how jesus began building his Church, we see that he recruited 12 leaders, whom he named apostles. From all indications, these 12 leaders each recruited six new disciples, who became the 72 disciples that Jesus sent out--two by two--as advance teams where he, the team leader, would be going to preach. Please remember that the group of disciples included women. In fact, some of these women supported the ministry of Jesus with their own resources, (Please see Luke 8:1-3). The Bible refers to the prophets and the apostles as the foundation of the church and to Jesus, the Christ as the chief cornerstone of the church., (Please see Eph. 2:19-21).

Next, we will examine the Scriptures to show that the church Jesus is building develops from a decision God made during eternity.