The Church

The Church

OVERCOME BY ANGER, THE ELDERLY MAN pounds the rod he carries against the boulder. Drawing it back, he swings again, and shouts: "Hear now you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?"

A stream of water gushes out of the rock, meeting Israel's need. But, in taking credit to himself for the gift of water instead of ascribing it to the Rock, Moses had sinned. And because of that sin, he would not enter the Promised Land (see Num_20:7-12).

That Rock was Christ, the foundation on which God established His people, both individually and corporately. This imagery runs throughout Scripture.

In the last sermon Moses preached to Israel, perhaps recalling this incident, he used the metaphor of the rock to picture God's stability and dependability:

"'Ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice, 
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He'" (Deu_32:3-4).

Centuries later David echoed the same theme-His Saviour as the rock:

"In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength, 
And my refuge, is in God" (Psa_62:7).

Isaiah used the same imagery of the coming Messiah: "'A stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation'" (Isa_28:16).

Peter testified that Christ fulfilled this prediction, not as a common stone, but a "living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious" (1Pe_2:4). Paul identified Him as the only sure foundation, saying, "No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1Co_3:11). Referring to the rock that Moses struck, he said, "And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1Co_10:4).

Jesus Christ Himself used the image directly when He declared, "'On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it'" (Mat_16:18). He established the Christian church on Himself, the Living Rock. His own body was to be sacrificed for the sins of the world, the striking of the Rock. Against a church built on the solid foundation He provides, nothing can prevail. From this Rock the healing waters would flow to the thirsty nations (cf.Eze_47:1-12; Joh_7:37-38; Rev_22:1-5).

How feeble and weak the church was when Christ made that pronouncement! It consisted of a few tired, doubting, self-promoting disciples, a handful of women, and the fickle multitude that vanished when the Rock was struck. Yet the church was built, not on frail human wisdom and ingenuity, but on the Rock of Ages. Time would reveal that nothing could destroy His church or deter it from its mission of glorifying God and leading men and women to the Saviour (cf. Act_4:12-13, Act_4:20-33).

"The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In continuity with the people of God in Old Testament times, we are called out from the world; and we join together for worship, for fellowship, for instruction in the Word, for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, for service to all mankind, and for the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. The church derives its authority from Christ, who is the incarnate Word, and from the Scriptures, which are the written Word. The church is God's family; adopted by Him as children, its members live on the basis of the new covenant. The church is the body of Christ, a community of faith of which Christ Himself is the Head. The church is the bride for whom Christ died that He might sanctify and cleanse her. At His return in triumph, He will present her to Himself a glorious church, the faithful of all the ages, the purchase of His blood, not having spot or wrinkle, but holy and without blemish. "

-Fundamental Beliefs, 12