0880. 1. The Church As a Building–Salvation Past

1. The Church As a Building–Salvation Past

"For we are * * God's building" (1Co_3:9).

In Eph_2:21, we read, "In Whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord." And Eph_2:22 adds, "In Whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

The foundation of this building is Jesus Christ. In 1Co_3:11, we read, "For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." But the foundation is not Jesus Christ ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father. The foundation of the Church as a building is Jesus Christ crucified. The rock upon which we build, is Jesus Christ rejected of men. When we come to Jesus Christ, we come "as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious." This stone, which was disallowed of men, was made the head of the corner. It is on this rock that we, as living stones, are building up a spiritual house. We have been "built up in Him, and stablished in the faith" (Col_2:7). Thus in the building we have our salvation by faith in the slain Lamb.

In Mat_7:24-27, we have a solemn warning about the wise man and the foolish man. The foolish build upon the sands of their own works, and when the winds blow, the rain descends, and the floods come, their houses will fall. The wise build upon the Smitten Rock, they build upon a foundation that shall never give way and that shall never fall. When Moses smote the rock in the wilderness and the water gushed forth, he set forth, in picture, the Christ of Calvary, Who was so rudely and roughly smitten for us. To Peter, Christ spoke thus: "Upon this rock I will build My Church" (Mat_16:18).

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR