About the Rock...

Today at Hill City Church we finished our epic sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. We looked at Jesus' powerful illustration of the wise and foolish builders: the wise one builds on a solid rock foundation'; the foolish one builds on the sand. When the storm comes, the house on sand washes away, but the one on the rock stands firm. Jesus says this is a picture of those who obey His words, and those who ignore them. It's not going to be easy following Jesus, and sometimes building on the sand looks more attractive, but in the end only what's on the rock will last.

I was thinking this afternoon about how the Bible uses the image of a rock, and this led me to some interesting places...

First, the Bible mainly uses rock as an image to tell us who God is and what He is like. He is 'the Rock of Israel' (Gen 49, 2 Sam 23, Isa 30), 'the Rock... (whose) works are perfect, and all his ways are just' (Deut 32). Just as rocks are solid and steadfast, so God is absolutely dependable in all His ways. Everything else may fall apart around us, but we can trust in Him completely. We don't need to go anywhere else!

Rocks become a sign of memorial of God's salvation in Joshua 7, where the tribes each place a rock after crossing the Jordan river. They are a place of sacrifice in Judges 13 and 1 Sam 6, and a means of judgement in 2 Sam 18. So it isn't surprising that they foreshadow Jesus Christ.

When God appears to Moses in Ex 33, he has to stand on a rock. The Psalmist sings of how God 'lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand' (Ps 40). That firm place to stand is Jesus Christ! In the wilderness, God poured forth water from the rock at Horeb (Ex 17), a sign of His miraculous provision for His people. 1 Cor 10 tells us that that rock was Christ. He is the water of life of salvation and the means that it comes to us.

But rocks can be deadly, and Scripture warns us that if we don't come to Christ the Rock for salvation, we will have to face the consequences. Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be 'a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' (Isa 8, see also ch26) Romans 9 and 1 Pet 2 both link this to the judgement of Christ upon those who will not accept Him. Similarly in Daniel 2, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream as foretelling the future. The king sees a rock cut out, but not by human hands. It strikes the statue and becomes a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Christ's rule and His kingdom is unstoppable! If you're not in it, you have no future.

'On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves' (Zech 12)

The Bible gives us great hope that as Christians we are part of God's eternal kingdom. On earth we may suffer and go through tough times, but in the end, we have a certain salvation and we worship a King who cannot be conquered.

'Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock' (Mt 7:24)

Jesus is saying, obey Me! Build your life on what I say, because although this world is against you, it is passing away. My words will never pass away. (Mt 24:35) I want to live like that this week! And this month, this year...

'The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Saviour!' (Ps 18)

Ephesians: God's big purpose for Christians

This week I've been reading Ephesians, and it's been amazing to see God's cosmic plan for the universe unfold: 'to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ' (1.10).

God is saving people from every tribe, tongue and nation so that there will be a new community of people in heaven, who worship Him (Revelation 5:9). We aren't saved merely on an individual basis, but to be part of the corporate body of the Church. Paul calls the universal Church the Body of Christ, and in Ephesians 4 talks in detail about what it means to be a Christian.

Being a Christian means being part of the Church
God saved us for a reason: so that in eternity, we could be part of His holy city. Becoming a Christian means that we gain citizenship to heaven (Eph 2:19). The local church on earth is a reflection of the huge universal church in heaven that awaits us when we die, or when Jesus returns. Therefore every Christian should make every effort to be a committed member of a local church. Otherwise it's like you have rejected your heavenly destiny.

Being part of a local church helps you to be who God wants you to be
Paul gives many instructions about how we should live to please God -'Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.' (Eph 4:2-3) It's clear that the local church is crucial in us being able to practise these virtues. Sure, we can aim to be humble and patient in our workplace with non-believers, and we can even cultivate this in our friendships with Christians, but it is only in the context of the local church that we can genuinely be tested in 'bearing with one another in love' and keeping the 'unity of the Spirit'. Churches are full of all kinds of people and can be very trying! But it's God's will that we belong to a church and work through the difficulties which this involves, rather than try and live the Christian life alone.

Churches all over the world are united in sound doctrine
There is 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all' (Eph 4:5). There may be many "churches" out there, but the true churches are those which stand upon Christ and what God has revealed to us through Scripture. It's no use getting involved with a church that tolerates false teaching. It's not a true church.

God has made us to serve the church, and be served by it
God gives some to be 'evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers' (Eph 4:11) -perhaps you are one of them! In the church, those God has given to preach do so for the benefit of those who hear (and that means by default there must be people for them to preach to). Ministers are there to serve their congregations, and to be served by them too. What is the goal?
'to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature' (Eph 4:12-13).

God doesn't just want people to pray a prayer accepting His salvation. God wants His people to grow in faith, to become mature. This can only happen when we meet together as a community and disciple one another; when we share our lives together, pray for each other, read God's word together and encourage each other. This is hard- it involves time, commitment, and even saying things which are difficult. We have to speak the truth 'in love' (Eph 4:15), which means telling a fellow Christian when they are going astray. But ultimately, when we help others in the church to grow and flourish, we are helping ourselves. Our identity in Christ is corporate- we are one Body. If one part suffers, all of us suffer (1 Cor 12:26). Our goal is heaven, where there will be no more pain and no more suffering (Rev 21:4). It is worth all the trials we may face now!