In Matthew 16:13-17 Jesus asked His disciples who people thought He was. Apparently a large number of rumors were floating around about the identity of this incredible miracle-worker.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say 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 I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Peter got it right. This was a new experience for Peter, so I’m sure everyone was pretty excited. But what Jesus said next is the application I want us to think about,
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven”.
As much as he might have liked to take credit for figuring out who Jesus was, Peter didn’t “figure it out” at all – it was revealed to him. I’m sure most of us remember when we were unbelievers and the opinions we had about who Jesus was. Just like in the 1st century there are a great number of ideas about this in our generation. Some say Jesus was Michael the Archangel (Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses); some say He was Lucifer’s brother (LDS); some say He was a great prophet or teacher (Islam). Some say He was a deceiver who claimed to be the Messiah, but wasn’t (Judaism). There are a multitude of views, but there’s only one real Jesus – only one who can save. Only "he who has the Son, has life."
Before we came to know Him, you and I had our own views. We were wrong, but we probably didn’t care that much. Then something happened and we believed in Him. We saw Him as who He is. And now if someone tells us Jesus was anything but the Son of God, we are unshaken; we know Who He is, because God has revealed Him to us. When by God's grace we saw Christ He really was all the other identities given to Jesus became very clear for what they were - counterfeits.
No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)
Nobody “figures out” who Jesus is. Nobody. We can guess, but no matter what we do or how hard we apply our great intellects, nobody knows who Jesus is unless God reveals Him. Jesus was a total mystery to those living in His generation; He is only known by revelation.
This probably isn’t news to you. I’m sure most who are reading this are very aware of the difference between what you thought of Jesus before you knew Him and what you think now. And you probably know that it was revelation from God that made the difference between not knowing Christ and knowing Him as He is. This happens to everyone who is “born from above” (John 3:3). It's spiritual revelation granted to newly reborn spiritual men and women, and it brings us into a whole new comprehension of Christ as Lord and Savior.
When we bring this principle of learning into the Christian life, however, a problem arises. It’s almost like we forget how we got here. In Colossians 12:6 Paul writes,
So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. . .
We received Him by faith through the revealing work of God’s Spirit. Why do we think we can walk in Him any other way than by constant faith or dependence on the Spirit to understand this life we just entered? Are we gaining an understanding of the Christian life by figuring it out using the Bible as a kind of blueprint, or are we growing in our understanding of this life through spiritual revelation?
This was a problem in the early church, especially in Corinth.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we teach, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly— as mere infants in Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:1-3:1)
Apparently, the Corinthian believers forgot how they came to the knowledge of Christ. They began in the Spirit and then attempted to move forward in the flesh, trusting their intellect to help them understand the spiritual life. But only the Spirit understands that which is spiritual. The Bible was not meant to be a blueprint to challenge our intellects and reasoning powers; it was intended to be a book we prayerfully explore to gain God’s revelation of its meaning and application. This is why Paul’s first prayer for the Ephesians was;
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:15-17)
We began the Christian life by spiritual revelation centered in the Person of Jesus Christ. We are to walk in Him the same way – by ongoing, unceasing spiritual revelation. God used the written or spoken gospel to reveal His Son to us. He will use the written and spoken scriptures to reveal our new lives to us. We can no more “figure out” the Christian life without God’s direct revelation than we could discover the real Jesus without God revealing Him to us.
Let’s take this a step further and look at the church. As mentioned earlier, Jesus was a mystery, His identity was hidden from those around Him and known only by revelation. The church is also a mystery, hidden from those who do not see it by the Spirit.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly . . . which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 3:1-5)
The church is a mystery, one that was concealed in other generations but revealed in our age. However, it has only been revealed to those who have seen it in the same way they have seen Christ – by personal, spiritual revelation from God. As Ian Thomas once said,
"All truth, if it really is truth, comes by revelation."
Just as unbelievers are convinced they can discover the identity of Christ by accepting the teaching of cults and false religions, believers are convinced they know what the church is by going to one. The Corinthian Christians were just as ignorant of the true identity of the church as a Muslim is about the identity of Jesus.
My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, I follow Paul; another, I follow Apollos; another, I follow Cephas; still another, I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:11-13)
The Corinthians were absolutely clueless about the real nature and identity of the church. They thought they knew, but they didn’t. The reason? Their understanding was based on their own intellect and experiences, not on spiritual revelation.
Let’s move this same reality into our century. What do people say “the church” is? Some say Baptist, some say Presbyterian, some say Lutheran, etc. Some think the church is non-denominational – another title (the most legalistic church I ever attended was a non-denominational “Bible church”). This list is much longer now than in the first century. We’ve had 2000 years to redefine the nature of the church. For the most part we are just as clueless as the Corinthians, but if you were to ask an American believer if they know what the church is, they would say, “Of course I do! Come to my church and check it out; it’s awesome!” Just as the Jehovah's Witnesses retain their belief that Jesus was Michael because they are satisfied with that position, many Christians believe the church is meant to be what we see around us in our evangelical assemblies because they are satisfied, content, and couldn't imagine the possibility that we don't understand what the church is from God's viewpoint.
Is the church, as shown in the Bible, really the same as what we see in our country – thousands of competing, sectarian 501c3 organizations all attempting to follow the alleged Biblical blueprint of the ecclesia of God? Or is it something totally different than this? I’m leaning toward “different” (all you have to do is read John 17 to know that we aren’t even close to what Jesus had in mind).
So, why not use a Biblical blueprint? After all, we have Acts as an historical record of the church’s birth, formation and activities, and we have the epistles to teach us the doctrines of the church. First, remember that unbelievers operating in the realm of intellect have massive information about Jesus but still don’t know Him. And believers operating in that same realm (like the Corinthian Christians) can study blueprints forever and still not see the church as it really is. That was Paul’s whole point in 1 Corinthians 2 & 3. The Jews used the Old Testament "blueprint" of what Messiah was to be and when He came they not only didn't recognize Him, but openly defied Him.
We learned the truth about Jesus by hearing (or reading) about Him and by revelation of the Spirit. We learn the truth about the church the same way – study, prayer and complete dependency on the Spirit to see behind the information to the spiritual reality of the church’s true identity and nature.
Why do you suppose so many in our country have not seen the church in this way? I’m sure it’s partly due to simply not realizing that the church is a mystery which can only be understood by spiritual revelation. We think we can understand what the church is by reading the information we have on hand so we don’t really look to the Spirit for this much needed revelation. But there is another reason which, unfortunately, may be the primary defining characteristic of American Christianity - pride. As Jesus pointed out in Matthew 11:25,
At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants”.
As we know, if one doesn’t enter the kingdom of God as a child, one doesn’t enter at all (Mark 10:15). The same is true of understanding the church. If we don’t believe that only God can reveal the truth of this to us, if we believe we can figure it out on our own, we will never see it spiritually. Revelation is only given to humility – to teachability.
There are a multitude of books on the church that are simply extensive blueprint studies and since they are filled with scripture references, church leaders run with them each time a new cutting-edge idea comes out. But in most cases the spiritual reality is either very superficial or completely wrong. It's not a matter of competing visions or personal opinions of the church. Just as there's only one true identity of Jesus, there's only one true identity of His church.
One other thing to keep in mind is that even the most sincere, genuine, committed believer can be totally in the dark regarding the true identity and purpose of the Church. Think of Peter. Did he love the Lord? Was he committed? Was he genuine? Absolutely. And with that love and commitment in full gear, he told Jesus not to go to the cross (Matthew 16:21-23). Peter's love and desire to serve his Lord was never in doubt. But he had what one author calls, "unenlightened enthusiasm". To me that simple phrase does more than any I've heard to accurately describe American Christianity in our generation.
So, what is the church?
Jesus has had two bodies. One was born 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, the other was formed on the day of Pentecost following Christ’s resurrection. Why did the Father send Him? Beyond His redemptive purpose which He accomplished at the cross, Jesus came into this world to provide a visible expression of the invisible, indwelling Father within Him.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth. . .
“The words I speak to you, I speak not from myself; but the Father that dwells in Me, He does the works . . “
"Have I been such a long time with you, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He that has seen Me has seen the Father; why are you saying,‘Show us the Father?’”
(John 1:14, John 14:7-10)
Jesus was, “. . . the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person. . . “ (Hebrews 1:3)
An “image” provides a visible representation of an invisible reality. Jesus was the express image of God, revealing the Father to a seeking world.
Jesus told His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, so send I you” (John 20:21). In Ephesians 5:30-32 (and many other passages) Paul calls the church, “the body of Christ”. God’s intent for us is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). The church is meant to be the visible representation on earth of the invisible indwelling Christ within her so that men and women (and angels - Ephesians 3:10) can learn about, and see who Christ is, by watching His second body, the church. The church, therefore, is only the church to the degree in which Christ is seen in her. If our Lord is free to express His life though us, then “wherever two or three are gathered” you can find the church (Matthew 8:20).
In America the church is doing more to hide this mystery of the indwelling Christ than to reveal it. Blueprints are man-made; they are expressions, not of Christ, but of our own creativity, energy, intellect and commitment to the Christian religion. Blueprints don’t produce spiritual life, they conceal it. The church is to be Christ revealed in flesh and blood. Anything less, or other, that this is not the church. To make the importance of this distinction even clearer,
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
I realize that this passage, in context, is speaking of unbelievers thinking their works will get them into heaven, but the principle underlying this misconception has application to the church as well (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15). It is possible to blueprint your way to “evil” in Jesus’ Name! And we aren’t talking about a church’s immorality or false doctrines; we’re talking about the possibility of their “wonderful works in Jesus’ Name” being “evil”, simply because the source of those works is man, not God.
Since God’s plan for us is to provide a visible means for Him to reveal Who He is (not for us to be creative, cutting-edge, committed religionists) anything less than a spiritual comprehension of the church and corresponding life lived in the Spirit, is at best evil in His sight (Isaiah 64:6).
Jesus offered His body to His Father so the Father could reveal Himself to this world (“If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”). Jesus died to Himself and lived only unto His Father. The church is the body of Christ. Hopefully, that simple statement will come to mean something extremely significant to us as we continue to explore God’s Word.
I beg you, therefore, my brothers, by the grace of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual service. (Romans 12:1)
Once you've seen the Lord Jesus as He really is, nothing can take that away from you. You know in a way nothing else is known. And once you've seen the church by revelation from God as over against simply the enthusiastic, creative adaptation of a Biblical blueprint, you know the church in a way that can't be shaken by "alternative" views.
When we were hungry enough to seek Christ with all our hearts, He was revealed to us. The same will be true regarding the church. Only when our dissatifaction with what currently exists reaches a place of desperation within us will we seek with hearts ready and willing for revelation from God. God does not reveal his mysteries to the mildly curious.
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