Some people are uninformed, thinking that Such-and-such Church is about two-
hundred feet wide, three-hundred feet deep with a steel frame and brick façade.
Even Webster conformed to the modern misusage of the word calling it a
building; however, he added it is “a body or organization of religious believers.”
The word church originates in the Greek ecclesia, which Thayer defines: “called
out or forth…; properly a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into
some public place.” Church refers to any type of assembly or gathering of people.
The ecclesia was never a physical structure but a called out from the world
spiritual body of people (1 Pe. 1:16; 2:9). But, the church is a building in a special
sense. The New Testament describes the church as a spiritual building. Paul told
the church at Corinth, “ye are God's building” (1 Co. 3:9).
Jesus Christ Is the Builder. Jesus said, “Upon this rock, I will build my
church…” (Mt. 16:18). Jesus did the work necessary to build His church. He is the
sinless Son of God who died for all mankind, purchasing the church with His
blood (He. 4:15; Ac. 20:28). Christ’s church is not built upon some man – only
Jesus.
Jesus Christ Is the Chief Cornerstone of the Church’s Foundation. God
told Isaiah, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste”
(Is. 28:16). Christ fulfilled that prophecy (Mt. 21:42; Ep. 2:20; 1 Pe. 2:6,7). The
cornerstone is the most important part of the building for two reasons: 1)
Because the edifice rests mainly on the cornerstone (cf. Col. 3:17) and 2) because
it occupies a conspicuous and honorable place (cf. Ac. 2:33). While the apostles
and prophets were a part of the foundation, they alone could not sustain it. “For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Co. 3:
11). “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16) is the firm slab
upon which the church is founded (Mt. 16:18).
The Apostles and Prophets Compose the Remaining Foundation (Ep. 2:
20). These men spoke “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pe. 1:21). The
Old Testament prophets provided inspired insight into the coming kingdom and
Messiah. While they were far from the kingdom itself, they were a necessary
element to its establishment. Christ’s apostles served first-hand roles in the
church’s inauguration. Their preaching on Pentecost attracted the first converts
of Christianity (Ac. 2:41) and their records of revelation are read and followed
today.
The Church Is the Spiritual House Built upon the Foundation. The
church is made up of Christians (Ac. 11:26; 1 Co. 12:27). Each Christian is a
different material in God’s house “fitly framed together…unto a holy [figurative]
temple in the Lord” (Ep. 2:21). In it, Christians are the gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay and stubble (1 Co. 3:12). As we grow in faithfulness, we
become better materials in the church, the house of God (1 Ti. 3:15).
