Articles
I Will Build My Church
I Will Build My Church
We know there were at least 120 disciples that gathered in Jerusalem following the ascension of Jesus. There were disciples scattered throughout Galilee, Samaria, and Judea also. Yet from this 'mustard seed' sized group the followers of Jesus multiplied. Such was not without opposition.
Of course there was the friction between those who held tightly to the Law of Moses and resisted and even persecuted Christians. As Paul would later say in 1 Cor. 8:5-6: "although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."
There was the worship of the Roman emperors as gods. The refusal to acknowledge this was seen not as a religious dispute but as treason against the government. The Christians were not just a differing religious group but traitors to Rome.
As the gospel spread into Asia and Greece it continued to confront the religions of man. There were the Greek and Romans gods of mythology. These included Zeus, Athena, Mercury, etc. etc., etc. It is hard to even begin to make a list of all the so-called gods. I remember reading the one ancient writer complained that there were 'gods' in Athens then there were people. The streets were lined with idols representing these gods.
As Christianity spread into Europe it confronted the 'ancient religions' of paganism. In Africa it ran into all the leftover gods of Egypt. Further south it encountered the gods of peoples there. Moving east it would deal with all the gods of Hinduism and Buddhism.
The world has long been pluralistic in its religious thought. Most of these religions were devoted to their own god(s) and yet were comfortable with people worshiping other gods.
Into this situation came the story of Jesus. Jesus claimed to be the "way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He ended that exclusivist statement with a stronger one by saying that "NO ONE can come unto Father except by me." "Unless you believe that I am HE, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24). In giving the great commission on preaching the story of Jesus and His resurrection, he declared: "he that believes not, shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16). The Apostles declared "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Paul wrote that "there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1Tim. 2:5).
The question is not whether we will be exclusive in our thoughts about Jesus, it is whether the story of Jesus is true or not. Being raised from the dead, He was declared to be the Son of God and the whole of the gospel message is vindicated. It is of little wonder that the story of Jesus was opposed then and will continue to be opposed throughout the ages to come. We must be faithful to this message. Hugh DeLong
