The production, existence, relationship, and issue of the testimony of the church are shown in Matthew 16:13 through 17:8. The church is clearly spoken of in the Bible beginning in Matthew 16. Although many persons typify the church in the Old Testament, there was no mention of the church in plain words. The church was hidden in the Old Testament. It was not until the Lord Jesus came in the flesh and worked on earth for nearly three years that He revealed the church in plain words.
In the region of Caesarea Philippi, the Lord asked His disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13). They answered that people spoke differently concerning Him, some saying that He was this person and others saying that He was that person. Then the Lord asked, “But you, who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). Peter, who was the disciple who usually rushed to speak, answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). Although Peter often was the first to speak, he did not speak from himself this time; rather, God gave him a revelation which enabled him to see things incomprehensible to men. Because he received a revelation from the heavens, he said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” These words were tremendous! From the dawn of history many spiritual forefathers and prophets have spoken for God, yet none of them ever spoke such words. Peter’s words were extraordinary and completely inconceivable to man. We cannot find such words in the entire Old Testament.
These two statements that Peter uttered are so extraordinary because they reveal the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. Christ, which is the title of the office of the Lord Jesus, declares His work in the universe. The Greek word for Christ means “the anointed One.” The Anointed of God is the One commissioned by God to do His work, the One sent by God to accomplish His will. Therefore, the title Christ speaks of all of the Lord’s work in the universe.
What is the Lord’s work in the universe? When we read through the entire Bible, we can see, without exception, that every item of God’s work in the universe is committed to Christ and accomplished through Christ. Creation was accomplished by God in Christ; all things were created by God through Christ. Redemption was accomplished by Christ under God’s commission; salvation is also carried out by Christ according to God’s desire. Rather than carrying out the future judgment Himself or appointing an angel or archangel to carry it out, God has fully committed this to Christ. It is also God’s desire that Christ would inherit all things in the future. In the past Christ was the Creator of all things. Presently He is the Upholder of all things. All things exist today because of Christ’s upholding and bearing; all things cohere in Christ (Col. 1:17). In the future He will be the Heir, inheriting all things. All that God wants to do in the universe has been committed to Christ. Therefore, the statement “You are the Christ” means that “You are the One anointed by God to do all the work God intends to do.” The title Christ is very inclusive; it includes all the work of the Lord in the universe, and it speaks of the fact that the Lord is the One who accomplishes all the work of God in the universe.
In addition to saying, “You are the Christ,” Peter said, “You are the Son of the living God.” This statement refers to the person of the Lord. No doubt, the Lord was the anointed One of God, but who was He as the One anointed by God? No doubt, He was the One commissioned by God to carry out God’s work, but who was He as the One commissioned by God? For example, we may appoint someone to be in charge of our bookroom, but what kind of person have we appointed? Is he a noble or a lowly person? This relates to his status. Thus, who was the Lord Jesus whom God anointed to accomplish all of His work? He is “the Son of the living God.” As the Son of God, He became the anointed One of God. As the Son of God, He received a commission from God to fulfill His will and carry out His work in the universe. Peter’s two statements reveal two aspects concerning the Lord Jesus. One aspect concerns His work, and the other aspect concerns His person; one aspect shows what He does, and the other aspect shows who He is.
We should know the meaning of the Son of God. The Son of God is the One who expresses God. As the Son of God, the Lord expresses God. All the fullness of the Godhead was concealed in Him and expressed through Him. Apart from Him no one can touch God, and apart from Him no one can see God. God is in Him, and He is the expression of God. The One who is the expression of God is the One who was anointed and commissioned by God to accomplish His work.
Since He, as the Son of God who expresses God, was anointed by God to do His work in the universe, then everything He did surely expressed God and testified of God. In addition, the result of His work also expressed and testified of God. Therefore, when He was resurrected from the dead and dispensed His life into thousands and thousands of people, these multitudes of people became sons of God to express God. These sons of God became a corporate Body, which is the church as the corporate expression of God.
The meaning of the words spoken by Peter at this time is extremely deep and broad. On the surface they seem simple, but it takes the entire Bible to explain them. Before the birth of the Lord Jesus, an angel told Mary, “The holy thing which is born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). After the Lord was born, the angel told the shepherds, “Today a Savior has been born to you...who is Christ the Lord” (2:11). In the course of the birth of the Lord Jesus, these two names were revealed from the mouth of an angel. When the apostle John wrote concerning the things that occurred in the life of the Lord Jesus, he said, “These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). These two titles, Christ and the Son of God, are the central meaning of the entire Bible. On the one hand, they speak of the Lord’s work, and on the other hand, they speak of the Lord’s person. He is the Son of God, the One who expressed God and who came to do the work of God. In all of the work that He accomplished there was a crystallized product, a central issue, an ultimate goal—the production of a group of sons for God who would become His Son’s corporate Body, which is the church, so that He would have an enlarged expression, a full expression.
Therefore, when Peter spoke to the Lord in this way, the Lord immediately said to him, “You are Peter,” because Peter means “a stone” (Matt. 16:18). The Lord was indicating that knowing Him was related to Peter’s being a stone. In the beginning Adam was made out of clay. Every one of Adam’s descendants is a piece of clay. As a descendant of Adam, Peter was a piece of clay, not a stone. But by knowing Christ in this way and by believing in Christ, he received the life of the Son of God. He received another element into him which caused him to be transformed. Whereas he was formerly a piece of clay, now he was transformed into a stone.
It is an amazing fact in the Bible that all of God’s buildings, whether the holy temple, the holy city, or ultimately the New Jerusalem, are built with stones, not with bricks. In contrast, those who were against God, whether at Babel, Egypt, or elsewhere, always built with bricks, never with stones. Bricks are the result of human labor and earthen materials. According to the spiritual meaning in the Bible, bricks signify anything produced from man’s natural being and with man’s labor. This is the story of the tower of Babel, the two cities of Egypt, and the city of Babylon. Stones, however, signify things that have not been produced from human labor with human hands but from God’s labor with God’s hands. To this day, bricks are man-made, made by human labor; they are produced with natural materials plus human labor. Stones, however, are altogether made by God without the addition of any human labor. Before we were saved, we were all made from clay. We were earthy, and we were pieces of clay. Some may ask where this is spoken of in the Bible. There is a very clear biblical basis for this in Genesis 2:7, Romans 9:21, and 1 Corinthians 15:47. When we received the Lord, knowing Him as the Christ and the Son of God, we were redeemed and received His life. Another element was added into us, and we were transformed from a piece of clay into a piece of stone. Every saved person should hear the Lord speaking to him in his spirit, “You are Peter; you are a stone. Previously you were Simon; now you are Peter. Formerly you were a piece of clay; now you are a stone.”
According to 1 Peter 2:5, these stones are living stones, because they have the life of God. Once there are living stones, the Lord can build the church. Therefore, the Lord immediately said, “Upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). What is this rock? It is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Do you know the Christ? Do you know the Son of the living God? He is the rock. If you know Him, then you will be changed from a piece of clay into a stone. He is a huge rock, and we are small stones. You and I, as small stones transformed from clay, are the materials for Christ to build the church upon Himself as the large rock. Therefore, we must see how the church is produced. The church is produced through knowing Christ. The more we know Christ, the more the church is produced. Furthermore, when the church is produced, the testimony of the church is also produced. Therefore, the testimony of the church is also produced by knowing Christ.