What is the relation of Christ to the church? First of all, He is the architect and builder of the church: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). God had already warned Solomon through
his father David: “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:...” (Psalms 127:1). Just as Solomon was warned to build the temple by the exact pattern of God, so was the church to be built by explicit pattern. In the case of building the church, God entrusted no man. The Son of God was to build it. How sad that so many men have built religious organizations that they call the “church.” Some still wear the names of the men who built them. Some wear the name
of the “method” used. Some want to give credit for building the church to John the Baptist. But, alas, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain...” You would think that men could see the folly of trying to build another “church” than the one found in Matthew 16:18. Jesus is the only builder.
Christ is the foundation of the church, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). In this case the term “foundation” carries with it the understanding of “founder.” Christ is the Founder of the church. One large religious body would have men to believe that the church was founded upon Peter. Who in his right mind would
believe that the church could be founded upon old, fallible, impetuous Peter? The Lord is the cornerstone of the church, “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). Jesus is the first stone in the foundation. Peter was just another stone among the apostles and prophets. All of the foundation
and building is trued, leveled, squared, and plumbed from the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the head of the church. The church is referred to as a body. Paul uses the physical body as an illustration for the unison of church members, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. {13} For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. {14} For the body is not one member, but many” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). A living body must have a head. A body has only one head. else it is a freak. The scriptures tell us Who is the head of the church, “And he is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence”
(Colossians 1:18). Christ is not only the head of the church, but He is the Savior of the body, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). Isn’t it ridiculous that millions believe a man in Rome, Italy is head of the church. Christ is the only head. Second, what is the church called? It is called the “church of Christ,” “Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you” (Romans 16:16). Now,
isn’t that about as natural as one could expect? Christ paid for the church with His own blood, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The church was bought with the same blood shed to sanctify His people, “Wherefore Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12). No wonder He wanted to call the church by His own name. The church never was a make-due, second-
thought establishment. The church is a vital part of God’s plan from the beginning, “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,....{9}And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,
who created all things by Jesus Christ: {10} To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:4,9-10). It was to reveal the mysteries of God. And, it was planned “from the beginning of the world.”
—John D. Cotham
Shady Valley, TN