Jesus and His Church

The Menorah is another furniture which the Lord had instructed Moses in Exodus 25:31, to have it constructed for the Tabernacle. The Menorah is a picture of our Lord Jesus and His Churches. It was made with one solid piece of gold, beaten and shaped into a lampstand.

It has a main lamp on the middle stem, and the other lamps branch out from the middle. The flame on the main lamp burns upright at the center, whereas the flame of the lamps on the branches burn in such a way that they are facing the center lamp. These lamps use olive oil as fuel. Every evening, the high priest of Israel, would make sure that the lamps on the branches are pointing towards the center lamp by arranging the wicks, and he would also see to that the lamps have enough oil. If there is a lamp, whose wick is being burned out, the high priest would raise it up and cut off the portions of the wick which has been burnt out, so that it does not emit smoke while burning.

Prophet Samuel, when he was a little boy, was in charge of seeing to that the flames in the menorah are always burning.

The Menorah is designed in such a way, that the branches come from the sides of the main middle lamp. This is because, when God created Eve in Genesis 2:21, He pulled out a rib from Adam's side, and created her. Similarly, the Church, known as the "Bride of Christ", comes forth from the side of the second Adam, who is Jesus Christ Himself. The middle lamp represents Jesus, and the lamps on the branches represent the Church. The posture of every church should be, such that, their ministry points to Jesus and not to themselves. Our High Priest today is none other than our Lord Jesus, who makes sure that the light of every church continues to burn, as He will keep lifting them up, keeping them from getting burnt out. The oil is symbolic of Holy Spirit. Today, believers are sealed with Holy Spirit, which keeps the flame of a church always burning, showing that the church is not a building, but it’s the people who make the body of Christ. The Bible says:

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" - Ephesians 1:13

Jesus warns the churches in the book of Revelation, where the ministry, instead of pointing to Jesus, points to themselves, by glorifying themselves, and not giving the glory to the Lord. To such churches Jesus warns that He will deal with the shepherds leading the church severely. This does not mean that He will remove the eternal life of the people belonging to such churches. Jesus places the responsibility of the church on the shepherds leading the church, and not on the people attending the church.

One should not boast or put their faith in the size of their church, but rather keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, as He is the one who is responsible to bring people into the church. The Bible says:

"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" - Acts 2:47

The responsibility of a church is to proclaim God's Word, and point people, who are lost, to Jesus, by giving them "The Gospel of Christ" as stated in the Bible:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The Word of the Lord in a church must be the source for all doctrines, reproof (to correct wrong conduct or behavior), and correction of wrong doctrines. The Letter of Apostle Paul to the Romans is an example which contains several Christ centered doctrines. The church at Corinth consisted of several carnal Christians, whom Paul, using God's Word, corrected their wrong behavior and conduct. The Galatians were Christians who went back to the law (Ten Commandments) by saying that salvation is by works, and started rejecting the Gospel of Grace, thereby started to believe in wrong doctrines, which Paul later corrects them. Apostle Paul explains in his letter to Timothy by saying:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" - 2 Timothy 3:16

Any Church, built with the Word of the Lord as its foundation, is built upon a rock. The Lord Himself sustains such churches. This is why our Lord Jesus said to Apostle Peter, who had a revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, explaining:

"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (petra) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" - Matthew 16:17-18

Peter in Greek, in the context of the above verse is the word "Petros" which is a masculine word for "rock". The word which our Lord Jesus used for "rock" in the above verse is "petra", which is a feminine word, which has the same root word used in the following verses describing Christ:

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock (petran - root word petra): And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock (petran - root word petra)" - Matthew 7:24-25

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock (petra) that followed them: and that Rock (petra) was Christ" - 1 Corinthians 10:4

Notice, in 1 Corinthians 10:4, when Apostle Paul was preaching this to describe our Lord Jesus, he did not use the word "Petros" but instead, he used the word "petra". This is because "Petros" and "petra" is not the same rock. Petros is a small rock or stone, whereas petra is a large rock or boulder. The reason our Lord used a feminine word "petra" with reference to the church is because, the church in the Bible is known as the "Bride of Christ". The Bible says:

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." - Ephesians 5:25-27

When we are constantly reading and meditating on the Word of the Lord, or listening to sermons that are Jesus centered, we are constantly being washed and cleansed. The more we sit under anointed teaching, the more we are cleansed by the washing of the Word. Now some people might say that Jesus wouldn't have spoken in Greek to Peter, but He would have spoken in Aramic, and Peter's name in Aramaic is "Cephas". Even if we examine Matthew 16:17-18 in Aramaic, "Cephas" still means small stone or small rock, and the word for rock in Aramaic is "sela" which means large boulder. This word is used in Numbers 20:11. So whether we see it in Greek or Aramaic, Jesus Christ is still the Rock. The reason the New Testament was originally written in Greek was to make it precise and accurate when it comes to context. The Word of the Lord is not something vague, but it is very precise and accurate. Our Lord Jesus is described as the Word in the Gospel of John:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" - John 1:1

The church had always been God's plan for the world, which was hidden throughout the Old Testament, but is now revealed to the world in the New Testament.