Foreshadowing of the Cross
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Centuries before the Saviour’s advent Moses had pointed to the
Rock of Israel’s salvation. The psalmist had sung of “the Rock of my
strength.” Isaiah had written, “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay
in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a
sure foundation.”
Deuteronomy 32:4
;
Psalm 62:7
;
Isaiah 28:16
. Peter
himself, writing by inspiration, applies this prophecy to Jesus. He
says, “If ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious: unto whom coming,
a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious,
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house.”
1 Peter 2:3-5
,
R. V.
“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:11
. “Upon this rock,” said Jesus, “I will build
My church.” In the presence of God, and all the heavenly intelligences,
in the presence of the unseen army of hell, Christ founded His church
upon the living Rock. That Rock is Himself,—His own body, for us
broken and bruised. Against the church built upon this foundation, the
gates of hell shall not prevail.
How feeble the church appeared when Christ spoke these words!
There was only a handful of believers, against whom all the power of
demons and evil men would be directed; yet the followers of Christ
were not to fear. Built upon the Rock of their strength, they could not
be overthrown.
For six thousand years, faith has builded upon Christ. For six
thousand years the floods and tempests of satanic wrath have beaten
upon the Rock of our salvation; but it stands unmoved.
Peter had expressed the truth which is the foundation of the
church’s faith, and Jesus now honored him as the representative of the
whole body of believers. He said, “I will give unto thee the keys of
the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven.”
“The keys of the kingdom of heaven” are the words of Christ. All
the words of Holy Scripture are His, and are here included. These
words have power to open and to shut heaven. They declare the
conditions upon which men are received or rejected. Thus the work
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of those who preach God’s word is a savor of life unto life or of death
unto death. Theirs is a mission weighted with eternal results.