Peter

by WOODS, D. | Category: Builders For God | Apr 2008

Filled with the power of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached about God's wonderful developing purposes for mankind. A new era was being introduced by God: the new covenant that Christ had mentioned in the upper room the night before Calvary (Luke 22:20). Peter was now a key man to kick-start the movement, to take things forward and explain all that God intended people to know. Using the Old Testament Scriptures to great effect, Peter declared that something new was happening and that it was according to God's will already stated through His prophets hundreds of years before!

Simon or Peter?

Simon had first met the Lord Jesus over three years earlier, and some of the first words he heard from the Son of God were, �"So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter)� (John 1:42). The Lord looked at this fisherman knowing that he, one day, would be a builder of the house of God. Simon would change, in time, to become that 'rock' of strength that the Lord would require as the new spiritual house of God on earth would take shape.

It's interesting to note that one of the rare times when we read of the Lord calling Simon 'Peter' is when Simon declared: �"You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God"� (see Mat. 16:13-18). The people who interacted with Jesus weren't sure who He really was. But Simon had the faith to believe that the man he had given up his nets and his boat to follow was the Messiah. His personal experience of the Lord had confirmed this to him.

�"You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,"� was Jesus' response to Simon's statement. The name that He had indicated Simon would come to be known by returns, as if the Lord was indicating that Simon was maturing in God's things. The 'Church' that the Lord referred to was the church, which is his body (Eph. 1:22-23), which would start to be built on the Day of Pentecost and would comprise all believers in Him, built upon the foundation of faith that Peter had just confirmed. This is a great truth for all Christians to lay hold of: we are brought in, at the time of faith in Christ, to a Church of which the Lord could declare �the gates of hell shall not prevail against it�. Again and again, the Scriptures teach us that no one can be lost from the Church the Body of Christ; it is eternal. Our salvation is forever secure. Praise God!

The Lord had yet more for Simon to understand and deeper things for him to lay hold of by faith. Simon would eventually develop a greater appreciation of God's purposes for a worshipping people on earth. Accordingly, on occasions, despite giving him a new name, Jesus reverts to calling him Simon (e.g. in John 21)!

Peter fulfilled!

Before He went to Calvary, Christ promised that the Holy Spirit, �the Spirit of Truth�, would come and teach the disciples all things, helping them to remember what He had taught them and leading them into all the truth (see John 14:26;16:13). On the Day of Pentecost this promise was fulfilled, and with the sound of a rushing wind and in the visible form of tongues of fire on the heads of the group of 120, God the Spirit came to indwell those first Christians. 1 Corinthians 6:19 affirms this great truth: �your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.� God continues to live with mankind on earth, indwelling believers spiritually, confirming that they are children of God (Rom. 8:16) and seeking to lead them into the truth.

Peter shows his character on the Day of Pentecost. Would it be going too far to suggest that Simon is finally becoming Peter at last? In Acts, whenever Simon's name is used, it is always qualified by, �who is also called Peter�. His preaching leads about 3,000 people to saving faith in Christ; they were also taught the new way of God which prompted them to be baptised and added to the group of 120, forming the first Church of God in Jerusalem (see Acts 2:41-42). This group was distinctive: they had placed their faith in Christ as Saviour, they had obeyed the Lord's command to be baptised and they had been added to join with others who followed the same teaching. It's important to note that it was the Lord who added them (Acts 2:47). This was of God.

Peter explains God's new house

Peter, and the other apostles, now had a real understanding of what the Lord had taught during the 40 days He had spent with them after His resurrection (Acts 1:3). He had spoken to them about the Kingdom of God, about God's desire for a precious people on earth who would submit to His authority, who would worship and serve Him. For these Jewish men it was a lot to take in; Israel had been designated God's people at Sinai, but because of their disobedience, God had now taken the Kingdom from them, fulfilling the words of the Lord recorded in Matthew 21:43. God's precious worshipping people would now be believing disciples joined together in Churches of God. This was God's Kingdom now.

Peter's first letter, written about 35 years after that Pentecost day, was an encouragement to the early Churches of God. He exhorted the saints to be strong, to be careful with the Truth and to be wary of those false teachers who were trying to destroy what was so special to God. 1 Peter 2:4-10 is a highlight in the Scriptures. Let's visit a portion of this important passage together:

�As you come to him, a living stone�you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ� (1 Pet. 2:4-5).

- Each individual believer is described as a living stone � a person saved by faith in Christ, who has passed from death to life.

- The Lord Jesus is also described as a living stone, but the later verses quoted from Isaiah 28 indicate that He is also the cornerstone, chosen and precious (1 Peter 2:6) and the head of the corner (v.7 margin). He's the stone in the new house of God to which all other living stones are aligned. We have a clear sense here of the need to be 'in line' with Christ, which would indicate the requirement of each individual to obey His commands, to own Him as Lord and accept His teaching as it's revealed to us in God's Word.

- Built up confirms that individuals are laid together, as stones would be in a building, to form a structure which is known as the spiritual house for God. This house is to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, giving God pleasure in their spiritual service of worship, accepted through Christ the Great Priest over the house of God (see Heb. 10:19-21).

Israel's history had been dominated by the physical house of God and the Aaronic priesthood. Peter's burden was for his fellow Jews to appreciate that the restrictions of the physical Old Covenant had been superseded by the freedom of the spiritual New Covenant. But Peter would soon be taught that God's New Covenant privileges were not the preserve of His Old Covenant people. Peter was led by God to the Gentiles who, after hearing the good news, received salvation and were indwelt by the Holy Spirit to prove it! Soon Churches of God were growing and developing in countries all around the Middle East and Asia as other apostles travelled with the message fulfilling the Lord's command of Matthew 28:18-20.

Are you a builder for God?

If we can view Peter's maturing process in these terms, might it be fair to ask: are you a Simon or a Peter? Peter became a great builder for God. He was God's key man at a time when people needed to understand the new spiritual movement. It took him time to become what God would have him be. Maybe God is working the same way with you? As we have watched Simon maturing I pray that we will all be like him, maturing in the things of God and fully appreciating the wonder of God's spiritual house. It's not enough to appreciate it; we must be part of it! It's what God desires for every believer.

Bible quotations from ESV.

For further study:

1. What two distinct revelations did Peter receive (Mat. 16:18; Acts 1:3; 1 Pet. 2:4-10)?

2. What are some of the similarities and some of the differences between the Church the Body and the house of God?

3. Outline what is 'the pillar and ground of the truth' (1 Tim. 3:15).

WOODS, D. | Apr 2008
Builders For God