"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18
Even though it seemed the cross brought an end to Jesus… it was only the beginning! New life now sprung from the root of what was intended as an instrument of death.
God had planned this day and its events from eternity, knowing they needed to take place in order to reconcile us to both His perfect justice and His perfect love.
It started with Adam and Eve, the never-ending and constant rebellion against God and His righteousness, yet through it all He continued to show His love for His sinful, rebellious children. In fact, He loved us so much that “in the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4-7) He gave His life in-place of ours (John 3:16). Yes, we should have been on the cross to pay for our sins, but it was Jesus, God incarnate who freely offered Himself instead (John 15:13).
Jesus had made many promises during His three-year ministry on earth. One of which was to build His Church on the faith expressed by Peter when he stated, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Now, Jesus had been abandoned, denied, and rejected by those He loved, then brutally murdered on a Roman cross. This left Peter and the other disciples totally broken and in hiding, knowing that everything they had heard, though they understood and believed in, had just been crucified.
But three days later their whole world was again abruptly shaken to its very core when they encountered the risen Christ. Then, from the time of Christ’s death to the time of Pentecost, some 50 days later, Jesus’ disciples were transformed from fear and bewildering doubt to men of great courage and boldness, all through Jesus’ forgiveness (John 19:20-31) and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).
From twelve disciples (Judas being replace by Matthias (Acts 1:21-26)) over 3,000 souls were brought to faith in Christ after hearing Peter, in the power of the Holy Spirit, preach on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41). And that was only the beginning!
When Jesus began His ministry just over 2000 years ago, His Church had grown to approximately 2.5 billion people professing the Christian faith by 20191. What unbelievable growth! And, as Jesus told Peter, and tells us today, The gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church. Even through severe persecution, His Church grew and continues to grow. The powers of Rome couldn’t stop it, and even from then to today the determined evil efforts of countries like North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, China, Russia, plus numerous radical groups cannot and will not be able to stop the spread of the Living Word of God! (Matthew 16:18, Acts 5:34-39 Isaiah 43:13) In fact, in many countries where the Church is most persecuted it continues to grow, even though it may be driven underground.
So, the Church, the Body of Christ and you and I as a part of Christ’s body are included in the words Jesus told to Peter, we as the Church, even though we may undergo persecution will, by His grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit, endure (John 6:37,39). Praise God for His amazing grace!!
1 Source: www.learnreligions.com/christianity-statistics-700533