DOES GOD REALLY NEED A NATIONAL CATHEDRAL? (PART 2)

 “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.” Mathew 16:18(KJV)

Let continue from were we ended from our last post. As Christian I want us to look at the importance of building a “National Cathedral” or whether building an edifice for God is part of God’s major headache from the scriptures. But before embarking on this journey let’s look at what really is the meaning of the word “Cathedral”. From the dictionary definition the word cathedral means the bishop’s church: a church that contains a bishop’s throne and is the most important church in the bishop’s diocese. The second meaning of a cathedral is a large important church. From these definitions it is obvious that the word “church” is a key word in unlocking the meaning of cathedral, so let’s then look at the word church. 

1.       WHAT IS A CHURCH? - Church according to the dictionary also means (1) a building for public worship, especially in the Christian religion and it could also mean (2) all followers of a religion, especially the Christian religion. But the truth is, both definition is the world’s definition of Church, so understand the meaning of the word church God’s perspective, it is important we take a look at the scriptural idea of church so that we can put our journey into perspective. Jesus Christ said in Mathew 16:18(KJV) “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.” 

      This was the first time the word church was mentioned in the bible and it was mentioned by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The word church from its original source, the bibles literally means “those called out,” and often means an assembly or congregation, it has nothing to do with brick and mortar (building), so the dictionary definition of the word “Church” is corrupted, It does not paint the true picture of what the church is, so it is a wrong premise to use for our argument. The bible emphasizes this meaning in Act 7:38(KJV) “This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us” 

    One of the foremost idea of called out people who were separated unto God are the children of Israelite's; they were called out of Egypt and placed under the conduct of Moses the servant of the most high God. The truth about the people called out of Egypt, a prototype of the church is simply – that is never carried any building (Cathedral) out of Egypt, but rather left with the presence of God; which went before them as a pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day. A checked from an authentic source confirms that “Ecclesia” the Greek word for church, originally meant an assembly called out by the magistrate, or by legitimate authority. 

     It was, in this last sense, that the word was adapted and applied by the writers of the New Testament to the Christian congregation. According to the little that I know, the day of Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian church; however, before this birth, they had been individual followers of Jesus some of which became part of the first Christian church that started in Jerusalem. The church of God is beyond a building or organization; it as living and mystical body of Christ, animated by his Spirit; the church is God’s weapon to perpetuate God’s heavenly agenda on earth. It has nothing to do with brick and mortar as some want us to believe. 

i     I want us bring this edition series to a close at this juncture, we will continue next week