Now comes the expecta on of the Rock upon those who have accepted him as true, real and firm. Wri en by Ramesh Richard, Ph.D, Th.D (/en/authors/ramesh-richard-ph-d-th-d) on 08/06/2021 Series: Weekly Devo onal (/en/devo onals) Tags: Evangelism (/en/tags/evangelism), Hope (/en/tags/hope), Jesus (/en/tags/jesus), Salva on (/en/tags/salva on), Selfism (/en/tags/selfism) 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. — Ma hew 16:18 The market for counterfeit products is so strong worldwide that an en re industry has grown up around it.

The most dangerous counterfeits are found in the pharmaceu cal industry. Sadly, the fake-drug industry takes advantage of global need and misrepresents the origin, authen city, and effec veness of the drug. All counterfeit drugs are “inherently unsafe.” Medica on that was defec ve from the start is sold a er false labeling. Ac ve ingredient(s) are adulterated or diluted, subs tuted or misrepresented.

These treatments are dangerous, even deadly. In this final ar cle on the powerful exchangen between the Lord Jesus and disciple Peter, I encourage you to overcome selfism—selfishness that wants to keep hope and health. Join me in transcending an ego sm that inhibits the sharing of the Savior’s iden ty to those depending on imita on medicine. God has prescribed only One as the remedy for sin, death and hell. We have to expose counterfeit salva ons, yes, but go to expressing the One, Only, and Original Savior as deep and wide as possible. The Rock stands against rela vism as real. We can’t ignore him. Pluralism is a fake drug, for the Rock is truth. One can’t deny him. Last me, you read that the Rock stands hard against inclusivism. Everyone must affirm him to be saved. Now comes the Rock’s expecta on upon those who have accepted him as true, real and firm.

You! He is the divinely safe prescrip on for the problems of the human race. We must share it. The Rock is Safe A er Jesus declared the divine source of Peter’s powerful confession about his iden ty, the Rock is introduced. This revela on of Jesus as true, real, and firm, must be offered by those who accept him to those who don’t yet know of him. Peter had said, “You are the Christ.” Now Jesus returns a similarly constructed phrase:

“…you are Peter.” Earlier (John 1:42 (h ps://biblia.com/bible/esv/John%201.42), Simon was surnamed Cephas — rock in Aramaic, the language which Jesus spoke the most; Petros (Peter) is rock in Greek, the language in which the conversa on was wri en. In Jewish culture, a name is not arbitrary. It is filled with character. For the first me someone had confessed Jesus as the Christ publicly and correctly! If Peter is the Rock upon which Jesus builds His Church, he is directly
called Satan five verses later! Soon Peter will also deny Jesus. The word Peter is in masculine form, and Jesus uses the feminine form of the word for Rock. So it can’t refer to Jesus either. Jesus makes a “pun”, but not a simple pun. “Upon this rock” refers to what has preceded, the revela on from heaven, the confession of truth which becomes the Rock on which He will build His church.

Here’s Jesus’ personal, new and future program. He will build his Church, not anyone else’s Church. The truth confessed about Jesus is the Rock on which He builds His Church. And the gates of Hades will not overpower his program. Two thousand years later, His claim of authority and power con nues his deep, long and wide strategic program called the Church. We must share it! Commission A er Jesus’ death and resurrec on, Peter actually began sharing God’s recogni on of Jesus as the Messiah as the means to forgiveness of sins. Beyond personal convic on and confession, he obeyed his final  commission, which ends the book where this conversa on is found.

We, too, now have a role in promo ng the confession of this unique, exclusive, necessary and sufficient Christ, as Savior. This selfless sharing of the firm truth and reality about Jesus could mean sacrifice. It may require
going beyond familiari es of race, color, language, poli cs, and na on. There is no other means of protec ng people from trus ng in fatal counterfeit “salva ons.” We must point them to genuine original salva on from the God of Heaven. The Rock theme in the Bible carries a wide range of ideas in the Bible: the strong and stumbling founda on on and around which buildings are built and as rock of refuge for safety.

If the immovable rock provides the only safety and strength for anyone to build on him, it becomes a moral issue if we keep the news to ourselves. Biblically speaking, selfism is the worst of all convic ons about Jesus. We must share him. The rock of all ages is also the rock of all peoples. Jesus is the Rock. Let’s get the word out! Pray this week: Lord Jesus, you have made genuine salva on available to the human race. Please help me overcome selfishness to make you, the rock of safety available to as many as possible. Use me to turn the availability of salva on to accessibility by people Amen.

Since Jesus is the rock of safety for all who put their trust in him and a rock of stumbling to others, how should we live?