the church

Mark A. Noll in Turning Points:

Among the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples were statements recorded in Matthew, chapter 28, and Acts, chapter 1. These words, though they are important for many other reasons, also outline a framework for the history of Christianity.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Nothing could now happen to the followers of Christ that lay outside the reach of his sovereignty; no experiences that the church underwent, no matter how glorious or how mundane, were irrelevant to the living Word of God.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” The history of Christianity would always involve at least two related actions: a movement outward to reach places where Christ’s name was hitherto not known and a movement inward to train hearts in learning more of Christ.

“[S]urely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” However the church might wander, whatever the sins committed by Christians as individuals and as a body, the people of God would be sustained, not by their own wisdom, but by the presence of Christ.

“[Y]ou will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.” The Christian faith would take root in particular cultures, and it would profoundly shape individual peoples, regions, and nations. But Christianity itself would belong to none of them. Rather, the church would exist to bear witness to God’s love revealed in Christ and to bear that witness throughout the whole world.