Was Christ building his church on September 11? The reason this
question rises is the absolute, universal authority behind Jesus'
promise in Matthew 16:18, "I will build my church." Who said this?
The one who spoke and fevers departed (Luke 4:39), trees withered
(Mark 11:21), demons obeyed (Mark 1:27), Satan was plundered (Mark
3:27), wind ceased (Mark 4:41), the dead were raised (Luke 7:14;
John 11:43), thousands ate from five loaves and two fish (Matthew
14:19-21), and water became wine (Matthew 14:26) or a walkway for
his feet (Matthew 4:46).

This power over heaven and earth and hell is explicitly related
to Christ's missionary commitment to build his church. "I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"
(Matthew 16:18). "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations"
(Matthew 28:18-19). In other words, Jesus is firmly committed to
use his power over heaven and earth and hell to make disciples. No
event in the universe which Christ produces or permits is outside
his purpose to build his church.

But it doesn't look that way. His ways are not our ways. He
seldom moves in a straight line from A to B. The way up is almost
always down. The convoluted path of God in redemptive history
brings Paul to these words, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom
and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how
inscrutable his ways!" (Romans 11:33).

For example, was Christ triumphantly building his church when he
was killed by his enemies and buried for three days? Jesus answers:
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John
2:19). "I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep
that are not of this fold. . . . No one takes it from me . . . I
have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up
again" (John 10:15-16, 18). In other words, what looked like
failure and tragedy was total authority - plus the purchase of
"other sheep." By the worst sin that has ever been committed - the
murder of the Son of God - Jesus was triumphantly building his
church.

Was Christ building his church when the apostle Paul was
imprisoned in Rome? Paul answers: "What has happened to me has
really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known
throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my
imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become
confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear" (Philippians 1:12-14). I am "bound
with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!" (2
Timothy 2:8). In other words, what looked like defeat was Christ's
strange design for victory.

Was Christ building his church in China when the Communists
triumphed in 1949, ending 150 years of Protestant missionary
presence? "The growth of the Church in China [since then] has no
parallels in history. . . . Mao Zedong unwittingly became the
greatest evangelist in history. . . . [He] sought to destroy all
religious 'superstition' but in the process cleared spiritual
roadblocks for the advancement of Christianity. Deng [Xiaoping]
reversed the horrors inflicted by Mao and in freeing up the
economy, gave more freedom to the Christians. . . . [Today] the
Church of the Lord Jesus is larger than the Communist Party of
China" (Patrick Johnstone, Operation World).

So then, was this all-ruling Christ building his church on
September 11? I answer with questions that are not merely
hypothetical. What if Christ saw the planes heading for the
destruction of thousands and the upheaval of nations? What if, at
the same time, he saw 200 million Hindu untouchables in India, the
Dalits? What if he saw that his centuries-long work of dislodging
them from Hindu bondage was about to come to consummation in our
day and they were contemplating embracing Islam or possibly
Christianity or Buddhism? And what if he foresaw that this
Islam-related terror against civilians in New York would have the
mass effect of tilting millions of Dalits away from Islam toward
Christ? What if he withheld his power from stopping the terrorists
because (along with 10,000 other hope-filled effects) he had a view
to the everlasting life of millions of untouchables in India? And
if not this, perhaps my grandchildren will tell a better story of
sovereign grace.

Joining Jesus with you on the Calvary road,

Pastor John