- 31. The Lord Founded the Church
Isaiah 14:32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
Zion is the presence of God on the earth. In New Testament times the presence of God resides among the people who believe in Jesus. It is the Lord who founded the Church on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets (the Word of God) with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone. That God founded the Church of believers is a comfort and strength for us: we know where to find God, we seek the Lord among fellow believers in order to hear the Gospel of forgiveness and life. The Church is God’s creation, His building, and His place.
The Lord founded the church of all believers so that we could know what to trust in. God promises all people that there is a place we can go to in order to find something sure and solid to believe in. We hear the Gospel and we enter into the safe place where we can find comfort and hope to trust in something certain, God. We do not seek the Lord in the world or in the stars or in his beautiful creation, but we seek and find Him where He told us to: He promises to be in the place He founded; He will be in the midst of those who gather in His name.
Where the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments administered according to it there God founds Zion. There we come into the presence of God on the earth, and heaven comes to our earth. The Kingdom of God comes when our Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time. We need something to believe in, and God promises it.