Our Identity in Christ [Part of the Church]…

February 6, 2007 | 5:29 PM

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. (Matthew 16:18, ESV)

“Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:32-33, ESV)

“But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:3, NIV)

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28, ESV)

Jesus instituted the Church when he spoke the words we find in Matthew 16:18 to the Apostle Peter. Earlier I referred to us as the People of God, people under a new covenant as followers of Jesus. When Jesus refers to the Church, he is referring to these People of God, the people who have chosen to follow The Way. The Church isn’t a building where everybody meets. It’s the people. (Come on, you know you’ve heard that a million times.) I want you to reflect on that some. People, not buildings. People who are not nearly as specific to one Earthly nation as they are to the Kingdom of God.

In Acts 8, Saul (who would become a believer and change his name to Paul and write a lot of what we have in the New Testament) is persecuting the believers. The passage says that he went house to house, pulled people from the safety of their homes, and put them in prison. Chances are that if you’re reading this, you’re in North America. But the Church in many parts of the world is very different. According to Paul Hattaway in his book Back to Jerusalem, the seminaries in China teach their believers how to escape from handcuffs and jump from one or two story buildings without breaking any bones. The Church- that is the People of God all over the world- is persecuted just as Saul persecuted us 2000 years ago. They are just like us, only in dangerous places. We should be praying for them daily. In fact, in the same book, Brother Yun, a Chinese house church leader, has an incredible quote. He says, “Don’t pray for the persecution to stop! We shouldn’t pray for a lighter load to carry, but a stronger back to endure! Then the world will see that God is with us, empowering us to live in a way that reflects his love and power.” What an incredible prayer! Oh that we would have the courage that our brothers and sisters have!

What I wanted to stress in this post is that as a part of the Church, we have a responsibility to each other. We are One- one Church, one Nation, one Family, and as I’ll discuss next, one Body.

“God, give us the city and the nations, and do it in such a way that only You get the credit for it.” -the prayer of Edgewater

Previous: The People of God | Next: Members of the Body