We Are The Church
REV. DAVID WALKUP Moderator
A
n old friend of ours once said of the old Gospel Hymn, “Vic- tory In Jesus”, that she grew
up thinking the chorus said “…He socked me and bopped me, with His redeeming blood”. We chuckle knowing, of course, what the cho- rus actually says, “He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood.” As a Christian, there certain- ly are times when it feels like I have been socked and/or bopped. Never- theless, that old hymn conveys an en- during truth. By and through Jesus Christ, we have been bought, or pur- chased. Paul, writing to the Church of Corinth, says, “You are not your own, for you have been bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (I Corinthians 6:19b-20). Paul repeats the same theme in I Corinthians 7:23. As we continue in our theme
from Acts 20, “The Whole Council of God”. In verse 28, we are told, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood”. The theme of God’s people being bought or pur- chased is emphasized in Paul’s use of the word “obtained”.
Dollars, Pounds, or Euros So how, or with what, have we been bought/obtained? During our
Acts 20:27 “The Whole Counsel of God” 4 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
trip overseas last fall, we used several different types of currency. Depending on the country, we used dollars, pounds, or euros. One of the frustrating things, however, was that the value of each of these currencies changed daily. Some- times they changed on the same day as we moved from one country to another. Paul tells us that our salvation has been obtained “…with his (Christ’s) own blood”. Blood is a familiar theme throughout scripture: from Old Testament Supper to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Andrew Carter writes: “…unlike money, the blood of Christ has purchasing power that is not affected depending on where you are in the world.”
complete, nothing else is owed, the purchase price has been “Paid In Full”.
Every Nation, Tribe, People, and Language What, or Whom, did Jesus purchase? Another familiar theme that appears
throughout the scriptures is that of God choosing for himself a particular peo- who created you O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have forward to the last book of the Bible. From John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ, we secured, purchased, obtained for Himself a Church. “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)
We Are The Church
Who are we? Peter tells us, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9). We are The Church, “…which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). -
Moderator’s Challenge
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