Christ’s Vision for the Church (3)
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light… 1 Peter 2.9
A holy nation
From His throne at the Father’s right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ is building His Church, working by His Word and Spirit to bring together and beautify a Body of people characterized by ministry, unity, and maturity (Eph. 4.11, 12).
The Church, and every local church, is, in the first place, a people who belong to Christ and whom He has redeemed and adopted in order to seek and advance His rule on earth as it is in heaven. We are the temple and dwelling-place of the Lord, the sign of the Kingdom’s having come and the staging-ground and outpost from which He is advancing His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Not only are we to think of ourselves as a glorious and holy temple, the dwelling-place of the Lord; we are also to consider that, in Christ’s vision for the Church, we are a holy nation, the Lord’s nation. When we think about what our churches are to become, the metaphor of a nation must factor into our planning and ministries.
Our purpose is to become what the Lord declares us to be: a holy people, raised up by the Lord for the mission of proclaiming His praises to the world. As participants in a holy nation, local churches should think of themselves—what they would become, and how they should build—in terms of three important components.
Three components
First, as parts of a holy nation, local churches require courageous and effective leaders.
Church leaders are called to be shepherds (Jer. 23.1-4; Eph. 4.11, 12; 1 Pet. 5.1-3), whose primary responsibility is to prepare the people of God for works of ministry. Not some of the people, all. In the holy nation of Christ, the citizens are on active duty; all are called to the Kingdom and glory of the Lord (1 Thess. 2.12), and all must be equipped by their leaders to serve in proclaiming, by word and deed, the excellencies of the Lord.
Second, a holy nation also requires a holy law, even the Law of God (Rom. 3.31; 7.12). The citizens of Christ’s nation must be instructed in the ways of righteousness so that they may consider how to stimulate and encourage one another to walk the path of good works that Jesus walked according to the Law of God (Heb. 10.24; 1 Jn. 2.1-16). This is the path of Kingdom greatness (Matt. 5.17-19).
If we are building our churches without constant recourse to the Law of God, we are not following the design and plan of the Chief Architect Himself, and we cannot expect to know the kind of Kingdom greatness Christ holds out to us.
Further, like any nation, the holy nation which is the Church of our Lord Jesus possesses a sacred lore, by which it traces its history, declares its identity, and preserves its future.
The vast cultural heritage of the Christian church—in art, literature, education, theology, heroes, charitable works, and good works of every kind—is ours to treasure, emulate, adopt and adapt, and pass on so that the Lord’s nation might continue beyond our day (Ps. 78.1-8). This heritage is rooted in Scripture and provides a variegated record of the faithfulness of God’s people in generations past. And it is our heritage to delight in and learn from, as well as to contribute to and pass on to the generations yet to come.
Finally, as a holy nation we operate on a holy economy where grace, not money, is the currency, and building others up in love, not competing for every possible advantage, is the modus operandi.
Building a nation
As we build our churches, therefore, we must embrace this notion of a holy people unto the Lord, with leaders, a Law, a sacred lore, and an infinite supply of grace by which we may establish our unique identity and mission among the peoples of the earth.
We are the temple of the Lord, and must devote ourselves to increasing in holiness and worshiping the Lord in Spirit and in truth. But we are a nation, a nation within and among the nations of the world, and we have more in common with Christians from all around the world than with our non-Christian fellow-citizens of the national entity we call our home.
Christ’s vision for the Church is that we should be a world-spanning nation of holy people, united in Him to declare His praises and embody His beauty, goodness, and truth. We are not building the Church as Jesus intends unless this vision of being part of the Lord’s nation looms large in our thinking, planning, and work.
For reflection or discussion
1. The Church is a nation within and among nations. How does your church express that reality? And in your experience as a citizen of the Lord’s nation?
2. Meditate on Romans 3.31 and 7.12, Matthew 5.17-19, and 1 John 2.1-6. How would you describe the place of the Law of God in your church?
3. In what ways does your church draw on the “national lore” of the Church for its mission? Can you give some examples?
Next steps: How visible as the “nation” of the Lord in your community are the churches? Seek the Lord in prayer to show how, in your Personal Mission Field, you can better represent His nation.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Men, check out our Spring Men’s Reading Groups. Great reads, sound learning, warm fellowship.
This week: Our Read Moore podcast begins an extensive look at the Kingdom of God in our book, The Kingdom Turn. In our Crosfigell teaching letter, we are looking at the state of pastors and churches during the period of the Celtic Revival, using contemporary witnesses. And in our Scriptorium column we are studying the sermon on the mount. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
