So Privileged yet so Underrated
Dearly beloved of God, when reading God's Word, the Bible, people too often take for granted that God committed Himself to be God to certain people at various times.
God is not a God to every person as we often hear. He is God to those to Whom He commits Himself to be the God of.
That God would commit Himself to be their God is an extraordinary privilege that should not be overlooked.
Genesis 17: 7, 8
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
God decided to commit Himself to Abraham to be a God unto him and to his seed.
In this bilateral agreement, a covenant between God and Abraham, God said that He would be a God unto him, and to his seed He would “be their God.”
Later, the children of Israel went into captivity in Egypt.
Leviticus 11:45
For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
God brought Israel out of their captivity in Egypt. How did God deliver them? He delivered them by one miraculous event after another from the plagues in Egypt, to the Passover, to their crossing through the sea while an angel held off the Egyptian army.
All these amazing events occurred according to the Word God that He spoke.
God was indeed the LORD that brought them out of the land of Egypt. He brought them out "to be their God." God made the commitment to be their God.
Numbers 15:41
I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.
God committed Himself to Israel, not only to bring them out of Egypt, but to be their God. He repeats this truth three times in this one verse. This was a privileged relationship that should not be underestimated.
Israel crossed the Jordan at flood stage, the walls of Jericho came down before them, and they conquered the inhabitants of the promised land at their God's direction and by His mighty power.
In the Administration of the Grace of God, the Administration of the Mystery, God has committed Himself to a different group of people.
II Corinthians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
Whose church is it? It is “the church of God.” The people called out from both the Jews and the Gentiles that believed regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, are now “the church of God.”
Ephesians 4:6
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
God says that He is one God, and not only one God, but the Father. He says that in this administration, He is in all in the Church.
The truth that God is our Father is repeated in Romans 1:7; I Corinthians 1:3; II Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1: 2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2.
This is not some fanciful, ethereal relationship that came out of the mind of man; it is a spiritual reality because of God’s commitment to the Church.
God committed Himself to the Church and designated Himself to be "God our Father."
God is “God our Father,” and we are His children, born again of the spirit from God.
God has not committed Himself to be God to every human being, but He is God our Father to those of the Church of God."
The Church is the body of Christ, and God gave Christ to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all [Ephesians 1:22, 23].
God is now our God. He is God our Father. God made this commitment; we did not bend His arm and convince Him to make this commitment to us. It was His idea. The church is “the church of God.”
Ephesians 1:2 and 3
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Remember what God did for Israel when they were in captivity; He has done no less for us in Christ.
No one at any other time has been blessed by God with “all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.”
It is all in every member. The church of God has “all” in all the members of the body of Christ.
All in the church of God have been reconciled to God, redeemed, saved, and forgiven.
All are God’s workmanship created in Christ, created a new man, made complete in Christ.
All in the church of God have been delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, made more than a conqueror, and sealed with the holy spirit for an inheritance.
All have been promised eternal life when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Those in Christ are “the Church of God.” God is now “God our Father” and we are His privileged children who are born again of the spirit from Him. We have spirit life, eternal life.
Through Christ all in the church of God have “access by one spirit unto the Father.”
In Christ we are built together for God’s dwelling place by the spirit, we are His habitation.
The One True and Living God is now “God our Father.” He is with us, and He is for us.
We are “the church of God.” Do not ever underestimate how privileged we are. God committed Himself to be our God. We are His, and He is ours.
Beloved of God, go forth today having confidence in God your Father. He will never leave you, nor ever forsake you.
We are His beloved and highly favored children.