“Pictures of the Church: Christ’s Treasured Possession”

Rev. Mark James

Many in the church in America have a very low view of the church because they have no proper understanding of what the church is. In Ligonier Ministries’ 2022 State of Theology survey, 56% of adults surveyed strongly disagreed with the statement that “Every Christian has an obligation to join a local church.” Even amongst self-professed evangelicals, 26% surveyed believed there was no obligation for a Christian to join a local church. That is 1 in 4 self-professed evangelicals. I believe a recovery of a high view of the Church begins with understanding what the Church is according to Scripture. Scripture provides many wonderful pictures to describe the church. One of those pictures is a “treasured possession” (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 1 Peter 2:9). From these verses, we learn the nature, origin, and purpose of the Church as Christ’s treasured possession.

            First, let’s look at the nature of the treasured possession. Throughout the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New Testament, God calls a certain people “His treasured possession.” Exodus 19:5 proclaims, “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine.” There at Sinai, the very event that would constitute Israel’s identity, God says they are His treasured possession. A few books later, as the new generation of Israelites are on the verge of entering the Promised Land, God says in Deuteronomy 7:6, “The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” Verse 8 goes on to say that the Lord did this simply because He loved the Israelites and is keeping His covenant given to their father Abraham. Finally, over in 1 Peter 2:9 God tells the Church, “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.” From beginning to end, the people of God, whether the Church in the Old Testament or the Church in the New Testament, have belonged to God as His treasured possession. This phrase means that something is cherished and prized above other things. Think of a treasured memory that you have – the first time you saw your bride coming down the aisle in her wedding dress, the birth of your first child, your parents giving you your first car, going to your first concert. You may have many memories, but these are special memories that you value highly. That’s the idea of what Christ says to the Church in Scripture. Although He owns the entire universe, though He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, His prized possession is His Church. One commentator says that the church is “the crown jewel of God.” This is the nature of the treasured possession: Christ owns the Church as something special out of everything that He has created.

            Next, let’s consider the origin of the treasured possession. The origin of the Church as God’s treasured possession is God Himself. He was the one who chose Israel out of all the nations of the earth and set His special love upon them. So, it is with the Church. We do not love God first. No, we only love Him because He first loved us. The Church exists because God creates the Church through His electing love. Isaiah 43 says that we are a people whom God formed for Himself. If God had not chosen a people before the foundation of the world, there would be no Church. There would be no treasured possession. Calvin says that God “chose us, when He could find nothing in us but filth and vileness; He makes us His peculiar possession from worthless dregs.” Many people recoil at the doctrine of election, but here we can see how wonderful and comforting it is. Go back to that special gift or special memory that you cherish. Now imagine that gift was never given to you. Imagine that special memory never happened. In the place of something cherished, there would be nothing. You wouldn’t have that special gift or memory to cherish. So, it is with election. Imagine what your life would be like right now if the Lord had not saved you. I don’t know about you, but my life would be filled with a lot more anger, loneliness, and depression. I certainly wouldn’t be blessed with my believing wife or have my precious children.

When I view election through that lens, I become so grateful that the Lord saved me, not because of anything of worth in me, but simply because He loved me and chose me to be His. Just like you are grateful that your parents chose to give you a car or that your husband chose to ask you to marry him, so we are grateful to God for so great a salvation. Not only should this make us grateful, but it should also make us humble. We have no reason to boast because God chose us due to His infinite wisdom, mercy, grace, and pleasure. I have no reason to boast because I did not do anything to save myself and I did not do anything to contribute to my salvation. It is all of God and He is the one who made you and me His treasured possession. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen or bought one of those rock tumbling kits. You take these rocks that are dirty and rough and nothing special and you pour the rocks into this tumbling machine along with some grit and water and you let it run. After enough time has passed, the rocks have been smoothed and polished and come out looking really awesome. God takes you as a rough and dirty rock, nothing special to look at or write home about due to sin and He makes you His jewel by giving you the Holy Spirit and the faith to believe upon Jesus for salvation, but then He continues to tend to you as a jewel by polishing you to make His glory shine more brightly within you. Like the rough stones that come out smooth and polished, shiny and bright, so God saves us and conforms us more and more to the image of Christ and all His glory and the brightness of His righteousness.

            This brings us to the purpose of the treasured possession. We are made the treasured possession of Christ Jesus for the purpose of good works. The Church exists to obey the voice of the Lord. Look at Exodus 19 again. This passage connects being God’s treasured possession with obeying His voice which is also called “keeping my covenant.” In other words, the Church in the Old Testament was called to obey the law of God. Now lest we think that has somehow changed in the New Testament, listen to Titus 2:14, Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” As the treasured possession of God, we were saved not by good works but saved in order to do good works. In Malachi 3, Israel was engaged in all sorts of wickedness throughout the land: offering blemished sacrifices, not tithing, oppressing the fatherless and widow, committing adultery, not paying hired servants. At the end of the chapter, God calls those who were obeying His word His treasured possession. You see, it wasn’t simply enough to claim to be an Israelite, one had to follow in God’s ways thus demonstrating that he or she truly was an Israelite. So, it is with us in the New Testament time. It’s not simply enough to claim to be a Christian but live however you want. James talks about living faith versus dead faith. A dead faith which is not working is not faith at all but mere lip service. A living faith will produce good works in us.

It is by these good works that the Church is distinguished from the world and by these deeds the world sees them and will give glory to God. These good deeds include those things we think of as “big and important” like missions work and preaching the word as we see in 1 Peter 2:9 (“that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness”), but they also include things we do not typically associate with good works. Husbands, it’s a good work for you love your wife as Christ loved the church. That’s a good deed that can only flow from salvation. Wives, it’s a good work for you to submit to your husband as the Church submits to Christ. That’s a good deed that can only flow from salvation. Parents, it’s a good deed to raise your children in the Word of God both at home and at church. That’s a good deed that can only flow from salvation. So, in whatever you do in life, whether it’s your employment, your hobby, in parenting, in marriage, in deeds of mercy and in fellowship with others, those are good deeds that flow from salvation and display the shiny treasured possession that you are because of what Christ has done. It is by our conduct that we show that we are children of light and not darkness. It is by our conduct that we show forth the innumerable riches of God in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

            But let’s face it, we go through each week getting spiritually beaten and bruised. The world assaults us with lies and enticing sin or fills us with fear due to threatened persecutions. Satan fires arrows at us seeking to devour us. Our own remaining sinful flesh betrays us. These 3 things – Satan, the world, our sinful flesh – all seek to diminish our brightness as Christ’s treasured possession. This is why it is important to join a local church and attend church as much as one can. It is here that we receive the balm of Gilead in the company of fellow believers. Here we hear God’s word read and preached. Here our souls are lifted up into heaven through singing God’s praises and the sacraments. Here our eyes are lifted off our earthly circumstances and we look to the heavenlies where we are seated with Christ Jesus. Here we are reminded that we are God’s treasured possession and receive encouragement, prayer, and support from one another. Here we are reminded not to look at our sinful past or even our present affliction, but to look to the future where Christ will one day come again to reclaim and vindicate His treasured possession so that where He is we may be. Here we are reminded of the defeat of Satan, the world, and our sinful flesh. Here in the corporate gathering of God’s treasured possession, we are equipped to go back into the dark world and shine forth brightly as the noon day sun; to shine forth as gems that have been polished and shined once more to repair the dings and scratches we have received from our spiritual enemies.

As one who has been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light, you are His treasured possession. No matter what hurtful words somebody has called you, Christ calls you His treasured possession. No matter the way somebody has bullied you or mistreated you, Christ treats you as His treasured possession. No matter what the world may think of you, Christ thinks of you as His treasured possession. What a glorious picture of the Church all because of what God has done in Christ Jesus.