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“Now these things happened to them [Israel] as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”  ~ 1 Corinthians 10:11 

What does it mean to exist as and among the community of God’s chosen people? Israel had to face this question head on as a people chosen and crafted by God out from among sinful men. Functionally, what we end up with is a model, in Israel, of both 1) the necessity for righteousness and holiness in order for healthy community to thrive; and 2) repeated failure to that end which points squarely at the need for a wholly righteous Messiah.

As part of the Church, we know this Messiah as the Lord Jesus Christ who came to earth as God Incarnate to live in perfect obedience to the Law, to die the death that we deserved, and to rise again in the resurrection. Through this Gospel work and by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, you and I were brought into saving faith in and underneath the lordship of Christ. 

But what are the practical, day-to-day implications for us here?  Well, there are many we could explore, but I think more of Paul’s words to the Corinthians can helpfully undergird a couple practical considerations for us this week:

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” ~ 1 Cor. 6:19-20

Paul, in exhorting the Corinthians to avoid sexual immorality, makes a point that extends to the whole of the Christian life—“You are not your own.” By right of the cross-work we belong to Christ, and by right of creation we are His creatures to do with as He pleases. Praise God He has been pleased in His good will to bring you and I into His people, the Church! But how many times do I give into the temptation to attempt lordship over my own life? How many times do I go into a day of work or evening after work or weekend with an underlying expectation that the different communities of which I am a part really should revolve around my interests and expectations?

Will you consider along with me, for yourself, the following applications for this week?

1) I want to identify the ways in which I am expecting the community(ies) I am part of to revolve around me and instead treat them as opportunities for confession and repentance.

2) I will consider the specific ways I can demonstrate Christ’s lordship over my lives as I am with and among YOU, my brothers and sisters in Christ.