(A Treasured Possession of God!)

What 'special' does not mean--

The truth is stated by the apostle Paul in the book of Acts: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else....`For in him we live and move and have our being.'" (Acts 17:24-25, 28)

God's word reveals we are something special to him

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession." (Deuteronomy 14:2)

In the book of Exodus we hear these words addressed to the Israelites God had delivered out of Egypt: "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you [meaning, Moses] are to speak to the Israelites." (Exodus 19:5-6)

While In the New Testament the particular expression 'treasured possession' does not appear we hear other expressions that speak of a special people of God. The same words which God addressed to the Israelites in the book Exodus in the New Testament are addressed to believers. In the apostle Peter's first letter we are told "you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9)

In the New Testament God's work on our behalf is described in these words: "Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself -- a people that are his very own, eager to do what good." (Titus 2:13-14)

Is it not wondrous to meditate on the fact that it has pleased him to make a people for himself - a people he set apart as God's people, as a people whom he looks upon as his treasured possession.

The more this truth fills our minds the more deserving of our praise and obedience God becomes in our eyes. Therefore what the rest of this meditation attempts to set forth is some of the many ways in which God treats us--his people, his adopted children--as his treasured possession, as something that has great value for him.

what   god chose to turn into something beautiful

One way this truth--that we are something special to God--is set before us is by noting the horrible, disgusting quality or character of the objects which God chose to make something beautiful out of. That is what we who are believers today were-- disgusting, loathsome.    (1 Corinthians 6:11) (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) We were like maggots in the bottom of a garbage can. We were God haters under control of sin. [Romans 8:7; 3:9-12; Galatians 3:22; 1 Samuel 8:7; Luke 19:14)

Let's remember this truth about us--'where we came from'.

The bible reminds us that once we walked in darkness, in the pride of life, in sin, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature. The apostle Paul in his letter addressed to believers in or around Ephesus said to them, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world...All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:1-3)

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another." (Titus 3:3)

Once we were individuals that the Bible described as people who "loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." (John 3:19-20) Consciously or in our deeper motives we were God haters who were "storing up wrath against ourselves for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:5-6)

It was not because we had or ever could have any qualities that would set us apart as worthy to be recipients of God's mercy that induced God to bestow his mercy upon us. Just the opposite. We were totally undeserving, absolutely despicable. The Bible puts it this way--"we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3).

But--(and this is a big 'but') but because of our being objects of God's special consideration -- God's treasured possession-- he did not leave us in that condition. The Bible says so. "Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5; see also Titus 3:4-5))

We are God's treasured possession. The Bible tells us how God demonstrated his attitude towards us by what he did for us. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

The apostle Paul says to the believers at Ephesus: "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8)

While, as previously mentioned, everything that exists is God's creation that does not mean that every creation of his is special to him. It is true that "many are invited" but the very same verse goes on to say, "but few are chosen." (Matthew 22:14) The God whose world this is is not limited by any standards except what pleases him. (Ephesians 1:11) More than once the Bible points out that "the Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths." (Psalm 135:6; See also 115:3; Daniel 4:35) 

There is nothing, nothing at all, that believers have that was not a bestowal of mercy, a gift from the God of mercy. The Bible itself states this truth as a rhetorical question in 1st Corinthians. "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"          (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Even our faith was a gift from God..."For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God "(Ephesians 2:8; see also John 6:44-above)  

In 1st Peter believers are told: "Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Peter 2:10)

Is it not wondrous to meditate on the fact that it has pleased him to make a people for himself - a people he set apart as God's people, as a people whom he looks upon as his treasured possession.

(The fact that God does not look upon every human being as his treasured possession does not mean that in this period of time (that period of grace) before God's judgment those people that the Bible calls the 'wicked' or the 'unbelieving' do not receive any of God's gifts. It means only that such people are not in God's eternal favor and are not heirs to the inheritance of an eternal life of blessings.) (Matthew 5:45; Psalm 145:9; Luke 6:35 but--2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Matthew 13:37-41; Revelation 21:8,27)

When    God chose to turn us into something beautiful

God's decision to make us children of light was not a spur of the moment decision. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has loved us with an everlasting love. "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3)

It was before the foundations of the world that God chose to turn us--his treasured possession--sinners and maggots into something beautiful, into something sinless, blameless and holy. In Ephesians 1:4-5 we are told this: "He chose us in him [that is, in Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--".

What God did   to turn us into something beautiful

Another way the Bible shows how God looks upon us is by telling us of the great lengths to which our God went to accomplish his purpose for us. He sacrificed his own sinless Son --for us--to bring us to God. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

The Bible tells us what our savior's mission was--"Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:13 & 14)

To bring about this awesome purpose God (the Father) made Jesus (God the Son) to be sin in our stead. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

What an astounding thing for God to do! Even for his 'treasured possession' "For what the law [even the perfect law of God] was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did  --How?-- by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us." (Romans 8:3-4)

What great lengths God went to for his treasured possession--"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

God's Guardianship of his Treasured Possession is forever

Another way he shows us how he looks upon us with favor is by the certain continuance of his care for us, how he watches over us and protects us.

Even as we would judiciously care for and protect any possession which we treasure, so is God concerned above all that we can ask or imagine to care for us - to keep us safe. Not only is God's love from before the foundation of the world but it is forever. God teaches us in his word that his loving kindness toward us endures forever and that his vigilance over us is constant and amazing.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you--the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm--he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore." (Psalms 121:1-7)

God's care is not is not like an explosion, here one minute and possibly gone the next. No, God's care for his treasured possession is forever. Over and over again we hear God's promises..."God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" (Hebrews 13:5)

After Jesus' resurrection he came to his disciples in Galilee and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me....And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18,20)

What does the Lord say to his people? "Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4)

In the 2nd letter to Timothy we hear the apostle Paul's declaration of this truth and of his confidence in it, saying, "the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength....And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." (2 Timothy 4:17-18)

This is how the apostle Peter expressed God's truth: " In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

How does the apostle Paul express this truth? He says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:35,37; see also John 16:33)

In the gospel according to John Jesus speaks of the 'foreverness' of God's protection: He says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:25-30)

A Treasured Possession of God!

Let's fill our minds with more revelations of God's character and purposes. Each revelation adds depth to the picture we have of our God and that particular truth--that he looks upon us as special to him, as his treasured possession.

Feel and hear the love and concern of God

Often in the Old Testament God sets forth what he has done for his people and how he feels about them in such intimate language and imagery. He says, "... I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. "But now, this is what the LORD says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.'" (Isaiah 43:1) The following verse oozes with God's concern-- "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:2)

How often this love and concern of God is 'seen' and 'heard' in his mighty acts on behalf of his people, on behalf of his treasured possession. Our God watches over his people, his true church, corporately as a great treasure and cares for each one of us as a special jewel.

Remember that when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were put into the fiery furnace they were untouched by the flames because God protected them. (Daniel 3:19-23, 25-26). We, too, can be confident that when we must walk through the fires of life - those trials and temptations that come sometimes day after day - that the flames will not set us ablaze as God's promise recorded in Isaiah (above) says. 

Let us rejoice that we are eternally safe for our Lord has shut the hungry mouth of the great lion--Satan. He cannot shatter or destroy us for we are God's chosen ones. When we are called to walk through the dreadful deserts of life- those empty, bleak times when we feel alone and scared remember God's attitude towards us--Remember that when the children of Israel came to the Red Sea, God, by the blast of his nostrils, parted the waters that they might walk to the other side on dry land. But he brought the waters down upon Pharaoh and his armies when they came in pursuit and they "sank like a stone" (Exodus 15:1-11)

Remember that it was God who fed his people in the desert by raining down on them manna, the very "bread of angels", and that "he split the rocks in the desert to give them water as abundant as the seas; He guided his people with a cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night." (Psalm 78:25,15,14; Deuteronomy 8:15).

Remember that when Daniel was thrown into a den of lions, God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions so that his servant would not be harmed. (Daniel 6:16,22) How much more awesome then is our Lord Jesus who came to destroy the works of him who prowls around like a roaring lion intent on devouring us! That our "enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (I Pet. 5:8; see also Ephesians 6:11-12) is no challenge or threat to God. Why?

Because our God is infinitely greater than any enemy. And it was he who acted on our behalf, on behalf of his treasured possession. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15) "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10: 28,29-30)

"The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4; See also John 16:33) That is what God's word tells us. It was he who delivered or rescued us from the control or dominion of sin (Colossians 1:13) The purpose for which God sent his Son into the world was to bring about this result--"The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." (1 John 3:8; see also Luke 1:71-75)

We are the treasured possession of the Almighty God who created the heaven and the earth. If anybody or anything could destroy his handiwork he would not be the Almighty God who was the Creator of the heaven and the earth! (Hebrews 1:2,3)

We who have been washed in the blood of Christ are even God's portion and his inheritance. God guards us as the apple of his eye. That is what the Bible says in the extremely personal and moving imagery of the Old Testament. "For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye." (Deuteronomy 32:9-10)

"Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." (Isaiah 43:4)

After the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross believers are told--"You are not your own; you were bought at a price. (1 Corinthians 6:19,20) What that price was was described in the 1st part of this meditation in the section "What God did to turn us into something beautiful"--(e.g. God the Son was made to be sin for us).

God controls all things, every situation including those which to us seems accidental or a painful interference with godly enterprises. "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will..." (Ephesians 1:11) He who 'hears' our thoughts, 'hears' our questions, 'hears' our agonies tells us the truth about them-- "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."  (1 Corinthians 10:13) With what truth did Jesus speak comfort to his disciples? He said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

We who are Christ's treasured possession are not treated according to our deeds, according to what our iniquities deserve as the Bible states so clearly in Psalm 103. "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him." (Psalm 103:10-13)

We who are Christ's treasured possession, we who are Christ's sheep for whom he laid down his life (John 10:15) are treated according to what the sinless Son of God, deserved. (He paid the death penalty for our sin. He took our place. He was our substitute.) At the same time the inheritance (eternal life) that Christ's total obedience deserved is what we have been made heirs to. What an amazing swapping of consequences God has brought about for his people--we get the inheritance Christ deserved while he got the death penalty that we deserved!

What is the inheritance that Christ's obedience in life and death earned for his sheep, his treasured possession? Salvation, an eternal life of blessings is what in his mercy he bestowed on us. (Ephesians 2:4-5; John 10:27-28)

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:18)

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." (verse 22 of the same chapter)

Is not this what the biblical statement to have been "called out of darkness into his wonderful light" means? Is not this the very meaning of the declaration--"he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." (Colossians 1:13)? How much he has done for his people! Is it not an amazing fact that we are what the Bible says we are--"a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God." (1 Peter 2:9)

We were ransomed, redeemed. Yes, but not with money. The ransom, the purchase price of our freedom from the penalty for sin was the shedding of blood. (Hebrews 9:22; the section in part 1 on "What God did to turn us into something beautiful" provided more relevant quotes) It was not without cost that we are destined for the inheritance. Christ's perfect obedience and death earned it for us. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." (1 Peter 1:18-19; see also Matthew 20:28; Philippians 2:6-7; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7)  

In John's 1st letter believers are reminded of that incredible truth --"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1)

There is nothing that our God has not done or will not do for us--his treasured possession. There is nothing, nothing at all, that believers have that was not a bestowal of mercy, a gift from the God of mercy. To repeat a couple of verses from Part 1-- "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Even in areas of life where (like a teenager or anybody else) we feel we should be our own boss God overcomes our arrogance. The faith in Jesus Christ that we must have to be saved (from the just condemnation of God) is a gift of God. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8; see also John 6:44)  

God's sovereignty is not limited by man's irresponsibility or faithlessness. What a mystery this is! God's mercy is not blocked by our arrogance or by our inability to master his ways because we can't squeeze them into our systems of logic. Thank God for that! "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" That is what the Bible says--a statement of probably the greatest human 'theologian' (the apostle Paul who recorded for us most of the New Testament outside of the gospels.) (Romans 11:33; see also Isaiah 55:8-9; Matthew 16:21-22)

How blessed we are that Jesus has loved us with an eternal love and purchased us with his own blood that we might belong to him. We know we are safe. How could we think otherwise knowing that our God, our redeemer, sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die as a sacrifice for the very purpose of delivering us from the penalty and power of sin, and and making us immortal citizens of his everlasting kingdom?

What an extraordinary position everyone who is a genuine believer (an individual who has been rescued by God from the dominion of sin) is in! How much our God cares for his treasured possession.

trials and afflictions are not impediments or evils

Even trials and afflictions in the lives of believers (Christians) are not evils. They are not impediments to the accomplishment of God's purposes. They are not indications that God's care, God's guardianship, God's protection of his 'treasured possession' has ceased. They are not evidence that God's power to protect is inadequate, that is, is not all-inclusive. There are no exclusions from, or defects in, the plan and power of God. Trials, afflictions, are not evils. On the contrary, the trials that God 'allows' or brings into the lives of believers are evidence of God's care.

God tells us through the mouth of the apostle Paul that in God's world and in God's plan "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22). Why else would the original missionaries such as the apostle Paul and his associates devote their time and energy to "strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith"? (same verse)

An even more definite statement of truth that shows the relationship between trials and the care of God has for his adopted children is found in the book of Hebrews. In that portion of Scripture believers are told--"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons." (Hebrews 12:7-8; see also Psalm 94:12)

The Bible states the obvious truth that "no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful" but it adds the reminder of God's promise about trials and discipline--"Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11)

Hear Job's words that speak of God during the time Job was going through his ordeal: "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10)

But even better or more to be desired than gold is God's purpose for us. According to God's own word the objective of God's plan for his people, for his treasured possession, is not our total comfort and happiness in this world but our holiness and blamelessness both now and forever. 

Listen to God's words in the book of Hebrews. "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Hebrews 12:10) Holiness, Blamelessness. That his people would be holy and blameless is (and always has been) the purpose our merciful God had for us. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1:4) In the book of Romans the apostle Paul stated God's purpose in these words: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son." (Romans 8:29) To be conformed to likeness of God's Son--what could be better?

The apostle Peter addresses these words to his Christian readers or listeners: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:5-7)

While what God does for us--his treasured possession--does not always come in forms that have the appearance of being constructive or beneficial we can count God's wisdom. (Romans 8:28;  Ephesians 1:11)

In God's mercy, the trials that we face were designed by him to bring about the transformation of us into what God wants us to be. In God's mercy, the trials that we face were designed by him to bring about our movement towards the goal he has for us-- blamelessness, holiness. (When I remember the objectives that God has for his people and I think of what my comfort or success in this world means to me I tremble...)

Our God's attitude towards us is summed up in these unforgettable words: "If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31); the following verses puts it this way: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?" (Romans 8:32-33) That is not all the apostle said...

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Closing Remarks

Remembering what God has done for us and continues to do for us -- could anybody think we are not God's treasured possession? Remembering what God has done for us and continues to do for us -- could any believer not be moved to act more than ever in ways that please God?

Remember the many mighty miracles he has wrought on behalf of his people. Remember also God's declarations of his purpose for us, a purpose that he will bring to pass. Those events or situations that are trials and afflictions to us in this world are not accidents-- foreign elements intruding into the plan of God--but are part of God's means for bringing about his purposes for us--to transform us into what he intends us to be (Romans 8:29,30; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2)

Using biblical language the idea would take this form--Bringing that extraordinary fact to our remembrance that we are special to God, that we are "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (1 Peter 2:9)--should make each of us feel so blessed by God that our spiritual act of worship would be to recognize that our God deserves all our praise, and therefore gets all our gratitude.

Using the very words of the apostle "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 12:1) Remember, says the apostle Paul to believers--"You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; see also 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 12:28; 2 Peter 3:13-14)

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