Christians are not fond of the designation, “People of God”
and it hardly ever appears in connection with the church or Christianity in
general. This is unfortunate because our loss of this name has helped play
havoc with our identity and understanding of God and salvation wrought by
Jesus. Salvation, despite repeated claims that it involves some sort of
personal relationship with Jesus, is all too often understood as a legal
exchange wherein God moves your attendance peg from “Lost” to “Saved.” There
may be some aspect of salvation that approaches that concept, but it is far
from being the primary definition or even consideration for salvation. But we’re
getting ahead of ourselves.
The People of God is not a designation of a group as much as
it is a descriptor of the people in that group. It describes a few things which
are interrelated. First, it describes possession yes, but more a connection.
These people described in the Jewish Scriptures enjoy a particular relationship
with YHWH not shared by other peoples. These, we are reminded by Paul, have
been given the oracles of YHWH, they have had the prophets among them and they
have enjoyed YHWH’s protection, rescue, and leading.
They don’t wear the name as much as they are the name.
This naming having inherent meaning is experienced
throughout the Jewish Scriptures and play prominent roles in Isaiah, the naming
of Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Esau, and Israel. Names are important and they
carry the essence of their meanings.
The connection with YHWH is not the only import of the name
People of God. Another aspect is the quality or character of these people. They
are to embody the character of YHWH in their lives. If YHWH is gracious, they
are to be gracious. If YHWH is longsuffering, they are to longsuffering. If
YHWH is merciful, they are to be merciful. If YHWH is fair, they are to be
fair. These characteristics furthermore are not to be evident just among their
internal relationships with one another, but they should be reflected in their
dealings with others – those who are not the People of God.
We might say again that they don’t wear the name as much as
they are the name.
Israel has consistently failed to meet the double standard
of fidelity to YHWH and transformation of her character. Isaiah will tell us
that the entire nation is corrupt from the head to the foot. Israel has failed
to grasp that it is YHWH that has formed her and wanting to form her; and she
has failed to live among herself and other nations as a people transformed into
the very character of her God.
YHWH repeatedly uses the goal to encourage Israel, that He
will be her God and she should be His people. This is Israel’s purpose as the
People of God: to manifest the character of YHWH and fidelity to YHWH to all
peoples. She will also carry in her existence the anticipated blessing for the
entire world; the very thing that intrigued angels and that the creation
itself waited and waits to experience.
The church, or Christendom in general is not a replacement
for Israel, but the blossoming of the People of God. At least, that is what the
church is supposed to be. Having been sought by and returned to YHWH through
Jesus; having seen the very character of YHWH among people as depicted in the life
of Jesus; having seen the fidelity expected through the passion and death of
Jesus, the church is an expansion of Israel just as has always been the intent.
Israel, the Gentiles, and even Barbarians are invited into the People of God as
a result of the faithfulness of Jesus. Christianity cannot fully understand her
calling without understanding the historical narrative that has described for
us in the Jewish Scriptures the desires of God.
The church is not primarily exclusively a saving
organization, but a larger and more expansive and inclusive manifestation of
Israel. The church has been blessed to be a blessing. She has been given the
oracles of God and she derives from the Chief Prophet who was also the Son of
God. She like Israel is to carry the message and to manifest the character of
God among the nations. She is to be faithful to YHWH no matter what tempest she
may be experiencing.
The People of God then, collectively and individually are to
both carry and be the message of rescue, of reconciliation, of the offer of
return to a loving, merciful, and just God.
Next, The People of
God II
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