Have you ever given thought to who you truly are? Well, who are you? There are probably many ways that you could describe yourself. I am a man, a father, a son, unfortunately single due to divorce, an assistant manager of a book store, a friend, a lover of books, a Christian. . . . This list could go on and on, but there is one very important way that God wants us to think about ourselves. If we are saved, we are his children - we are family! II Thessalonians says; "We ought always to thank God for you brothers..." Do not get hung up on the word brothers, if you are a woman in Christ, Paul would call you sister.
The point is the idea of belonging, Paul wants us to know that we belong! He wants us to know, that in Christ - we belong to God as His children. But more than that - Paul wants us to know that we also belong to one another.
There is much power in that truth! There is much power in our being incorporated into a body, a family. And it may be well that I apply this wondrous truth with a rehearsal of all the gracious blessings we enjoy, in Christ, together as His Church. But that is not the way I am thinking this morning. I am thinking rather in terms of our living in a troubled world, together, as the church.
We live in a terribly uncertain time. There are great evils that are broadcast right into our living spaces through cables and airwaves every day. We see the threat of ISIS. We are concerned with Iran gaining nuclear capabilities. We see things in our neighborhoods that are violent and terrible - these are precarious times!
The times in which Paul was writing were also precarious times for the people of God - there was much evil then as well. And what does Paul do when he sees the power of sin at work in the world. He gives thanks for the church! Why? Because while Satan is at work - so too is Jesus Christ at work - through His church! Matthew 16:18 states: "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."
What should we do as we watch as the world grows seemingly darker and more evil? Thank God for the Church. We ought to value what Christ is doing through His people, we ought to stand together, pray together, worship together, bring the light of the Gospel of Christ into the world together!
Out of this dark and difficult passage on the mystery of sin in the world, Paul launches into one of the most wonderful and beautiful expressions of thanksgiving for the church in all the Bible. Who are you! In Christ, you are the church.
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