In Part 3 of this series I’d like to share more about one particular aspect of what I’ve been discovering about my identity as an adopted heir of Abraham. And that is – as members of the same spiritual family we share a corporate identity.
Our forefathers understood the concept of corporate identity. In fact, it was central to their whole understanding of themselves. As Marvin Wilson explains, “since Bible times Jews have generally embodied this concept in an exemplary way. God chose a people (Deut. 7:7), and, accordingly, the Jewish religion is characterized by peoplehood” (emphasis added).[i] This is entirely opposite to the way we choose and elevate the individual in Western culture, but it is in these terms that Paul speaks of the church.
Using the image of the body (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12) Paul writes,
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1 Cor. 12:12-13
Likewise, Peter expresses the concept of peoplehood when he says that those who come to Christ are being built into a “spiritual house to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5).
…you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 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 2:9-11
As members of the body of Christ we share in one identity. We are a people and a nation, brought into covenant relationship with the God of Israel through the obedience of Jesus. As I grasped this the way I looked at those around me began to change. Previously my faith and my interaction with God had been a solitary activity but now I wanted to be around other Christians, to join my voice with theirs in worship, to read the Bible and pray with other people. I could actually feel my sense of identity becoming stronger and fuller as I stood together with those around me in church to pray “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name”.
I recognise that being part of the body of Christ is not always easy! But God in his wisdom chose a people, and in all the ups and downs of human relationships we are called, designed, to live together in unity. It is part of who we are.
(If you are interested in exploring your Jewish roots I can highly recommend the teaching of Dwight Pryor (The Centre for Judaic-Christian Studies) and the book Our Father Abraham by Marvin R. Wilson.)
[i] Wilson, M. Our Father Abraham (1989), USA: Eerdmans, p.187
This really anchors our faith in the now of History.
Thankyou