LifeWay Bible Studies for Life Series for November 27: A right perspective of the church

LifeWay Bible Studies for Life Series for November 27: A right perspective of the church focuses on Deuteronomy 32:1-9.

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“For the Lord’s portion is his people” (Deuteronomy 32:9). This speaks of the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ. We are the Lord’s portion.

The church is the ultimate creation of God—his supreme work of art. It’s the essence of his infinite wisdom, wisdom demonstrated in our worship—our singing, our praying, our proclamation of the gospel and our love for one another.

The church is the most frustrating entity in the world for Satan and his evil angels, especially as they watch us triumph over trial and pain. Satan’s goal is to have the church curse God when it encounters difficulties, so when we worship God, even during the worst of times, he becomes frustrated.

The unbelieving world always is looking at the church and hoping it will crumble and shatter, and we’re easily seen because, in a sense, we do worship in glass houses. That’s why it’s critical that we know who we are and act accordingly.

Peter wrote, “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 us out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

The church is God’s inheritance, his most valuable treasure. All God’s dealings with the world are directed toward the well-being of his people, and the meaning of all history is found in Jesus Christ and in his church. The church is the light of the world, and the people of God are the book from which everyone can read and learn about God’s infinite wisdom. Whenever we worship, preach the gospel and love one another, we are teaching everyone about God’s wisdom.

God’s greatest pleasure isn’t found in any part of the cosmos he created, but in the church. We are his treasure, his inheritance. We find this idea in several places in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. In the Old Testament we find the Hebrew word “segullah” used, which means “one’s personal treasure.”

In Exodus 19:5-6, God says: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”  

We find segullah also used in 1 Chronicles 29:3 to refer to earthly treasures. David says, “Besides, in my devotion to the temple of God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple.”


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David made provision for resources for the temple in his official capacity as king, but also gave abundantly from his own prized possessions, his segullah, so the temple of God could be built.

We (the church) are God’s personal treasure, the segullah of God.  

As God’s people, we will dwell with him forever and ever in a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness reigns and where there is no sin, no evil, no sickness and no tears. And, as God promised in Revelation 22, “I will be their God and they shall be my people.”

Paul wanted us to understand this, so he wrote that God’s treasure is located in the saints. We may not be very glorious now, but don’t worry about it. When God is finished with us, we will all be glorious; a radiant church, without spot or wrinkle, suited as a bride for his Son, Jesus Christ.

In Zechariah 9:16 we read: “The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.”

He’s not talking about using diamonds, jewelry and designer clothes to augment our appearance. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:3-4).

That’s what is being produced in us. From glory to glory, he’s changing us. The likeness of God is produced deep within us.

The church is engraved upon the palms of God so that he can never forget her. In Isaiah 49:16, God speaks through the prophet, saying, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Engraving means to cut into something, to leave an indelible impression. That’s how our names are cut into the hands of God, indelibly impressed upon his palms and impossible to erase. We are a part of God’s very being.

If we’re God’s treasure, engraved on his hands indelibly with everlasting love, then only one thing is needful—Christ Jesus himself.

Life is found only in Christ. Hopefully we can say with the psalmist, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).


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