October 28

and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. — 1 Cor 3:23 BSB

“Christ is God’s.” These are remarkable words that need to be carefully and reverently considered. The fullness of their meaning is beyond our understanding, but we may attempt to explore them in faith and godly fear. How is Christ God’s?

First, He is God’s Son—not by covenant or office, but a true and proper Son, by nature, through His eternal mode of subsistence as a Person in the Godhead. Twice, God the Father proclaimed from heaven, “This is my beloved Son.”

Second, Christ is also God’s Servant. “Behold my servant whom I uphold” (Isaiah 42:1). “It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob” (Isaiah 49:6), and this He was as Messiah. But even as He serves in this role, He remains by nature the Son of God.

In this context, He is spoken of as the God-man Mediator, the Son of the Father in truth and love, the great High Priest over the house of God, and especially as He is in union with the Church—the Bridegroom with the bride, the Vine with the branches, the Shepherd with the sheep, the foundation with the living stones built into and upon it. Therefore, when the text says that “Christ is God’s,” it speaks of Him not only as the only begotten Son of God but also as the Head of the body, the Church (Col. 1:18). For, as the Apostle says, “We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30). Thus, Christ is God’s, and all who belong to Him are God’s as well—He as much as they, and they as much as He.

Consider these glorious truths: “You are Christ’s” because by donation, purchase, and possession, you are members of His body. “Christ is God’s” as Son, Servant, Mediator, and Head of the Church. Therefore, you too are God’s, because you are Christ’s, for the members are one with their covenant Head.