We the people of Jesus Christ

We the people of the United States… the American constitution begins.

Now, does a nation have its identity in its leader, or in the people which comprise that nation? It’s in the people, not the leader.

And does a Church have its identity in its leaders or in the people which comprise it? Someone will say, the Church has its identity in Christ. Yes, indeed, and Christ is in His people, and this is the only identity a Church can have, that indeed Christ is present in the lives of the people who comprise that Church (Rev. 2 & 3).

And if this solid foundation of truth is manifest then Christians only think of Church in terms of “We the people of Jesus Christ” : her identity is solely in the risen Lord present in and with His people – truly His body.

Then there is no other identity or entity of Church: it’s not a legal or business entity or franchise, a cultural or social entity or a personality cult or a doctrinal entity.

“Things are not Christian, people are”, a brother writes. In a similar vein, there is no entity of a Church apart from the people. Many times people talk about a Church as if it were an entity in its own right apart from the people of whom it consists. And also many people think of themselves more of being members of an entity than members of the body, and in that way they say they are members of such and such a Church but they may not have real fellowship with the people that make up that Church. And in another vein, even in a “Church” which does not represent the Kingdom of God there may be a few believers who have fellowship with one another, like a Church within a “Church”.

So in these last days it’s time to hear the voice of “We the people of Jesus Christ”. It’s time to consider ourselves one people under our Head Christ Jesus.

Christ Himself is our Constitution, for we cannot separate Him from His words.