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TWO CHURCHES
There are two true Churches of God. Based on the scriptural definition of a church
defined on our home page, ancient Israel became the first true Church of God, a kingdom of
God. With just a little research and study
it’s easy to determine this.
Long ago God promised Abram that he was going to make of
him a great nation, a kingdom. He promised
Abram he was going to give his descendants the land that became known as Israel, the
Promised Land. It consisted of the land
bounded by the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates.
At the time of these promises Abram and Sarah had no children. God also told Abram at this time that his
descendants would become strangers in a land that was not theirs, would become servants
there and be afflicted four hundred years. God
further promised He would bring Abram’s descendants out of that land with great
possessions and deliver to them the Promised Land. God
delivered on all these promises.
What does this tell us about ancient Israel? Before they existed God foreknew them. Before they existed He predestined (predetermined) they, and they only,
would become His chosen people, the only people He would call His.
We are all quite familiar with the record of how God
called Israel out of Egypt and gathered them to meet with Him at Mt. Sinai. Prior to this meeting the Israelites had to
demonstrate their faith in God’s calling by placing the blood of a Passover lamb on
their doorposts and they had to be baptized in the Red Sea.
This prepared them to meet with God.
God called Israel
out of Egypt and led them to Mt. Sinai by the pillar of the cloud and fire. They were justified
by their faith in the blood of the Passover. It
was now time to glorify them by setting them up
as His church or kingdom.
At Mt. Sinai God used Moses as His mediator. He had him present to the people their opportunity
to enter into a covenant with Him. He promised
them, upon acceptance of their conditions of the covenant, He would make them a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation, His kingdom, a glorious kingdom.
They listened to all the conditions of the covenant they would be required
to comply with and whole-heartedly accepted them. Their
part of the covenant was to keep the commandments, judgments, and statues. This was to be their way of life.
God then complied with His part of the covenant and made
them His kingdom which included all the associated blessings. Once both parties agreed to the conditions of the
covenant a written record of it was made and it was sealed (made officially binding) by
sprinkling it with the blood of a sacrifice. It
was this official covenant that made Israel the first true Church of God, His kingdom. A glorious celebration took place after the
figurative signing of the covenant. The
leaders of Israel and God were in attendance at this celebration.
Once Israel became an official church (kingdom) God moved
in with them by having them build His tabernacle where He would reside and meet with them. He provided them a system of teachers (priesthood)
whose responsibilities included helping the people understand the laws, judgments, and
statutes, and how to best comply with them. He
provided a system to handle transgressions, knowing people would sin.
God later made a separate covenant with His people known
as the Sabbaths covenant. He did this in order
to provide His people access to the teachers (shepherds) and the weekly and annual
training required to understand and keep their part of the covenant made at Mt. Sinai. These weekly and annual Sabbaths were continual
reminders of the covenant and whose kingdom (church) they were.
Most of the rest of the story of Israel is history. However, there is more of their story yet
unfinished.
The question we must now ask is: Of what value to us does
the understanding that Israel was the first true Church of God provide?
Paul twice refers to portions of the conditions of the Old
Covenant Church of God as shadows of a reality which is to come. That reality is Christ. In other words Christ is casting the shadow of
these things. Try separating a shadow from
what is casting it. A shadow is a similitude
of the real thing. We could also say it is a
pattern or blueprint. A pattern or blueprint
isn’t the real thing, only a representation.
The Old Covenant Church of God, Israel, is the shadow, or
pattern, or blueprint, of the true spiritual New Covenant Church of God. Christ is building the spiritual Church of God
according to that pattern! He will not deviate
from that pattern. God and Christ do not
change. Paul understood completely that
membership in the New Covenant Church of God required being foreknown, predestined,
called, justified, and glorified by God Almighty. The
pattern established by the Old Covenant Church of God told him that. The value of looking at the pattern established by
the old church is priceless.
How can the modern day Church of God, those who have
entered into the new covenant with God, use the knowledge and understanding of the shadow
or pattern Old Covenant Church of God?
God does not change! Based
on that understanding we should carefully study how God (in reality Christ) dealt with the
Old Covenant Church of God. His response to
their good deeds or bad deeds will be the same response in His church today. The Old Testament of our bibles and some of the New
Testament are filled with detailed records of His responses.
The purpose for the creation of the first true Church of God was to provide
clear, understandable lessons for us, the true spiritual Church of God. Those lessons are invaluable! If you'd like a
lesson(s) providing scriptural backing for our understanding you may contact us via the
contact information provided on our home page.
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