“It ain’t much, but it’s mine.” These are the words you might hear when someone has paid off a loan or purchased something outright (vehicle, property, house). It is an admission that there is great value in personal ownership. In essence, God says to those created in His image: “You are something, and I want you to be Mine.”
In the King James Version, we often read the phrase “peculiar people.” Some of the same references in the American Standard Version read “a people for God’s own possession.” With the thought of the value of possession in mind, let us consider some of these passages from the American Standard Version.
In revealing His Will to Israel through Moses, God said, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine” (Ex 19:5). To the next generation, he would reveal, “For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth” (Deut 7:6).
Isaiah prophesied of “The people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise” (43:21), and his contemporary Malachi revealed, “And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (3:17).
In the New Testament we read, “But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). “For the grace of God 6hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11–14).
God desires and values a relationship with those created in His image (Gen 1:26–27) and who seek to be conformed to His image (Rom 8:29; Col 3:10). Do you recognize the value you have in the eyes of God? Do you belong to Him?
Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. For free Bible Correspondence Courses and In-Person Bible Studies, Emailus@coldwatercofc.com, or call us at 662-622-7951
