May 5, 2010
God’s Baby – The Divine Origin of a True Church
God made us, and when a baby is born into our lives we stand in awe of God’s creative power and skill. But do we ever stop to think about the birth and origin of a true church of Jesus Christ in this world? Let’s look at how Paul describes the birth of the Thessalonian church in his first letter to that church.
Divine Birth
When Paul and Silas went on the 2nd missionary journey, they were prayerfully laboring to bring churches to birth. They preached to that end and trusted the power of God to do the work. Like the second birth of a Christian (Jn. 3:6), true churches are “born from above,” and are not the creation of man. God gave Paul, Silas, and Timothy an important part in this divine creation, but the origination was from Him alone. When we remember that God created the world, mankind, and believers in Christ, let’s remember that He creates churches too.
Just as our salvation is the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so is the planting of a church. More than this, the persevering of a church so planted is also His work. Notice Paul’s language in the letter as he writes that the new church in Thessalonica was in the Father (1:1, 3), in the Lord Jesus (1:1, 2), and with the Spirit (1:6). It happened in the will of the Father. It was the immediate effect of the work of the Son who was crucified, risen, and ascended to heaven. And the completion of the new church creation came about by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What a different view we will have of our church when we understand these things. How much more we will value its entire life span as we rejoice in its perseverance through the providence of God. A church is true by virtue of its divine creation.
Divine Choice
The second factor in the existence of the church is God’s choice of the people. How many times in our lives have we needed to choose our next church. But God in fact chooses the church. Paul wrote “….knowing, brethren beloved by God, his choice of you…” (1 Th. 1:4). God chose the people whom He saved and added to that church. Their conversion and the calling into existence of the body were coincident, at the same time. And after Paul writes of God’s choice in verse 4, he states that the Gospel which the missionaries preached “did not come to you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction….” (1 Th. 1:5). They spoke the word, the Spirit brought the word to life in them.
When Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica they immediately went to the synagogue and reasoned with them from the Scriptures (Acts 17:1-2). They gave evidence that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead (17:3). “Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas” (17:4). Here were the first converts among God’s elect in that city. Paul taught them again that it was the word of God “which performs its work in you who believe” (1 Th. 2:13). They did not choose God, they did not choose the church in that city, God chose them. We see evidence all around us of “churches” that are the mere creation of man, but not this one. And in all generations it is the will of God working in the word of God, made effectual by the Holy Spirit, that reveals the sovereign choice and election of God in a true church. All else is counterfeit.
Human Instruments
God brings churches to birth because He is the Creator, but He uses chosen instruments as He did in Thessalonica. Paul was very conscious of the human agency of the missionary team in the divine planting of this church. The first mention of human agency is found in 1 Th. 1:5 where Paul says “for our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…” Whose gospel was it that Paul and Silas were preaching? Paul says it was their Gospel. In this claim of ownership Paul is saying two things. First, that they were the human agents in preaching the gospel. Second, that those who had come to make trouble in the Thessalonian Church had a false message. After the missionaries had been “run out of town” (Acts 17:10), men with evil intentions came to discredit the gospel that Paul preached by attacking the messengers. But Paul said “you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” God uses men of His choosing as human instruments to do what only He can do. Paul reminds them that in the preaching of this Gospel, they heard and saw the very power of God, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the granting of the gift of assurance to the hearers. The Thessalonians were not to discount the human agency of Paul, Silas, and Timothy in the divine creation of their church. Neither ought Christians in any generation discount or minimize the work of God in choosing and sending missionary and pastoral agents to them to bring them to faith and their church to life.
Healthy Baby
God accomplished His will to bring to birth a new church in the great city of Thessalonica, and the result was “a healthy baby,” a healthy church. Warren Wiersbe described chapter 1 as “a church is born” and chapter 2 as “helping the baby grow up.” That’s it.
When a baby is born into the world the doctors look to see whether the vital signs are strong and the baby is breathing normally. Paul mentions their vital signs in 1:3. The Thessalonian Church was born into the world with vibrant spiritual health. Paul commends them for their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the presence of God. It is as if Paul is setting forth the standard of a healthy baby church: Faith directed toward God in Jesus Christ; Love flowing from Him through us to others and manifested in good deeds; and that future-looking Hope, the visionary grasp of what awaits us in Christ that makes spiritual work a labor of love and not a burden. This health is the result of true conversion: “you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Th. 1:9-10).
Another concern which we have when a baby is born is the bonding of that infant with his or her mother and father. Paul speaks of this with reference to the church in Thessalonica. In 1 Th. 1:6 Paul writes of the bond of love and communion which was created between them and the Lord. “You became imitators of us and of the Lord.”
All the family and friends want to see the new baby. And so it was with the Thessalonian Church. Paul says “so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth…” (1 Th.1:7-8).
Healthy baby – healthy church, because God brought this church to birth through faithful men whose desire was to do the will of God in obedience to the Great Commission. They were not men who resorted to gimmicks or deception in order to draw people to themselves. “For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others… but we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Th. 2:3-8).
Now what does all of this mean for us today? Let’s be much in prayer that God will bring true churches to birth. Let us pray for the work of church planting in our generation and for faithful, fervent men like Paul who will go forth to preach and gather converts for churches. As the Gospel is preached and sinners hear of the salvation that is found only in Jesus Christ, may they be formed into true churches like the Thessalonian church. Let’s be deeply concerned and prayerful about the Gospel vitality of our own church and seek, by His powerful grace, to foster it in our own lives. And let’s always return to the Scriptural standard and pattern of what the churches of Christ were designed to look like. A careful analysis of these Thessalonian letters will greatly aid us in that pursuit.
A true church is God’s baby. If you have ever had a little baby yourself, you know exactly what this means, and you can easily figure out how it will help us all to regard the church, both in its divine and human aspects, standing in awe at God’s work of creation, and holding esteem for those whom God used to do the work (1 Th. 5:12-13). May we also repudiate all man-centeredness in the planting, planning, and populating of churches.
