THE PROPAGATION IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE THROUGH PAUL’S MINISTRY AND HIS COMPANIONS (20)
Read and pray: "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28)
THE CHURCH PURCHASED WITH THE BLOOD OF GOD
In Acts 20:28, Paul commands the elders of the church in Ephesus to shepherd "the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood." Whenever we purchase something, we acquire or obtain it. God acquired or obtained the church by purchasing it. To purchase anything, we need to pay the price for it. What was the price God paid to purchase the church? According to Paul’s words in Acts 20:28, God obtained the church by paying the price of "His own blood."
The phrase "His own blood" in verse 28 is very unusual. It is disturbing. Does God have blood? God is God, not man or creature. How, then, can God, the Creator, have blood? Some may try to explain this by saying that the blood in Acts 20:28 is the blood of Jesus. But how can the blood of Jesus be the blood of God? The Lord Jesus is God, but Acts 20:28 does not speak of Jesus, but of God. In considering this, we realize it is very difficult to explain it theologically.
Over two centuries ago, Charles Wesley wrote a hymn that speaks of God dying for us. In this hymn, Wesley says:
In this hymn, Wesley goes on to say, "Mystery: The Immortal dies!" Here, he declares that God died for us. When I translated this hymn into Chinese years ago, I was disturbed by it. I wasn’t sure if I would be bold enough to translate it literally, showing that God died for us. Do you have the courage to say that God died for you? Charles Wesley had insight into this and declared in this hymn that God died for us.
THE GOD-MAN
The God who died for us is not the God before the incarnation. Before the incarnation, He certainly had no blood and could not have died for us. It was after the incarnation, in which He became mingled with humanity, that He died for us. Through the incarnation, our God, the Creator, the Eternal, Jehovah, mingled Himself with man. As a result, He was no longer just God; He became the God-Man. As such, He certainly had blood and was able to die for us.
When He died on the cross, the God-Man did not die only as a man, but also as God. The one who died on the cross was the one who was conceived by God and born with God. Being the God-Man, the very divine element was in Him, mingled with His humanity.
In the conception of the Lord Jesus, the God-Man, the divine essence from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-20; Luke 1:35) was generated in the womb of Mary. This conception of the Holy Spirit in the human virgin, involving both the divine essence and the human essence, was a mingling of the divine nature with the human and produced the God-Man, who is both the complete God and a perfect man, possessing both divine and human natures distinctly, without the production of a third nature. This is the wonderful and excellent Person of Jesus.
The conception and birth of the Lord Jesus was the incarnation of God (John 1:14), constituted of the divine essence added to the human essence, thus producing the God-Man formed of two natures: divinity and humanity. In this way, God united Himself with humanity to manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) and also to be the Savior (Luke 2:11), who died and shed His blood for us.
Enjoy more: Hymn 157¹
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