I belong
Kari and I have been thinking and talking quite a bit lately on the topic of belonging. We are pilgrims in this world, while still seeking to be indigenous and plant ourselves here for the good of all people. I call this a ‘happy tension’ (my favorite tagline for necessary mysteries), we this world is not our home, and from it we patiently await the Savior. Even still, we have every reason to make this layover the best possible, and to influence others for God and for good. We belong with God eternally. Because of that truth we have this one: we belong here for now.
Kari and I think and talk often about having a home of our own again. (And we sort of chuckle because we do own a home, but rent it out to others.) In the meantime we live with family in this sort of suspended reality, patiently (okay, not always patiently, that’s why we talk about it so often) awaiting the day when we will walk into a new home again of our own. That sounds comfortable, but not on the same degree that God Himself is our comfort. In the second chapter of Don Postema’s book Space for God, he brings up the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism, which asks:
What is your only comfort in life and death?
The answer:
That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.
Belong. What a word. It means “to be the property of a person or thing.” That The God of the universe, the One whom I have often offended and rebelled against calls me His own. Not simply on account of His creating me but more so because He has redeemed me in Jesus. I am twice-bought, and He owns me completely, eternally. That truth will stir one’s affections to love and honor God above all.
My identity is a chosen and beloved child of God The balance of the Scriptures reveal the blessedness of belonging to God in Christ, such as this classic:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)
At the climactic point of Romans 8 — in my opinion the most important and life-changing chapter in the Bible — we see a string of questions aimed at revealing the secure love an adopted son of God should experience and embrace. Indeed, if God Almighty Himself is for us, in all His exhaustive love, why would it matter if anyone else is against us?
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