Do you know the name ‘Church of God’?
I’d like to explain to you about the name “Church of God.” Denominations such as the Catholic church, the Presbyterian, the Methodist and the Baptist, use a variety of names: “Church of Lord’s love”, “Church of great light”, “Church of Christ”, and so on, to advertise themselves. However, “Church of God” was only the name of the Church which Jesus had established 2,000 years ago. I was curious about how many times the name “Church of God” would appear in the Bible. And I searched it on the internet. In the Bible, the name “Church of God” appears nine times in total. Let’s Check it out.
1 Corinthians 1:2 To the [church of God] in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ- their Lord and ours:
1 Corinthians 10:32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the [church of God]
1 Corinthians 11:22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the [church of God] and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the [church of God].
2 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the [church of God] in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia.
Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the [church of God] and tried to destroy it.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches [church of God] in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews
1 Timothy 3:5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church [church of God]?)
1 Timothy 3:15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God [church of God], the pillar and the foundation of the truth.
Some say that the Church was called “Church of God”, because God established it. However, it is undeniable that the church that Jesus established was called “Church of God.” It is confessed by Paul in Galatians 1:13 that he had intensely persecuted the Church of God when he was in Judaism. It means that Christian who believed in Jesus were the members of the Church of God. Apostle Paul wrote as follows in Corinthians “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Lord and ours:” One interesting point here is that Apostle Paul referred to the church in Corinth as “Church of God” in Corinth. It is because depending on where the church of God was, it was called “Church of God” in Corinth or in Galatia and so on.
But can any church called “Church of God” become the church that Jesus had established? No! Some churches also use the name “Church of God” but they have different teachings from God’s one. Then, what were the teachings in the Church of God? In 1 Corinthians 11, we can see what ceremony is held within the Church of God.
1 Corinthians 11:22-24 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
This scene reveals that the Church of God must have the new covenant where Jesus blessed his disciples with bread and wine on the night he was betrayed. What is this truth of the New Covenant?
Luke 22:7-8, 19-20 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”… And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
It was on the Passover day when Jesus established the New Covenant through the bread and wine on the night he was betrayed. In other words, the Church of God must have the truth of the New Covenant: Passover. Among all the churches in this world, it is only the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) that keeps the Passover of the New Covenant with the name “Church of God” This is very reason I chose to attend the World Mission Society Church of God. Would you not also want to receive the blessing of eternal life together with me in the World Mission Society Church of God that Jesus had established?
Recent Comments