That which carries God’s Israel and makes it God’s people is therefore God’s own actions, over which none of us can rule, nor be entitled to. That a human being can be a member in God’s Israel is entirely a result of God’s merciful dealing with her, receiving her into that immense chain of events, which encompasses all time from the beginning of the world to the end of the world. The first Christians clearly understood that it was not they who had “become Christians” or “formed” a church. Everything had come to them, prepared from eternity, carried out by God according to a plan covering thousands of years. The Christians have been taken up by God into that huge drama of salvation, that began at the fall, was prepared through Abraham, Moses and the prophets, culminated on Calvary, and finally will be completed, when the kingdom of God comes in its power. They were chosen in Christ. And Christ existed before the creation of the world. Everything in heaven and on earth has been created through Him and to Him. He was present in everything which happened in the Old Testament. He accompanied Israel during its desert journey. He spoke through the prophets. He was prefigured by Melchizedek. He was sung of in the psalms. All the scriptures bore witness to Him. He was the goal and purpose of world history.
Bo Giertz, Christ’s Church – Her Biblical Roots, Her Dramatic History, Her Saving Presence, Her Glorious Future, Resource Publication, 2010
http://www.amazon.com/Christs-Church-Biblical-Dramatic-Presence/dp/1608997030
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