Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
***
(Today’s Book Installment)
The One True Church
Chapter 35 – The Mother of Us All
A 3rd-century bishop named Cyprian famously wrote:
“He cannot have God for his Father, who has not the church for his mother.”
This sentence is often quoted in modern times to impress upon converts to Christ the necessity of churchgoing. However, that take may have been justified in the 3rd century, but it is not justified today – especially once you understand how the New Testament church is the one true church and how it is different from all others.
In the 3rd century, church – like synagogue – was still the place people congregated to hear the Scriptures. Hearing them read was important because 1) literacy rates were so much lower than they are today, and 2) copies of the Scriptures were much more expensive, relatively speaking, than they are today.
As for comparative literacy rates:
“In the 3rd century, only 10% to 15% of the general population in the Roman Empire could read or write. In the 21st century, global literacy stands at roughly 87%, with many developed nations exceeding 99%.”
– Google AI
As for comparative costs of a Bible:
“Owning a complete copy of the Christian scriptures in the 3rd century required roughly 100% to 400% of a typical head of household’s annual income. In stark contrast, a physical copy in the 21st century requires less than 0.05% of an annual income, or 0% if accessed digitally.”
– Google AI
Because of these factors, most people in the 3rd century still had to go to a public setting to hear what the Scriptures said. In the 21st century, there essentially is no need. We can have Bibles all over our houses, and carry free copies on our phones wherever we go.
We gain information about the one true church from the Scriptures – specifically, in the New Testament. Whether you lived during the 3rd century or the 21st century, it’s the one true church who is the mother of your faith. For the church being read about in 3rd-century gatherings is the same church that can be read about in 21st-century homes.
I’ve previously illustrated the New Testament church as the kingdom of God in embryonic form. Now I want you enhance and personalize that image by recognizing that the New Testament church was the mother who brought the kingdom of God to birth.
One of the most prominent patterns found in the Bible is that of a barren woman who finally bears a child through divine action. Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel are the earliest examples. All of them foreshadowed ancient Israel’s role as the Lord’s wife.
Looking at the broad sweep of ancient Israel’s history, it was barren insofar as producing the kingdom God had longed for. But the rise of spiritual Israel in the 1st century brought an end to that barrenness. She became pregnant with the kingdom of God and birthed it in the Second Coming.
Jesus Himself spoke of the birth pangs involved when He was explaining the events that would precede the Second Coming.
Matthew 24:8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
Of all the barren-then-fruitful women in the Bible, Rachel stands out as the one whose birth pangs were so great that she died in childbirth. Similarly, the one true church died in birthing the kingdom of God.
Thus the 1st century church is the mother of us all. We cannot look at the New Testament without seeing her…and noticing how they loved the Lord and their posterity more than themselves.
***
