God’s Property-There Has Been An Ownership Transfer Series

Sermon – God’s Property-There has Been an Ownership Transfer

Scripture-I Corinthians 6:19,20 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

Introduction: Imagine waking up in the morning and finding that your neighbor has built a fence in the corner of your front yard and has moved in some hogs. It then begins to rain, and in a few hours your rich, green lawn is turned into a swamp of mud and filth. Your outrage would certainly be justified! To use the property of another against his consent and for purposes which are dishonoring to him is both inconsiderate and illegal. In the same manner, every believer belongs to the Lord, spirit, soul, and body.

I think all of us would agree with David when he said, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Man has been studying his existence for centuries and still does not understand all there is to know about our makeup. I am also afraid that Christians don’t understand much about our existence as well. I am talking about who we are, why we are and what we should be since we belong to God. Paul alerts the Corinthian Church to the idea of an ownership transfer. What is a Transfer Of Ownership Agreement? A transfer of ownership agreement is a contract used to transfer ownership of something sold by one person (the Seller) to the person buying the products (the Buyer). These agreements can be used to sell a goods, a business, a vehicle, or even land. Paul uses this idea to describe the believer’s new relationship with God. Believers do not belong to themselves any longer, we have been brought with a price and we belong to God.

Paul wanted the Church at Corinth and us to know that to God, our existence and conduct are important. Corinth was a wealthy city because of its commerce, since it is situated on two harbors, it makes easy the exchange of merchandise between countries. The merchants from Italy and Asia, landed their cargoes there. In addition to their wealth, Corinthians worshiped Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. And the temple of Aphrodite was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple slaves, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess. And therefore it was on account of these women that the city was crowded with people and grew rich. The wealth and influence was tempting even to the church.

Paul informed the believers of what their attitude should be and challenged them to view their existence from God’s perspective. Mankind was created by God, deformed by sin, informed by the word, reborn by faith in Christ Jesus and reclaimed as God’s property for his Glory. Believers were made for the Lord’s use and glory. As Believers, our spirits have been revived, our minds are being renewed, and our bodies were designed to serve the Lord in this life and in the life to come. The body is the instrument in which a man serves God. It is the instrument believers use to glorify God. The Biblical principle of ownership involves recognizing that all that we are, all that we have or will have ultimately belongs to God, and that He has entrusted to us life, earthly resources, gifts, talents and the responsibility for their stewardship.

Our society is filled with an individualism that emphasizes the importance of the individual, for example the individual's freedom, interests, rights, needs, or beliefs against the predominance of other institutions in regulating the individual's behavior, such as the state or the church. Yet, God calls the believer into His very own family, under his direction, under his guidelines and privileges. Let us consider three things from this text:

I. The Believer’s Body is the temple of God. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,”

In the Old Testament, God had a temple for His people; in the New Testament, God has a people for His temple. At the moment of salvation, the Body of every believer becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. He comes to indwell us and make our body a sacred habitation. We take great care of our church buildings. The sanctuary is maintained with special attention to its cleanliness. A high degree of reverence is shown for what we commonly call “God’s House.” God dwells in the body of every believer. My body is the temple of God. The claim that believers should admit “is that you are not your own” You do not belong to yourselves.