The Church as Valuable
The next thing Kenneth Gentry points out in his book is that the picture of the bride of Christ in Revelation 21 shows the church as valuable. We read in v19-21 that “The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”
All these precious and beautiful stones and pearls and gold are pictures of the value and worth that God sees in His people – remember, the city is the bride of Christ, God’s people.
Precious Living Stones
And again this is a picture that the New Testament often uses to talk of the church – a structure built with precious materials with Jesus as the cornerstone. Peter wrote to the early church: “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 NIV11)
So this is a picture of the people of God, living stones, precious to God as they stand in their place in His kingdom. And the question for us then, is this: do we see ourselves as precious? Do we see ourselves as priceless?
I’m not just talking individually here, because if we start to focus too much on that we might start getting a bit full of ourselves. But do we see the church – the people of God, who are faithful followers of Jesus – do we see them as the precious, priceless, cherished living stones that they are? Do we see them as God sees them, as ultimately valuable?
Much of the time we think a lot about our own worth and value to God, as we should. But then we tend to treat others as if they are less than that. As if God is gracious to us, but less so to them. As if God forgives our sins and cherishes us, but is angry at the sins of other Christians.
Cherished Living Stones
Perhaps we need to recognize that the people in the pews around us are precious living stones just like us.
Of course, the day will still come when this picture is perfected. The church is not yet what it should be. But meantime we recognize the value God places on us as His people, and we treat each other with the same grace as He treated us.
Go into the day and see each person as a precious living stone that builds up the city of God – which is the bride of Christ. And do your part in that city – using your time, talents and treasures to bring more people into the kingdom to take their place as part of the bride of Christ.
