You are mine
You are mine: I am the exclusive property of Jesus Christ
Several years ago, I worked in Angola, a Portuguese-speaking country in west Africa. One evening while driving home, amidst the chaos of driving in the city centre of Luanda, capital of one of the most affluent and poverty-stricken countries at the same time, I saw this bumper sticker:
Eu sou propriedade exclusiva de Jesus Cristo
It translates to: I am the exclusive property of Jesus Christ. It made me think that during all of what I experienced around me, someone made a public statement that they were not owned or controlled by a government, corruption, politics, or anybody else, but that they belong to God only. It is easy to lose focus when you look at the situation around you and forget that God is still in control. I saw many people with lost limbs – the result of the civil war and millions of landmines that still have not been lifted. I saw poverty beyond belief – each time it rained, homes were flooded, and people had nowhere to go. Mosquitos killed many. Somehow, for some, their faith remained solid. Despite the circumstances, they belong to God, and he cares for them.
The Bible addresses this very well:
1But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. – Isaiah 43:1
Just read this again and take in what it says. In this context, God speaks to the nation of Israel, but this applies equally to us today. God created me. He redeemed me – He bought me back from the devil. He called me by my name. Imagine the massive database that holds the personal details of every person who has ever lived. Amongst all of these, God knows me and calls me by my name. Finally, He says that I am His. What an amazing statement: I am His.
Later, Jesus prayed to the Father and John penned these words:
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. – John 17:6
The Creator of the universe says to His Father that He was given people who first belonged to the Father. Again, we should take the time to carefully read what Jesus says here:
- He proclaimed His name to those the Father gave to Him;
- They were part of the world, meaning that once, they were unsaved, but they found grace through Jesus Christ;
- They first belonged to God the Father, but He gave them to His Son, to be His property; and
- They kept His Word.
Think about it this way: God created man in His image, not only physically, but spiritually. The fall of man in the garden of Eden stripped man of the continued ability to share a spiritual relationship with God, and the devil tried to take possession of man – his soul and spirit. To re-establish the relationship, God sent His only Son to come and redeem man from the clutches of sin and the hold the devil has over him:
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16
Would you send your only son to the front lines of the war to protect people that are essentially wicked, knowing that he would pay with his life? God the Father did this, for us who were dead in our sins. The result is that He not only won us over, but has made us His property, to protect and cherish. I am so important to God that Paul wrote the following:
19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Not only have we been bought back from the slavery of sin, mostly affecting the soul and the spirit, but our bodies are now home to the Holy Spirit. Note that Peter stresses that we have been bought with a price – the death of Jesus on the cross was an expensive transaction:
18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. – 1 Peter 1:18-21
If you have purchased something that was expensive, you take care of it and value it. In the same way, God values you and me as belonging to Him. The owner of the bumper sticker we referred to at the beginning states that they are the exclusive property of Jesus Christ. No one else has any part of them anymore. Once we have been redeemed from a life of sin, the devil has no further hold over us, unless we allow him to.
Conclusion
The question is whether you are the exclusive property of Jesus or if some part of you still belongs to the evil one. If you belong exclusively to Jesus Christ, then there is no place for the devil. The devil operates in your life through the sin you commit. How much sin do you still entertain, believing that what you do is not so bad and that no one else knows about it? God knows, and each time you sin and do not repent of it, the devil chips away a little bit of the person you are in Christ. Yet God makes it possible for us to repent of sin:
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:8-9
Confess sin as soon as you are aware of it. Prevent the devil from having part of your life. Make yourself the exclusive property of Jesus Christ today. His blood has cleansed you.