Next of Kin

Imagine walking through the country down a lonely path and hearing the crying of small children.  As you look around, you see clay pots scattered around.  Inside each pot is a tiny, helpless child that has been abandoned by his parents.   Would you believe me if I told you that we are those children?

Believe it or not, child abandonment was a common practice in ancient times.  It was not unusual for an infant to be exposed to the elements by being placed in a clay pot.  Their fate was death or slavery, unless someone came along and rescued that child and adopted them into their family.

In the same way, we all have been abandoned by parents named “sin” (James 1:15, Romans 3:23).  Yet God has given each one of us a unique opportunity to be rescued. What an awesome privilege to be called children of God (1 John 3:1).  God will certainly adopt us (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:15) when we are abandoned.  All we have to do is cry out (Acts 22:16, Acts 17:24-31).

Paul the apostle told the Romans that being a child of God is (Romans 8:14-17):

Official – The Roman Christians were eligible for spiritual adoption because of Christ’s sacrifice (8:1-4).  Adoption according to the Roman world was recognized with the same status as a biological child.  Therefore, being a child of God is a legitimate position within His family.  This same adoption is offered to all Christians and it is official! Christians are sealed with God’s Spirit just as a seal would offer authenticity and ownership to a letter (2 Cor. 1:22, Eph 1:13)

Intimate – God’s sons are allowed to call him by the intimate Aramaic term for father.  The relationship between God and His children is not merely official, but also deeply relational.  Since the creation of the world, God has desired a close relationship with His people.  Genesis 3 shows that God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve.  The New Testament describes how Jesus walked this earth, and today His spirit resides within each of His children.  Because of this, His children can call out to Him as their heavenly father.

Blessed – When we read the Bible, we learn that inheritance was important.  While the inheritance God provides for His children is not silver and gold, the blessing He offers is far more precious.  For those who are willing to commit to being a child of God even through the sufferings associated with being in Christ, there awaits an inheritance as His heirs.  That inheritance is the promise of sharing in Christ’s glory.  This is the blessing of being a child of God for eternity (Ephesians 1:18, 1 Peter 1:3-5).

Parents die, and adoptions get dissolved.  It is not uncommon for families to be estranged.  Millions of people go through life without ever having been blessed by their parents to receive an inheritance.  God is much bigger than all of that.  He is a father that is close, committed and caring for His children for all eternity.  Don’t you want to be called a child of God?

This morning as my husband and I were asking a blessing from God just before we began eating the food He had provided for us, in Bob’s prayer was a phrase something like, “Please help us make the right choices…” As we ended the prayer with the usual “In Jesus name, Amen”, I was still thinking about the phrase “help us make the right choices.”  I had been reviewing this lesson about being God’s Chosen Family.  From the course I read this:

If we are “in Christ,” then we are among those chosen by God. Today, we are the “us” of that great assurance: “He chose us in Him.”  Are you in Christ? Are you in His family? Then the names that once set Israel apart now find their fulfillment in you.

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Yes, you fit into God’s plans for “a chosen people.” God, even “before the creation,” chooses this family, which He calls “the church.” … God calls us His “workmanship” for which He has long prepared (Ephesians 2:10).  Indeed, Christ and His bride, the church stand together as the glorious centerpiece of God’s “eternal purpose” (Ephesians 3:10-11, 20; 5:31-32). This is the family where you belong, or ought to belong!

Hmmm… “ought to belong”.  This seems to say that I have a choice.  Can I, as one of God’s chosen people, choose to obey Him or reject Him, choose to belong to Him or deny Him?  In order to check out the truth of the thoughts in my mind, I went to the scriptures to read what happened when a people chosen by God chose to reject His way.

The book of 1 Samuel describes the choosing and anointing of Saul, the Benjamite, to be the first king of the Israelites – the family God had chosen to be the “ancestors” of His Son.  The Israelite people had rejected God when they said they wanted a king. 1 Samuel 8:5–7 tells us when the Israelite people said to Samuel, the prophet,

“You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have”,

Samuel became “displeased.”   Samuel prayed to the Lord and the Lord said to Samuel, “…it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.”

The story continues; Saul is anointed king.  Then in 1 Samuel 12:12b-15, Samuel says to the people –

“… you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’ – even though the Lord your God was your king.  Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you.  If you fear the Lord and serve and obey Him and do not rebel against His commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God – good!  But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you…”

Samuel continues to warn the people about the importance of following God.  He tells them what they “ought to do” and what would happen if they rebel against God.  The people were convinced of God’s power and stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.  Then in verse 24, Samuel gives these instructions to the people,

“Be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.  Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

The next episode of this story will continue in the next phase of this blog.  We will study more about the king and the choices he made as he leads those who were called “The Family of God.”

“I’ve been guilty of feeling that way.  ‘Jesus? Yes. Church? No.’  I have looked at the actions of some Christian people and thought they were so far from what I thought Christianity was supposed to be that I wanted no part of ‘church’.  My unspoken conclusion was that I could be a better Christian in my one-on-one relationship to God than I could in a group of people who were flawed.  Is that a true statement? Can I be a better Christian alone than in a group?”

Have you ever picked up on a conversation, tried to “fill in the blanks”, and respond to an “unheard” or “unspoken” question.  That’s where I’m beginning as I read the above comments.  The person who asked this question is a friend of mine.  She is a beautiful person – inside and out.  She is a faithful giant in the church.  As I read these words, I am comforted to know that even ”the very faithful” can sometime face challenges in comprehending all that God tells us in His word.

Since she brought up the topic, “Jesus or church?” -  a personal relationship with Jesus or a community relationship with those church members who may present themselves as less than perfect, I’d like to share some scriptures to see “what the Bible says. ”

We read in John 14:6 where Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” Good, I read that knowing Jesus is the “way” I reach the Father.

The Father says, “This is My Son, whom I love.  Listen to Him!” Mark 9:7.   So God and the Father agree.

Then Jesus in His prayer to the Father in John 17:7-8 says about His community relationships,

“Now they know that everything You have given Me is from You.  For I gave them the words You gave Me and they accepted them.  They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”

And further down in the same chapter, Jesus is praying for us – as His community of relationships is ever increasing.  Verses 20 and 21,

“My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent me.”

Jesus is praying for you and me – those of us who are in His church – His community of believers.

Okay – now what does this have to do with the “either/or” subject of Jesus or church?  Is my personal relationship with Jesus more important than my community relationship with those who believe in and are obedient to Jesus but who may not be perfect?

Ephesians 1:3 tells us God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” The church (those who are “in Christ”) was established by God so His believers could share His blessings – blessings of love, comfort, correction, salvation.

Acts 2: 47 “…And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” And 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul said he was writing to the church of God, “…to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy.” Hebrews 10:24 admonishes us to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

With all of this evidence from God’s word, it seems to me that I only have one choice.  My community relationship with the church and my personal relationship with Jesus are BOTH important.  I am “in Christ”; therefore, I will seek to maintain my very personal relationship with Christ and with the church – The Family of God.

Family. Kin. Loved ones. Ancestors. Heritage. Children. Parents. Blood. Ah, “blood”. It’s the blood that makes us kin. It struck that God is into family planning.

I usually think of family planning as something that was invented in the 20th century.  However, when you think about it, Scripture says that before the world was created, God wrote down the names of those who would choose to be members of His family by blood. The blood that puts us in God’s family, that makes Him our Father, is the blood of Jesus – the royal, kingly, priestly, holy prophet’s blood of Jesus, the Christ that was offered so we could be adopted.

The Son of the King died for His enemies?  Why? To bring us into His family as His children. What a deal!

So, let’s get to living like heirs of the King! This is the place to learn together how to live as children who are worthy to called by His name.  Let’s get started today.