Tag Archives: family

WHAT IS THE LOCAL CHURCH?

Apologetics,

Isn’t it amazing how people, we humans, have the knack of changing God’s Word to suit us. Take, for example, the way we identify church groups, denominating them by theological criteria…Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican…etc. We immediately associate people belonging to these “denominations” as either subscribing to infant baptism and confirmation versus believer’s baptism, hierarchical church government versus congregational rule, or even “born-again, Spirit-filled believers” versus the rest! There are other, lesser differences that give denominations their unique identity, as in today’s world, independant groups who think they have a handle on the truth but, in the end, these are artificial, non-biblical, superimposed differences.

The New Testament puts the church into only two categories according to its GEOGRAPHY, the local church and the universal or global church. So, churches were identified by where they were situated in the known world of that day.

Jesus is head of the universal church, His body which, like a human body, is made up of cells, which are the local churches…all believing the same truth, all connected to and living under the authority of the same Lord. Unlike the human body whose cells function differently, the cells of the global church have similar functions.

Some local churches today, unfortunately, have lost or ignored the pattern of the biblical church. Some are run as businesses, others as clubs, still others as military operations, with strict hierarchical orders, depending on the bent of the leadership.

No so the church of the Lord Jesus Christ! His church is made up of His sons and daughters doing life together under the loving leadership of its Head. Each member is a responsible and willing partner in the harmonious togetherness of the whole.

Let’s examine three of the main functions of the local church.

First, the nature of the church is a FAMILY . Every member of the local church is a son or daughter of God, born from above by the Spirit of God and adopted as full members into His divine family. Every member worships the same Lord, believes and practises His Word, and is connected to every other member by the “glue” of the same Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13 NLT
[13] “Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.”

Jesus is both head and elder brother in this family. In the Hebrew family, the eldest son, the first-born, is responsible for the wellbeing of all the “second-borns”, and the family as a whole. As the “priest” of the family, he represents the family to the father and the father to the family. So, Jesus, our elder brother, represents the Father in all the doings and dealings of the family and us to the Father. God chose Him to be the head and leader of His family because He was qualified to be High Priest of the family.

Hebrews 5:5, 8-9 NLT
[5] “That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”…
[8] Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. [9] In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.”

Hebrews 2:10 NLT
[10] “God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”

This new family overrides all human family ties.

Matthew 12:48-50 NLT
[48] “Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” [49] Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. [50] Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

We become members of God’s family by adoption through the new birth.

Ephesians 1:5 NLT
[5] “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

Romans 8:14-16 NLT
[14] “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. [15] So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” [16] For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”

Jesus is the head, elder brother, High Priest, and blueprint for every member of His family.

…made like us…

Hebrews 2:11, 14, 17 NLT
[11] So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters…

…died for us…

[14] Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.

…represents us…

[17] “Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.”

… and we are being remade like Him…

Romans 8:28-29 NLT
[28]”And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. [29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the FIRSTBORN among many brothers and sisters.”

Togetherness is the hallmark of the family, bound by love and the strong family ties of new birth and belonging. So, the whole New Covenant presents the blueprint for the life of love and unity in the kingdom, the solid foundation of our family connectedness. It’s this real difference between the church and the world that alerts unbelievers to true power of the gospel.

John 13:34-35 NLT
[34] “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. [35] Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

John 17:23 NLT
[23] “I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”

Second, this divine family expresses itself through FELLOWSHIP.

What is fellowship?

Worldly clubs and organisations sometimes classify their togetherness as” fellowship” because they share the same goals and objectives. Their “fellowship” is based on ideas and philosophies external to themselves. Most often, their goals and objectives are not the driving force of their lives but rather some “after-hours” activity they engage in.

No so the church!

John teaches us about fellowship in his first letter.

1 John 1:2-3 NLT
[2] “This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Fellowship in the church begins in the heart and is the heart of its togetherness. Real fellowship has Jesus as its root…understandimg and believing who He is and what He did, according to the Bible’s evidence, and being rooted by faith in Him as the source of life itself. Fellowship with one another is based securely on “Christ in us, the hope of glory”.

The miracle of this fellowship is that first, we share the very life of Jesus through faith in Him, and second, we share this common life with one another because He is in us collectively as His body, the church.

Third, we maintain the integrity of this fellowship by being transparent with one another and with the Father.

1 John 1:5-7 NLT
[5] This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. [6] So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. [7] But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

God the Father has impregnated us with His own nature by His word…

1 Peter 1:22-23 NIV
[22] “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. [23] For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

1 John 3:9-10 NIV
[9] “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. [10] This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

Both Peter and John testify that the evidence of new birth and the presence of the life of God in us is the love we have for one another.

This means that Jesus Christ is the heart of our fellowship because He is at the centre of the Father’s heart and He is the centre of our new lives.

The most amazing truth is that God maintains the integrity of our fellowship by the constant cleansing of the blood of Jesus as we walk in honesty with the Lord and with one another.

The third characteristic of the local church is it’s FUNCTION .

The primary function of some local churches is to turn the church into a facility for “tertiary education”. The function of their churches is to train people in every facet of Christian life. Seminars, courses, conferences, meetings, even church services…all the members must attend to qualify for serving in the church and to move them towards becoming model believers.

Other congregations, for example, focus on the “good works” side of their life together. Social involvement is the main function of their family.

These things may be important but they must flow from, not be the reason for family togetherness. The function of the family, first, is to be a family. It is this aspect of the local congregation’s life that sets it apart from all other worldly groups and organisations.

We have this witness in the life of the early church in Acts. The church was welded together by the way they handled their everyday lives…their problems and challenges…applying the wisdom given to them by the Spirit to overcome their human frailties.

The outcome was waves of new converts, convinced by the witness of believers to their new lives, and coming into the church through the One who changed the people in God’s family. Being convinced that this was a God-thing, they wanted to be a part of it. Despite hardship and persecution, they also believed and were born into God’s family.

After the judgment in Ananias and Sapphira…

Acts of the Apostles 5:11-14 NLT
[11] Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. [12] The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade.
[13] “But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. [14] Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.”

So, we have, in Scripture, the witness of one global church, divided, geographically, into small units…believers living in unity with each other in obedience to their Head, doing life together, and having a powerful influence on outsiders.

What if the artificially divided and theologically distanced groups of believers today were to return to our roots in the New Testament? Perhaps the church of the Lord Jesus would no longer be a joke but would once again become the powerful force that would turn our world “right-side-up”!

21 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF PRAYER

Christian Life, ,

21 – ENGAGING THE POWERS OF THE KINGDOM – THE POWER OF PRAYER

Now this is a huge subject! So many streams of thought, but in this context, let’s look at prayer as it contributes to learning to live with God as our Father and in the love and harmony of God’s family in the environment of a hostile world. Remember, we are living in God’s kingdom in the middle of enemy territory.

First of all, what is prayer?

We have unfortunately made prayer a formal activity confined to specific times and places, when we pray aloud or in our minds, starting with “Dear Lord Jesus…” or “Dear Heavenly Father…” and ending with “…in Jesus’ name, amen.” You must end with “Amen” so God knows you’ve finished praying! It’s almost like signing off a radio communication, “Over and out.”

That’s not prayer. That’s our idea of prayer. It actually contradicts Paul’s instruction to “pray without ceasing” or, better, “never stop praying.” How can we pray all day and all night if we pray our “dear Heavenly Father” prayers?

  1. Prayer is a family activity

More than anything else, children need a father. He gives them the security of an identity, and protects and provides for them in their weakness and vulnerability.

A good father is always available for his children. He listens and understands, gives good counsel and does not judge or criticise. We talk to our dads about everything. We tell him stuff, we ask advice, we make requests, we share our ideas, we go to him for comfort, reassurance, help, even affirmation and praise.

God is our Father and He is always with us. He wants us to treat Him and trust Him as our perfect Father. He wants to be part of the most personal and intimate details of our lives. He’s always available.

  1. Our Father knows what we need

Much of our “praying” is taken up with needs. We have to inform, explain and advise God about our needs in case He forgets. After all, He does have a world full of people to take care of, who also have needs.

This kind of praying comes from a low view of God as our Father. We see God through our earthly father which is a bad perspective, not a Biblical one.

Our Father is more to us than the checkout at a grocery store. He is our Father, the one who has our best interests at heart and has the wisdom and power to care for us in every way.

  1. Prayer is our access to all the resources of the kingdom

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT

Everything we need to live as God’s children in a hostile environment, a depressed economy, and a disease-riddled planet is at our disposal.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Living in this world is a dangerous business

A father’s role is to protect his children from danger. Earthly fathers can’t always do this, but our Heavenly Father can. He has legions of angels at His beck and call.

“Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.” Hebrews 1:14 NLT

He dispatches them in a flash to stand between us and danger.

“For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” Psalms 91:11-12 NLT

He never permits anything that does not work for our good.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 NLT

As much as we need protection from the natural and physical dangers around us, how much more do we need to guard our minds from the deception that can destroy us and our destiny in this life.

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

How can we be safe from Satan’s devices?

God has provided armour that protects our thoughts… God’s armour is found in God’s Word.

“Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11 NLT

There is protection in humility.

“And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:6-7 NLT

  1. Our Father understands our hearts

Sometimes it’s difficult to understand with our finite minds the meaning of what the Bible is saying. Take this Scripture, for example.

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Romans 8:26-27 NLT

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in us. We know that but what does it mean? There is such an intimacy between the Holy Spirit, the Father and us that the Holy Spirit who understands our frail humanity, takes the jumble in our minds and hearts and presents it to the Father with perfect clarity.

I don’t understand all the details of this interaction but it comforts me to know that my muddled mind and emotions never hinder God’s responses to me. This produces a peace inside me that is unaffected by the chaos around me.

  1. Prayer allows us to participate in God’s business

What is God’s business?

4.1. The kingdom is God’s business.

“… Your kingdom come, your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 NIV

We make prayer so much about ourselves, our needs and wants that we forget that we are here to fit into God’s bigger story. We know that Jesus spent time finding out what the Father wanted Him to say and do.

“Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19 NIV

When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are not dispassionate spectators but enthusiastic participants, involving ourselves in the Father’s business as partners with Him.

Jesus gave us this instruction,

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33 NLT

The greatest blow to Satan and his thirst for control is to do whatever we can, by word or deed, to represent the kingdom of God where we are. In partnership with the Holy Spirit, like Jesus, we should be on the alert for opportunities to put God’s kingdom on display.

4.2. God’s family is His business

The New Testament is dotted with “one another” instructions. Why is this? Caring for one another is one of the only two commandments in the New Covenant.

“And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.” 1 John 3:23 NLT

I don’t think we can be more loving than by praying for one another. Paul’s letters are full of examples of the prayers he prayed for his fellow believers. His concern for them was  reflected in what he prayed for them. We can learn much from him about what to focus on when we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16 NLT

There are no examples in the New Testament of prayers for the salvation of unbelievers. I wonder why? Was Paul not concerned about their salvation? Of course he was, but Paul viewed them from God’s perspective. A study of Romans 10 reveals that it is believing the gospel, not prayer, that saves people.

So, prayer for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth and for our fellow believers is a powerful weapon in our arsenal of weaponry against our common enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are in this together. We have one goal, to fulfill God’s purpose for us.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18 NIV

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:10-11 NIV

We are one family in Christ, living together in love and harmony, preparing for our eternal home with the Father by living under His authority in this evil world.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – WHO ARE MY MOTHER AND BROTHERS?

Bible Study, ,

WHO ARE MY MOTHER AND BROTHERS?

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:20-35

They thought He was out of His mind but He could not have been saner! It was not Jesus’ behaviour that was the problem. It was the madness of the crowd. They wanted what He could do for them. In typical mob fashion, they had no respect for Jesus or for one another, everyone pushing and shoving, everyone trying to get near Him for what they wanted, impatient, disorderly, rude and demanding.

Family and friends heard about it and tried to get Him out of there as though He were incapable of taking care of Himself. They thought He was helpless to do anything about it. They wanted to disconnect Him from the suffering and need of the unruly crowd but they could not. Mark’s record tells us nothing about the outcome. They wanted to rescue Him, by force if necessary, but did they? No! Jesus would not permit anyone to do anything to Him that was not sanctioned by His Father. Even though they were not aware of it, no-one could do anything to Him that was not part of the Father’s plan.

Jesus revealed His total command of the situation by His response to the Pharisees’ accusation and His family’s attempted intervention. The religious leaders read the whole episode as having demonic overtones. He was using black magic to con the people. He was deliberately stirring up this irreligious mob because He had a hidden agenda. By seducing them with magic, He wanted to raise an army of followers who would stir up trouble against Rome!

Jesus’ reply was masterful. With the deft strokes of a master artist, He painted a word picture of the implications of their accusation. It was not Rome that was their problem but dark spiritual forces that held them captive; deformities, diseases, and depravity held them in their grip. Would Satan be that foolish that he would use someone in league with himself to break his power over them? Not likely! Think again, you fools! Jesus was no magician!

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THE FAMILY REDEFINED

Bible Study, ,

THE FAMILY REDEFINED

“His mother and brothers showed up but couldn’t get through to Him because of the crowd. He was given the message, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to see you.’ He replied, ‘My mother and brothers are the ones who hear and do God’s Word. Obedience is thicker than blood.'” Luke 8:19-21.

Jesus’ relationship with His human family was unique. No other family on earth had a sibling who was both God and man. Mary knew that, but she still had difficulty in realising that, once He had left her home, she had not more claim to Him. He still acknowledged her as His earthly mother – at the cross He placed her in John’s care – but He embraced a much bigger and closer family than His blood family.

It must have been difficult for Mary to cut the ties of motherhood with Him and make the transition from Jesus, her son to Jesus, her Lord. At some time during her son’s public ministry or perhaps after the resurrection she must have finally made the transition. She was among the one hundred and twenty worshippers who were gathered together on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and the church was born.

Like many Jewish families, Jesus was the first of a large number of siblings. He had four brothers, according to the mention of their names, and at least two sisters, perhaps more, although unnamed but, to His brothers He was just Jesus, their eldest brother and Mary’s firstborn and heir. They resented Him. They neither recognised Him as the Messiah nor even treated Him with respect until after the resurrection.

His brothers had been sceptical and positively rude to Him. On one occasion, before the Feast of Tabernacles, they taunted Him. “‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.” John 7:3, 4 (NIV).

Jesus was not fazed by their cruel taunts, but He must have been saddened by their unbelief. Yet it must have been difficult for them to realise that their own brother was the Son of God. It took the horrifying and shocking events of His crucifixion and resurrection to shake their scepticism and bring them to faith in Him as Messiah and Lord.

Other gospel writers reveal the reason for His family’s coming on this occasion. Things had hotted up so much around him – His popularity with the crowd on the one hand, and His conflict with the religious leaders on the other – that they thought they needed to rescue Him because He had lost it! But He made is clear that He was very sane. Some of those who followed Him were learning and forging a loyalty with Him that ran much deeper than human family bonds and they needed to understand that.

Was Jesus implying that there is no such thing as second-generation faith? Every person has to believe and take responsibility for his or her own connection to Him. Each one who hears and responds in obedience to the Word of God becomes a part of the family of God and lives under His rule.

Perhaps this is also an answer to the “once saved, always saved” question. We have to move away from the idea that “salvation” is a passport that we carry to give us access to heaven when we die. That is far from the Biblical concept of salvation. It is the process by which we are being restored to “shalom” – wholeness – so that we can fit in in God’s kingdom where there is no imperfection of any kind.

Those who think that salvation is a passport that they will produce at the pearly gates may get a shock when they are told, ‘I never knew you.’ To be saved, in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3, is to receive the supernatural grace of the Holy Spirit to enter the kingdom of God, to submit to His rule and obey His Word so that He can transform us into true sons and daughters.

Have you done that?

Learning To Be A Son – Chapter One – Sonship God’s Original Design

Book Reviews, , , ,

LEARNING TO BE A SON

CHAPTER ONE

Sonship – God’s Original Design

God’s dream was to create a family, sons and daughters who would resemble Him and be one with Him and who would be His vice-regents to rule over the earth. His plan was that all people would be His children. Even when Adam fell and was driven from God’s presence in disgrace, he was still God’s son, just as the prodigal in Jesus’ story remained the son of the father even when he rebelled and left home.

The father in the story did not disown him. He waited for his erring son to return and welcomed him home with joy because his lost son had been found. No matter how far God’s human family runs from Him, we can never be “unborn” because, as the offspring of Adam, whom Luke described as “the son of God”; (Luke 3:38), we are all sons and daughters of God.

Paul acknowledged this by quoting a Greek poet in Acts 17: 28 – We are all His offspring.

The older son was equally “lost”, not because he ran away but because he was estranged from the father by having a slave-mentality. Like the Pharisees who despised “sinners”, the older son refused to rejoice when his brother returned home because he was more concerned about his brother’s behaviour than his standing as a son.

God had reasons for creating the human race. Apart from His desire to give His love to a family, He had to sort out an issue with Satan. God created the angelic host to be “sons of God’, but Lucifer, the highest of the angelic beings who became Satan, had designs on God’s throne. He was evicted from God’s presence and thrown down upon the earth. It was his plan to entice the human race away from love and loyalty to the Father to exert his rule over the earth through them.

Through the nation of Israel, it was God’s intention to reveal His true nature to the entire human race and to prepare them to receive His Messiah who would redeem humanity from slavery to the devil and restore and reinstate them into the family of God. Israel failed to fulfil its mission, but God always preserved a faithful remnant through whom He would send His Son.

Through judgement and discipline God dealt with Israel’s waywardness. He never gave up on them because Israel was His firstborn “son”. From the beginning He had planned and promised that He would send His Messiah to rescue them from bondage to sin.

But God’s promises to Israel extended beyond the boundaries of one nation. God’s love was for the whole world. His promises were made to the Gentiles as well. Not only did He call Israel His son; Egypt and Assyria, symbolic of the worst of Israel’s enemies, were to be included in the promise of blessing (Isa. 19: 24-25).

Can it be, then, that God has included the whole world, even those who reject Him and worship false gods, in His family? The Scripture concludes that all are potentially the sons of God, sons by birth and relationship but estranged from God through sin, rebellion and unbelief. Those who have received Jesus and believed on His name have been given the right to become children of God experientially (John 1:12), but the door is open for everyone to take their rightful place as His children through His mercy and forgiveness in Christ.

Through Jesus He set up His rescue plan so that those who are at enmity with Him may be reconciled through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Those who refuse His offer of mercy must accept the consequences of their choice, but it is their choice, not God’s that they face eternal judgment and destruction instead of the love of God’s eternal family.