You Are Part of a Family

Scripture: "That is why you are no longer foreigners and outsiders but citizens together with God's people and members of God's family." Ephesians 2:19

The Family You Never Had

I always wanted a sister. A brother is what I got, and a great one at that, but not quite the same as a sister that you can dress up with and talk about women-things. But then my brother married a wonderful girl, Sarah, and my whole life changed. Not only did I now have a sister in her, but she has 4 sisters (!), and they have now become my family too. I love it, and it is all because a marriage brought our families together. Did you know that a spiritual marriage in Heaven has given you a whole new family? The brother, mother, sister, father you never had is now available to you!

The Marriage of All Marriages

This isn't the kind of marriage you're thinking about, where a boy marries a girl. No, it's far greater than that. It's where God has given His own Son, Jesus, to be as a committed husband to His bride, the Church. What is the Church? The Church is made up of everyone who would call Jesus their Lord and Savior. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave His life for it." This means, in the same way a husband commits to love and be faithful to his wife, so Jesus loves and is committed to you, as His follower--but even more so than a normal husband. As the Bible says, Jesus sacrificed His own life to make you His bride. Wow!

Meet Your Family

And as a result, He gave you a whole, big family, filled with the others who are like you: followers of Jesus. In fact, the family of God is filled with every single person who has had or will have faith in Jesus as their Savior. It is the tie that binds all of us. That means we can be family with people in different cultures, different ages, even different time periods! The great apostles of the Church-Peter, Paul, John-you are their relatives! The poor in destitute countries who trust in Jesus and the rich in plentiful countries who bow to Him as Lord: We are all family. Listen to what it says:

"You are all God's children by believing in Christ Jesus. Clearly, all of you who were baptized in Christ's name have clothed yourselves with Christ. There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants and heirs, as God promised" (Galatians 3:26-29).

God Wants You to Be Cared For

Wow! God has really blessed us. He doesn't want us to be alone, struggling through life. Think of a baby that is born and thrown out into the cold…how terrible! And many of us have felt that way at one time or another, when we are really lonely and in need. No, God wants you to have a spiritual family where you can be loved and cared for, and you can eventually love and care for others. It says, "God places lonely people in families. He leads prisoners out of prison into productive lives, but rebellious people must live in an unproductive land" (Psalm 68:6).

The Privileges of God's Family

You are part of an incredible family in God's house. And as part of His family, you receive incredible privileges. Here are just some of them:

1) You get to have the God of the universe as your loving, Heavenly Father: The God that created every star in the sky and every tiny atom in the world cares for you as a Father. "As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:13). That means you can come to Him and find the love, protection, and guidance you are looking for in a father. You may not have had a loving, active father in your life, but God can fill your heart with the love you need…more than you can even imagine. He is a "Father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5).

2) You have people all over the world (near and far) to support and love you as family. Family is the bond that God created to be the most secure source of care, commitment, and guidance. It is where you would find value, safety, and support to become the person God created you to be. That's exactly how God's family, the Church, is to be. In your peers, you find spiritual brothers and sisters, and more mature people become as spiritual moms and dads. Paul, one of the Church's first leaders, explained this to his spiritual son, Timothy: "Never use harsh words when you correct an older man, but talk to him as if he were your father. Talk to younger men as if they were your brothers, older women as if they were your mothers, and younger women as if they were your sisters, while keeping yourself morally pure" (1 Timothy 5:1,2).

3) You can contribute to the growth of the family. God has created you to play a very important role in His family. He made you unique, and no one will be able to perfectly fill your shoes. The Bible actually compares us all to an intricate body, with each person being a specific part: "He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love" (Ephesians 4:16). What part are you? Maybe you are the mouth, and God created you to communicate His praises. Or maybe you are the liver, and though not seen, play an incredible role in detoxifying the body and keeping it healthy. Don't know your role? Ask God, and He will show you!