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Title:
"FAMILY
LIFE"
Author:
Sinclair Ferguson
Excerpt from: "Children of the Living
God"
"God setteth the solitary in families:
he bringeth out those which are bound with chains:
but the rebellious dwell in a dry land."
Psalm 68:6
God sets the lonely in families,
writes the psalmist (Psalm 68:6).
That is true naturally. It is just as true spiritually. Just
as children bear the image of the parents, so God has created His
children in His image when He brings them into the family of His grace.
He is, after all, the Father from whom the "whole family in heaven
and on earth derives its name" (Ephesians
3:15). We are His children; we have His "last
name." We belong to Him and to each other as members of His
family.
The moment we are born into the Kingdom of God, we become members of the
family of God. We have new brothers and sisters. The
Christian life brings not only a new Father and a new disposition, but
also new family relationships. As children of God we cannot be
solitary, isolationist, or individualistic. Just as we are to live in
the light of our new Father's presence in our lives, and the new
dispositions He has given to us, so we are also to live in the context
of our family membership. Belonging to the household of faith (Galatians
6:10, Ephesians 2:19) involves many new privileges and
requires that we recognize certain new responsibilities.
This idea, that we are not only Christians, but as such are brothers
(which in the language of the New Testament includes
"sisters"!) profoundly influences the way we are to think and
live. "Brother" is one of the most emotive words in the
human vocabulary. In the language of the New Testament the word is
adelphos. It is a compound word (a = "from" and delphus
= "womb") and conveys the idea of coming from the same womb.
This is what makes brothers special. They come from the same
parents; at one time they inhabited the same dark, mysterious world of
their mother's womb. They share a common origin, and from the
beginning have shared a common environment. No other relationship
in life has those features.
According to the New Testament, the same is true of Christians. We
have been given "new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1
Peter 1:3). The "womb" which has given us new
life is the empty tomb of Jesus. Through the power of His
resurrection we have been given new birth and share in a common
inheritance which can never perish, spoil, or fade (1
Peter 1:4).
Our common family tie explains the wonderful phenomenon that every
Christian experiences whenever he moves from one area of his country to
another, or from one continent to another: Those who belong to the
family of God share a common family likeness and recognize one another.
Language, culture, and education may all be different, but a common bond
-- we might even say common genetic structure created by the Spirit --
unites us as member of the same family. We have the same Father,
the same Elder Brother, the same family code, the same inheritance.
No wonder we learn quickly to appreciate each other!
* * *
JoyPals.com-ReformedWomen
Editor & Publisher,
“Heavenly Notes 2002”
* * *
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