15 Formed For God's Family

 

 

 

PURPOSE # 2

 

 

You Were Formed For God's Family

 

 

 I am the vine, and you are the branches.

John 15:5

 

Christ makes us one body...

Connected to each other.

Romans 12:5

 

 

15 Formed for God's Family

 

 

God is the one who made all things,

and all things are for his glory. He wanted to

have many children share his glory.

Hebrews 2:10a

 

See how very much our heavenly Father

loves us, for he allows us to be called

his children, and we really are!

1 John 3:1

 

You were formed for God's family.

God wants a family, and he created you to be a part of it.

This is God's second purpose for your life,

which he planned before you were born.

The entire Bible is the story of God building a family

who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever.

It says,

"His unchanging plan has always been

to adopt us into his own family

by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

And this gave him great pleasure."

Ephesians 1:5

 

Because God is love, he treasures relationships.

His very nature is relational, and he identifies himself in family terms:

Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Trinity is God's relationship to himself.

It's the perfect pattern for relational harmony,

and we should study its implications.

"It was a happy day for him

when he gave us our new lives,

through the truth of his Word, and we became,

as it were, the first children in his new family."

James 1:18

 

When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father,

we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters,

and the church becomes our spiritual family.

God "has given us the privilege of being born again,

so that we are now members of God's own family."

1 Peter 1:3b; see also

Romans 8:15-16

 

The invitation to be part of God's family is universal,

Mark 8:34; Acts 2:21;

Romans 10:13; 2 Peter 3:9

but one condition: faith in Jesus.

"You are all children of God

through faith in Christ Jesus."

Galatians 3:26

 

Your spiritual family is even more important

than your physical family because it will last forever.

"When I think of the wisdom and scope of his pain

I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father

of all the great family of God—

some of them already in heaven

and some down here on earth."

Ephesians 3:14-15

 

 

Benefits Of Being In God's Family

 

 

The moment you were spiritually born into God's family,

you were given some astounding birthday gifts:

the family mane, the family likeness, family privileges,

family intimate access, and the family inheritance!

1 John 3:1; Romans 8:29;

Galatians 4:6-7; Romans 5:2;

1 Corinthians 3:23; Ephesians 3:12;

1 Peter 1:3-5; Romans 8:17

"Since you are his child,

everything he has belongs to you."

Galatians 4:7b

 

"My God will meet all your needs

according to his glorious riches

 in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

Here on earth we are given

"the riches... of his grace...

kindness... patience... glory...

wisdom... power... and mercy."

Ephesians 1:7; Romans 2:4; 9:23; 11:33;

Ephesians 3:16; 2:4

 

What exactly does that inheritance include?

First, we will get to be with God forever.

1 Thessalonians 5:10; 4:17

Second, we will be completely changed to be like Christ.

1 John 3:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18

Third, we will be freed from all pain, death, and suffering.

Revelation 21:4

Fourth, we will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service.

Mark 9:41; 10:30;

1 Corinthians 3:8; Hebrews 10:35;

Matthew 25:21, 23

Fifth, we will get to share in Christ's glory.

Romans 8:17; Colossians 3:4;

2 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Timothy 2:12;

1 Peter 5:1

What an inheritance!

You are far richer than you realize.

 

"God has reserved a priceless inheritance

 for his children.

It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,

beyond the reach of change and decay."

1 Peter 1:4

"Whatever you do,

work at it with all your heart,

as working for the Lord,

not for men, since you know

that you will receive an inheritance

from the Lord as a reward."

Colossians 3:23-24a

 

 

Baptism: Identifying With God's Family

 

 

Jesus commanded this beautiful act for all in his family.

He told us to "go and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

Matthew 28;19

 

Your baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual truth.

It represents what happened the moment God brought you into his family:

"Som of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,

some are slaves, and some are free.

But we have all been baptized

into Christ's body by one Spirit,

and we have all received the same Spirit."

1 Corinthians 12:13

 

Baptism doesn't make you a member of God's family;

only faith in Christ does that.

Baptism shows you are part of God's family.

It is an act of initiation,

not something you put off

until you are spiritually mature.

The only biblical condition is that you believe.

Acts 2:41; 8:12-13; 35-38

There are no delayed baptism in the New Testament.

If you haven't been baptized as an ｅxpression of your faith in Christ,

do so as soon as possible, as Jesus commanded.

 

 

Life's Greatest Privilege

 

 

"Jesus and the pelple he makes holy

all belong to the same family.

That is why he isn't ashamed

to call them his brothers and sisters."

Hebrews 2:11

"[Jesus] pointed to his disciples and said,

'There are my mother and brothers.

Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven

is my brother and sister and mother!'"

Matthew 12:49-50

 

Being included in God's family is the highest honor

and the greatest privilege you will ever receive.

Nothing else comes close.

Whenever you feel unimportant, unloved, or insecure,

remember to whom you belong.

 

 

 

 

DAY FIFTEEN

Thinking About My Purpose

 

Point to Ponder: I was formed for God's family.

 

Verse to Remember: "His unchanging plan has always been

to adopt us into his own family

by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ."

Ephesians 1:5a

 

Question to Consider; How can I start treating other believers

 like members of my own family?

 

 

 

p 115~122

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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