0352. God's Family

God’s Family

"For this cause I bow the knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from Whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named" (Eph_3:14-15).

The marginal reading is "from Whom all fatherhood," etc. In either case, God is the Father of those who are born again, and we are His sons, members of one great family. The Fatherhood of God originates the "family" of the saints.

Believers may not be the members of the same denomination, or of the same local church, but they are all members of the same Heavenly family. By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body. One Body and one family. We are all of us, "members one of another."

What then should be the chief mark of our family life? We answer, "Love." "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, because ye love one another."

Schisms and divisions are satanic. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is there that God commandeth the blessing" (Psa_133:1, Psa_133:3).

"By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, because ye love one another" (Joh_13:35).

As members of one family, let us join hands and serve our Lord. Christ prayed, "That they may all be one." Let us be knit together in Him. We do not want a fellowship based upon denials of the faith, nor a federation based upon concessions; what we do want, is to get close up to our Father and then we will be close to each other. As the spokes in the wagon wheel near the hub, they are near each other.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR