THINGS WE MUST ACCEPT BY FAITH (1)

A FAMILY ABOVE ALL FAMILIES

Victor M. Eskew

 

          Paul tells us that Christians walk by faith in 2 Corinthians 5:7.  “(For we walk by faith, not by sight.)”  Walking by faith does not mean we walk by our feelings or by our opinions.  Walking by faith does not mean we just take a blind leap into the dark when it comes to our beliefs and our manner of life.  Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God.  “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Thus, to walk by faith is to live our lives in harmony with God’s Word. 

          Accepting things by faith should be easy for God’s children.  Everything our divine Father makes known to us is true.  We trust our heavenly Father.  We know that He cannot lie (Tit. 1:2).  We know that His teachings are always sure and right (Ps. 19:7-9).  Thus, we do not deny His teachings.  We do not try to manipulate His doctrines.  We simply accept God’s precepts and statutes as factual and harmonize our lives to those truths.

          Some of the Lord’s teachings, however, are not easily accepted.  They go “against the grain” of our beliefs and our desires.  Even though this might we true, the faithful child of God will accept what God says by faith.  He doesn’t balk at the teaching.  He doesn’t make fun of the teaching.  He certainly does not boldly stand in opposition to the teaching.  He yields to the teachings as a compliant child and as an obedience servant.

          The Bible teaches us that the church is the house of God.  In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he describes the church in this manner.  “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).  The Bible takes many of the aspect of a family and makes application of them to the church.  God is the Father of the house, and Christians are His sons and daughters (2 Cor. 6:18).  Men become members of the household of God by being born again (John 3:3-5).  Jesus is the Son of God (Luke 1:35).  He, therefore, is an Brother to all Christians (Heb. 2:11).  Children are to be obedient to their Father (1 Pet. 1:14).  The Father provides for His children (Matt. 7:11) and also disciplines His children (Heb. 12:5-6).  All Christians in the family of God are brothers and sisters to one another.  They have numerous responsibilities to each other.  Their highest obligation is to love one another fervently and without hypocrisy.  Peter sets forth this point in 1 Peter 1:22-23.  “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeign love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”  As children in God’s family, He wants us to abide together in harmony.  He does not want us biting and devouring one another.  “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another” (Gal. 5:14-15).  Those children who are faithful to their Father will be heirs of God in the hereafter.  “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ…” (Rom. 8:17). 

          The points we have made thus far are accepted easily by most Christians.  The difficult thing to accept about the family of God is that it is the family above all families.  The house of God is the most important family on earth.  It towers high above our physical families.  The relationships we sustain with our brothers and sisters in Christ are more significant than the relationships we have with our physical families.  Jesus taught this lesson to His disciples during His earthly ministry.  Mark records the account for us in his gospel. 

 

                   “There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing                                              without, sent unto him, calling him.  And the multitude sat                                                 about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and                                                thy brethren without seek thee.  And he answered them, saying,                                          Who is my mother, or my brethren.  And he looked round about                                          on them which sat about him, and said, Behold, my mother and                                          my brethren!  For whosever shall do the will of God, the same is                                           my brother, and my sister, and my mother” (Mark 3:31-35).

 

Jesus was not trying to disparage His physical family on this occasion.  He was simply pointing out that He had another family relationship that was superior to the one with His physical family.  Those who do the will of God, He said, “The same are my brother, and my sister, and my mother.” 

          This is not an easy truth to put in practice.  Some love their physical families more than their brothers and sisters in Christ.  There are some who would rather be with their physical families more than being with their spiritual family.  We often see individuals treating their physical families with more love and respect than they do their brethren in Christ.  Sadly, our physical families get more love, compassion, and forgiveness than we would give to a member of our spiritual family. 

          How do I change my disposition toward my spiritual family?  How do I truly acknowledge that my spiritual family occupies a higher place in my life than my physical family?  Dear Christians, we do this through faith.  We hear God’s Word on this matter.  We respect His Word, and we seek to put it in practice in our lives.  Physical families are truly a blessing.  God’s spiritual family, however, involves the divine.  It is built upon the precious blood of Christ and not a human bloodline.  May all of us lift God’s family to the exalted state it deserves to have in our lives.