In Him: We Belong To God's Family

                                                    In Him: We Belong To God's Family

            In his book Feels like Home, Lee Eclov shares the story of "How Long-Lost Brothers and Sisters were discovered." As a child in California in the 1970s, Jeff wondered who he was. "I never looked like anybody growing up," he said. Everybody looked like somebody, but I was the odd man out." Finally, a few years ago, he and his brother took a DNA test, and, sure enough, they didn't have the same father.

            A couple of years later, a woman named Julie, an amateur genealogist, was trying to learn more about her roots and had her DNA analyzed. There was no match with anyone in the genealogy company's database, so she put the whole business aside. Some months later, she rechecked the database, and there was a match this time. She was apparently closely related to a guy who'd also had his DNA tested. She looked at his photo and remembers thinking, "He looked exactly like my father." She emailed the man, and five minutes later, she had Jeff's reply.

            The DNA database also showed that Jeff had another unknown sister, Beth, whose birth father was the same as his. The three of them arranged a reunion. Julie remembers, "It is kind of weird finding a brother when you're in your fifties and he's just a dead ringer for our father-the way he walks and his laugh and some of the expressions on his face."

            More time passed. A  San Diego man, Brandon, who knew he'd been adopted, decided to get a DNA test, too. Lo and behold, he also matched Jeff, Julie, and Beth. "It's wonderful, Brandon said, of rediscovering of his birth family. "My adoptive parents had passed on; my adoptive brother had passed on. I thought I was a party of one, and now I'm a party of 110."[1] That's our kind of story! As Christians, when we think we are on our own, a party of one, we will be pleasantly surprised to discover hundreds of other brothers and sisters we never met before.

In our sermon series, In Him, we are learning about the incredible riches found in Christ alone through the writings of the Apostle Paul to the Colossian believers. Paul reminded the Colossians that their first identity was God's Holy People, or People who belonged to God.

Once we were alienated from God because of our sin, but Christ died for our sins, so that In Him now we can be reconciled back to God. That is the Good News. Belonging to God opens up this vast and beautiful opportunity to belong to God's BIG family, where we will meet hundreds of our brothers and sisters. In Him: We Belong to God's Family. Colossians 1:1-8

1. We Are Brothers and Sisters in a Local Church. 

Colossians 1:2, "To God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. The Church in Colossae comprised Jews and Gentiles of various ethnicities and backgrounds. Yet Paul calls them Faithful brothers and sisters. How could that be possible?

Those four reunited siblings in the story shared family resemblances. What do the Colossians and all other believers have in common? We all have the same Heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. As siblings, we share family resemblances. What is our distinguishing resemblance among Christians? In other words, how can people know that we belong to Christ? John 13:35, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Our new family resemblance is our love for one another and all God's people.

Colossian believers not only belong to God but also to God's family in a local Church. How does this impact us today? In Hope Church, no matter who you are, once you have accepted Christ's forgiveness of sins, you are not alone; you are adopted into God's family. This local Church becomes your newfound home, where you will find love, healing, and wholeness. In this family, you have brothers and sisters in Christ, you never thought you had them before. Do you know all their names? Let's get to know, love, and build each other in the Hope Church family.

Christians in the New Testament are referred to as brothers and sisters 139 times. A Greek word, adelphoi, appears repeatedly and relates to believers, both men and women, as part of God's family. Eclov notes, "Regarding one another as brothers and sisters was far more radical than we realize. In our culture, we're used to speaking of people outside our family as brothers and sisters. A 'band of brothers' describes a tight-knit military unit. Sometimes athletic teams will use the terms, as do good friends. But that almost never happened in the language of New Testament times. No one called someone a brother or sister who wasn't a blood relative. The entire perspective on family in that culture was dramatically different from ours."[2]

 Joseph Heller explains in his book, "When the Church was a Family, "that we cannot simply import our American idea of being a brother or sister into our interpretation of the New Testament. "Brother meant immeasurable more than a strong group to the authors of the Bible than the word means to you and me—it was their most crucial family relationship."[3]

By reading these explanations, we can perhaps for the first time properly appreciate what the early Christians meant when they referred to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Who created space for this spiritual kinship in the first place? Who introduced this radical concept of calling someone outside of your family a brother or sister?

            Once, his family came to where he was teaching. Someone brought a word to Jesus, saying, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you. Then Jesus pronounced this: "Who are my mother and my brothers? Looking around, those in the circle said, "Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." Mark 3:33-35. Let this sink in! If you do God's will, we become a part of God's family, and Jesus becomes our brother. This circle of brotherly and sisterly relationships expands beyond a local Church.

II. In Christ, we belong to God's Worldwide Family

Colossians 1: 5-6, "the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in Heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the Gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the Gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole World, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace."

The Apostle Paul had to open the eyes of the Colossian believers from their self-centered and inward focus to a broader family of God beyond the confines of their local Church. He reminded them that as the Gospel came to them, it spread to the whole World and bore fruit. As a result, now they have brothers and sisters who belong to God's Worldwide Family.

How does this truth of belonging to God's family in Christ impact us today? At Hope Church, all those committed to following Christ become part of God's local family in Sharon. If you think you are alone, look around; you have over 40 brothers and sisters, perhaps you never thought you had them. You have many more brothers and sisters in our online community.

Though we are a small church, we are very diverse, coming from various countries and backgrounds, yet we all have something in common: We have the same Heavenly Father and share the same Spiritual DNA of Christ. We also have brothers and sisters beyond Sharon, infact, all over the World, as the Gospel is bearing fruit and more and more people getting saved every day. God's family is enormous and continues to get even bigger by the day.

What should be our commitment toward our brothers and sisters at Hope Church and those who belong to God's Worldwide Family? It all begins by thanking God and praying for them. Make a list of our brothers and sisters, both locally and globally.

Like Epaphras, the founder of the Colossian Church, let us wrestle with God in prayer for our brothers and sisters so that they may stand firm, in all the will of God, become mature and fully assured.

 

 

 

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[1] Lee Eclov, Feels Like Home, page 43-44

[2] Lee Eclov, Feels Like Home, Pages 45-46

[3] Joseph H. Hellerman, “When The Church Was A Family, 50.

The Last Supper

                                                              THE LAST SUPPER

What goes through your mind when you hear the word Communion? Do you think about wine, grape juice, or Matza bread? Do you sigh to yourself, Oh no! "It will be a long service today (that's how I thought as a kid). Or do you chide yourself for forgetting your check for the Deacon's fund offering? What is Communion, and what is its significance in the believer's life?

In the Bible, different names are used for what we call "Communion, First Holy Communion, and Eucharist, as the Catholics and some other christian denominations do. They are "breaking of bread together" (Acts 2:42), "The Lord's Supper" (I Cor 11:17-27), The Lords table or blessing of the Cup," (I Cor 10:14-22), and the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-29, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-20, John 13:1-2). For centuries, followers of Jesus have met together to partake in a meal referred to as the Lord's Supper or The Last Supper (Luke 22:7-20.

I. The Last Supper of Jesus was the Last Passover Meal with His disciples.

            Growing up in an observant Jewish home, Jesus must have remembered the significance of the Passover Meal, which his ancestors celebrated each year for generations. He was told it was a night like no other, a night of redemption for Israel's 400 years of slavery. It was a night when God distinguished between His people and the heathen nations.

            It was the night when Pharoah begged Moses, "Leave my people, you and Israelites! Go Worship the Lord to Go and Worship the LORD as you have requested." (Exodus 12:31). Things quickly changed! With no time to linger around, the Israelites were instead driven out in a hurry, carrying dough without yeast, with which they later baked Unleavened Bread.

It was a night of freedom for nearly 600,000 Jewish people, including many other heathen people. It was a night that set them off to a Promised Land that flowed with Milk and Honey. God did not want them to forget that most significant night of redemption ever, so He commanded the Israelites to celebrate Passover yearly and pass it on to future generations. 

Keeping up with the tradition, Jesus wanted to celebrate Passover one last time with his beloved disciples who stood with Him till the end. Listen to the desire Jesus expressed towards the Passover Meal, Luke 22:14-16, " When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." Jesus wanted to eat his last meal with his disciples before He was crucified. Think of that for a moment. The last meal with your best friend, would you ever forget that?

II. The parallels between the Passover Lamb and The Lamb of God.

            God clearly instructed what kind of Lamb should be prepared and how the Israelites should celebrate the feast. It should be a year-old male lamb without defect (Exodus 12:5; cf. Leviticus 22:20-21). The head of the household was to slaughter the Lamb at twilight, taking care that none of its bones were broken. God also gave specific instructions on how the Israelites were to eat the Lamb, "with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand" (Exodus 12:11). In other words, they had to be travel-ready.

In the New Testament, we see the fulfillment of this prototypical Passover lamb in Jesus Christ. John the Baptist pointed to his disciples, saying, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Peter connected the Passover lamb to Christ, whose blood, without blemish or defect, brought our redemption (1 Pet 1:19).

The Israelites applied the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts, and Christians symbolically applied the blood of Christ on their hearts so we could be spared from eternal death. (Heb 9:12,14).

Passover Lamb was offered annually, whereas the Lamb of God was offered once and for all, for all time. "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all." Hebrews 10:10.

The first Passover marked the freedom of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. Christ's sacrificial death marks our freedom from slavery to sin. (Romans 8:2). The first Passover was to be held in remembrance as an annual feast, whereas Christians are to memorialize the Lord's death in Communion until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:26).

 

III. What is the Significance of the Last Supper or Communion for Today?

Observing how Jesus celebrated his last supper during the last Passover meal with his disciples, we can learn a few ways to celebrate it today. First, we must prepare ourselves and eagerly desire Communion as Jesus did (Luke  22:16). Second, Jesus offered thanks for the bread (his body) and the Cup (his blood) before giving them to his disciples to partake (Luke 22:19). We thank Jesus for offering his body and shedding his blood to forgive our sins.

Thirdly, Jesus ensured that the disciples and subsequent followers would not forget his great sacrifice on the Cross by saying, "Do this in remembrance of me." (Vs. 19) The Apostle goes one step further, reminding the Corinthian believers that they would proclaim his death each time they celebrated the Last Supper until Christ returned.

Unlike the Passover, Communion is not a once-a-year event that should be celebrated and forgotten for the rest of the year. Instead, it is a constant reminder for a believer. Every time we partake of Communion, whether daily, weekly, or monthly, let us remember the great sacrifice of Christ for the redemption of our sins.

 Fourthly, Passover was a family time to learn and retell God's redemptive story. God instructed through Moses, "When your son asks you, "What does this mean? Say to him, "With a mighty hand of the LORD brought us out of Egypt, of the Land of Slavery. (Ex 13:14). Similarly, when your children ask you what Communion is, you tell them How Christ suffered and died on the Cross and rose again for the forgiveness of all people.

IV. Cautions to be observed while partaking in Communion

The Passover was exclusively meant for a Jewish family or with a few other families to celebrate it. Though some exceptions were made, non-Jewish people were excluded. (Exodus 12:43-45). Even among the Jewish people, certain acts like ceremonial uncleanness and business travels would restrict some Jews from celebrating it. (Ex 9:9-14).

Communion, or the Lord's table, though it is a large table open for both Jews and Gentiles, is a sign of remembrance for those whose lives have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. It is not a public event but an exclusive celebration of God's children who gathered in gratitude, reflecting on Christ's sacrificial death on the Cross. So, our advice to our non-Christian friends is that they refrain from partaking in Communion until they accept Jesus as their savior.

What might hinder a born-again Christian from partaking in Communion? The apostle Paul cautioned the Corinthian believers, saying, "So, whoever eats the bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the Cup." (I Cor 11:27-28) What might have been an unworthy manner for Paul to talk about?

From a reading of the context, we might conclude it might have been an unconfessed sin, divisions among the believers, and unresolved conflicts. The principles of reconciling first with those who may have something against us, as in Matt 5:23-24, and forgiving others when they sin against us, as in chapter 6:14-15, apply in celebrating Communion.

Communion is all about what Christ has done for the forgiveness of our sins. How can we come to the table harboring unforgiveness toward our brothers and sisters in the Lord? Partaking in Communion doesn't require perfection but recognition of our sins, confessing to God first, and getting reconciled with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.