We Are Family
He Wants Family!
“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And rejoice before Him. A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families” (Psa. 68:4-6). Such an amazing thought! God’s plan is for those He loves and protects to find a place within a family.
It has always been His nature and desire. When He created Adam and saw that it was not good for man to be alone, He put the first man and woman in a family. Cain and Abel were part of that family. God knew that mankind needed families.
The words from the psalmist give us such insight into how He fulfills the needs we have. David specifically mentioned the fatherless and widows and became so much more inclusive when he added the solitary. God puts those who have no family into other families.
So it should not surprise us that when His master plan for mankind is revealed in the New Testament that the church is described as a FAMILY. Men in that first testament did not begin their prayers saying, “Our Father,” but we can! If He is our Father, then all those in the FAMILY are brothers and sisters! We are FAMILY!
That disciple whom Jesus loved said, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). We are FAMILY! Paul adds that because we are children of God, we are joint heirs with Jesus (Rom. 8:17). He is our brother, and we are FAMILY. Solomon described that there could be in our lives someone closer to us than our physical brother. “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24). It is in the church, the body of Jesus, the FAMILY of God, where this concept finds its ultimate fulfillment. We are FAMILY.
The spiritual growth of the body of Christ shows that we should add Christian character to our faith. Peter said that to our faith we should add brotherly kindness (2 Pet. 1:5-7), and Hebrews 13:1 urges, “Let brotherly love continue.” We are to “…Love the brotherhood” (1 Pet. 2:17). We are brothers; we are FAMILY.
Like earthly families sometimes have problems, so does His spiritual FAMILY. But God’s FAMILY is different in that it seeks to work through these differences. Brothers and sisters in Christ long to be at one with every other brother and sister. We try to go beyond expectation of onlooker to become one in the Lord. We do this because we are FAMILY.
God has a plan for each of us to have those in our lives who are closer than our physical family. Let’s work together to be one because we are FAMILY.