Reborn Into The Family of God
Adam and Eve were the highest of God’s creation, made in God’s image. They were the chief of all the created creatures of God and they were to rule and reign on the earth. Many people see Satan’s attack on mankind as an ultimate failure of man and of God. Man for disobeying God and God for not stopping Satan and allowing mankind to be doomed as long as they remained on the earth. This is a lie most have swallowed hook line and sinker! God’s ways are not man’s ways. What the enemy meant for our destruction God used for our greater good.
God sent His Son not only to redeem us from the fall but He elevated us to an even greater position, that of children! Just think of the power and authority we should be walking in knowing that we are now even greater than before the fall. But many are destroyed for we lack the knowledge of who we are in the family of God, His ways and His kingdom. Satan is a defeated foe by the power of Jesus Christ. We too have the same choice Adam had; we can believe God or listen to the enemy’s lie. We can choose Jesus’ saving grace or believe the lies of the enemy and trust our own thoughts and ways.
It is much like the story of Pinocchio who was a carved created puppet boy of Jeptoo and he was loved by his creator. What joy it brought Geppetto to have Pinocchio transformed into a living soul to be part of his family, his son. What joy God has for those who believe in Jesus and become His children, joint heirs with Christ. What the enemy meant for evil God turned to our greater good.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. NIV
The very act of sin that caused mankind to fall, God used as the reason to send Jesus to redeem us and place us into an even greater state, children of God, again we are joint heirs with Christ! God is awesome. Satan has no power of God’s people but there are schemes set up to convince people that God does not love us because He did not stop us from sinning. Truth is God loves us so much He sent Jesus to redeem and deliver us from eternal death while remaining true to His integrity.
God is not a man and He cannot lie. He must to stay true to His word and at the same time He must be a just judge while showing loving kindness and mercy to His creation. God gave dominion and rule to mankind and He could not usurp that authority even though mankind was not making wise choices. God loved us too much to leave us in eternal damnation so Jesus became a man. He limited Himself to become as one He created so that He would be able to save those who believe in God through Christ.
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” NIV
Acts 13:38-39 Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. NIV
Being born again is being placed into a different family, culture and country. Being born again is becoming a totally different person from the one we were raised to be by our parents and life experiences. To be born again is to die to ourselves, our rights, and our culture even our race. We become a new creation in a new kingdom and this is where some people lose sight of the meaning of being born again. Many people want to hold on to their old ways of doing things, their thoughts and priorities and their prejudices. To be reborn into God’s family means our old life; race and culture should no longer take priority or first position over us. God’s kingdom and culture is our new way of living, He is preeminent over all.
We are now part of a new family, citizens of a new country and our allegiance is to our Sovereign King, Jesus. Many get stuck in their own ideas about their rights and ethnicity in the flesh that they fail to be transformed in their minds into the image of Christ and to make Jesus the Lord over all. There is so much division in the church, in the body of Christ because many refuse to let go of the old nature, old life and its priorities. When Jesus is King over our lives He will reign in every area of our life regardless of our past.
Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Those who come to God through faith in Jesus as their Lord are like the jungle boy when he was taken out of the jungle. He still had the life experiences of the wolf influencing his nature though he was saved from the jungle. He then began living in a new world with humans but he had no concept or understanding of how to operate in this culture. At the same time he was being influenced by the only life he knew, with the wolves, however debased and deprived it may have been. This could be a child of God who was born again but whose mind has not been renewed to think and to act like a child of God. This is why God tells us to renew our minds, so to change the way we think and change the way we act. Then we will not be easily persuaded by the lies of this world.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Again, we have been reborn into the family of God. Our life as a child of God is about a relationship with our Father. We were separated from God in the fall but were redeemed and reborn into the family of God through Jesus Christ. God’s desires are to fellowship and have a close relationship with His children. This may be why God gives us family; whether they are parents, siblings, children, cousins or close friends we have a desire to know and be in close fellowship with those we love. God has the same desire to be in fellowship and close relationship with His children.
Integrity- People of God 