The Family of God

 

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”         (Hebrews 11:39-40)

 

Here God the Holy Spirit tells us much about the family of God. The family of God, the church of God, and the kingdom of God are synonyms. All who are chosen by God the Father, redeemed by God the Son, and born again by God the Holy Spirit are members of his church, his family, and his kingdom.

 

Family Members

 

Who is in this family? You will notice that Paul first speaks of “these all,” referring to all those he has described in this 11th chapter of Hebrews. But he is not limiting himself to those who are specifically named. He is talking about all those men and women who believed God in the Old Testament era. Then he speaks of “us,” referring to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in this gospel age. Then he speaks of them and us being “made perfect” together.

 

In other words, he is telling us that the whole family in heaven and in earth, the family of God (Eph. 3:15), the church of God, the kingdom of God is one great family, a family more numerous than the sands upon the seashore and the stars of the sky.

 

The family of God is made up of all God’s elect, all true believers, all the redeemed. The church of God really is one body, one indivisible family, one holy kingdom. All who are in Christ of every age, nationality, and language, throughout all the ages of time, and throughout all the earth are one family. It includes all the blessed company of the redeemed. The family of God is known and spoken of by many names in the Book of God. This family is the body of Christ and his bride, the temple of God and the household of faith, God’s royal priesthood and holy nation, the church of the Firstborn and the Israel of God.

 

Membership in "the family of God," does not depend upon anything earthly. It does not come by natural birth, but by new birth. No preacher can bring you into this family. The waters of baptism cannot immerse you into this family. Parents cannot bring their children into the family of God. You may have been born to the most faithful parents in the world. But you were not born an heir of heaven. To belong to the family of God you must be born again. No one but God the Holy Spirit can make you a living member of this family. It is his special function and prerogative to bring chosen, redeemed sinners into this family by the washing of regeneration and the gifts of life and faith in Christ.

 

The mere exercise of your will cannot put you in the family of grace. A beggar may sooner become a king’s son by his own choice than you and I could become the sons of God by our will. Entrance into the family of God is God’s work alone (John 1:11-13; Rom. 9:15-16; Gal. 4:4-7; Eph. 1:3-6; 1 John 3:1-3)!

 

One Family

 

The  Scriptures  describe all God’s  people as one family (Eph. 3:15).  Why  is  it important for us to realize that God’s church is one family? Why does God the Holy Spirit refer to all who are in Christ as the family of God?

 

All true believers are called a "family" because we all have one Heavenly Father. We are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. We are all born of one Spirit. We are all sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. We have all received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba Father" (Gal. 3:26; John 3:8; 2 Cor. 6:18; Rom. 8:15). We no longer look upon the holy Lord God with a cringing dread and fear. We no longer think of him as One always ready to punish us. Rather, we lift our eyes heavenward and look up to our God with tender confidence, as our reconciled and loving Father, —as One who has forgiven all our sins, put away all our iniquities, and received us graciously for Christ’s sake. We see Him now as One who is full of compassion and pity. We came to him like the prodigal. And He ran, fell on our necks, and kissed us. Those words, "Our Father which art in heaven," are no longer merely the words of a prayer we learned as children in Sunday School. They are the sweetest words imaginable to our hearts.

 

All true believers are called the "family" of God because we all rejoice in, have confidence in, trust in, and are named after one great and glorious name (Eph. 3:15). That name is the name of our great Head and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ the Lord. Just as a common family name is the uniting link to all the members of an earthly clan, so the name of Christ unites all believers together in one vast family in heaven and earth. As living members of Christ, we all, with one heart and mind, rejoice in one Savior. Every heart in this family is built upon Christ as the only object of hope. Every tongue in this family will tell you that "Christ is all."

 

God’s people are all called the ‘family” of God, because as the sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters of Christ, all true believers are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:14-19; John 17:1-5, 22). And we are called the “family” of God because there is such strong a family resemblance among all who are born of God (Phil. 3:3).

 

The Father’s Promise

 

What has God our Father promised to do for his family? We are told in Hebrews 11: 39-40 that our brethren in the Old Testament could not be made perfect (The family could not be completed and finished.) without us, because God has provided some better thing for us. The Lord God has promised to make his family perfect! What does that mean? How are we to understand this?

 

The Lord God shall complete his family. Every adopted son shall be brought into the fulness and joy of sonship by God’s sovereign grace. Every elect, redeemed sinner shall be brought into the blessed union of life and faith with Christ. Before God gets done with this world, all Israel shall be saved (Eph. 1:22-23).

All the family shall be made perfect in Christ—perfectly one—perfect before God—perfect in heart and soul, mind and body! Yes, when God gets done, his whole family shall honor him forever (Eph. 2:1-7).