Made New: “Part of God’s Family”
John 1:9-13/ Acts 2:42-47/ 1 John 1:3/ Matthew 5:16
Good morning! I want to welcome you today as we gather to worship Jesus. I want to remind us this morning that we are here today because of the grace of God that was made available to us through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead. As Christians, we can never lose sight of the power of Easter because it makes us new. Last week we discovered that because of the grace of God we can move past our past. Our sins and mistakes do not have the last word and final say, Jesus does. This week we will take a look at another part of the far-reaching effects of the resurrection. When God makes us new, we become a part of his family.
We have a family in our congregation that knows first hand what it’s like to be adopted into a forever family.
Natalia started her life as a baby in a Central American country, without a family. Karol and Gordon felt that God was leading them to adopt internationally. The Lord led them to a little girl far away in another country. After a long process, they were able to fly overseas to bring this little girl home to become a part of their family. The decision their family made to adopt has literally transformed Natalia’s life in every way. She went from having an uncertain future because of her situation and limitations to a future that is bright and full of hope. This is the power of love and the power of adoption. The adoption of Natalia made her life new.
Jesus’ resurrection makes us new too. Where there once was a great divide between us and God because of our sins, the cross spans the chasm and allows us access to him. Grace changes our relationship with God from enemies to friends. We are invited into his family and God becomes our father.
John 1:9-13
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
When Jesus came into the world, there were two reactions to his arrival. Some received him as the Savior of the world, while others rejected him as a fake and a fraud. John tells us that to those who did receive him, God gave the right to become children of God. Based upon our faith in Jesus, we are grafted into God’s family with Him as our father and Jesus as our brother. This adoption has nothing to do with physical birth, but rather it is a spiritual one. We become reborn of God by the grace offered to us in Christ.
It is easy to feel like we don’t belong in the family of God. We have too many blemishes or make too many mistakes. But when you begin to look at Jesus’ family tree, you begin to see that we all fit right in. The book of Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus. Here are some of the names of people who show up: Jacob was a liar, David was an adulterer, and Rahab was a prostitute.
What can seem like a list of broken and flawed people, upon further review becomes a beautiful tapestry of people who are loved by God and welcomed into his family.
There is a story about a little boy named Jonathan who was four years old. He was trying to learn the Lord’s Prayer by listening to others as they recited it on Sunday mornings. Finally, he was ready to give it a shot. Full of confidence one Sunday, he belted out the prayer to the best of his ability, praying, “Our Father who art in heaven, I KNOW YOU KNOW MY NAME.” Though Jonathan may have gotten the prayer wrong, in the end, he was right. God does know his name; God knows each of our names. He knows everything about us and he loves us just the same. The resurrection makes us new by giving us a new birth into a spiritual family.
There are incredible benefits that come to us by being in the family of God. These benefits are put on display in the early Church in the book of Acts.
Acts 2:42-47
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
The first Christians were not that different from you and me. They were looking for a place to belong. They were in need of intentional community.
They were faced with the struggle of persecution and they did not feel at home any longer in the Jewish faith because of their dedication to the risen Christ. What they longed for they found in the family of God. The Bible tells us that these Christians spent time together under the teaching of the apostles, and they fellowshipped with one another around the table. They prayed with and for one another. They shared with one another and sacrificially met each other’s needs. They enjoyed each other’s presence and shared in the common bond of Christ’s love.
Verse 47 is what I find most compelling. This family that God was building through the church was so attractive that their numbers grew daily. People outside God’s family saw something they wanted to be a part of. I think there were two major reasons for this:
- The Family Of God Does Life Together
We most fully experience the love and grace of God in connection with one another. This is what the early church understood. They worshiped together, ate together, prayed together, enjoyed each other, and shared openly with each other with glad and sincere hearts. When these elements are all present, it causes communal flourishing that otherwise would not be possible.
My friend has a beautiful garden. It is lush and full. It produces incredible fruit. I recently had a conversation with her about how she has developed such a strong green thumb. I love gardening but right now in my life I lack the one thing she has more of, time. There is a combination of important circumstances that must take place in order to have a thriving garden. Any garden needs sunlight, water, and delicate care in order to grow. My gardens get sunlight and water.
At this point in my life, I choose to spend my time doing other things. That is the difference.
The elements present in the lives of the people in the early church created an environment for growth. They were a family. They spent time together, we call that fellowship. The book of 1 John describes this kind of fellowship.
1 John 1:3
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
John tells his readers everything he knows about Jesus’ sacrificial love. He does this because it would allow the hearers to have fellowship with one another. The power of this community finds its origins in the fellowship shared with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The second reason the early church was so attractive that their numbers grew daily was,
- The Family Of God Meets Each Other’s Needs
The other thing that was attractive about God’s family in the early church was the fact that they were meeting each other’s needs. They were entrusting to one another their struggles, trials, and needs. Then they were doing what was necessary to meet those needs.
They were the physical presence of God in each other’s lives.
They were His hands and feet.
In order for any family to function in a healthy manner, each individual must do their part to bring about this flourishing. The community of faith that we exist in today is no different. We must be willing to meet the needs of those around us. When we do, we become attractive to other people.
I read something recently that convicted me to make sure I play my part in the family of God. This could be a helpful thing to say to yourself:
“This is my church. It is composed of people just like me. It will be friendly if I am. It will do a great work if I work. It will make generous gifts to many causes if I am generous. It will bring others into its fellowship if I bring them. Its seats will be filled if I help to fill them. It will be a church of loyalty and love, of faith and service. If I make my church what it is, then I am filled with these. Therefore, with God’s help, I dedicate myself to the task of being all these things I want my church to be.”
When we are made new and welcomed into the family of God, it is important to remind ourselves that this family is meant to continue to grow. When we experience the love of the Father, we are compelled to share it with people who have never felt it before.
I am reminded that the Bible tells us we are the light of the world. When we shine brightly through our words and actions, the world takes notice.
Matthew 5:16
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Our good deeds become invitations to the fellowship, community, and family that we experience through our faith in Jesus. It is how we make space for others to come and join as well. Matthew says that the response of those who see our acts of love will be to glorify our Father in heaven and perhaps become His children themselves.
When I was young, I spent a lot of my time with the Willard family at Chop Point Camp. They had a very large dining room table. This table had three sections that could be added or taken away in the middle to shrink or expand the table.
What is funny is, I don’t remember ever seeing the sections out. The table was always expanded as far as possible. Looking back now, I know why. The Willards were the kind of people that treated everyone like family. There were always extra people who would come for supper and there were extra chairs in order to add more.
Is this what is said about us? What if we were known as the kind of people who would add extra space at the table so others could be a part of the family? That is what the resurrection does in our lives. It makes us new and invites into God’s family, so that we might invite others to join as well.
This morning I invite you to join me at the Lord’s table, where we celebrate the invitation to be a part of God’s family. Because of the death and resurrection of God’s only Son, we can choose to be co-heirs with Jesus. As we take part in this celebration may we commit ourselves to inviting others to join the family.
