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How Can I
Live Forever?
Chapter 14
A Brand New Family Tree
In
the previous chapter we focused on the glorious truth
that assures us that we
died with Him and that we are now alive in Him.
This
is an
incredible thought. Yet our journey into this
mind-boggling truth does not end here for, as far as
God is concerned, he wants us to consider not only that
we died in Him, and that we now live in Him, but that we
have now been born into a brand new family tree.
To
explain: Every one of us has been born into a biological
family tree. This family tree starts with Adam, the son
of God, and it will end, eternally, and for all, when
Jesus comes the second time. If not for Jesus, our
Saviour and Substitute, that would be the final curtain
for the people of planet earth. Yet, thanks only to Him, and
to the simple yet mystical matter of faith, life
can be infinitely more than the short span of years that
are bracketed between our birth and our burial.
In
that very moment when faith flickers to life, we are
adopted into a new family tree, a spiritual family tree
- one that spans eternity in the past and that is
destined to span
eternity in the future.
Through
faith . . .`the righteousness of Christ
is imputed to the repenting, believing sinner [and] he
becomes a member of the royal family, a child of the
heavenly King.' (1SM215)
`By
virtue of His [Jesus'] merits He gives [us] power to become
members of the royal family, children of the heavenly
king.' (8T177)
What
an awesome thought. Who would ever imagine that, `by
virtue of His merits,' sinful beings could be adopted
into the royal family of God and that, as such, Jesus
becomes the brother of sinners? And what a faithful and
compassionate elder brother He is - one who, according
to Paul, will never turn His back on us.
`Both
the one who makes men holy [Jesus] and those who are
made holy [us] are of the same family. So Jesus is not
ashamed to call [us] brothers.' (Hebrews 2:11)
This
is why all heaven rejoices when faith comes to life, for
it is in that moment, while the life of the new believer
is still riddled with weaknesses, that a new member is
added to the family of God.
"Through
faith, the believer passes from the position of a rebel,
a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal
subject of Christ Jesus, not because of an inherent
goodness, but because Christ receives him as His child
by adoption. The sinner receives the forgiveness of his
sins, because these sins are received by his Substitute
and Surety. The Lord speaks to His heavenly Father,
saying, `This is my child. I reprieve him from the
condemnation of death, giving him My life insurance
policy - eternal life - because I have taken his place
and suffered for his sins. He is even My beloved son.'
Thus man, pardoned, and clothed with the beautiful
garments of Christ's righteousness, stands faultless
before God." (6BC1070)
Once
again we notice that the moment we place our faith in God's Son, we are accepted as members
of the royal line, considered as though we had never
sinned, declared to be faultless - and all this is `not
because of an inherent goodness,' but only
because . . .
`God
sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem
those under [the curse of the] law, that we might
receive the full rights of sons.' (Galatians 4:4,5)
Yes,
we receive `the full rights of sons,' not because of
anything we do, or because of anything we are, but only
because . . .
`He
chose us in Him before the creation of the world [and]
He
predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus
Christ.'
(Ephesians 1:4; 6)
What
a thought for our meditation! Before creation, God chose
the entire human race to be adopted by faith into the
royal blood line. Sadly, though all were chosen, not all
will choose or have chosen to accept the gift. Nevertheless, how
grateful we should be knowing that God gave His Son to
become sin for sinners, so that sinners might become the
sons of God.
`God
made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him
we might become the righteousness of God.' (2
Corinthians 5:21)
`Consequently,
you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but
fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's
household.' (Ephesians 2:19)
The
line of our spiritual family is recorded in Matthew
1:1-16 - the lineage of Joseph. The line of our biological family is recorded in
Luke chapter 3 - the lineage of Mary. A careful comparison of these two family
trees is beyond the bounds of this book, but such a
comparison is guaranteed to make for interesting study.
In
Matthew 1:2 we are given the first account of this
adoption process.
`Abraham
in hope believed and so became the father of many
nations.' (Romans 4:18)
Abraham
was a child of the promise; Jesus is the subject of the
promise. The substance of the promise is that Jesus
would take the place of humanity on the cross and be
rejected in the person of us, so that we could be
accepted in the person of Him.
`His
purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the
two [Himself and humanity], thus making peace, and in
this one body, to reconcile both of them [Jews and
Gentiles] to God through the cross, by which He put to
death their hostility.' (Ephesians 2:15,16)
And
so it is that
all who accept Jesus by faith become, as it were, a part
of Him - and so we become joined together in one body.
`[We]
are all one in Christ Jesus.' (Galatians 3:28)
`We,
being many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members of one another.' (Romans 12:5)
Thus
it is that Jesus has wiped away all divisions on the
basis of colour, creed, race or social standing, or of
any other human distinction, for in
Him we all, that is, believers and unbelievers, were
nailed to the cross together.
Therefore . . .
`[Let
us]] never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, through which the world has been crucified to
[us], and [us] to the world.' (Galatians 6:14)
What
peace would overcome the world if all could appreciate
that, as far as the law of God is concerned, we all were
nailed to the cross in Christ Jesus.
Nevertheless,
as members of the body of the Son of God, we are sons of
God, and we belong to Him, and . . .
`If
you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise.' (Galatians 3:29)
We
can appreciate, therefore, that our adoption into the
spiritual family is strictly a spiritual exercise. Faith
must first have a hold on the life before we become
members of this family, for only . . .
`Those
who believe are children of Abraham.' (Galatians 3:7)
`It
is not the natural children who are God's children, but
it is the children of the promise who are regarded as
Abraham's offspring.' (Romans 9:8)
Therefore . . .
`If
we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and
co-heirs with Christ.' (Romans 8:17)
Thus
it is faith, and faith alone, that plucks us out of our
biological family tree and that transplants us into our
spiritual family tree. This is the family tree of absolute
hope. How important therefore that our `faith' is true
faith. How important that we understand that we become
heirs of God, not because of anything that we do, but
only through faith, for . . .
`It
was not through the [keeping of the] law that Abraham
and His offspring received the promise that He would be
heir of the world, but through the righteousness that
comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs,
faith has no value and the promise is worthless.'
(Romans 4:13,14)
As
believers, and more specifically, as believers who
appreciate the worthlessness of their own works, we do
not therefore look forward to becoming the sons and
daughters of God. Rather, we rejoice in the fact that we
are the sons and daughters of God.
`How
great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are.' (1 John 3:1)
`What
love, what matchless love, that, sinners and aliens as
we are, we may be brought back to God and adopted into
His family!' (5T 739)
And,
wonderful thought, we may feel eternally secure as
members of this illustrious family, for Jesus has
promised . . .
`I
will not leave you as orphans.' (John 14:18)
Without
faith, we are nothing other than spiritual orphans, yet
the moment that we accept Jesus as our Saviour and
Substitute, and we accept His righteousness as the only
righteousness that has eternal value, in that moment . . .
`We
become heirs, having the hope of eternal life.' (Titus
3:7)
And
here too, we do not look forward to eternal life as
something that is yet to begin - our eternal life has
already begun because we are alive `in Christ' - who is the
Eternal One. This is why Jesus was able to
say . . .
`He
who believes in me will live, even though he dies.'
(John 11:25)
Our
body of flesh may die, but we, as members of the body of
Christ will never die - even though the flesh should
die.
`Christ
became one flesh with us, in order that we might become
one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that
we are to come forth from the grave, not merely as a
manifestation of the power of Christ, but because,
through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see
Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the
heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit
that Christ dwells in us: and the Sprit of God, received
into the heart by faith, is the beginning of life
eternal.' (DA388)
Therefore,
as children of the heavenly King, as beings for whom eternal life
has already begun; as those who are dead but who are alive
in Jesus; and as those who stand faultless before the
throne of God "in Him," we have nothing to fear, for
soon . . .
`He
will come to honour those who have loved Him, and kept
His commandments, and to take them to Himself. He has
not forgotten them nor His promise. There will be a
re-linking of the family chain.' (DA632)
`Surely,
shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and
strength. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be
justified, and shall glory.' (Isaiah 45:24, 25, KJV)
`Oh,
the depth of the riches of the love of God that hath
abounded to man in the person of his Son! God in Christ,
and Christ in God, and Christ abiding by faith in man,
is so large a truth that the mind cannot fully
comprehend it. It is so great a theme, so grand a
conception, so far beyond the power of reason to
explain, that, as we speak of it, we feel our
insufficiency. Our comprehension is too restricted, our
language too limited, to unfold this great truth. The
mind fails and sinks down weary under the effort, and we
can speak of this truth only in softened, subdued tones,
acknowledging our helplessness, and bowing in adoration
before the infinite Love that has provided so great a
salvation.' (ST 05-18-91.4)
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