Series:
Ephesians
Title: The Whole Family
Text:
Ephesians 3: 14-15
Date: February 23, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Ephesians 3: 14: For this cause I bow my
knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15: Of whom the whole family in
heaven and earth is named,…
Here the
apostle Paul begins to express to the Ephesian church what his prayer is for
them. He begins saying, “for this cause”
Ephesians 3: 14: For this cause I bow my
knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , 15: Of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named,
One
cause is: you are the family of God, of the household of God—Ephesians 2: 19: Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the
saints, and of the household of God;
Subject:
The Whole Family
One of
my favorite descriptions the Holy Spirit gives of the church of God is of the
church being “God’s family.” We know “family” refers to the church of God
because Paul says so in verse 21: “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ
Jesus throughout all ages.” This
description is so common throughout the scriptures that it would seem
impossible to miss.
Proposition: It is very comforting and reassuring for believers to be
reminded that we, together with saints in heaven and saints in the earth are
the whole family of God.
I. FIRST, THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS WE HAVE AS
OUR COMMON UNION IN THIS FAMILY
God is Our Father
First,
we all have one heavenly Father—Ephesians
2: 14: I bow my knees unto the Father
Matthew 23:9: And call no man your father upon the earth:
for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
God our
Father wrote all our names in the Lambs book of life before time began. Every
saint in heaven, every believer on this earth, every child that shall be
called, God set us apart in divine election before the world was made in Christ
by his grace!
Illustration: My earthly family has a book of genealogy that goes way
back. But my heavenly family has one that goes back all the way to eternity.
Think
of that brethren: the faithful in our day had our names written on the same
page with departed saints of old: the weakest written in the same book as the
strongest: Abraham, Issac and Jacob; the unknown written in the same book as apostles
and martyrs: John, Paul and Peter.
Christ is our Elder Brother
Also, our
common union is that we all have one Elder Brother—Ephsians 2: 14:…I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
Romans 8:29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
Saints
in heaven and saints on earth are one whole family in our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter our former classes and races the
saints in heaven and on earth now own one common paternity in one family. It is because Christ became our Covenant Head
when the Father entrusted us to him in eternity.
In time,
we were all represented in Adam. In Adam we all died legally. Of Adam we all
died spiritually being conceived in sin. Each of us in this family still on
earth has the constant struggle with sins which we hate. But before time, before God made the first
Adam, God set up the last Adam—Christ Jesus in eternity.
Application: What a comfort this is!
There has never been a moment that every elect child of God was not
represented by Christ: in eternity past, when Christ walked this earth, when we
were yet dead in sins, even now in glory—“he everlives to make intercession for
us.”
And everything Christ did for us, when he walked this
earth, we did in him. When he put away sin,
he put away the sin of his particular family alone. Now, through faith, Christ
righteousness is our righteousness, his resurrection the pledge of our
resurrection, his eternal glory the source and guarantee of our eternal glory.
We Have the Same Name
Thirdly,
we all have the same name—Ephesians 2: 15:
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. The whole church in heaven and earth
wears Christ’s name: “Christians.” The LORD our Righteousness is Christ’s and
is our name. (Jeremiah 23: 6; 33:16)
By his
blood, Christ not only broke down the middle wall of partition between us
Gentiles and the Jews, but between his family on earth and the saints in
heaven.
Colossians 1:20: And, having made peace through the blood
of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say,
whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
We are Born of the Same Holy Spirit
In our
experience we are each born a second time of the Holy Spirit and given faith in
Christ. The way we entered our first
family was either by birth or by adoption.
All who are in the family of God enter this family by both. All are born of the same Father: all must be born
of same Holy Spirit; must be born of same incorruptible seed, word of God and all
God’s elect were predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself. Thereforue our union in this family is all of God that God might
receive all the glory!
John 1: 12: But as many as received him, to them gave he
power [privilege] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God.
A child
bears the image of their father. So it
is in the family of God. Each born-again child shares the same image with each
other and with our heavenly Father. The
new man created in righteousness and true holiness is continually renewed in
knowledge “after the image of him that created him.” (Col 3: 10)
Be sure
to get this: the same spirit that is in the saints above is in the saints
below. Our spirit is of God just as theirs is. They no longer reside in a body
of death—they are spirits of just men made perfect. But we are born of the same
spirit, made partakers of the same divine nature, having both escaped the
corruptions which are in the world through lust. (Heb 12: 23; 2 Pet 1: 4)
Believer, you are a member of God’s family.
God is your Father. Christ is the
Firstborn among many brethren. You are His sons and daughters, sisters and
brother in this family.
Romans 8:14: For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
1 John 3:1: Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Brethren,
we are nearer to the saints in heaven than we are to the ungodly with whom we
dwell in this life. We are in one covenant headship with just men made perfect,
but not with the unregenerate. We are fellow citizens with the glorified, but
we are strangers and foreigners among the wicked in this life. And we are as much God’s sons
and daughters right now as those already with Him in heaven.
1 John 3:2: Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see
him as he is.
The text does not speak of two families but of “the whole family in heaven and earth.”
The saints in heaven appear to be separated from us, but in reality we are all
one in the family of God in Christ Jesus.
Death does not separate believers in the family of God.
Psalm 116: 15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Christ
conquered sin and death on the cross for all the elect of God. Therefore, death
is no longer the enemy of God’s saints. Nothing
is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ or from one another.
Romans 8: 35: Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37: Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38: For I
am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39: Nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul
prays here that his brethren might know this love of Christ more and more.
II. WHY HAS GOD BROUGHT US INTO THIS FAMILY?
For the Preaching
of the Gospel of Christ
First, the primary importance is the furtherance of the
gospel. Since it pleased God to save his
people through the foolishness of preaching: (1 Cor 1: 21) there must be
brethren assembled which make up the church family. they all must be given
hearts to see the dire need of the gospel. There must be one among them with
the same heart who is made a preacher
God gives us that need by saving us through the preaching
of the gospel—not only in the first hour but continuously as we assemble to
hear Christ preached. So Christ assembles his church and “sets the members every one of them in the body, as it hath
pleased him.” 1 Cor 12: 18) So by his church, Christ accomplishes the Father’s
will of saving through the preaching of the gospel.
To Learn in the
Heart
Another need for this church family is to teach us in a
practical way, in our daily affairs with each other, by experience, the truth
we hear preached in his gospel. The
church family in earth has the same difficulties that a secular family has.
Each member is a sinner. We are more
selfish than we should be. At times, we say things we shouldn’t, do things we
shouldn’t, to others and to one another. But by putting us together in his
family our Father teaches us to love one another in spite of our faults. We are
constantly taught by our Savior to love one another.
John
13:34: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another. 35: By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
1 John
4: 7:…for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth
God.
How are believers to love one another?
1 John
4: 10 Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11: Beloved, if God so [after this manner] loved us, we ought also to love one
another.
If God’s love was conditioned upon us first
loving him then no sinner would be saved.
God chose whom he would in Christ by free and sovereign grace, not
because of anything in us. God loved his
own in Christ for the sake of Christ even when we did not love God
Believers do not have to be given a cause to do things
for our brethren. If I have to be given
a cause to do something for my brethren, it will promote a legal spirit in my
own heart. God loved his elect even when
we were not loveable.
Also, God loved by giving his best—he gave
his only begotten Son who got the job done—he is our propitiation. So ought we
to give the best to those in the family of God, even when they may not be as
giving or as loving toward us. Gracious
love is loving one another for the sake of Christ.
Also, we learn to forgive one another. Who is our motive for forgiving one another
our faults?
Ephesians
4: 32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Illustration: In a
secular family the youngest, little fellow is always making mistakes. His older brothers and sisters may be
frustrated by him at sometimes. His father may have to correct him. But they
would never think of kicking him out of the family.
Each and every one of us in the family of God—in this
earth—are little children in understanding, at best: “For now we see through a
glass darkly,” and “we know in part.” (1 Cor 13: 12) So we will mess up and
frustrate one another. But rather than
exalt ourselves over another, we bear one another’s burdens, speak of Christ to
one another, pray for one another, wait on Christ to teach our brethren as we
need to be taught.
In
addition, we are in this family to help one another get through our mutual
troubles in life; and to rejoice with one another—we are one family in one body
in Christ.
1 Corinthians 12: 24: For our comely parts have no
need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant
honour [commanding us to look out for] to that part which lacked: [in most
in need] 25: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the
members should have the same care one for another. [the same care as we would
have for ourselves: for our fathers, mothers, sons ,daughters, sisters, brothers]
26: And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one
member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27: Now ye are the body of
Christ, and members in particular.
And we
are not alone, God our Father and Christ our Head is working in the midst of
his family. The apostle Paul said, “work out your own salvation [one
translation is the "business of your lives"; in your generation] with
fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you [in you individually
& in you as his family, his church] both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.” (Php 2: 13)
So
these are a few examples how Christ teaches us in a practical way the things we
hear preached in his gospel.
Illustration:
Imagine an orphan in an orphanage studying about the love of a father, mother,
obedience of children toward their father, the children working out their
trials with their brothers and sisters—he could learn all about it from a book—just
as you can read all about God’s family from this book. But until that orphan is in a family it is
all head knowledge. Likewise, Christ puts
us in his church family so we can learn the gospel in the heart, by
experience. The wisdom of God to save
through preaching through his church is amazing wisdom.
To Remind Us of the
One Thing Needful
Let me give one last reason God put us in this church
family because the continual hearing of the gospel of Christ, greatly humbles
us and constantly reminds us that Christ is the one thing needful.
Illustration:
Families do not eat together at the table as regularly in our day as they once
did. Satan tries in every way to erode
every picture of God and his family. But when a family eats together, the
Father calls and no matter what the children are doing they have to humble
themselves; they have to put down their other activities; they have to come to
the table.
In our
daily occupations and activities we are like children playing. Two days a week,
God our Father calls us to the table. We must humble ourselves, drop our toys
and come to the table. God reminds us, we
must eat this Bread from heaven—Christ is more important than anything else—the
“one thing needful.” (Lu 10: 42) Job
said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
(Job 23: 12)
So let’s
remember to follow Paul’s example. The whole family is assured here that God
our Father hears our prayers through Jesus Christ. Our faith to come to God is
in Christ. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in Christ,
God is the Father of the whole family of CHRIST, in heaven and in earth. So when God the Father hears his Son, God our
Father hears us.
Hebrews
7:25: Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Romans 8: 15: For ye have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.
God our Father is faithful
to give what each child in his family needs. Our Lord Jesus said:
Matthew 7: 9…what man is there of you, whom
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10: Or if he ask a fish, will
he give him a serpent? 11: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good
things to them that ask him?
So as we, or our brethren, have a need, always
be doing as Paul is doing here for his brethren, ask your Father in Christ!
Hebrews 4: 15: For we have
not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16: Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need.
Pray to God the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named—asking him to
strength your brethren by His Spirit, that Christ may dwell in their hearts by
faith, that they might be rooted and grounded in love, that they may be able to
comprehend the vastness both of God’s love and of the whole family of God in
heaven and earth. And remember…
Ephesians
3: 20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21: Unto him be glory
in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Amen!