Thomas and Amelia are ten months and ten days apart in age. They’re often confused for siblings but they are cousins. Either set of parents could be theirs and one mom or the other is often asked when we’re together, “Are they both yours?” If either answered yes, no one would question it because they behave like siblings, playing happily together one minute and jerking toys or crying the next.
Also like siblings, they are fiercely loyal. Their love for one another is unmistakable. Amelia has been known to tackle Thomas with a hug and she talks about him and asks for him anytime he’s not around. Thomas, though older, often repeats her baby talk and follows her around, then asks for adults to “do (whatever) like Amelia does it” when she’s absent.
Last week, Amelia assigned Thomas her last name. As my son’s firstborn, she shares my name. Thomas belongs to my daughter and shares his daddy’s surname. It was her endearing way of claiming him. Scripture has much to say about our family of faith and the God who claims us as His own. Sibling rivalry is as old as time, having been part of our nature since the Fall. Family dysfunction affects every generation throughout the Old and New Testaments. God patiently dealt with His chosen people to maintain the Messianic line so that in Christ, He could reverse the curse, breaking the power of sin and death once and for all, and restoring fellowship with His creation.
”But then the chosen time came. God sent his Son. A woman gave birth to him. He was born under the authority of the law. He came to set free those who were under the authority of the law.
He wanted us to be adopted as children with all the rights children have.
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.
He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God Abba. Abba means Father.
You are God’s child. Because you are his child, God gives you the rights of those who are his children.“
Galatians 4:4-7 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/gal.4.4-7.NIRV
”God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created.
He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes.
He loved us. So he decided long ago to adopt us.
He adopted us as his children with all the rights children have.
He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done.
It pleased God to do it.“
Ephesians 1:4-5 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/eph.1.4-5.NIRV
We’re big on rights nowadays but less so on responsibilities. We want the privilege without the accountability. We like the perks but despise the work. God’s offer should turn a lot of heads, seeing as how Jesus has done all that needs to be done to secure our place in God’s kingdom. He literally took the punishment I deserve and offers me acceptance, love, adoption, and an eternal inheritance.
”But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.“
John 1:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.12.NLT
Jesus is called the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29 NLT) Adelphoi, the Greek word used in New Testament scriptures to reference followers of Christ, both male and female, is often translated as brothers because the literal Greek most often refers to male siblings within a family. Since God has no grandchildren, all those who receive Him in faith are now brothers and sisters in Christ. We are adopted sons and daughters of God because of what Jesus has done.
”To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents.
Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born.
They are born because of what God does.“
John 1:13 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/jhn.1.13.NIRV
”So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God by believing in Christ.
This is because all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
You have put him on as if he were your clothes.“
Galatians 3:26-27 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/gal.3.26-27.NIRV
Children learn to do things at different times. We miss this important truth when we begin to compare our children or grandchildren with their siblings, cousins, or peers. What is developmentally appropriate for each age and stage has been spelled out in great detail, much like the Pharisees interpreted God’s Law in Old Testament times. What should remain a broad spectrum with room for growth has been ratcheted down to a tiny checkbox, leaving little room for developing at one’s own pace.
My biggest misconception as a parent was thinking that each of my children would be like the first, so I was genuinely surprised by how very different three genetically similar individuals can be. Truly I thought I’d mastered mothering one age and stage at a time with only one child. Thankfully we had our three relatively close together and God did not allow me to remain long in my delusion!
Why would God’s family be any different? We come to Christ dead in our disobedience and many sins, refusing to obey God, following our own passionate desires and every evil inclination of our hearts. That’s where God meets us, where our sins are nailed to the cross of Christ. We are alive in Christ, all because of Christ. (Ephesians 2:1-6)
In Christ, we are new creations. The old is gone and the new has come. (II Corinthians 5:17) Our lives are gradually reordered by the Holy Spirit as God transforms us in ever increasing glory into the image of the Son He loves. (II Corinthians 3:18) “All that is related to the old order has vanished. A new order has come.” (TPT)
”See what amazing love the Father has given us! Because of it, we are called children of God. And that’s what we really are!
The world doesn’t know us because it didn’t know him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God. He still hasn’t let us know what we will be. But we know that when Christ appears, we will be like him. That’s because we will see him as he really is.
Christ is pure. All who hope to be like him make themselves pure.“
1 John 3:1-3 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/1jn.3.3.NIRV
”The Spirit himself joins with our spirits. Together they tell us that we are God’s children.
Everything God created looks forward to the future. That will be the time when his children appear in their full and final glory.“
Romans 8:16, 19 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/rom.8.16-19.NIRV
Each of us is a work in progress. We long for wholeness, completeness, and finality. Don’t believe me? Ever try to beat the sunset at work or play? You push yourself to finish what you’ve started. It’s why we work so hard to amass what we think will make us happy, but like toddlers yelling “Mine!” as they snatch from one another, we end up destroying the very thing we need most- fellowship, first with God and with each other.
”For all the law can be summarized in one grand statement: “Demonstrate love to your neighbor, even as you care for and love yourself.”
But if you continue to criticize and come against each other over minor issues, you’re acting like wild beasts trying to destroy one another!
Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.
When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder him from living free within you!
And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you!
So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit.
But when you yield to the life of the Spirit, you will no longer be living under the law, but soaring above it!
But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit.
Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.
Keep in mind that we who belong to Jesus Christ have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self-life was put to death on the cross and crucified with Messiah.
If the Spirit is the source of our life, we must also allow the Spirit to direct every aspect of our lives.
So may we never be arrogant, or look down on another, for each of us is an original.
We must forsake all jealousy that diminishes the value of others.“
Galatians 5:14-18, 22-26 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/gal.5.14-26.TPT
”I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us.
The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin.
But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children.
To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth. And it’s not just creation.
We who have already experienced the firstfruits of the Spirit also inwardly groan as we passionately long to experience our full status as God’s sons and daughters—including our physical bodies being transformed.
For this is the hope of our salvation. But hope means that we must trust and wait for what is still unseen. For why would we need to hope for something we already have?
So because our hope is set on what is yet to be seen, we patiently keep on waiting for its fulfillment.“
Romans 8:18-25 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rom.8.19-25.TPT
”God is working in you. He wants your plans and your acts to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without complaining or arguing. Then you will be pure and without blame. You will be children of God without fault among sinful and evil people.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. You will shine as you hold on tight to the word of life.“
Philippians 2:13-16 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/php.2.13-16.NIRV
”Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children as well.
Here is how we know that we love God’s children. We know it when we love God and obey his commands.
In fact, here is what it means to love God. We love him by obeying his commands.
And his commands are not hard to obey. That’s because everyone who is a child of God has won the battle over the world. Our faith has won the battle for us.
Who is it that has won the battle over the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.“
1 John 5:1-5 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/1jn.5.2-5.NIRV
”We know that those who are children of God do not keep on sinning.
The Son of God keeps them safe. The evil one can’t harm them.
We know that we are children of God.
We know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
We also know that the Son of God has come.
He has given us understanding. So we can know the God who is true.
And we belong to the true God by belonging to his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.“
1 John 5:18-20 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/1jn.5.18-20.NIRV
”Have you completely forgotten this word of hope? It speaks to you as a father to his children.
It says, “My son, think of the Lord’s training as important. Do not lose hope when he corrects you. The Lord trains the one he loves. He corrects everyone he accepts as his son.” (Proverbs 3:11,12)
Put up with hard times. God uses them to train you. He is treating you as his children.
What children are not trained by their parents? God trains all his children. But what if he doesn’t train you? Then you are not really his children. You are not God’s true sons and daughters at all.
Besides, we have all had human fathers who trained us. We respected them for it.
How much more should we be trained by the Father of spirits and live!
Our parents trained us for a little while. They did what they thought was best.
But God trains us for our good. He does this so we may share in his holiness.
No training seems pleasant at the time. In fact, it seems painful.
But later on it produces a harvest of godliness and peace. It does this for those who have been trained by it.“
Hebrews 12:5-11 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/heb.12.5-11.NIRV
”The Holy Spirit makes you one in every way. So try your best to remain as one.
Let peace keep you together.
There is one body and one Spirit.
You were appointed to one hope when you were chosen.
There is one God and Father of all. He is over everything. He is through everything. He is in everything.“
Ephesians 4:3-4, 6 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/eph.4.3-6.NIRV
We are family in Christ. We are not perfect but He is and we are being perfected.
”Let us hold firmly to the hope we claim to have. The God who promised is faithful.
Let us consider how we can stir up one another to love.
Let us help one another to do good works.
And let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope.
Let us do this even more as you see Christ’s return approaching.“
Hebrews 10:23-25 NIRV
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