A Real Member of the Family – January 5, 2023

So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Galatians 4:7

A Real Member of the Family

It’s a pretty dramatic story when a person who was hired as a servant or conscripted as a slave becomes a member of the family. You can imagine the complicated emotions of the natural-born children in the drama. Do they welcome the new member of the family with open arms? Or are they jealous because someone who is not natural born will get part of the inheritance?

At one time, we were slaves to sin and the devil, forced to go along with them because their will was all we knew. But God has freed us from that slavery, promising us forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus. And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also salvation and eternal life.

When God made us his children, true members of his family, there was an only begotten Son who could have been angry that he had to take on flesh, suffer, and die in our place. But Jesus, that Son was not jealous. He played his part in our salvation willingly. He did it out of love.

He was the first to receive the inheritance, a glorified body that will live eternally in heaven. But he is not the last. We have the same promise for our bodies and souls, and there is plenty of the inheritance to go around. We are heirs of eternal life, not just our souls, but our bodies as well—glorified, ageless, and perfect.

It’s an extraordinary privilege to be a member of God’s family, his child, with our brother Jesus Christ. Let’s look forward to the family reunion!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for dying to put God’s will into effect and earn my inheritance. Amen.