Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

     It breaks my heart that God created the world and everything was paradise until humanity exercised their free will and brought the pervasive, corruptive influence of sin into creation.  Then He Himself came to rescue us, but the majority of those He came to save, including those of the Jewish nation that God chose to reveal salvation through, rejected Him.  The Good News of Jesus is available to whosoever will believe.  God will not force anyone into healthy, righteous, life-giving relationship with Him.  God does not send people to Hell, they go there of their own accord.

     For those that do receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, salvation is not simply a get out of Hell free card.  The new birth experience is our entry point into eternal family of God as His adopted sons and daughters and the beginning of an intense yet gradual process of becoming more like Jesus.  God created each and every human being to be unique with a God-given personality and made us for such a time as this.  We must ask ourselves, how would Jesus live if He were me?  As we each become more like Him as individuals, our unity in the family of God increases and will continue to do so until the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when we will finally enjoy perfect harmony with God with one another.

“Lord Jesus, You are my Lord and my God.  I pray that You would continue to reveal to me what it means to walk with You and become more like You.  Empower me by Your Spirit to do Your will and Your work upon the Earth.  Help me to share Your love and message of redemption, power, healing and hope with as many people as possible.  Reveal to them the fulness of Your everlasting Gospel and bind us together in covenant relationship.  In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray these things.  Amen.”

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

—John 17:6-11