Blessings of Following Christ
#3 – We Get a New Family
Ephesians 2:19-22
November 4, 2007
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT USED IN MY MESSAGES IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Introduction
We’ve been looking at different benefits or blessings of following Christ – living for Him, and not just giving Him lip-service.
One of the things that’s easy for preachers to do is to continually call for a commitment of some kind. And I’m going to be doing that today as well.
But I’d really like to spend most of the time talking about how awesome the family of God is and why it’s a blessing to be part of it.
We: I think all of us, whether it’s obvious to us or not, long to belong. We want to be part of something that is living and active, and that makes feel like we’re a vital part of that.
Families are the ideal place for all of that. That’s part of the way God designed families. Successful families are made up of people who are made to feel like they belong and that their contributions to the family, no matter how small, are appreciated and valuable.
When you put your faith in Christ, you become a member of the family of God. The heavenly Father becomes your Father. You’re adopted into His family as His child. And that’s no small thing, let me tell you.
John 1:12-13 –
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
You gain a heavenly Father, and you gain a heavenly brother as well.
Hebrews 2:11 –
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
And not only do you gain a heavenly Father and a heavenly Brother, you also gain a great and wonderful family comprised of millions and millions of people who have joined that family as well, and who want only the best for you as you become part of it as well.
This church is part of that awesome family, and it’s my desire that this part of the family becomes all it can be to love and support the family of God in our area.
God: The passage that I want to deal with today goes a bit more into what being part of the family of God is all about.
Ephesians 2:19-22 –
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
[Thanks to Jim Drake for the following outline points (SermonCentral.com)]
This passage gives us three things that each member of the family of God shares with one another:
1. The family shares a common foundation (vv. 19-20).
It says here in verses 19-20 that God’s household is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and even that foundation is built on the cornerstone of Christ.
Without Christ, the whole thing crumbles. It exists because of Christ and survives because of Him.
You don’t get into without Him.
God’s family is built on Christ – He is the one who sets everything in the right direction.
Unfortunately, sometimes some of the “bricks” seem to think they need to go in a different direction, and the wall can look kinda funny.
And if it goes too far, that whole portion of the building can collapse – because they’re no longer building on the foundation but on their own shaky strength.
So we need to be careful that everything we do in life is based and built on the foundation of Christ and His Word.
Then we can count on the blessings of God in and through His family.
The second thing we have in common is that…
2. The family shares a common design (vv. 21).
Verse 21 tells us that in Christ the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple to the Lord.
This doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.
All of us are different – we have different gifts, talents, different temperaments, different financial situations, different jobs, different clothing styles…
But for some reason God saw fit to take all that and make it work for His grand design to make us a temple of God.
You’re all familiar with Lego’s right? Have any of you ever been to Legoland at the Mall of America?
It’s a place where kids and adults who haven’t grown up can go and just put stuff together. You can’t take them home, but you can just play.
If a person was inclined to do so, they could spend hours and hours there, just making stuff.
They’ve got these huge Lego creations there. Dinosaurs, space ships, and all kinds of stuff. It’s really awesome, especially when you take the time to really look at what it took to make those things.
You know the amazing thing – it takes legos of all shapes, sizes, and colors. And you know what? When they’re put together just the right way, something cool comes out of it.
Think for a moment about what you could build with only one kind of Lego: basically you could build a really big brick – because that’s what Legos are – bricks.
“Hey check out my brick! Whaddya think of that?” “Wow. Just like mine – only smaller.”
But the family of God isn’t like a single Lego brick. It takes a whole lot more than that to make the kind of family that God has in mind.
And it’s not like He just said, “Well, this is all I’ve got to work with, so I’ll just make the best of it and hope it doesn’t fall apart.
He designed us this way. He designed us to fit perfectly into His plan as a family that will glorify Him, with all our differences in mind.
I know what you’re thinking: you mean my weirdo brother-in-law, too? Yup. If he’s a believer in Jesus. I know – it doesn’t seem possible, but with God, even that is possible, folks.
God has designed His family to be built up in a way that brings Him glory. One of the benefits of being part of that family is that we get to be part of that wonderful design.
The third thing the members of the family of God share with each other is that…
3. The family shares a common purpose (v. 22).
Verse 22 –
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
So what’s the end result – the desire that God has for us as He works in us toward His design?
It’s that we would be holy.
Thing about it for a minute. What happened in the temple in Jerusalem? Holy things. Prayer, sacrifice, dedications – those sorts of things.
The family is designed to help us become a place where the Holy God can live in us.
We work together to be a holy number of people in whom and through whom God can work to bring others to Him to be part of that grand family. He does this through us as individuals and as a family.
It says here that we’re “being built together” to become that dwelling for God.
Folks, we need each other. That’s why we can’t try to get by with “individual Christianity.” It was never meant to be that way.
Scripture is full of admonitions to be active among the family. We’re built to need each other as we walk and live for Christ.
We need others to encourage us, to get in our face at times, to walk alongside us when we’re down and hurting, and to point us to holiness and love for Christ.
We can’t be “built together” by ourselves. It just can’t be done.
So let’s look very quickly at five characteristics of a great family, all of which are supposed to be characteristics of the family of God:
o The family should be loving.
John 13:35 –
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
One of the greatest signs that we belong to Christ and the family of God is that we love the members of the family.
And that’s not to say we’re not going to disagree from time to time.
Children in a family can fight.
But even in their disagreements, they still love each other, and as they grow older, they learn to be gracious and loving, even in their disagreements.
o The family should be a refuge of safety and caring.
A person should be able to bring concerns and struggles to the family of God without worrying about being rejected or finding themselves the subject of “prayer requests” that are in reality nothing more than gossip chains and rumor mills.
When a family member is facing a difficult situation, they need to be able to turn to the family without worrying about rejection or misunderstanding.
In following Jesus and joining the family of God, many will be rejected by their earthly families.
These people need a place of refuge and safety where they can go and find love and acceptance as they make this huge decision to love Christ and live for Him.
We all need the support that a family brings, whether it’s from your home unit or from the family of God.
o The family should be encouraging in life and in the faith.
When one of your children come to you with a question about the faith, how do you respond?
Do you encourage them as they ask, or do you say stuff like, “You have no business asking that,” or, “Don’t ask those kinds of questions – it’s not right!” or do you help them by answering the question or helping them find an answer?
Folks, no one in here has it all figured out, especially when it comes to things like living for Christ and understanding and applying the Scriptures.
If you think you’ve got it all figured out, then you’re only fooling yourself. And I can guarantee you that you’re coming across as haughty and stand-offish to those who realize their limitations.
o The family should be unified.
Philippians 2:2 –
…make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
Who likes a family that’s fractured or even just going in different directions?
o The family should be growing.
Acts 2:47 –
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The family is never big enough!
You’ve heard the song that says, “There’s plenty of room in the family, room for the young and the old…”
That will never be a sign that says “No
Vacancy.” And until Jesus returns, we need to be a family that say’s “Y’all come.”
Boy, I hope that’s your attitude toward those who are outside the family. If they’re not part of the family, then we need to do everything we can to help them become part of it.
Their very soul depends on the family of God telling them how they can know that their sins are forgiven and they have a home in heaven.
The family should be growing, folks. And it takes other family members to make it happen.
You: Here’s a question for you: What kind of family member are you?
Are you a loving family member who not only cares for those already in the family but also looks for others to be adopted into it just like you were?
Or are you the one who looks only to his own benefit, living only for yourself, not caring about the rest of the family.
Examine yourself to see where you can be a better family member.
By “better” I simply mean more loving, more caring, more forgiving, more concerned with those who are outside the family or whatever. A family member who is more concerned about the good of the family than about you yourself. A family member who rejoices to be part of this wonderful family where God is the Father and Jesus is our brother.
Ask the Spirit to show you how you can put aside your own agenda for the sake of the family.
Because not only will you help the entire family, it will open yourself to receiving all the benefits of being part of the family.
We: Folks, earthly families are more dysfunctional than every before. Selfishness among family members is at an all-time high. Adultery, abuse, neglect, favoritism, runaways, all sorts of stuff are beating the family to a pulp.
We need to show people that at least in the family of God, these things aren’t present.
We’re not perfect, and at times we can be just like the little children in earthly families who cry and whine when we don’t get our way, but by the grace of God we’re a safe place to be as we work to know God better and love Him more.
Because the more we love God, the better we can love and care for our family members.
So let’s show the community around us that the family of God is a caring community – loving its members as love ourselves, because we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Communion
One of the best ways we can declare our “family-ness” is to share in the communion, or the Lord’s Supper.
We come together as a group, like the apostles and Jesus did, to contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.
As a family we take time to thank Jesus once again as a group for dying on our behalf so we could become forgiven children of God.
During this time we take a few moments to reflect and ask the Spirit to show us anything we need to confess to the Father.
I would ask that you specifically ask Him to show you where you could use His help to become the kind of family member that reflects the Father’s love to those inside and outside the family.
And as you reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made to bring you into the family, I pray that you will recommit yourself to benefiting the family by loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, so we can be able to love others as ourselves.
