Thursday, January 25, 2018

Children of Promise

Thursday, January 25, 2018
Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!  Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children.  For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.  This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God.  Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.  Romans 9:6-8(NLT)
Paul the Apostle wrote this letter to the church at Rome to help them separate fact from fiction about what it means to be in the family of God; in doing so Paul made hamburger of a really sacred cow among his Jewish friends.  He literally trashed the idea of being favored in Heaven just because you are part of Abraham’s family tree. 
That really poked the hornet’s nest in Paul’s day.  In fact, it is that same concept which caused the religious leaders in Jerusalem to plot the murder of Jesus.  And it would prove to be the same reason for Paul’s later execution.  And if truth is to be maintained, it is this same central point that fuels most human conflicts:  who is in, and who is out!
I grew up in a smallish town where you couldn’t hide.  In the 1950’s a young boy in Smithtown who couldn’t behave in school, or was disrespectful to an adult in the General Store, or perpetrated some other heinous crime on society, well that boy would have to face judgment that evening at home; everyone knew your family, and the news reached your Mom and Dad before you got there.  There was no place to hide; you were your parent’s child!
Now, that’s lineage.  If you are of the same blood line your DNA may mean you look just like your Dad or Mom – red hair, blue eyes, short or tall.  You have things in common, like your address, family name, and even voice characteristics.  When our girls were young, if I called home from an evening meeting at the church, it didn’t make a difference which one answered the phone; they both sounded like their mother.
But, says Apostle Paul, that kind of DNA stuff is only lineage, and it bears no weight in Heaven.  Paul pointed us in the direction of promise, meaning those who would fulfill God’s purposes; these are the authentic children of promise.
And so, the natural question is:  What are the promise and purposes of God?  And the simple answer is found in what is arguably the best known verse in Scripture:
“For this is how God loved the world:  He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16(NLT)
The promise of God is a Savior to deal with our sin, and that fulfils the purpose God has for us – eternal life.  To be a child of God means entering that purpose and promise by faith.  It has nothing to do with being born into a family physically; it has everything to do with being adopted into God’s forever family as you place your faith in the fact that Christ loved you enough to die in your place. 
That’s what it means to be a child of promise.
And that’s why it doesn’t matter what family you were born into physically – rich, poor, churchy or criminal…it matters that you accept the promise and are adopted into the family that will never die.
For You Today
People make – and break promises all the time.  You won’t find God doing that!  His purpose in the promise is to bless you by drawing you close to Him with all His love and goodness.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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