Redeemed and Restored Relationships

This month has been great as we’ve finally been able to talk about the most important relationship of all; our relationship with God. We’ve shown that there is good evidence to believe that God is real, that we can rely on the historical validity of the Gospels including and most importantly the resurrection of Christ, and how His life, death and resurrection paved the way for us to be able to have our sins forgiven, our debt cleared, and a restored relationship with God. That is really great news! But, that is not all that happens when we place our trust in Christ. He also restores our relationship with people, but how? That is what we will be discussing today, so stay tuned!

When Jesus saves us, forgiving our sins by paying our debt through His death on the cross, He allows us to become adopted into God’s family which is why the Bible calls us the children of God. 2 Cor. 6:18 actually quotes 2 Samuel saying, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” When we are saved, God brings us into His family and makes us brothers and sisters with everyone else, past, present and future who put their trust in Jesus. This new family is called the Church, with a capital C.

Contrary to what many of us would commonly think of today, the Church is not a building but a collective group of people. The Church is made up of individuals, not denominations or ministries, and those individuals are all part of one body. That being said, the Church is both inclusive and exclusive. To be a part of the Church, all that is required is saving faith in Jesus through His life, death and resurrection. Anyone, no matter their background, their economic status, their ethnic identity or even their past sin, can come to saving faith in Jesus. One of the first recipients of this gift was the thief on the cross who was dying next to Jesus. Found in Luke 23:39-43, the thief on the cross was literally in the process of being executed for his crimes; even if he thought he could, he had no time to do anything to earn his way into heaven. All he does is acknowledge Jesus for who He is. He believes Jesus is the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, and in His kingdom and acknowledges his own sin in light of this. No theology classes. No Sunday school. No doctrinal affirmations. Jesus’ response is forgiveness and compassion, telling him that He would be with Jesus’ in paradise. Regardless of his past life, all the way to the point of his death, when the thief put his faith in Christ, he was welcomed by Jesus, Himself, into the family of God.

The exclusivity comes in the fact that salvation and the new family that comes with it is only available to those who believe. Nowadays, some people, many people, try to skirt around the touchy subject of who is saved. Recently, many prominent teachers have stepped outside of clear Biblical teaching in order to present a gospel that doesn’t require faith in Christ. Some say that as long as you’re a “good person” that the gates of Heaven will be open to you. We addressed last week how none of us can actually claim to be good. Others teach that good person, bad person, doesn’t matter. Jesus died to save everyone, so everyone will be saved. This teaching runs completely contrary to what Jesus, Himself, said in Matthew 7:13-14.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Placing your faith, your trust, in Jesus and His finished work on the cross, is the only way that we can be adopted into the Church, God’s family. As Christians, we need to be connected to God’s family. We encourage each other, support each other, correct each other, love each other. In fact, there are over 50 “one another” verses in the Bible that tell us how we are to treat each other as fellow believers, brothers and sisters. As Christians, it is impossible to obey God and neglect our responsibilities towards other Christians.

So, we are brought into this new family with other believers, but what about our relationships to people who don’t share our faith? Jesus showed us exactly how we should treat the people around us who don’t believe because it is the way He treated us before we were following Him, as well. Jesus loved us. Jesus sought after us. Jesus laid down His life for us. The two greatest commandments are not just rules that we have to follow, but they tell us what we are made for; our actual purpose.

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ - Matthew 22: 37-40

To love someone is to give them what they truly need to the best of your ability. Love without truth isn’t love at all, but truth without love just makes people hate the truth. As followers of Christ, we are called to live by His example, showing love and speaking truth, leading those around us to the same salvation and freedom from sin, fear, shame and death that we have found in Christ.

Don’t miss our April podcast as we sit down with Travis and Logan of Chaotic Resemblance. They’ll share about their life in a band, their stories from the road, and their relationiships with eachother and God. Be sure that you are subscribed to our channels so that you don’t miss it when it drops!