Future Redemption

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. -- Romans 8:23

It is a wonderful thing to be a child of God, to be lifted from the muck and mire that pulls us down and be standing on the Solid Rock.  Let’s imagine for a moment, though, what it might be like to be a child brought from an abusive situation or from the sterile environment of an orphanage to a loving, two-parent foster home with attentive, even doting parents who work tirelessly to let the child know that he or she is wanted and that the child’s welfare is their chief concern.  The parents seek earnestly to adopt the child as their own.  As much as the child enjoys being in this foster home, the joy is much greater when the adoption is done and the chosen one is a son or a daughter forever.  At last they are truly a family.

What bride, however much she loves her fiancé, would be content to be engaged with no prospect of marriage and the consummation of the relationship?  So we, as much as we appreciate all that God does for us in this life, still long in our spirits for the day when we are fully redeemed, when we step out before all creation as the sons of God, the rightful heirs and rulers of the cosmos. 

There will come a day when we will be able to move at the speed of thought, create and build in accordance with the will of our Father, pleasing to Him in every way.  We will know as we are known.  We will have tools, resources, and abilities of which we cannot now so much as dream.  The wisdom of God will fill us, and all creation will shout for joy as we bring renewal to the remotest corner under heaven.

I will not complain at all if the Lord gives me “a cabin in the corner of gloryland”.  I have done little for the kingdom and have no right to expect much in the way of rewards, but I will be happy to have some small part in setting all of creation free from futility and bondage and decay, perhaps by serving under some saint who is far more deserving of honor.    

So if one of you all ends up ruling over the remaking of some planet on the other side of the galaxy, and you need some unskilled labor who doesn’t mind getting sweat in his eyes, ask for me.  I’ll be happy to lend a hand.

Family of God

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named … -- Ephesians 3:14-15

Surnames are relatively modern.   In the Bible, people of the same or similar names are distinguished by region, Elijah the Tishbite, or ethnicity, Uriah the Hittite, or by tribe – of Ephraim, Judah, Levi.  Sometimes a person is referred to as being descended from an illustrious ancestor, but David was known simply as the son of Jesse.  Sometimes people, like blind Bartimaeus, called Jesus the Son of David, a messianic title.  Today, we have family names, in the West, usually of our paternal line.  Mine can be followed back to Scotland, though my genes are mixed in who knows what combination. 

All of us, though, regardless of genetics, earthly descent, race, or background, whether of angels or of men, are named from the one God and Father.  It is not a matter of knowledge or understanding.  The ignorant and untaught are children of the Most High, same as anyone, though it does them little good outside the general blessings of life.  Man has been drawn toward God through the slow, methodical spiral of history, but he has been in His image and likeness, no matter the depravity of mind or the corruption of culture.

I had a good earthly father who was with me for a long time.  He was not perfect, but I am glad to be thought, by some, much like him.  Not everybody has been so blessed.  I know too many too well who were neglected and ignored by selfish fathers, crushed and abused by petty and twisted ones.  Some have been made to feel inadequate by fathers who demanded too much, though I think a father’s job includes sometimes saying, “You can do better.” 

Our God is, in some ways, very demanding.  He says we can and should do better, be better. Then He offers us the means to be better.  He gives us the means of grace through His only begotten Son.  Which tends to make us wonder, if there is only one Son, who are all these in heaven and on earth that God claims as His children?  The Son is the Eternal God.  There can be no Father except there be a Son.  But we are the chosen, the elect – the adopted, with God Incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth, as our elder brother. 

Perhaps someone we know has not had the best of families, the best of fathers or mothers.  Someone may be alienated, outcast or abandoned by all natural relation.  We can tell them they have a family and a loving Father who knows them perfectly yet loves them fully.  They have a Father who will ask much of them and challenge them but will walk with them through the greatest trial and the darkest night, who will help them when they stumble and lift them when they fall.  Child of God, every one may be a child of God.