The Family of God

Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.”
‭‭2 John‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

John was sharing the sentiments of a sister church congregation. Something we must always remember is that there are fellow believers in other congregations. Those who truly know Christ are our brothers and sisters. We are the family of God. At the church I pastor we call each other brother or sister. Like the old adage says: "blood is thicker than water." The blood of Jesus is what binds us together. We are birthed into the family of God when we place our trust in the blood of Jesus as the payment for our sin. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:13-14‬ ‭KJV‬‬ (see also Ephesians 2:13 and I Peter 1:18-19). The Holy Spirit breathes life into us and we are born again! To be born again means to be born from above by the Spirit of God. If we are not born of the Spirit we are not His (see John 3:1-7; Romans 8:9-11). There are two representations of the church: 1. The Local Church - the congregations that gather at specific locations all around the world. 2. The Universal Church - the collective body of the saints from all over the world. From Acts chapter 2 all the way to Acts Chapter 8 the local and universal church were one. From that time until now, we have been separated by time and space. We have so many denominations that distinguish us. However, there is only One Lord Jesus and One way of salvation. There is only one true church - the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. God knows those who are His. He has children all over the world. We are one big family. In fact, we should think about, and pray for, one another. One day, the church will be one again. One day, we will see the family of God gathered together again. We will worship Jesus as one and there will be no more denominations. To all those out there who are my brothers and sisters, let me say hello, that I love you all, and I look forward to seeing you in eternity.