PURPOSED TO BE GOD’S FAMILY
THE BEGINNING OF FAMILY
It is good to have a family. We all started with a mother and a father. We may
have brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and cousins. You were born
into a certain family according to God’s design. We had no choice
in the matter. We were put on earth because God want a family.
According to Ephesians 1:4. God saw you before the creation began.
Ephesians 1:4-6
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
You were made to be God’s family and to give Him pleasure. You were formed
according to His will.
According to the creation narrative God first created a comfortable environment
for man to live and work (Genesis 1:1-25)
Three things to remember:
1. We were created by God for God\’s pleasure Ephesians 1:4
2. We were created in God’s image Genesis 2:26-28
3. We were created to have dominion over the earth Genesis 2:26-28
Adam was created first and given the job of naming each species of animals
God created after their own kind. Genesis 2:19-20
Let me suggest that after naming all the animals, Adam knew the
value of family. It was God who decided that Adam needed a helpmate.
God put Adam to sleep and formed Eve around one of his rib bones
Genesis 2:21
God’s first command to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful.
Genesis 1:28
28 God blessed them and said to them, \”Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.\”
Starting with Adam and Eve, God ordained individual families.
Genesis 2:3
For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Just as the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit are unified in purpose, the man
and his wife must be unified in the purpose of being obedient to the Father.
In our previous lesson, we discuss life being a Test, A Trust, and a Temporary.
Adam and Eve failed the Test that God designed for them.
In the middle of the Garden of Eden, their heavenly home, God planted
the Tree of Knowledge and Of Good And Evil with the specific command
not to eat from that tree. It was a test of obedience.
Being tempted by the devil, that is listening to the wrong voice without
consulting God, the first family faced the harsh reality of disobedience.
They were locked out of their home and forced to work the land by the
sweat of their brows.
SIN DOES NOT CHANGE GOD’S PLAN
Our sins do not change God\’s desire for us to be part of His family.
Sin is the vehicle God uses to discipline us in love. God’s plan
includes our restoration.
Hebrews 2:11-12
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.
Once Adam and Eve destroyed their relationship with the Father, it had to be
reestablished through the atoning Blood of Jesus Christ.
The old man of sin came alive and reign in man until Jesus was born in the flesh.
After Adam and Eve sinned, man was born in sin and shaped in inequity.
God’s desire for us to be His family does not change.
Malachi 3:6
For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
God could have ended mankind with Adam and Eve\’s sins. Their sin was part of
His plan. God included our ignorance and disobedience in His plan for the family.
CHOSEN TO SERVE
James 1:14
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
We were chosen to serve God. Anyone that decides to do anything is subject to making
mistakes or wrong choices. In the process of doing we may rub
someone the wrong way. God makes allowances for us to learn His way.
Like Adam and Eve, we may not totally consider the consequences of our
decisions. God\’s love for us includes His discipline. The benefit of God’s
discipline is the wisdom we learn to pay closer attention to His commands.
Galatians 3:2-3
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
It is obedience to the Word of God that brings life. No one man can keep the
whole law, therefore if brings condemnation.
God has given His family, the Holy Spirit to help us know His truth. You really
want no the value of the Word of God until you experience the consequences of
disobedience.
God did not create family to destroy it for disobedience, but to grow it
through life’s experiences to be more like Him.
We were made in His image and His likeness. But we have to experience life to
grow like Jesus. In that light, we cannot judge Adam and Eve’s sin since they
like all family members were on a path of growth. We all have a learning curve.
FAMILY IS SELECTIVE
Family is selective. God made everyone, but He did not select everyone to be in
His family. Some God chose and some God did not choose. God is sovereign,
He can do as He wills.
Romans 9:18-20
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he
wants to harden.
19 One of you will say to me: \”Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?\” 20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?
In the midst of all the none chosen people, God keeps track of His family.
Throughout your lifetime, you will never be lost as a family member.
John 6:39
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Not only can you not get lost, but God planned the day that you would be called
out of the world of darkness.
Romans 8:28-30
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Notice there is a process that God used to form you into His family.
1. Sometime in eternity past, God knew you and determined that you would be
made in the image of His son
2. Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers which included you.
Notice God has moved out of eternity pass, moved past the creation
period to the time frame of your life.
3. Because you were born in sin. God had to perform a cleanup operation.
a. He called you out of the world
b. He justified you through the atoning blood of His Son.
3. He glorified you for His glory
EQUIPPED WITH SPIRITUAL GIFTS TO RESPOND
Because Family members have responsibilities, God equipped you with
usable gifts. You were made capable to do the will of God.
Adam was given the task of naming all the animals God created.
Adam had an amazing vocabulary. He didn\’t have a book of words but did have the guidance of the Father.
1. God gave you a measure of faith
Romans 12:3
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God
has given you.
It is through faith that we are able to respond to God’s call. We can do anything
through God who strengthens us.
2. Romans 12:3-9 is a list of gifts to be used according to your faith to serve the
the family.
Serving
Teaching
Encouraging
Helps
Generosity
Leadership
Compassion
A RICH INHERITANCE
As a member of God’s family, you have rich inheritance.
Galatians 4:7
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Ephesians 1:18-19
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
Notice to know and appreciate your given inheritance you have to study God’s word.
The Word of God has been printed and preserved for you. The enlightening is the work
between you and the Holy Spirit.
What is this inheritance?
Spiritual and Social Graces
Wisdom and understanding Ephesians 1:7
Knowledge of His will
Kindness, tolerance, patience Romans 2:4
INHERITANCE ON EARTH
We are God’s portion
Deuteronomy 32:9-10
9 For the Lord\’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
God chose you to display His love. You have the Lord as your protector.
He has His eye on you at all times.
You are the Lord’s love song
Isaiah 5:1
I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
You are constantly on the mind of the Lord.
God owns everything and He has made you an heir to all He owns.
As family members, we have access to all the riches of the Lord.
Jesus said whatever you ask the Father in my name will be given you.
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
If you live long enough you will get old and your body will deteriorate. But
the good news is inward we are being renewed. We are renewed in the mind
and the spirit.
Inheritance Held in Heaven
1 Peter 1:3-4
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you
Jesus has prepared a place for us in Heaven. Some say we have a mansion
waiting for us to enter heaven.
Hebrews 9:15
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance — now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
We have been set free from sin and all unrighteousness to receive our eternal
inheritance.
GOD’S FAMILY HAS A MISSION
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.\”
Our job is to make disciples by proclaiming the Word of God. We are the Church
that draws people to the Lord. The Word does the convicting, we are just the
instrument of conviction.
Once a person has accepted Christ as their personal
Savior they need to be informed that their confession of faith brought about
an immediate spiritual baptism
The making of disciples does not end with their confession of faith. We have to
teach and encourage the new disciples to study the Word of God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We have a rich
inheritance in God’s Word.
We have a responsibility to all of God\’s family to imitate the Jesus Christ
in our living, in our words, and our actions.
In summary, God Has purposes for your existence
LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT YOU, IT IS ABOUT THE LORD
YOU WERE CHOSEN FOR GOD’S PLEASURE
YOU WERE CHOSEN TO BE GOD’S FAMILY
YOU WERE CHOSEN TO BE LIKE JESUS
YOU WERE CHOSEN TO SERVE
YOU WERE CHOSEN FOR A MISSION
CLASS QUESTIONS
HOW DOES KNOWING YOUR PURPOSE AFFECT THE WAY
YOU FEEL ABOUT YOURSELF?
HOW DOES KNOWING YOUR PURPOSE AFFECT HOW YOU
SEE GOD?
