20
T
he phrase ‘family of God’ describes human
and heavenly relationships of life and love.
It is not only a ‘beloved’ family, but also a
‘royal’ family. Christ is not only our Redeemer,
Brother, but also our Royal Brother – the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. We were born not
only into the family of God, but into his king-
dom as well. In God’s ‘family’ we will have
life, in God’s ‘Kingdom’ we will have power
and authority.
The church of Jesus Christ includes the con-
cept of both ‘family and kingdom.’ Christ is
the royal Son of God; His life and His authority
will be expressed through us as we become
‘one’ with Him. The Apostle Paul teaches us
that by one spirit we were all baptised into one
body – whether Jew or non-Jews. (1 Cor.
12:13). The term baptise means to be placed
The Family of God
| Bro Paskweli Odur (Dokolo, Uganda)
into, or become one with Christ. We truly
become members of his body, and that body is
the church. (Col.1:18).
The first time we find the word ‘church’ is in
the New Testament – it is from the lips of Jesus
himself. Peter has just spoken out and
confessed Jesus as ‘the Christ, the Son of the
living God.’ Jesus tells him that the Father has
blessed him with that revelation. Then calling
Peter by name, Jesus goes on to say, that
‘upon this Rock, (the revelation that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of the living God,) I will
build my church, and the gates (defences) of
hell will not be able to withstand victorious
assault of the church against it. I will give you
the keys (authority) of the Kingdom of
Heaven.’ (Matt. 16:13-19).
W
ith all its problems, Israel has one
commanding advantage - a sense of
purpose: to survive. It has come back. It
has confounded persecution and outlived
exile to become the only nation in the
world that is governing itself in the same
territory, under the same name, and with
the same religion and same language as it
did 3,000 years ago. It is conscious of ful-
filling destiny. It knows it must not go
under now, that it must endure.
| Sis Barbara W Tuchman
Key to Israel’s Survival
Jerusalem
Worship
| Bro AD Liwawa (Neno, Malawi)
W
orshipping God is a duty to be performed
individually and collectively. It is a thing
that other people standing afar off can see
and observe.
Individually - by hearing the word of God, by
believing and by having faith in the promises
made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus said
that whosoever believes and is baptized will
be saved. So a belief, followed by baptism is
an individual acceptance and act in worship-
ping God. A man has accepted to be washed of
his sins and to start a new way of living, dif-
ferent from the old one. Before baptism we
were doing things for our own pleasure, not
pleasing God. Now we are to show that we
have changed. We should never be like a dog
that returns to its own vomit or like a fool who
repeats his folly (Prov. 26:11; 2 Pet. 2:22).
This is what man is like and we are being
warned that if we return to our own vomit or
go back to the mire, we will be away from the
Kingdom of God. We got rid of what was not
suitable for our body, we rejected it. We were
~ continued ...