You Were Formed For God's Family

Week Three - I Was Formed For God's Family:

Purpose Driven Life 40 Days Bible Study:

Message Presented by Bob Koehler at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station For the Military Community Christian Community.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Responsive Reading:

“That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:3-7 (NKJV)

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Good Morning. Welcome to the Seal Beach Military Christian Community. Today we are continuing in our series on 40 Days of Purpose.

A few years ago a woman named Adelina Dominguez died in San Diego. Now, what made her death noteworthy is that according to the Guinness Book of Records, she was the oldest living American. At 114 years of age, she outlived all of her children and some of her grandchildren. When she was asked the secret of her longevity, Associated Press reported that she gave all the credit to God and to His plan and purpose for her life, quote, "I knew God had a purpose for my life."

Two weeks ago we answered the question “What on Earth am I here for? We discovered that God has many purposes for our life. In this series we are looking at five of those purposes:

First is Worship – we were planned for God’s pleasure;Second, Fellowship – we were formed for God’s family;Third, Discipleship – we were created to become like Christ;Fourth, Ministry – we were shaped for serving God;And fifth, Evangelism – we were made for a mission.

Last week, we looked at God’s first purpose, which is for you to get to know Him and to love Him. The Bible calls that worship. And today, we're going to look at the second purpose, which is that you are formed for God's family. Relating with God and with other Christians is called Fellowship.

God has not ever been lonely, but He wanted a family of men and women. In the first Chapter of the Bible – Genesis 1, Verse 26 we read: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”

In the Book of Ephesians Chapter 1, Verse 5 Paul writes that God: “…predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”
He is telling us that: “His (God’s) unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.”

The Bible is all about Jesus and about God is building His family on Jesus Christ, the Chief Corner stone, using the apostles and the prophets as the foundation and using you and me as the building blocks. The Apostle Peter calls us “living stones” in 1 Peter 2:5. God is building a family for Himself that is going to last not just here on earth, but forever and ever and ever in eternity. It is very important to realize that you were made to last forever.

Now, once you understand and get started on God's first purpose for your life, which we talked about last week, getting to know and to love God … then … God wants you to begin to focus and start practicing on His second purpose for your life.

And here it is in I Peter 2:17: “…Love the brotherhood…” When Peter speaks of “the brotherhood” he is telling us to love our Christian brothers and sisters, the church, our spiritual family.

That's what God wants you to do. That's the second purpose of your life. You see, God says that he wants you to learn to love the people in your family. Why? Well, there are several reasons. First, your physical family is going to eventually fall apart. But your spiritual family is going to last forever. You are going to spend more time with your spiritual family than you do with your physical family. God wants you to learn to love them.

Now, why does He want us to learn to love them? Here are a few reasons. First, it makes us more like God, because God is love. Second, he wants His children to learn to get along together. How many of you are parents? … You know, you usually want your kids to get along with each other ... Right? And number three, it’s practice for eternity. One of the things you're going to do in heaven, in eternity, is you're going to love God. And the other thing you're going to do is you're going to love the other believers that are there. It is going to be a place of love. So God says, “I want you to practice now learning to love other believers.” So let’s write this down:

MY SECOND PURPOSE IN LIFE IS FELLOWSHIP.

That's the word that the Bible uses to describe loving each other. What do you think of when I say the word ‘fellowship’? Some would say a casual conversation, some would say eating out together, some might say going to church. After this service is over, there will be a couple guys out on the patio, and they will be talking and one of them will say, “Hey, what happened to Kobe & the Lakers in Game 4??? Now, did they just fellowship? No! They just chewed the fat. They were just talking. That's not fellowship.

Write this down:

FELLOWSHIP IS LOVING GOD’S FAMILY.
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And the Bible says this in I John 4:21:
“And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
John is telling us that "The person who loves God must also love other believers." We have to love other believers. Now, how do you do that?

Well, fortunately, the Bible gives us crystal clear instructions. Paul wrote this, he said, “These things I write to you … so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Tim 3:14-15.

Paul is telling his young disciple and pastor Timothy: “I am writing you these instructions so that … you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God.”

Write this down:
God’s Family is the Church.

The Church is not a building; it is not an institution; it is not an organization; it is not a club. It is a family. A lot of people say, “Well, I’m going to go to church,” as if church is a place you go to. That's not correct. Church is not a place you go to. Church is a family you belong to. Big difference.

FOUR LEVELS OF FELLOWSHIP:

In God's family there are four levels of fellowship. We're going to look at them in detail. If we are going to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives we need to know how He expects us to do that. God did not mean for us to be “Lone Ranger” Christians. He tells us in the Book of Hebrews: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The first level of Fellowship is Membership which is (write this in the blank), "Choosing to belong,"

LEVEL 1 -- MEMBERSHIP: CHOOSING TO BELONG.

That's the most basic level. In Ephesians 1:13 we read: “But now in Christ Jesus … you … who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” And then skipping down to verse 19, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”

So what is the first step in becoming a member of God’s family? Although we were originally created in God’s image, our first parents, Adam and Eve, made the choice to sin. Each of us has inherited a sin nature from them. That is what has made us strangers to God. We have all heard about the 10 commandments that were given to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai and we may pat ourselves on the back by thinking that we have done a pretty good job of obeying them. But if we really examine our lives we will find that we often do things that are not pleasing to God. This is sin and it creates a barrier between us and God. It breaks our fellowship with Him. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now I know that forgiveness being a free gift might be a little difficult to understand; especially if you are in the military where forgiveness is hard to come by. Marines have a really hard time with this concept. You see … a Marine knows that to err is human and to forgive is divine … however … neither of the above is Marine Corps policy.

But our God is loving and merciful and does not want to punish us. However, our sin carries a penalty that must be paid. And Jesus Christ took care of that sin debt for us. He, Jesus Christ, God the Son, became a man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and rose from the dead to go to Heaven and prepare a place for us.

Yes, Heaven, or eternal life is a free gift, but getting there is not automatic. How do we receive this free gift? It’s as easy as A, B, C. Write this down:

A you must admit that you are a sinner, B you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins and purchase a place in Heaven for you and C you confess your sins to God and commit your life to Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us in 1 John Chapter 1: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Isn’t that a fantastic promise? God says that if confess our sins to Him (and that means we agree with God that we are sinners) and turn away from that sinful life style and trust Jesus Christ alone for our eternal life … then all of our sins, everything bad we have ever done is forgiven. The slate is wiped clean! Jesus did it all! He says in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Do you have a real relationship with God? Have you asked God if you can be a part of His family? Were you walking closely with God in the past but you have let sin get in the way of you fulfilling God’s purposes for your life? Maybe it’s time for you to make a change of direction.

The next part of Step one is finding a church family and choosing to get connected. Believing in Jesus and trusting Him alone for our eternal life is the essence of Christianity. But living the abundant Christian life here and now is a matter of belonging.

Fellowship begins with belonging, with making that choice. God wants you to identify with and to make the choice to be a part of His family. When you were born, you automatically became a part of the human race. But you have to choose to belong to the family of God, the church. It is a choice.

You may hear some people say, “Well, I’m a Christian, but I don't want to belong to any church.” That just doesn't make sense. The church is where you live out what it means to be a Christian. That's like saying, “I’m in the Army, but I don’t want to be a part of any division or regiment or company or platoon.” It’s like saying, I’m in the Coast Guard, and I want to live in Southern California, but I really don’t want to belong to the 11th Coast Guard District or Sector LA/LB.” It just doesn't work. A Christian without a church family is an orphan. God meant us to be a part of a family.

This next week in the Purpose Driven Life book, you will be reading six reasons why you need to be a part of a church family, why it meets your needs and why you meet other people's needs. The Bible tells us this in Romans 12, verses 5 & 6:

“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

When you make a decision for Jesus you belong to every other Christian. We are members together. The word "membership” today is used for being a member of every kind of club and signing up for this and joining that. But originally, the meaning was right here in the Bible; a member of the Body of Christ. Just like your hand is a member of your body, that's how tightly we are tied to each other. This isn't about being a part of some silly club, wearing silly hats and having silly signs. This is about belonging to each other, making the choice to belong to a family.

You know, it is only in America that it is common to have floating believers. By that I mean people who go from church to church to church. Suppose you were, let's say, the liver in the Body of Christ, that was God's job for you. You can't un-attach yourself from one body and try to go attach yourself to another and then to another.

(Leaf/Flower and Plant Illustration)

What happens when you pick a leaf off a tree or pick cut a flower to put in a vase in your living room. It looks great for a while but soon it will wither, shrivel up and not be good for anything.

And the same thing happens to us as believers. We need to attach ourselves to a group of believers, where we say, “I want to be a part of what's going on there.” Jesus loves the church. And you and I need to have the same kind of love. Jesus calls the church the “body.” We need to have that same kind of respect for it, to recognize what it means. What if I said to you, “You know, I love you, I just can't stand your body”? How would you feel about that? The church is Jesus' body. He loves the church. The church is the bride of Christ. What if I said, “I love you, but I can't stand your wife,” how would you like that?

There is a Biblical symbol of belonging to Jesus -- a picture that God gives us about being a part of His family. It is called "baptism." Baptism is an outward sign of what has already taken place in your heart when you committed your life to Jesus. Look at what 1 Corinthians 12:13 has to say about baptism:

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”

When you are baptized you say: “I am identifying with Jesus Christ. I have become part of His body, the church.” Baptism is a public way of proclaiming that we died to our sin, our old lives and now we live to serve Jesus Christ. We died to an old way of life; we're living a new way of life.

I guess the best picture I can give you is that baptism is like the wedding ring of the Christian life. This wedding ring that I am wearing doesn't make me married. But Jean, my charming wife, gave it to me on the day we were married so I could wear it from that day forward as a visible symbol of a commitment of my heart. That's what baptism is. It is visible symbol of the commitment of a person's heart, saying I’m not ashamed to tell the world that I believe in Jesus Christ.

During this last year at Cypress Church we had more than 100 people who took that step. They said that they are not ashamed to identify themselves with Jesus. Three weeks from now, on June 8th, we are going to give you that opportunity. Any of you who have not been baptized and publicly identified yourself with Jesus Christ should plan to attend baptism class on May 25th and then you will be ready to be baptized on June 8th.

So we have talked about the first level which is choosing to belong. The second level of Fellowship is a little bit deeper, when you go a little further into the family of God. We will call this “the friendship level.” Let’s write this down on our notes:

LEVEL 2: FRIENDSHIP: LEARNING TO SHARE.

You see, you were created in God's image. So you were made for relationships. If we go back to the book of Genesis we find that God comments about His creation. Six times He calls it “Good.” After man was created and the six days of creation were complete He said that “it was very good.” But in chapter 2 we read: “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.””

Life is not a solo act. You need friends. The Bible says this in Acts 2:44 where Luke tells us: “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,” Acts 2:44 (NKJV)

This means that “All the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other.” Acts 2:44 (LB)

Notice the two keys to developing biblical friendships. The first is meeting together and the second is sharing. Now, the more frequently you meet together, the closer you're going to get. Do you know why most people are lonely? They don't make time for friendships. They are too busy achieving; they are too busy working; they are too busy doing other things. They are not willing to put the time into it. You have to meet together. You have to get together. And until you start making fellowship a priority in your life, you're not going to develop any deep friends. Friendships don't just happen. They happen because you choose to make the time for them. It is not luck. It is a choice. And developing close friendships means sharing. It says, “they shared everything."

Now, those of you who are parents know one of the fundamental lessons children have to learn is learning to share. And God says “You know what? In the family of God I want you to learn to share with other believers.” So what are we supposed to share? Well, the Bible is full of instructions on things we are supposed to share - as Christians - with each other. Let me just mention a few:

Number 1, the Bible says we are to share…write this down:

OUR EXPERIENCES.

Experience is a wonderful thing. I’ve been told that it actually enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. I think it was my Dad who told me: “Experience keeps a hard school but a fool will learn from no other.”

But the Bible says we learn from each other “just as iron sharpens iron."

When I was just out of the Navy I started working with a guy from San Pedro named Ed who had a charter sailboat. He was getting close to retirement and wanted someone to take over the business. He told me that if I was going to work for him I needed to do things exactly the way he showed me so I wouldn’t get into trouble. Of course, I followed his directions when he was around, but sometimes when he let me operate the boat by myself I would try an “experiment.” One day I thought I would try to get underway from a mooring over at Catalina using only the sails and no engine. I had never done this before, but youth, inexperience and pride won out over obedience. I ended up hitting the LA County lifeguard boat that was on a nearby mooring and had to buy them a new windshield. I could have learned from Ed’s experience but I chose the hard road.

Think of the wealth of knowledge sitting here right now in this fellowship and how much we could learn from each other … if … we just spend the time to get together.

Second, the Bible says we are to share:

OUR HOMES.

The Bible says in I Peter 4:9 “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.” It doesn't say invite your friend over only if you have a really nice home … just open the doors. Why do we need to share our homes? I'll tell you why – because it is very difficult to fellowship in a crowd. You can only have meaningful fellowship in a small group. Or even one on one. We can get together for Bible study here on Sunday. We can celebrate together. We can learn together. But as our group gets larger we will find that it is necessary to develop home bible study groups of about 6 to 12 people to maintain true fellowship.

Did you know in the first 300 years of Christianity, there were no church buildings? Other that some gatherings in public areas like the temple courts in Jerusalem, church meetings were held in homes. There were no buildings. And that, by the way, was the fastest period of growth for the church.

I am a harbor pilot in the port of Long Beach and my company understands the principle of small groups. Our staff is divided into groups of 6 men who work the same schedule. That way we can really get to know each other, trust each other and share our experiences for the benefit of the other members of our group.

My nephew is a major in the Marines stationed at 29 Palms. As you may know the marines are organized into platoons of 16 men but even these groups are broken down further into a squad of eight or a fire team of four.

We have a Bible Study group here at the Naval Weapons Station that meets on Wednesday evening at Bunker 33 at 7:00 pm. If you have not been to one of the meetings, I would encourage you to make that a part of your week. It is a great way to stay consistent with the 40 Days of Purpose study and develop close friendships.

Now, not only do we share our experiences and our homes, the Bible says, number three, we're to share:

OUR PROBLEMS.

We are not meant to face our problems alone. The Bible says I Galatians 6:4: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

You know when you share a joy, it is doubled; and when you share a problem, it is cut in half? The Bible tells us in Romans 12:15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

You don't have to fix everybody's problem. God hasn't told you to do that. He just says share them.

I know when I first became a Christian I made the mistake of thinking I could go to church on Sunday and not get into a home study group. I quickly got off track. It wasn’t until I got into a small group of 4 men who met weekly to share our lives with each other that I really began to make progress.

So Level One of Fellowship is Membership – Choosing to Belong and Level Two is Friendship – Learning to Share.

The third level of Fellowship is Partnership and partnership is … write this down:

LEVEL 3: PARTNERSHIP: DOING MY PART.

Partnership is realizing that you have got a contribution to make; that the family of God needs you. Listen, God brought you here to participate.

The Bible is filled with examples of how people worked together with others to get important jobs done. There are more than 50 times in the New Testament where the Bible says we are to do things with one another. We are to serve one another. We are to love one another. We are to pray with and for one another. The Bible even says we have to put up with one another when we're doing all of this. That's how the Christian life works. Christianity is not a religion – it is a relationship. First with Jesus and then with other believers. This is love in action. Not just in words. You see, it is great to share your heart, that's level two. But it is even greater to do your part. That is what level three is all about.

Listen to what the Bible has to say in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 9: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” And then in verse 16: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Fellow workers means we are partners working together with and for God. But in order to be a part, you've got to find your niche, you have got to find out, “Where do I fit, how I do I fit?” The Bible tells us we all have a niche. Look at Ephesians 4:16 where Paul talks about the church and says that we are … “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share” … and that this … “causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

So we each have a job to do. Now at first this may look hard, but we don’t serve God in our own strength. Paul tells in Philippians 4:13: “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God does it as we yield ourselves to Him.

There is an attitude, a heart attitude that is the key for me and should be for all of us. What ever we do it should be: “with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” and that is from Ephesians 6, Verse 7.

It’s the attitude Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 25, verse 40 when He says: "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are the members of my family, you did it to Me."

So I want to encourage you to make this a practical action step this week, if you want to experience a deeper level of fellowship. Look for a practical need in your group to meet this coming week, just some practical thing, and watch what it does for your relationship (your fellowship) with one another.

Now, the fourth and deepest level of fellowship in the family of God is what we are going to call "Kinship.”

Kinship or kinfolk are terms that we don't use much anymore out here on the west coast. But in Arkansas, where my sister and my Mom live, the word “kinfolk” means something very special.

Kinfolk (or kinship) literally means your closest relationships. It means your closest family … you might want to write this down -- the deepest level, is:

LEVEL 4: KINSHIP: LOVING BELIEVERS LIKE FAMILY.

…treating and loving believers like they’re family. You're completely committed to them. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:10 - 11: “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”

Now in the original Greek, the word for fellowship in the Bible is “koinonia." And the basic root literally means being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ; that is the deepest level of fellowship.

Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest says that the word “koinonia” was used in a (Greek) marriage contract where the husband and wife agree to a joint-participation in the necessaries of life. The key idea in the word is that of partnership, of possessing things in common.

Commentator Marvin Vincent states that “koinonia” “was also used in secular Greek as a commercial term for a joint-partnership in a business venture in which all parties actively participate to ensure the success of the business.”

So we need to be as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ. That is family relationship. That is kinship. That is saying I’m at the level of being willing to sacrifice for you.

Many of you know John 3:16 … the verse that begins with: “For God so loved the world…" but you don't know First John 3:16 which says: “By this we know love, because He (that’s Jesus) laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

You see, when the Bible talks about loving each other it is not sexual love or the “I love hamburgers!” kind of love. The Greek word for Biblical love is “agapao.” This is the deepest level of fellowship; sacrificing for each other. It's the kind of love Jesus Christ had for you. He died for you.

Friends, this is what life is all about, loving God and learning to love each other. Life is not about accomplishments. It is about relationships. You were put on this earth to know God and love Him, and to know His family and love them, because our Christian brothers and sisters are the people we are spending eternity with.

So right now let’s do a little pop quiz. How do you know if you are truly a member of God's family? How do you know personally? Let me read you three verses that will be the acid test to let you know if you're really a Christian or not. Listen to this, right from the Bible.

1 John 3:10: “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” That's the Bible.

Here is another verse that is very interesting … 1 John 4:20, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

And then there’s 1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.” Each time you heard the word “love” in those three verses it is the same Greek word: “agapao” … sacrificial love. So we find that love is the proof.

The greatest privilege you will ever be offered in life is a privilege of being a part of God's family. You see, God's family is a laboratory for learning to love. Some of you grew up in homes that didn't have a lot of love. The only love most people know about is sexual love or romantic love. They don't know any other kind of love. So we have to be taught, and the church (the family of God) is where you learn to love real people, not ideal people. Nobody in your small group is ideal and neither are you. We learn to love real people, and that's one of the main reasons God put us on this earth.

So let me ask you a couple relevant questions: which of these levels of fellowship are you at? Have you even made it to the first one, choosing to belong? Or are you a spiritual Lone Ranger? Are you at the Friendship level – learning to share? Have you made it from sharing your heart to the Partnership level - doing your part? Or have you made it to the deepest level – kinship? Are there any other believers that really know … that you … are devoted to them? That you are going to be there for them in their crisis? Are you truly loving others?

And if you are not, it brings up an even more basic question … are you really a part of the family of God? You say, “Well, isn't everybody a part of the family of God?” No. Everybody is created by God, but not everybody is a child of God. You have to choose to be a part of God's family. God gave us one condition in Galatians 3:26: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

A little earlier this morning I asked you these questions: Do you have a real relationship with God? Have you asked God if you can be a part of His family? Were you walking closely with God in the past but you have let sin get in the way of you fulfilling God’s purposes for your life?

Let’s ask the Lord to bring each of us into His family or to restore our broken relationship with Him right now. Will you bow your heads with me and join me in this prayer committing your life to Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I want to be a part of your family and I want to learn to love my spiritual family just like you do. I know that I have not always done what is pleasing to you. I know that I am a sinner. And I thank you for sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins and rise from the dead to purchase a place in Heaven for me. Lord, I confess my sins to you and right now I turn away from my sins and turn to Jesus Christ as my Personal Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord, that you are faithful and just to forgive my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank you that I am now a child of God. In Jesus Name, AMEN.

If you prayed that prayer with me and meant it deep in your heart then you are now a member of God’s family. If you have just made a decision to follow Jesus for the first time or if you have recommitted your life to Christ today please see me after the service so that we can pray together.

May God Richly Bless Your Life today and every day!

This message was prepared using materials drawn from The Holy Bible (NKJV), messages by Rick Warren, Mike McKay and the Precept Austin website.