Body
My oldest son planted a tiny pine tree in our front yard many years ago. Now, that small sapling has grown into a beautiful tree well over fifteen feet tall. Looking at that tree reminds me of how the children of God grow. Luke tells us that our Lord “increased in wisdom and in years, and divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). Even though Jesus was the Son of God, He still had to grow physically and mentally as a human being. This became necessary when He decided to take human form.The gospel of John, unlike Matthew’s and Luke’s, doesn’t give us the history of the Lord’s birth. John doesn’t bother with the “how” of the Lord’s birth, but John gives us the “why.” The mind and spirit of God came into the world as human beings because “the word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). Isaiah 9:6 says, “For us, a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and He will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” As a result of God dwelling among us, the Creator has given us the ability, the right, and the process to be born a new way. Not only as humans but born as children made in God’s image. What was accomplished when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? Jesus invites us into a family that is not bound by traditional lives of tribes, races, gender, or nationality. When Jesus was told that His family was standing outside while He was teaching in the synagogue, the Lord replied with a statement that might be shocking to us. He said, “My Mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and practice it” (Luke 8:19-21). Jesus is not denouncing His early family. He is extending the definition of what it means to be a family. Everyone who does God’s will can have a total membership in the spiritual family. After our Lord’s resurrection, Jesus appeared to his followers, who had become members of His spiritual family. But, the gospels do not mention anything about his return to His biological family. If we have loved and obeyed God, and followed the path to becoming Christians, we have been added to God’s family—the Church. Luke writes in Acts 2:47, “Praising God, and having favor with all people. The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved. Regardless of who we are, what we are, or what we plan on being, we are now part of a new family— God’s family. We may have to find new ways of doing old things. But, our purpose and mission as the churches of Christ remain the same. We are to love one another to extend the idea of God’s family where ever we go and to whom we meet. Through the resurrected Christ, we can be something new, something that has been transformed. Jesus can take someone unattractive, defiled, and corrupt and make it into something beautiful. Is that you? Let Jesus change you and add you to the church family, such as being saved.
