Embracing Our Identity as God's Family
Summary
In Ephesians 2:19, Paul emphasizes the profound transformation that occurs when we become part of the Christian Church. We are no longer strangers or foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household. This passage highlights two key principles: the unity within the Church and the privilege of being part of God's family. Paul uses three metaphors to illustrate this: the Church as a state, a household, and a temple. Each metaphor deepens our understanding of the unity and privilege we have in Christ.
The metaphor of the state emphasizes a general unity among believers, akin to citizens of a country. However, the household metaphor takes this further, illustrating a more intimate, personal, and intense relationship, akin to family ties. This familial bond is not just a legal or external connection but a vital, living relationship rooted in the blood of Christ. It underscores the personal nature of our relationship with God and each other, contrasting with the impersonal nature of state relationships.
Understanding our place in God's family is crucial for grasping the full scope of salvation. It's not just about being saved from sin but being elevated to the status of God's children. This realization magnifies God's grace and transforms our relationship with Him. We have direct access to God as our Father, and this relationship is personal and intimate. It also means we share in the privileges and responsibilities of being God's children, including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal inheritance.
Key Takeaways:
- Unity in Diversity: The Church is a new creation where all distinctions are abolished. In Christ, Jews and Gentiles are united, forming a new humanity. This unity is not just a loose connection but an intense, intimate bond, reflecting the personal nature of our relationship with God and each other. [08:12]
- From Strangers to Family: Being part of God's household means we are no longer strangers but children of God. This familial relationship is more intimate and personal than any state or legal connection, emphasizing the depth of God's love and grace. [16:23]
- The Privilege of Sonship: Our salvation is not just about being saved from sin but being adopted into God's family. This elevates us to the dignity of children, highlighting the richness of God's grace and the intimate relationship we have with Him. [19:47]
- Access to the Father: As God's children, we have direct access to Him, akin to a child approaching a loving parent. This access is a profound privilege, allowing us to bring all our concerns to God, knowing He cares deeply for us. [32:18]
- Responsibilities of Being God's Children: With the privilege of being God's children comes the responsibility to reflect His character. Our lives should glorify God, demonstrating the family to which we belong and proclaiming His love and grace to the world. [45:08]
Youtube Chapters:
[00:00] - Welcome
[00:18] - Introduction to Ephesians 2:19
[01:18] - Unity in the Christian Church
[02:21] - The Privilege of Being Members
[03:37] - The Metaphor of the Household
[05:02] - Adoption into God's Family
[06:22] - Comparing State and Family
[08:12] - Intimacy in the Family of God
[10:46] - Personal vs. Impersonal Relationships
[14:36] - Legal vs. Blood Relationships
[17:17] - Importance of Realizing Our Position
[19:47] - The Grace of God in Salvation
[22:31] - Access to God Through Christ
[27:32] - Privileges of Being God's Children
[32:18] - Direct Access to the Father
[36:53] - Relationship with Christ
[41:26] - Responsibilities as God's Children
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
- Ephesians 2:19-22
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#### Observation Questions
1. What are the three metaphors Paul uses in Ephesians 2:19 to describe the Church, and how do they contribute to our understanding of unity and privilege in Christ? [02:41]
2. How does the sermon describe the difference between the unity of a state and the unity of a family? [06:22]
3. According to the sermon, what is the significance of being part of God's household as opposed to just being a citizen of a state? [16:23]
4. What does the sermon say about the personal nature of our relationship with God compared to impersonal state relationships? [10:46]
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#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the metaphor of the household deepen our understanding of the unity and privilege we have in Christ, as discussed in the sermon? [03:37]
2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that understanding our place in God's family is crucial for grasping the full scope of salvation? [17:56]
3. How does the sermon explain the concept of "Access to the Father" and its significance for believers? [32:18]
4. What responsibilities come with the privilege of being God's children, according to the sermon? [45:08]
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#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your own experience in the Church. How have you seen unity in diversity, as described in the sermon, play out in your community? [08:12]
2. The sermon emphasizes moving from being strangers to family. How can you foster a more intimate and personal relationship with fellow believers in your church? [16:23]
3. Consider the privilege of sonship. How does knowing you are adopted into God's family change the way you view your identity and purpose? [19:47]
4. The sermon highlights our direct access to God as a profound privilege. How can you make your prayer life more personal and intimate, reflecting this access? [32:18]
5. With the responsibilities of being God's children in mind, what specific actions can you take this week to reflect God's character in your daily life? [45:08]
6. How can you better understand and embrace the personal nature of your relationship with God, moving away from an impersonal or distant view of Him? [10:46]
7. Identify one area in your life where you can demonstrate the unity and love of God's family to those around you. What steps will you take to act on this? [06:22]
Devotional
Day 1: Unity in Diversity
The Church is a new creation where all distinctions are abolished. In Christ, Jews and Gentiles are united, forming a new humanity. This unity is not just a loose connection but an intense, intimate bond, reflecting the personal nature of our relationship with God and each other. [08:12]
"For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:13, ESV)
Reflection: Consider a person in your church community who is different from you in background or culture. How can you reach out to them this week to strengthen the unity within your church family?
Day 2: From Strangers to Family
Being part of God's household means we are no longer strangers but children of God. This familial relationship is more intimate and personal than any state or legal connection, emphasizing the depth of God's love and grace. [16:23]
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." (Ephesians 2:19, ESV)
Reflection: Reflect on your own journey from feeling like a stranger to becoming part of God's family. How can you extend this sense of belonging to someone new in your church or community?
Day 3: The Privilege of Sonship
Our salvation is not just about being saved from sin but being adopted into God's family. This elevates us to the dignity of children, highlighting the richness of God's grace and the intimate relationship we have with Him. [19:47]
"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12, ESV)
Reflection: Think about the privileges you have as a child of God. How can you use these privileges to serve others and reflect God's grace in your daily life?
Day 4: Access to the Father
As God's children, we have direct access to Him, akin to a child approaching a loving parent. This access is a profound privilege, allowing us to bring all our concerns to God, knowing He cares deeply for us. [32:18]
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16, ESV)
Reflection: What is one concern or burden you have been hesitant to bring to God? Take time today to approach Him with confidence and lay it before Him in prayer.
Day 5: Responsibilities of Being God's Children
With the privilege of being God's children comes the responsibility to reflect His character. Our lives should glorify God, demonstrating the family to which we belong and proclaiming His love and grace to the world. [45:08]
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2, ESV)
Reflection: Identify one area in your life where you can better reflect God's character. What specific steps can you take this week to grow in this area and glorify God through your actions?
Quotes
The Apostle is concerned to demonstrate, first of all, this remarkable unity that has been brought to pass and into being in the Christian Church. That's his fundamental thesis: that the pagans, the people like the Ephesians, people who have been strangers and foreigners, aliens outside the Commonwealth of Israel, separated from the people of God by the middle wall of partition, that they've been brought together. [00:01:30]
The relationship that exists in subsists between the members of a state is, after all, a general relationship, whereas the thing that characterizes the relationship between members of a family is that it is a more particular relationship. All of us in this country as citizens of Great Britain, but we don't all belong to the same families. [00:06:29]
The unity that exists in the Christian Church between the members is not a loose attachment. It has this intense, close, intimate attachment, and that, I say, we derive from the broad distinction between something which is general and something which is particular. [00:08:09]
The whole point of course about the family is that it is something which is internal. I don't think that needs any elaboration or any demonstration. You can't think of a family without immediately thinking of something within, inside, that's making us one. That isn't true in the realm of the state. [00:08:56]
The relationship between members of the state is the more remote relationship, whereas that between the members of a family is a more intimate one. I mean by that that you know people in a vague and in a somewhat remote manner. You recognize people who live in the same street perhaps or who work in the same large office. [00:09:42]
Ultimately, of course, our relationship to one another in the state is an impersonal one, whereas the whole point about a family is that the whole relationship is intensely personal. Now, this is a very important principle point apart from its application to the church this morning. [00:10:37]
The attachment, the relationship in the state is impersonal, but in the family, and this is the glory of the family, we're all personal, and the relationships are all personal and direct and immediate. [00:14:01]
It would have been a very wonderful thing if God had just decided not to punish us, not to send us to hell. It was hell we deserved in a state and condition which the Apostle has already described, living to the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're the children of Wrath even as others. [00:18:14]
God's Way of salvation doesn't stop at that. He elevates us to this dignity of children. He adopts us into his own family. Oh, it's all there in the parable of the prodigal son, isn't it? That man went home and he said to his father, "Father, I have sinned against heaven before thy face, and I'm no more worthy to be thy son." [00:18:56]
The Christian is not merely a man who's forgiven and saved from hell. No, no, he's been adopted into the family of the eternal God. Then another point which is very important is this: you'll notice that this is true of us only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is only true of those who are in Christ. [00:21:00]
There is no such thing as belonging to the family of God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a division of mankind. Those who are outside Christ or without Christ are not members of the household of God. As the Lord Jesus Christ said about them, "You're of your father the devil, and the works of your father he will do." [00:22:40]
If you and I, as we are, are the children of God, well then we have no right to live as we if we were but servants. We have no right to live in the scullery of this house, as it were. We are the children, and all Christians who don't realize this and who are living simply a servant kind of life are dishonoring God. [00:25:26]
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