He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…(1 Peter 2:24 – ESV)
People are often very concerned about knowing or having you know about their “pedigree” or “heritage”. Many want to identify with their own “people”. They proudly wear their family crest, or the uniform or letters of their team, school, state, national or ethnic colors, or whatever else signifies something of significance to them. People spend lots of money trying to trace their family line, or map out a historical snapshot of their ancestry in a family tree. Some people actually believe that certain bloodlines and certain families are special or royal or destined for greatness compared to others. We all want to think and believe we are a part of something extraordinary, special, and we look for links that might relate us to someone of notoriety in the past, or some might even believe they were someone great in the past.
Well, whether or not you had some great great great forefather who was great isn’t the point as far as spirituality and destiny and the eternal goes. The truth is that there is a very special bloodline. It is the blood of Christ that makes Christians brothers and sisters. Our forefathers, no matter how noble they were, only gave us spiritual futility, as far as their bloodline is concerned. However, all Christians are blood relatives, a part of the family of God, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).
So stop worrying about trying to be someone great based on someone else’s past greatness, and stop worrying that you aren’t so great compared to someone else. Your natural, human heritage, no matter how privileged, means nothing in the grand scheme of sin and redemption. We all need Jesus. No family line will save you from sin, and no heritage, family, cultural or otherwise, will relieve you from the need for redemption or place you at the front of some line. Instead of trying to be great we should just be grateful. Your brothers and sisters in Christ are far more important than some desire to be from good stock. All Christians are from God stock.
Look at the Cross of Christ, and there you will see the one family tree that truly matters.
10 comments:
Indeed...
Hallelujah! and Amen!
Praise God for the fact of His Truth!
and the Truth of His Word!
and the Blood of the Lamb!
His blood is purer than any other bloodline for sure.
Oh, and I am very grateful!
Hey, look, my wife left a "tree" of comments...
fruit bearing I hope. :D
"God that made the world and all things therein,...hath made of one blood all nations men" Acts 17:24,26
From Adam to Noah, and then every human is a child of wrath, except the One who was born in Bethlehem, who shed His blood so we could be forgiven, and accepted into His family, and into His kingdom, and into His presence.
And so now, King David is our brother, as is Daniel, and Paul. And so Ruth is our sister, and so is Esther. And so we all are brothers and sisters in Christ, for His ake alone.
Thanks for the good post. Your teachings always get me to thinking, and using my brain. Thanks.
Happy New Year! And may this be the grandest year you have ever had in serving our Savior and King. Amen.
Thank you, and may you be fruitful in every good work (Colossians 1:10) as well, Don...
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