The Household of God

Written for a time of a church anniversary, it is good to remind ourselves of something of what the Bible says about the church.

1 Tim 3:15 “God's household , which is the church of the living God”.

Eph 2:19-22 “you are

•  members of God's household….

•  being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit”.

Very often when we think about ‘church' we think of buildings or organisations, but the picture given in these verses is of the church being the family of God – that's what ‘household' here means.

Consider aspects of ‘family'

•  you don't choose your family, you're born into it

•  family is about parents and children

•  we may have the same parents but we are still unique individuals

•  ultimately family is all about relationships.

As God's family

•  we all have the same Father – God Himself (Jn 1:13 )

•  we all have the same Saviour – Jesus

•  we all have the same life energy – the Holy Spirit

•  we are all equally important (see 1 Cor 12 – the body picture)

•  we all reveal God (see above, the dwelling picture)

•  we are all gifted differently by God (see Rom 12)

C.S.Lewis in Mere Christianity wrote the following:

“God can show Himself as He really is only to real men. And that means not simply to men who are individually good, but to men who are united together in a body, loving one another, helping one another, showing Him to one another. For that is what God meant humanity to be like; like players in one band, or organs in one body.”

Someone else wrote: “It's good being part of God's family because it's one of His primary means of changing us into Jesus' likeness.”