#8 Realizing the Church is actually a Family #2

More Evidences from the New Testament

 

In the last entry in our series, we saw that Paul builds his explanation of Justification by Faith on the basis that inclusion in Abraham's “Promised” Family was never based on temporal corrupted flesh and it’s works but was based upon Faith from the presence of the eternal incorruptible Holy Spirit. And now that the Holy Spirit has been poured out in full at Pentecost upon the world, all the rest of the world, i.e. “the gentiles”, can now be “grafted in” and also become part of this “Promised Family”.  According to Paul’s narrative in the book of Romans, the idea of the Spiritual family is begun with the family of Abraham (the Jews), continued in the Gospels (as validated by Jesus in Matt. 12:46-48) with the “remnant”(Rom. 11:5) of the Jewish believers, and then incorporates the engrafted Gentiles. So the "Church" is not something entirely "new" but a new phase in the continuation of  God's Promises to Abraham for his descendents.

Hence the assumption of the reality of the Church as Family, in the continuation of the Promised Family of Abraham, and this is evidenced by the ubiquitous usage of family language and ideas in reference to the church in the N.T.

1. Father: πατήρ patḗr used approximately 224 times in the N.T. with primary reference to God as our Father and occasionally to human spiritual fathers. We are told to address God now as our Father when praying to Him.

2. Brother: ἀδελφός adelphós is used approximately 275 times in the N. T. when it refers to brother, brothers, brethren, other than physical relations. Beginning in the Gospels and the book of Acts Jesus and others often refer to the Jews as brothers (direct physical relatives of Abraham) though they are not children of the same father and mother. But then a transition begins to take place. Jesus makes it clear that those who do the will of God are His Mother, Brothers and Sisters Matt.12:46-48 not merely his physical relations to Joseph and Mary, as also Paul asserts in Rom. 2. “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit”. And from then on through the N.T. some form of Brother (adelphós) is the standard term used with relation to other believers along with the feminine of ἀδελφή adelphḗ, sister, 10 times.

3. Children: τέκνον téknon, child or children used approximately 43 times in reference to being a child of God.

4. Born: γεννάω gennáō used approximately 18 times in reference to Spiritual Birth.

Being “born” is a family term for humankind, all those being born have a father and mother, i.e., a family.  Jesus could have used many different descriptions to explain the “quickening to life” that the Holy Spirit inaugurates to bring a person to Spiritual Life but He chose to use the phrase ‘born again” a term having clear family connotations and implications regarding the nature of this “quickening” by the Holy Spirit.

And in the same book by John the Apostle just two chapters earlier John says,

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Jn. 1:12.13

And in the next sentence He uses the term “begotten” … “from the Father” to describe the Son.

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Begotten”, is a term with implications taken literally from the earliest days of the New Testament Church upon which our whole understanding of Christ and His mission are based. It would seem highly unlikely that John would use one term literally to describe Christ’s relationship to the Father and not be “as literal” in the descriptions of the same idea when describing the “birthing” of Christians.

"Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is “born of the Spirit” is spirit." Jn.3

“for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 Pet. 1:23

5. Adoption: υἱοθεσία huiŏthĕsia, adoption used 5 times in reference to being brought into the family of God.

And we could go on, but it seems to me from just what we have looked at here, that it is not outside the reasonable bounds of Scripture to understand ourselves as a literal Spiritual Family.

So in answer to the question that we began our series with “Who is my Church”? Is the answer not, “we are”!, …..“The Family of God”!

Next, if this is true then what are some of the implications for us as we seek to navigate the role of the Church in the culture of the 21^st century?