We may sense that we have been given the best system for mankind to perceive what God wants us to gain about life, both physical and spiritual. To meet human needs he gave Scripture, the Holy Spirit, prayer, a consistent order of thought (theology), faith (orientation), and work (servant-hood), as well as the visitation of Christ, and an assurance of acceptance in human conscience. This acceptance must be held in humility, or it will be interpreted as an attitude of superiority, reducing unbelievers’ worth by implication – even in an all-inclusive society. Even so, there is no higher status for a person than to be a child of God, not merely God’s creation, which creation is temporary in time for every human being, but made a child in redemptive meaning, which may be likened to being grafted into the family of God. (There are many parables related to the redemptive story for clarification.) The human person is not only the creation of God, but is also adopted by God. Many decades ago, I knew a man who adopted his own son (in Canada, as I recall) in the belief that a natural son born to the parent, also adopted, could never be rejected, never left out of the rights and estate from the parent or parents adopting their own children. God created mankind accounting for the natural source, and those who choose can also be adopted by God so to never be rejected, or left out.
The Christian, sensing status with God, is given hints about God’s favor. Following the route of humility, the Christian accepts with all others whatever common grace God will give. That includes not only the pleasantries of conscious life, but the tragedies, the suffering, the death of life in nature. Jesus proved that the temporary and the permanent life can co-exist in a person at the same time, but also affirmed that the temporary life is just that, temporary. The individual must take action to give to the soul the principle of God’s immortality. Immortality is a product of the eternity of God. Death is a part of the imperfection of mankind in nature. Once grafted in, the person becomes God’s child with promises, so has parental status with God. It is a relationship beyond nature, and given to our understanding with various word pictures in Scripture – such as adoption with its meaning. God adopts those who desire and request his adoption.
This concept is noted, well recited by Duane Litfin, in numerous passages, like Matthew 10:40-42; 11:25-26; 18:36; 25:31-46. Litfin’s arguments and additional citations relate to favoring God’s children through God’s children. One is almost driven to Third John, where the Apostle is stern with Diotrophes about his treatment of itinerant brothers in Christ. In verse three, John includes a consequence of proper attention to persons of faith: that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth. One wonders if a word like fellowhelpers might catch on in our ministries. The first charity of the church ought to be to help improve the situations of Christians in the world, then to use them in areas of charity to the general poor and troubled. Reading Scripture carefully, and following church history closely, we find strong support for an infrastructure in the church not only to serve the Christians and others, but to empower Christians in their work to advance the kingdom of God in the world. The gifts of God, especially the redemptive one, must be told as mission.
We face a common tendency to find fault in a program of any kind, in a move to address a problem as a ministry. Currently the nation is torn over various business and government projects because of wrangling between those for and against. In my state, arguments have been stern for months, about the right and wrong of building an expensive football stadium. Tension is reported between groups and nations, even for the privilege of crossing a border to help persons in need. This creates a spirit of despair, for both those who give and those who need to receive. Those of Christian faith ought to proceed, in a spirit of cooperation, to give, first to the needs of the members of the family of God, and with them to reach others in need of everything – of healing, food, shelter, education, and hope. All these matters point to the direction for sharing the gospel of Christ. After the Christian has, on a daily basis, made prayerful exchange for his or her own spiritual health, and that of family, the large duty remaining is to advance the Great Commission of Christ, summarized as the Gospel of Christ, noted in the closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel. That gospel relates to the call of Christ to any person to seek the adoption of God. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020