18 October 2007
Rhema Inspiration
Restoring Unity in the Church and
Family
“We must receive God’s
mind about fellowship with Him through Christ,
fellowship with one another in the body of Christ, and
fellowship in the family.”
James teaches us that if we will
draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).
What does this Scripture mean? It does not mean that we
initiate relationship and/or fellowship with God. God
is the Initiator! God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
is forever reaching out to His children. Drawing near
to God means that we are to respond to His loving
invitation to walk closely with Him. Walking closely
with Him also means that we walk closely with one
another in the Church and in the family. We must
receive God’s mind about fellowship with Him
through Christ, fellowship with one another in the body
of Christ, and fellowship in the family.
There is presently a breakdown of
unity in the family and in the Church because
Christians do not understand being one with God and one
with each other. I am not talking about families in the
world who do not know the Lord. I am talking about
Christian families. Christian families are suffering
because the Church is not demonstrating true unity. Oh,
it is easy to blame the breakdown in the Church and
family on the spirit of the world while saying it is
just a sign of the times, but the truth is that we are
the real culprits. Worldly families are suffering and
walking in darkness because the Christian Church and
Christian families have lost much of their salt and
light, specifically in the area of unity.
The Church has bought into lies
about the unity of faith which keeps the Church
separated from one another. Families have bought into
lies about how they are to relate to each other
in Christ. Many families within the Church have
misunderstood the Scriptures about family
relationships. For example, it is God’s will when
a man marries that He begins his own family, but it is
not God’s will for that new couple to completely
separate themselves from their families of origin. God
does not want fleshly division. God wants addition and
multiplication. When a couple marries, the new spouse
is an addition in both families. When they have
children, the families are multiplied. It is the same
in the body of Christ. When a new member is added to
the body, there is opportunity to know one another and
to unite in faith to accomplish God’s will and
purposes. When families unite in faith, more members of
the body of Christ know each other.
When one receives salvation by
faith in God’s loving grace, God’s
intention is to have a continual intimate communion
with His new child forever. God wants to be close to
His new infant child, and He wants to be close when
that child becomes a mature disciple. He wants that
mature disciple to be close to Him and His Church. God
wants Christian families to be close to Him and each
other. When marriage takes place between two Christian
people, things do change, but it should not be the
unity of faith within the family. There is a reason
that God does not want unequally-yoked marriages.
Unequally-yoked marriages produce a natural division in
the family because there can be no unity of faith.
Will you ask God to give you His
vision of the Church and the family? Will you work to
bring the restoration of unity to the Church and the
family? God bless you as you do.
_____________________________
BIBLICAL APPLICATION:
Therefore if there is any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be
done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than
himself. Philippians
2:1-3 NKJV
Pastor Wayne Wilson
New Covenant Church of Jesus
Christ
3147 Klondike Road, SW, Conyers,
GA 30094 USA
770-760-1101
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© 2007 New Covenant Church of
Jesus Christ, Conyers, GA USA
www.JesusAndHisWord.org
