When you hear that there has been a bad accident on a particular road that you know your son, your mother, your wife/husband (etc.) travels on every day are you not relieved to find out that that close blood relation was not involved in that accident?

Who has not heard the saying, 'blood is thicker than water'? Most people will (at least 'when the chips are down') show more concern for their blood relations than for strangers. When there is obvious danger to life and limb such as during war when our troops are confronting a violent enemy it is those people who have sons or daughters or fathers or mothers on the 'front lines' who are usually much more concerned about the welfare of those people than people who have no blood relations there. To use a different example, it is the parents whose children are in the burning building that are most concerned about who is trapped in the burning building. Is there anyone who is not greatly concerned about those people he or she has blood ties to?

In this world we know how much difference a close blood relationship makes. Circumstances don't nullify the existence of the blood relationship. You did not choose the relationship. You were born into it.  'Blood is thicker than water'.

Blood is thicker than water. But Christ's blood is infinitely thicker than that of any human being--even the best parent!

Circumstances Don't Alter A Blood Relationship

 

A personal relationship that can be changed at the whim of people or by a change of circumstance (as exists in many current marriages) is undependable. It is uncertain. Such a flimsy and perhaps transient relationship is not a source of comfort. A personal relationship that can be undermined or deflected or destroyed by a change of circumstances is at best like the flame on a match--because it doesn't last forever it cannot be counted upon. If a 'positive' relationship with God depended upon the consistency of circumstances, even such circumstances as my current beliefs, attitudes or behavior it would never be more than a momentary reality at best. Circumstances change constantly. Everywhere change. But that is not the case with blood relationships. That is not the case with the relationship that God created with those individuals he adopted---"he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." (Ephesians 1:5)

Because of the blood relationship I have with my parents they remain my parents and I remain their child regardless of my behavior or their behavior. 'Blood is thicker than water'. So it is with God. And so it is with those individuals he qualified to be members of his family through the substitutionary death of his Son, Jesus the Christ. (Hebrews 9:22,28; Colossians 1:12) Any circumstances including my behavior or my current state of belief does not undermine or deflect the purposes God has always had for me. "If the inheritance depends on the law (obedience to its commands), then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise." (Galatians 3:18) "For what the law (of God) was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." (Romans 8:3; see also Acts 15:10)  

(To us sinners who are limited by our own logic systems there is mystery in God's plans and ways. We can't put all God's teachings together so that they make a perfect picture. The above assertion about  undermining or deflecting the purposes of God is based on the quoted bible verses. There are many other verses in Scripture which indicate that the way individuals behave is not an irrelevant consideration in God's eyes. (Colossians 1:23; 2 Peter 3:14; Ezekiel 18:26; John 15:10; Romans 8:12,13; 12:1-2; Galatians 5:21; 6:9; Philippians 3:13-14; 1Thessalonians 4:1 ;Hebrews 3:14; 2 Peter 1:5-10; 1 John 3:3; etc) If behavior was irrelevant to God he would not have filled his word with exhortations and commandments.)

While parents often have a special interest in their children ('blood is thicker than water') that is not always the case. That is not always true for me or for anyone else. Parents being human beings die. However benevolent and caring their motives may be there will come a time when they will not be around to watch over me or help me. However benevolent and caring their motives may be they do not have the power God has to get me out of my predicaments and they certainly do not have the power to bring me forth as gold. (Job 23:10) But God's power on my behalf is unlimited. Unlike parents God is always there for his children. His being in control of everything that comes to pass (Ephesians 1:11;Psalm 139:7-12; Isaiah 46:10-11; Daniel 4:35; Acts 4:28; etc.) is not cut off or affected in any way by death but is effective throughout eternity as well as in the present. The blood the Christ-the Son of God shed is infinitely thicker than water.

In addition to having the power to bring about his purposes and plans God's motives, God's intentions, are pure and unadulterated. His care for the children he adopted is uncontaminated with sin. It is uncontaminated with any ulterior motive, or with any weakness of the flesh.

Circumstances Don't Alter The Purposes Or Plans Of God

 

And, of course, that includes his purpose for believers, namely, that they will appears blameless and free of any accusation. "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--" (Colossians 1:22; See also Ephesians 1:4; 5:27; Philippians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:23) The privileged position of genuine believers as blood relatives of Jesus the Christ does not depend the consistency of their devotion but on the consistency of God's faithfulness to his purposes and promises. That is what is unchangeable and irresistible--God's purposes. It is not my interest in God that puts me in the privileged position; it is God's concern for me that puts me in that position--the position of being in his favor. It sounds incredible but it's true--this concern for me God had before the world began. (Ephesians 1:4-5; Romans 8:29,30) 'Blood is thicker than water.' And whose blood is involved? It was with the blood of his own son Jesus the Christ that God sealed the relationship he has with the individuals he redeemed for his own. (Titus 2:14)

God's Attitude Towards Believers Revealed By His One-Time Irreversible  Action

 

We have his care and concern. We know that. That he sent his Son to die in our stead demonstrates that truth. It demonstrates how he feels about those people he chose to be his children. As the Bible says: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4.10). ˆ"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). If we are members of his family WE have that permanent, personal tie. We are not just anybody to God. We are not just statistics to God. We are sons and daughters by adoption. His care for us is not detached or disinterested but personal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31) We do not come before God like strangers that walk in off the street. No, we are family. It was his one-time irreversible action put us in that permanent position. 

In the book of Hebrews God tells us why Jesus the Christ came to earth. "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- (Hebrews 2:14)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he (Christ) might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

"Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. (Hebrews 2:11)

The family relationship that the shedding of Christ's blood obtained for us is eternal. Nothing 'uncreates' or ends the favored relationship that exists between God and each of his adopted children.

What Created The Privileged Relationship Believers Are In: The One-Time Irreversible Action Of God Himself

 

Because Christ-the Son of God the Father-shed his innocent blood on the cross for us, he earned for us the position of being in the permanent favor of God (Hebrews 10:14) That is the gospel--the gospel message. Christ shed his blood on the cross for a purpose. And what was that purpose--"to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own" (Titus 2.14). That is what the Bible says. The New Testament begins with the announcement of this fact: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has REDEEMED his people"¨ (Luke 1.68). Elsewhere in Scripture this truth about our favored position in the sight of God appears in these words: "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" (Romans 4.25). In the Old Testament portion of God's word this truth was foretold in these words-- "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." ¨(Isaiah 53.5). It was the mission of Christ to bring all believers into this privileged position. What a beautiful thought.... The Bible reveals what God's position or attitude towards us (towards believers) is. The apostle Paul argues from the obvious: "If God is for US, who can be against US? He [God] who did not spare his only Son, will he not freely give US all good things in Him?"¨ (Romans 8.31,32). Nothing can separate US from the love of God. Nothing. Not even death. "For I am convinced," says the apostle, "that neither death--nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate US from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord"¨ (Romans 8.38-39). God's attitude toward those who are his children is not in doubt and nor is it changeable. (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; John 10:27-28; Hebrews 6:17; James 1:17)

Consequently what God purposed long ago to bring about can be counted on. (2 Peter 3:13)

Safe In The Relationship or Exposed To God's Judgement On Sin?

 

Am I or you still in that exposed position where God's 'reaction' to sin will one day consume everyone whose sins are not covered by the blood of the Christ as the flood in Noah's day consumed everyone who was not in the ark? See to it the bible says, "that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they [the Jews in the wilderness that God had delivered from Egypt] did not escape [punishment] when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? (Hebrews 12:25) And again, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26-27) What did Jesus say to his disciples? "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28)

(If you appreciate what you read here please tell your friends about this URL and sign my guest book on the homepage. Also, if, as you read any of the meditations, you feel you know of a situation that beautifully illustrates any of the points made I would be delighted to learn of it. I might incorporate it.)    mailto:camppp21355@comcast.net

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