19/08/12

God's business is Family business

Luke 23:24 - And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.


In our last message the Lord told He called us to be part of His Family.

When we sinned we were cast off from the presence of the Lord and His wrath kept us away from Him. Adam and Eve who dwelled in the presence of the true glory of God and knew Him, due to sin were cast off and thus his generations did not know God.

The initiative to know God started with Enoch and it pleased God that man wanted to come back to Him but sin had corrupted man and Truth was not in him thus He did not know God. God came as man so that His image which was in Adam before he sinned may be known to man (He became our Cornerstone), by the eternal sacrifice (He became our Pascal Lamb) the wrath of God may be removed, man may receive His Spirit (Spirit of Truth) Who will bring back the Truth and thus the image of God back in man and man may come to know God once again like Adam did thus again dwelling in the presence of God's true glory.

We as sinner by our faith in Jesus Christ receive grace and forgiveness of sins. From Saviour and saved relationship we are called to the next stage of relationship of Master / Lord and disciple when we walk according to His teachings but our relationship does not end here. The Lord wants us to grow from being His disciples to being a part of His Family and this only happens when we take on the Family business.

When we do Family business we do not it as if we are working for anyone else but do it as our own business - part owners [Associates]. The goal of any business is profitability, so also God's business has a goal and that is about bringing His lost sheep to Him, winning the lost souls by bringing the image of Christ - the visible image of God in them.

In today's message we see Pilot out of fear handed over Jesus even though he knew He was innocent. Pilot feared because the people declared Jesus as a traitor to Caesar by saying they had no king other than Caesar. Now Pilot worked for Caesar and as an employee he feared his master thus gave up on Jesus.

As we grow in relationship with God we stop working for God but work for our Father handling our Family business as our business and therefore fear is not a factor for us. Jesus never feared anyone for He knew until His time came none could touch Him. Nor did He do foolish misadventures; there are times He needed to move out from the presence of His confronters and at other times He faced them face to face all because He kept the goal of His Father's business as prime importance more than Himself.

Let our purpose be the focus of our work, we also need to remember our ways project the ways of our Father so let our ways be not our ways but His ways.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You called Abraham your love and called us who are in him by our faith in his seed Jesus Christ your bride. Lord, You also called us to be part of You - Family. Lord let us also realize every time You asked us to do anything You included Yourself as part of the process of doing the work so that our success is confirmed. You came as our Helper and Comforter becoming both Father and Mother for us. Lord, we pray we do our duty as Family members knowing we ourselves will benefit by our work...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
John 19:13-16
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

Genesis 5:21-24
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

2 Chronicles 20:7 - Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend ['ahab means love] for ever?

John 15:13-16
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends [philos also means Associate].
14 Ye are my friends [Associate], if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends [Associate]; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you (friends are not part of one's business but an associate is).
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Revelation 21:2 - And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.


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