Sovereign Grace Church

…I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…

(EPHESIANS 3:14-15)

The scriptures describe all GOD’s people as one family (EPHESIANS 3:15). Why is it important for us to realize that GOD’s church is one family? Why does GOD the HOLY SPIRIT refer to all who are in CHRIST as the family of GOD?

All true believers are called a ‘family’ because we all have one Heavenly Father. We are all children of GOD by faith in CHRIST JESUS. We are all born of one SPIRIT. We are all sons and daughters of the LORD ALMIGHTY. We have all received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, ‘Abba Father’ (GALATIANS 3:26; JOHN 3:8; 2 CORINTHIANS 6:18; ROMANS 8:15). We no longer look upon the holy LORD GOD with a cringing dread and fear. We no longer think of him as One always ready to punish us. Rather, we lift our eyes heavenward and look up to our GOD with tender confidence, as our reconciled and loving Father, as One who has forgiven all our sins, put away all our iniquities, and received us graciously for CHRIST’s sake. We see him now as One who is full of compassion and pity. We came to him like the prodigal and he ran, fell on our necks, and kissed us. Those words, ‘Our Father which art in heaven’, are no longer merely the words of a prayer we learned as children in Sunday School. They are the sweetest words imaginable to our hearts.

All true believers are called the ‘family’ of GOD because we all rejoice in, have confidence in, trust in, and are named after one great and glorious name (EPHESIANS 3:14,15). That name is the name of our great Head and Elder Brother, JESUS CHRIST the LORD. Just as a common family name is the uniting link to all the members of an earthly clan, so the name of CHRIST unites all believers together in one vast family in heaven and earth. As living members of CHRIST, we all, with one heart and mind, rejoice in one SAVIOUR. Every heart in this family is built upon CHRIST as the only object of hope. Every tongue in this family will tell you that ‘CHRIST IS ALL’. 

GOD’s people are all called the ‘family’ of GOD, because as the sons and daughters of GOD and brothers and sisters of CHRIST, all true believers are heirs of GOD and joint heirs with CHRIST (ROMANS 8:14-19; JOHN 17:1-5, 22). And we are called the ‘family’ of GOD because there is such a strong family resemblance among all who are born of GOD (PHILIPPIANS 3:3,9).