upgraded May 6, 2008
God has given us a natural love for our physical families in order to maintain and propagate the species. This familial maintenance and propagation love is only for this physical world, as when we are in heaven, there will be no marrying and giving in marriage, and no need for propagation of the species.
Matthew 22:30 (NIV) At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
The first family of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, are a reflection of the division created within the physical family by pursuit of righteousness.
1 John 3:12-13 (NIV) Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
After mid-Tribulation, when the Antichrist sets himself up in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and requires the "Mark of the Beast," our physical families who are outside of the Body of Christ will turn on us.
Matthew 10:34-38 (NIV) "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' 37 "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:21-22 (NIV) "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Jeremiah 12:5-6 (NIV) "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? 6 Your brothers, your own family-- even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.
If you are a member of the family of God, and you have members of your physical family who are not members of the family of God, you must expect that they will eventually hate you.
The natural love for our physical families will be replaced by our love for God and the family of God.
Ephesians 2:19 (NIV) Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
Hebrews 2:11 (NIV) 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.
The persecution of the Body of Christ will bond the members of the family of God together with the Spirit of God in a love so strong that it will supersede our love for our physical families so as to cause it to cease to exist. We will recognize that our physical families had an opportunity for Jesus Christ and rejected Him. Our love for our Father, and the family of God, will be so strong that we will no longer consider our physical families to exist. Our relationship with our physical families will be no stronger than the relationship we might now have with someone who was born in the same city as we were.
In heaven we will realize that we have nothing in common with anyone who has rejected the love of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:14-15 (NIV) "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
On this earth we already have more in common with the family of God than we do with our physical families. During the Tribulation, the Body of Christ will function and assist one another for our physical and spiritual needs. Black market buying will become a necessity. When "no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark," (Revelation 13:17a) the interaction between the Body of Christ through the Spirit of God will be the greatest, and for some the only source of supply for their physical needs. For this reason, it is very important to develop the bond within the Body of Christ now.
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." - Edmund Burke 1729-1797
We who are filled with the Spirit of God have married into unfathomable wealth, and the absolute oldest, most superior, only prestigious family line; our Father is God Almighty; and our brother is Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 2:11 (NIV) 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.
Our family home is heaven,
John 14:1-3 (NIV) "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am;
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Revelation 21:7 (NIV) He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Revelation 21:9-27 (NIV) One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Our family servants are angels:
Hebrews 1:14 (NIV) Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Our familial longevity is eternal.
Revelation 22:1-5 (NIV) Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
The devil is simply a bad employee who does not want to serve our Father and our family and so he is trying to destroy our family and us. He will not be forced to serve our Father and our family; he will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur forever...and ever...and ever.
Revelation 20:10 (NIV) And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The devil did not make a good career decision and he did not get a good severance package. While he is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur, our family will be gathered together at "a feast of rich food," eating "the best of meats" and drinking "the finest of wines":
Isaiah 25:6-9 (NIV) On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine--the best of meats and the finest of wines. 7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. 9 In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
We will be loving each other and worshipping our Father who made it all possible - forever... and ever...and ever. We will not even think about the devil:
Isaiah 65:17 (NIV) "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.