The Family of God in Transition - By Wayne Weaver

The family of God started with God. That means our roots go back to eternity, back to what we cannot understand, back beyond what has been revealed to us. We just understand time, and time always has beginnings and endings. We can't understand eternity.

I wonder if we can get some sense of the magnitude of God, how big and timeless he is compared to our fleeting time here. When we go back to the beginning, there is much room for thought, and I would like to talk about our far-distant roots.

Genesis 1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This is the beginning of our story, not of God's story. God is eternal and has no beginning. He is telling us a story that, by his perspective, happened a very short time ago.

We have no way of knowing how long it was between those phrases in Genesis 1--how long the earth existed before it became without form, and again how long it was before God moved upon the face of the waters. Nor can we know what kind of life may have existed before the creation account that follows. But it's interesting that in verse 28 God tells man to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. . . ." You cannot replenish something that did not plenish before.

I have studied quite a bit of archeology, digging in limestone and moving a lot of dirt, because I was a heavy equipment operator and got interested in some fossils I uncovered that are just magnificent. When I dig in the earth I uncover a lot of amazing things I cannot explain. They raise questions for me. What really happened here? I have a friend in the coal industry who shares my love for archeology. Coal is found in six layers, each layer going deeper into the earth and producing stronger and better coal. The scientists tell us that anywhere you find coal there used to be vegetation. Sure enough, you can go all the way down to layer six and still find skeletons. Such life must be ancient. My friend once pulled part of a log out of a coal vein. He hung it in his living room, and you can still see the wood grain.

We find such mysteries everywhere we turn. Try taking a globe of the earth and cutting away the oceans. Notice that the land parts connect almost perfectly. What does that tell us? There is much we will never understand about how our earth came to be as it is today. Certainly I believe the flood had a major impact on the reshaping of this whole earth. But we may never know what happened and when, or how the remains of ancient life are trapped in deep layers beneath the earth.

Some of you may think I'm teaching evolution, but if you've heard the message I've preached on evolution and humanism, you know I don't believe in evolution. I just want us to realize there is evidence of things we don't understand, and the magnitude of God and his creation is much bigger and vaster than anything we can imagine.

God is from eternity, and we don't know how many earths he had made before ours or what he was up to for the 97 trillion years before he made man. There are many mysteries we cannot know until God unfolds them for us in heaven. Let's just not think so small that we limit God to this fleeting moment we live in.

If the scholars are right, they have come to an opinion that between the fall and the flood was 1656 years. From the flood to Moses was 857 years, and from Moses to the Messiah was 1718 years. We have seen approximately 1964 years since Christ came, making a total of 6195 years from the garden of Eden until now. Anyone can determine that in the course of eternity a mere 6195 years are insignificant. And our own lives are only a dot at the end of those 6195 years.

Most important for us to remember is how tiny our troubles are compared to the span of eternity and the magnificence of God. We get overwhelmed when taxes increase or it gets tough to find work. But consider how small those troubles are to the God of eternity.

Also, we can take joy in knowing we are part of the family of that great God. God's family goes way back. When Job challenged God, God replied, "Where were you when I created the world? When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:7). What sons were these? We don't know, but clearly God has other sons about whom we can only speculate. There is a whole part of God's family we don't know about. Sometimes the more we see in scripture the more we realize we don't know. We will never figure out God and all he has been up to. The more we set aside what we think we know, the more we can marvel at how great God really is.

When we move forward to God's family in the Old Testament, we meet the great saints of old: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, and so on. But even when we come to this history we know so well, God has a family that is hidden from us. Remember in 2 Kings when Elisha's servant is afraid of the enemy, and Elisha prays for his eyes to be opened? "Fear not," Elisha said, "for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." The servant's eyes were opened and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. Elisha had earlier seen Elijah go up to heaven in a whirlwind, and there had appeared a chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire. We have no conception of how vast and wonderful the family of God really is. And that vast power and presence are available to us.

So we see that not only are our troubles small in terms of time but also in terms of space. God's family extends back beyond what we can imagine, and it extends around us now in realms we cannot see. We are surrounded by invisible brothers and sisters who come to our aid as God sends them. Our minds should not be so attached to this world that we do not see the heaven full of activity around us. There is ample power here available to God's children.

Again in Luke, at the birth of Christ, the heavenly hosts appeared to men, praising God for sending Jesus to earth. In this magnitude of space and time, it's reassuring to know we haven't gotten lost in the shuffle. We are in this part of this little earth at this moment for a very special purpose: for God to prepare a bride for his son Jesus. He is looking for a wife for his son and took out this little bit of time to make one. That's it. Let's not get so overwhelmed by the little trials in our lives that we lose sight of this grand purpose. Heaven's focus is not on meeting our little needs but on making us into the bride of Christ, that God might present us faultless before his throne.

How foolish to spend our fleeting moments here chasing after anything other than this grand purpose. Time is just an element that we live in. The Bible says our whole lifetime is but a vapor, like that moment we see our breath on a cold morning and then--puff--it's gone. We have no time to waste on things that are not of God.

Ephesians says, "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Before we reached our moment here on earth, God had already ordained his high purpose for us. In Ephesians 3 Paul continues, "To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." You see, our walk with Christ has consequences well beyond our brothers and sisters here on earth to the greater family of God that dwells in heavenly places. We show forth God's glory, and that glory shines far and wide, much farther than we can imagine. There are many creatures who see either our obedience to God or our disobedience. In the book of Job we read that the sons of God presented themselves before the Lord, and Satan was among them. Satan told God he had been going to and fro in the earth, observing. He is the accuser of the brethren. Our actions here travel much further than the little community in which we live.

Later in Ephesians 3 Paul says, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named . . . ." Again we have the vastness of God's family, encompassing heaven and earth. What I am trying to convey to you is the importance of a proper focus, seeing how very small our trials are compared to the glory that surrounds us. Just allow those trials to be small. There is a whole host of heaven backing you up, saying "Amen, amen amen, don't fall, don't fall." Our family in heaven wants you to do the will of God. They want you to be faithful. The fiery chariots and horses are there to fight when you get into a hard spot, and the hosts of angels are watching and waiting.

What significance we have at this tiny point in history! We are engaged to Christ. The bride to be presented to Christ must be spotless, anointed, clean and kept from the world. Let me ask you: do you think there is enough spirituality in you, enough of Holy Ghost power and love and truth in you, that Jesus should have a desire to be married to you? Or are we of no attraction to Him? Let's consider that. I don't believe any of you men married your wife thinking she was unattractive. So Christ is coming for a spotless bride, the culmination of his people through whom he has been working back to the dawn of time and before.

Our time is so short, our time is so precious. I like to use big numbers. You can choose where you're going to be in seven billion years from now. It is an awesome thing that in the small time we have here we can become part of the bride of Christ. But we don't act like we recognize that wonder. I don't think any of you who were brides dressed sloppy when you walked the aisle at your wedding. You wore your best on your best day. But how many of us go through life sloppily, vaguely hoping that hit or miss we'll someday get to see the bridegroom?

I'll always remember an accident my brother had with his buggy. As he was driving down the road, a car rammed into the back of him, and he said that suddenly his buggy was just a pile of wood. There was a noise, a snap, and then deadly silence--not a sound. The first thing he thought was, "It's happened." That, I believe, is how death is going to be. We'll be going through life, many of us in a sloppy manner, unthinking, and in just a snap our earthly lives will end. The shortness and preciousness of our time here will hit us full force. "Here I am," we will say. Give that some thought next time you're tempted. Don't rush into your sin. Remember your family--watching, waiting, cheering for you.

Revelation 19:7-8: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." The bride is arrayed in fine linen because she lived right and had one purpose in mind: to prepare herself.

Oh, the wonder that we are part of the great, vast family of God--and then the greater wonder that we are the very bride of his Son. I heard an old preacher say lately that in all the funerals he had held he never heard a man say he wished he had spent more time at his business. It was always, "I wish I had spent more time with my family." More time with our family, our spiritual family. More time with our bride. Time is fleeting and moments are passing. It's time to look to what's important.

Let's back up to Revelation 7 and get another glimpse of the magnitude of God's family: "After this, I beheld and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever, Amen."

I believe some of Christ's strength is going to be in his bride. No, the worship is not going to wait until we get there. It goes on now, continually. God has had his family from back before the dawn of time. But see how the crowd swells with the multitude from all nations and kindreds, those who have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb." That great multitude from this tiny point in history will swell the hosts of heaven and be the bride of Christ.

We must never allow our puny little minds to think that our trials are ours alone or that we must bear them all alone. We have a family here to care for each other. And we have a family up there to care for us too. We are still living in this moment of grace where we can confess our sins, be saved, and know that we enter into eternal life. Let us cling to the preciousness of all that God has provided and prepare ourselves as the bride of Christ, who very soon will take us for himself.