YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

Tammy Harris had her 21st birthday. It was time to know who her biological mother really was. She started an almost daily search to find her. A year had passed with no success. But there was something she didn’t know. Her real mother was also searching for her. As a matter of fact, she had been looking for Tammy for twenty long years.

As the story was told in many newspapers, there was yet another thing that Tammy didn’t know. Her mother, Joyce Schultz, actually worked with her at a convenience store.

One day, Tammy was talking with another co-worker about trying to track down her biological mother. Joyce overheard the conversation and Tammy and Joyce began comparing birth certificates. What a shock when they realized they were mother and daughter! They already knew each other because they were co-workers at the same convenient store. The two of them fell into each other’s arms and both said it was the best day of their lives.

As the saying goes, “Blood is thicker than water.” Family is important to all of us. And there is something very special about blood relatives. The family theme is replete throughout the Bible. From the very beginning “family” was important to God. Look in a concordance and notice how many times the word “family,” “sons,” and “children” are mentioned.

From the very beginning, when God created man, He made him in His image.You can look at siblings, cousins, grandparents and parents and see similar physical features. The hair and eye color may be the same. The way the eyes are set into the head or the shape and size of the nose may be very similar.

God created Adam and Eve and told them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. God’s command was not to simply add, it was to multiply. He wants a large family. For Him to have a large family, He must have lots of children. Would God give this command to “multiply” if He doesn’t have big plans for His children?

It is God’s will that no one perishes, but that all of us be in His family. How then do we become a part of God’s family? “An earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God’s Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live forever” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Then what does it take to be a member of God’s family?

A man named Nicodemus had this same question. He was a Jewish leader of the Pharisee sect and didn’t want members of his religion to know that he was going to visit with Jesus. So he sneaked out after dark. “‘Sir’ he said, ‘we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.’ Jesus replied: ‘Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.’” Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus meant. He somehow confused Jesus’ statement with literally going back into his mother’s womb and being physically born again.

That wasn’t at all what Jesus meant. So He went on to explain to Nicodemus, “What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.” Jesus continued to expound the difference be- tween a physical being and a spirit being. Physical beings are very obvious to all of us. We can see them, feel them, hear them, and even smell them. But you can’t tell where a spirit being comes from or where it goes, it’s invisible like the wind.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He explained to Nicodemus what is required of all of us if we are to be born of the Spirit and be a member of God’s own family. First, Jesus would have to be crucified for our sins. “For God so loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it” (John 3:16 TLB). What God has in store for those who believe in Him is so wonderful that it’s really beyond our comprehension. “Now we are no longer slaves, but God’s own sons. And since we are his sons, everything he has belongs to us, for that is the way God planned” (Galatians 4:7 TLB).

Yes, you can be a very son of God with all that entails. Everything He has can belong to you! What does God own that you might want – land, wealth, silver or even gold? “For all the animals of the field and forest are mine! The cattle on a thousand hills! And all the birds upon the mountains!”(Psalm 50:10 TLB). Just owning the cattle on a thousand hills would make you a very wealthy person. But God owns the silver and gold ( Haggai 2:8). Does His wealth stop there? Of course not! He owns everything, and you will too when you become His son. When you become a member of His very family you will be God’s heir and inherit all things. That’s awesome beyond words!

Just as Tammy’s mother looked for her twenty long years, God has been looking for you to repent, be baptized and become His own son or daughter. He wants to make you a part of His very family when He returns to this earth. He wants to give you riches untold. Will you believe on His Son and be in God’s family?