Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

Family in Heaven and on Earth

Ephesians 3:15 (KJV), "Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."

God is Spirit. Man is both spirit and corporal form. To be created in the image of God means that men and women are like God in terms of His character and all of His communicable attributes. When man fell into sin, that image of God is not destroyed but marred very badly. That is why God gave the law of equity, that if a man murders another man he must pay for it with his life. The reason given by God was that the image of God was still in sinful man. God revealed this truth at the end of the global flood, after Noah and his family came out of the ark. Genesis 9:5-6 (KJV), "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." [Emphasis added] This is a description of all mankind regardless of salvation status. The image of God enables man to have relationships with his surroundings. He has relationships with God's creation including the environment he lives in, the animals, fishes in the sea, birds in the sky and most important of all, with other humans. Family relationships and friendships are very important aspects of man's daily life. It is not an exaggeration to conclude that man lives for his relationships, especially his family. That being said, can the believer say that his earthly flesh and blood family is closer to him than his earthly heavenly family who have been sealed by the blood of Christ? What does the Bible have to say on the latter relationship?

The understanding of this truth will greatly impact the believer's attitude toward his local church. Every Lord's day he will not just be coming to church for worship, but coming "home" to praise our heavenly Father. This is where his family is; not out there in the world but here inside the walls of this church. His service will be transformed. No longer will he come to church and to serve outsiders and strangers; he will be serving his brothers and sisters and Christ. If there is any misunderstanding, he will not leave and run to another church but stay and resolve all differences, and let love prevail, for love will cover a multitude of sins. To run away is like running away from home. Forgiveness will become the norm because through the blood of Christ all sins can be forgiven and washed away.

a) Testimony's sake– When it comes to personal issues in life, Apostle Paul taught us by his example. He says that he has no rights of his own when it comes to personal preferences. He has no preferences at all. He testified in the Bible that he was to all men all things in order to save some. He was a servant, i.e. a slave to all. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (KJV), "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." [Emphasis added].

The phrase "made myself servant to all" literally means that Paul "voluntarily enslaved himself to all" even though he was free. He would not do anything in his own personal life that will cause anyone to be stumbled, especially those who are outside Christ. This included the way he dressed and his personal life. He followed their culture as long as the culture did not cause him to sin. He would not eat or drink if his personal choice of eating or drinking causes someone to think ill of Christ and not accept Christ as Lord and Saviour. Too many unbelievers have used the bad testimonies of professing believers as a justifiable excuse to reject Christ when the gospel is preached to them. This is more than sad. It is tragic, for they throw out the baby with the dirty bath water. Their souls are bound for hell unless they accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour. The apostle Paul understood this so deeply that he literally sacrificed his personal rights to save as many unbelievers that God sent into his life, even to being a slave.

Having realized that believers ought not to cause unbelievers to not come to Christ, what does a believer do when he faces trials in church? Should he go to his unsaved family members or to his church family for help? I remember vividly the time when I was sued by one of our church members. When the lawsuit letter arrived, my stomach churned and it was a horrible feeling, to say the least. I had not been sued before, and to receive the letter with all the legal lingo made things even more ominous. There were many deadlines in the letter with penalties. To whom should I go to help me? This was the first question that came to mind. I knew that lawyers’ fees are expensive, but I did not know how expensive until I spoke with one. My jaw dropped. My sister and her husband are lawyers but they are not believers. I have been trying to witness to them. Should I ask my sister and brother-in-law to help me (it would surely stumble them), or do I go the route of an outsider which will cost tons of money that I do not have. I would probably have to sell my HDB flat to pay for the legal fees. It was a difficult decision to make in very little time because of the deadlines. Of course, another option was to capitulate and give in. That naturally was not acceptable.

Trusting in the Lord to provide and see me through, and the fact that my sister and my brother-in-law's salvation were more important to me than living in my present HDB flat, I opted to find a lawyer outside of my family. Thank God that He provided through my heavenly earthly family. I will be forever grateful to all who gave towards the pastors' legal fees. At the end of it all, the amount collected was exactly what was needed. My faith and trust in the Lord was strengthened in the process. My brothers and sisters in Christ understood the purpose and significance of the suit, and thus I could not capitulate. By standing firm I knew that they would not be stumbled. They know my Lord and Saviour Jesus just as I do. They know the spiritual side of this suit which my sister and brother-in-law cannot know unless they are born again and become part of the heavenly family. I realized then that my heavenly family on earth is closer to me than my flesh and blood family. Mind you, I love my sister and brother-in-law very much and I’m prepared to do anything for them. But in this instance I could not "stumble" them.

b) Eternal Kinship– The relationship that I have with my earthly family is sealed by the common blood that we have because of our parents and lineage. However, the heavenly family on this earth is sealed by the priceless and precious blood of Christ. The earthy family will be separated by death. This is inevitable as we have witnessed over and over again. However, the heavenly family is eternal. Death cannot separate what we have in Christ. All born again believers call God their heavenly Father by His command and permission.

That the earthly kinship is close is not doubted, for both believers’ and unbelievers’ families. This earthly kinship is very real. God made us in His image in order for us to have this love for one another regardless of our relationship with Him. Family love is strong and special. Unbelievers have been able to obey their parents. They are able to make great sacrifices for their parents. They work late hours and give of their youth and strength for their parents and children. Family bond is real and very good. However, when death strikes we all know the feeling. The deeper the love, the greater the sorrow when death strikes. No matter how strong the bond of love between man and man, it is powerless against man's last enemy, death. The cemetery is filled with the evidence of death's invincible victory over man's earthly love.

In contrast, the kinship between believers is powerful and eternally strong, for it is sealed by the love of God through Christ. Nothing on this earth or in heaven is able to separate believers’ relationship with each other and with their heavenly Father. The Bible testifies of this wonderful truth. Romans 8:35-39 (KJV), "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The death of the child of God is called sleep. He does not die anymore, for to leave this world is to enter into heaven immediately. The child of God goes home to be with his heavenly Father to join the whole family in heaven.

The most intimate relationship every believer has on this earth is with God his heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, his Lord and his Saviour. No matter how intimate our earthly family is to us, it cannot even come close to the believer's intimate relationship with God. For this reason alone, we have to honestly conclude that to believers the church family is closer than the earthly family.

c) Earthly Spiritual Experiences– I had a best friend when I was in the university, during the early years in Architecture. We would study and do many things together. We helped each other in our studies. However, after my salvation we began to drift apart. It was not an intentional drifting. It just happened. Of course, I shared my new found faith with him but he did not want to accept Christ as his Lord and Saviour. He was happy for me but he chose not to become a Christian. My time in church and other church activities like Saturday Youth Fellowship, church camps, young people's camp, took its toll on our relationship. Inevitably we spent less and less time together as I spent more and more time in the study of God's Word, worship, and Christian fellowship. One other thing that brought about the change was the fact that the One who means more to me than life itself, i.e. my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, could not be shared with him. How can I have a best friend on earth with whom I cannot share my truly Best Friend?

The heavenly experiences that I can have on this earth with my brothers and sisters in Christ are priceless. We can come together and enter into the very presence of God through prayer; I cannot do that with my blood family and other friends unless they are also part of God's family. This is the reality that is often missed in today's church experiences. We do not realize how precious our time together can be until we lose it. Imagine standing or kneeling together as one before God's throne of grace and mercy, bringing our common petitions before our heavenly Father who is also God almighty. We can do this on earth while God is in heaven. No human being on this whole earth can have this experience except for believers of the Lord Jesus Christ who are in Christ.

These earthly spiritual experiences that we have make our church family dearer to us than our earthly family.

d) Service– The service rendered to one another at home is earthly. It has only earthly benefits. It dies when we die. It disappears from the face of the earth with time. Only memories remain. These memories will soon be forgotten as age takes its toll on our minds. Even when monuments are built to remind ourselves of the impact of our fellowmen, these monuments will decay and will also be replaced in time. No matter what man tries to do to sustain their relationships on earth, including family relationships, all will fade and soon be forgotten. How much do we know of what men did some four thousand years ago? Nothing! All the great buildings and cities have now either become ruins or disappeared. They lie silently and yet testify to mankind of the futility of man's life and works and relationships. They disappear like the dew that appears in the morning and by noon is gone for good. Therefore their services rendered to one another are temporal and will surely disappear into the horizon of time. There is no exception. They will all be forgotten no matter what man tries to do to delay this inevitability.

However, the service of believers is remembered by God. God says that whatever they do earth for Christ will follow them when they leave this world. Revelation 14:13 (KJV), "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." Believers do not have to do anything to ensure that what they do will last. That is God's "department". The believer's duty is to ensure that he serves the LORD faithfully and always constrained by the love of Christ.

According to Ephesians 3:15, the family of God is now divided into two parts: one in heaven and the other on earth. The one in heaven has completed his task on earth and has gone home to be with the Lord. The one on earth has work to do as God's witnesses. The work on earth may be divided into two perspectives. The first perspective is that when he is outside of the church and in the world (whether at home, in school or at work) he serves God by bearing a godly witness so that sinners might see Christ in him. He is also fighting the good fight of faith in the world as Satan, who is the prince of this world, will try his utmost to stop his witness for Christ. The world is a battleground where there can be casualties. It is considered in the world because he is separated from his earthly heavenly family.

Every Lord's Day, when the believer goes to church for worship, he is going home, his heavenly home on earth. He is with his brothers and sisters in Christ and he worships with them with great joy and delight. This is also true when he goes to church for Bible Study, fellowship or prayer. He is with his eternal kin. There is no separating this kinship. His service is to help his brothers and sisters in Christ to be strong in the Lord. He serves them by helping them grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. He "bandages" the wounds of those who suffered persecution when they served outside by praying for them and encouraging them through Christian fellowship. He also needs to be built up in the faith before he goes out to witness for Christ to unbelievers. He studies the Word of God with his brothers and sisters in Christ.. He does not have to be on guard. He can let his guard down. He is home.

The service he does in the world is to be used by God to turn sinners into saints and to fight the good fight of faith. The service he renders in the church or among God's family is to build up each other's faith.

e) Spiritual Feeding– The lone believer at home sits at his family's dining table, and they eat only physical food. They do not pray and give thanks to God as a family for the food that they are about to partake. There is no spiritual feeding. The material world is all that the family members know. Whenever they help each other, it is only with reference to material things. His family cannot see into the spiritual realm. The believer is "alone" in his own home because of this.

However, when he is in church or with his Christian friends, he can share spiritual things. He is being blessed just as he blesses others by his witness, life and service. When he comes to church he is spiritually recharged. When he worships he feels wonderful and liberated because he is home. He praises his heavenly Father with his brothers and sisters in Christ. He receives a spiritual boost whenever he is with his heavenly family in the church. When he studies the Bible with his heavenly family, he is spiritually fed the Word of God which is to him the milk and meat to his hungry soul.

CONCLUSION-- The above five reasons are not exhaustive. From these five reasons, we see that the church family is supposed to be closer to us as children of God than our family of flesh and blood. This is what God wants us to understand from the very beginning of the local church ministry. This was what happened in the first local church in Jerusalem among the believers. Acts 2:44-45 (KJV), "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need." [Emphasis added] These activities of having all things common, and selling and sharing their goods to help others, normally occur in homes; but here we see it happened in the first local church. The local church is now the believer’s new home away from home in heaven. Let us not treat Calvary Pandan B-P church as an appendix in our lives. Our church should be the most important part of our daily lives, our heavenly home on earth until we arrive home in heaven. Let us do our part and our utmost to keep ourselves and our church pure and holy and good where the glory of God shines brightly. Do not let anyone come in and take away our home. Amen.