Christianity Is A Relationship!
(Do You Realize Who You Are?
God's "Next of Kin")

Phil. 3:7-10, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I May Know Him, and the power of his resurrection,and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"

Gal. 4:4-7, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons. And because Ye Are Sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art No More A Servant, But A Son; and if a son, then An Heir of God Through Christ."

Introduction:

A. Few Secular Historians have any conception of the meaning and purpose of history.

1. G. N. Clark, in his inaugural address at Cambridge, said: "There is No Secret and No Plan in history To Be Discovered." --- How wrong can an educated man be?

2. Andre Maurois, French author says: "The universe is Indifferent. Who created it? Why are we here on this puny mud heap spinning in infinite space? I Have Not The Slightest Idea And I Am Quite Convinced No One Has..."

3. The Ancient Greeks --- considered history as a circle or a cycle, always repeating itself, therefore Going Nowhere In Particular, accomplishing No Discernible Purpose, and Without An Identifiable Goal.

B. Since, According To These Men, We Cannot Know who we are---where we come from---and where we are going---since we Do Not Understand The Past and Have No Hope of The Future ---Then The Present Moment Is All That Matters.

1. Distant Goals have no validity,

2. To sacrifice the present for the future is nonsensical and stupid,

3. This philosophy creates the "Now Generation."

C. If this is true, then man is as impersonal as --- and has No More Value Than Any Other Part of The Universe.

1. There is, therefore, No Moral Distinction Between cutting down a Tree and destroying a Human Being.

2. If a Human Being is essentially no different from a Tree, then his Future Is No Different.

D. The average historian has No Clue to the Meaning of History because he Ignores The Only Infallible Source Book---the Bible.

E. There is only one philosophy of history that makes sense --- the Biblical Philosophy.

1. The Center of History is Not its great empires like --- Egypt --- Babylon --- Greece --- or Rome.

2. Calvary, that tiny hill --- in that tiny land --- is the center of all history --- His-Story.

F. Apart From The Bible, the universe is an Incomprehensible Mystery --- The End Result is Meaninglessness and Despair.

I. There Is No Such Thing As Secular History --- History Is Simply His-Story.

A. This man hanging upon that Bloody Cross amid the taunts and jeers of the passers by was "Before All Things" (Col. 1:17) --- that is, Before History itself.

1. Jesus Is The Starting Point of History.

John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

2. Heb. 1:3, (LB) "He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his command."

B. All History Is Incomprehensible Without Christ.

II. God's Purpose For The Entire Universe From All Eternity --- Is For The Benefit of His Bride --- The Church.

A. All That God Has Been Doing from the very beginning has been Focused Upon Christians.

1. 1 Cor. 3:21-23, "Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's and Christ is God's."

2. The Church is a "Called Out Assembly of Baptized Believers." --- Rom. 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are The Called according to His Purpose."

a. If all things are working for the good of the Church then All Things In The Entire Universe must also be working to that end.

b. If there is One Supreme God in the universe, then all circumstances and events in the cosmos are working toward One And The Same End.

3. This small group (the church) was the Object Of All Of God's Previous Plans, Purposes, And Creative Enterprises.

4. It was For The Sake of This Small Group that the universe was originated.

B. In spite of all of her deplorable Weaknesses, appalling Failures, and sameful Shortcomings, the Church is still the Mightiest Force In The World Today.

1. The Only Force That Is Contesting Satan's Total Rule in human affairs is the Church of the Living God.

a. "Ye are the salt of the earth..."

b. "Ye are the light of the world..."

2. As goes the Church --- so goes the world.

C. The church, by virtue of her faithful use of Prayer, wields the balance of power not only in World Affairs but also in the Salvation of Individual Souls.

1. John Wesley said, "God does nothing but in answer to Prayer."

2. However, a program of prayer without Faith is powerless.

3. The missing element that is Necessary To Energize Triumphant Faith is Praise.

4. Praise is the detergent which Purifies Faith and Purges Doubt from the heart.

III. Redeemed Mankind Occupies A Totally Unique Position In The Hierarchy of The Universe.

A. Exalted as they are, the Highest Ranking Angel hovering over the throne of God Is Outranked By The Most Insignificant Human Being who has been born again, --- Redeemed By The Blood of the Lamb.

1. Heb. 2:16, "He took Not on him the Nature of Angels, but he took on him the Seed of Abraham."

2. 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? ----- {3} Know ye not that we shall judge angels?"

3. Angels were Not Made In The Image of God and God therefore could not become incarnate in them.

4. Angels can never become partakers of the divine nature.

B. Through The New Birth --- the redeemed become the; Next Of Kin" to the Godhead.

1. 1 John 3:1-2, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the Sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, Now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be Like Him; for we shall see him as he is." V. 9, "Whosoever is Born of God doth not commit sin; for his Seed (Sperma) remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is Born of God."

2. A Child is Part of His Parents and bears the Nature of His Parents --- Likewise Redeemed Mankind Shares God's Nature.

3. Eph. 5:30, "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."

4. 2 Peter 1:4, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,"

C. This is The Reason Why Sex Sins Are So Bad In The Eyes of God!

Noah and The Flood --- Sodom and Gomorrah --- Abraham, Arabs & Jews --- David --- Canaanites ...

1 Cor 6:15-16, "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make <them> the members of an harlot? God forbid. {16} What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh."

D. This is also The Reason Why Jesus made such A Strong Statement in:

Luke 10:16, "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."

E. Redeemed Mankind is an Exclusive Order of Beings --- a new species.

1. There is nothing else like it in all the kingdoms of infinity.

2. Eph.2:15, "...to make in himself of twain one new man,..."

F. Redeemed Mankind Is God's Special Chosen People.

1. Deut. 7:6, "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people; unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."

a. Rom. 2:28-29, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;" 4:13, "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

b. Eph. 3:4-6, "...the mystery of Christ)...That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel;"

c. Gal. 3:16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." 4:28, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

2. 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"

IV. However, Nothing Can Ever Dim The Fact That Infinity Separates The Creator From The Created.

A. This is where we Differ from the Mormons --- We are Not God-Makers.

1. Christ is the only begotten Eternal Son and is Above All.

2. Phil. 2:9-11, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

B. However, "We Are Members of His Body, of His Flesh, And of His Bones." (Eph. 5:30)

1. It may Overwhelm The Natural Mind to try to comprehend this great truth but --- we Are God's "Next of Kin".

2. Rom. 11:16-17, "For if the Firstfruit be holy, the Lump Is Also holy: and if the Root be holy, so are the Branches.....and thou, being a wild olive tree, were Grafted In among them, and with them Partakest of The Root and fatness of the olive tree;"

C. Although Christ is the Unique And Only Begotten Eternal Son, yet He does Not Retain His Glory For Himself Alone for he has declared:

1. John 17:22, "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;"

2. Rom 8:17, "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with <him>, that we may be also glorified together."

3. This brings us to such Dizzy Heights that the Natural Mind Is Overwhelmed by their implications.

V. As God's Chosen People ---God Chose And Called You For A Special Purpose.

A. John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain;: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."

B. 2 Tim. 2:4, "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."

C. Eph 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."