Where Do I Fit in God’s Big Picture? (Part 2)

In the previous post, we saw from Ephesians 1:3-10 how God’s grand design and purpose in choosing us before the foundation of the world is to bring us into His family: “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will“ (verse 5). Because of Christ’s work for His Church, the believer is now in a special relationship with the Father. We are adopted into God’s family, in which Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29). This is his top goal in redemption.

The Father’s Heart for Family

Several scriptural passages point to the fact that the Father adopts us into His family so he can mould us into the image of Jesus. Romans 8:28-29 attests,

“28. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.“

The Father desires a family of holy sons and daughters whose lives are patterned after that of the firstborn Jesus. The moment we are born again in Christ, the Father declares us justified—which is to say, in the court of heaven, we are regarded by the Father as if we have never sinned. The final stage of our salvation is glorification—where we will be fully formed in the image of Christ. As 1 John 3:1-2 says, we shall be like him when we see him at His second coming. That is the day when we will be given bodies that never grow old or sick and when sin is destroyed, and we shall be perfect, like Jesus:

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and sowe are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.“ (See also 1Cor. 3:7-17; 2Cor. 3:18).

However, from the day we are justified till the day we will be glorified, we are on a journey of sanctification, through which the Father shapes and fashions us into the image of Jesus. How does God do this? Phil Wilthew, in his book, “Multiplying Disciples“, puts it this way:

“We might imagine it like this: God the Father is the potter; we are the clay and Jesus is the model. The Father has his hands on our lives, shaping, moulding, changing, restoring, and ultimately fashioning us to look like Jesus. By the power of the Spirit, the Father is forming us into the likeness of Christ. This is discipleship—the intentional process of allowing ourselves to be shaped by the goodness of God in his Trinitarian glory.” 1

Thus, discipleship is vital to our sanctification. In discipleship relationships, we position ourselves intentionally to be reworked by the Father via the power of the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ, and deliberately and actively contribute to exposing others or positioning them to such means of grace that facilitate their growth into the image of Christ.

One of the ways we intentionally position ourselves to be discipled and disciple others is through intentional, meaningful relationships with other believers. Our Lord had hundreds, if not thousands, who came to listen to his sermons and witness his miracles, but the real discipleship happened with the few who followed him everywhere. Those were the people he trained to be like him. That training occurred over food, intimate conversations and simply through living life together. Small groups, one-on-one book reading, and hospitality, where families spend time together sharing their lives are some of the avenues where discipleship happens. Discipleship is all about living life together rather than just one structured meeting per week.

Terry Virgo poignantly notes:
“The root of sinfulness is independence – everyone turning to his own way (Isaiah 53:6) and doing what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). The church is God’s antidote to independence. It gives you the opportunity to open up to others, with all the pains and pleasures that accompany that process. The moment you believe in Christ you are saved and thoroughly justified in God’ssight. But from that time a process of sanctification begins to take place. You were a sinner; now God wants to make you holy. You had huge areas of selfishness, thoughtlessness, pride, fear, anger and so on.

Many of these things can be overcome by personal application of the truth of God’s word and the inner work of the Holy Spirit. But much of your character will change only through close fellowship with other Christians and discipleship accountability. Jesus directly discipled twelve men. Their experiences included wonderful encouragements: ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah!‘ and fearful confrontations: ‘You are thinking from men’s point of view, not God’s.‘Impetuous Simon was discipled and became Peter, the Rock.” 2

My question for you is, are you committed to fellowshipping with other believers? In most local assemblies, this happens through church small groups. If there are small groups in your place of worship, do you belong to one? If you do, are you committed to developing deep, intentional relationships to build up those in your small groupand, by extension, the larger church assembly? And even if there are no small groups in your church, you can start one. Find another Christian with whom you can meet on regular basis to read the Bible and other good Christian books and pray.

Ephesians 4:15-16 teaches a phenomenal truth: because we are united to one another and to Christ, our growth is tied to the contribution of other members of the body [of Christ] as theirgrowth is tied to ours:

“15. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16. from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.“

This is quite striking: The whole body grows only when each part is working properly. I contribute to the nourishment of other believers God places around me as they contribute the nutrition I need to grow so that the entire body [of Christ] builds itself up in love.

In this series’ next and final post, we will explore our Father’s heart for the nations and how we fit into His grand purpose for unifying all things in Christ.

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