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One Family in Christ, April 7
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.
Ephesians 3:14, 15
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Through faith in Christ we become members of the royal family, heirs
of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. In Christ we are one. As we
come in sight of Calvary, and view the royal Sufferer who in man’s nature
bore the curse of the law in his behalf, all national distinctions, all sectarian
differences, are obliterated; all honor of rank, all pride of caste is lost. The
light shining from the throne of God upon the cross of Calvary forever puts
an end to man-made separations between class and race. Men of every
class become members of one family, children of the heavenly King, not
through earthly power, but through the love of God who gave Jesus to a
life of poverty, affliction, and humiliation, to a death of shame and agony,
that He might bring many sons and daughters unto glory.
It is not the position, not the finite wisdom, not the qualifications, not
the endowments of any person that makes him rank high in the esteem of
God. The intellect, the reason, the talents of men, are the gifts of God to be
employed to His glory, for the upbuilding of His eternal kingdom. It is the
spiritual and moral character that is of value in the sight of Heaven, and
that will survive the grave....
All who are found worthy to be counted as the members of the family
of God in heaven, will recognize one another as sons and daughters of
God. They will realize that they all receive their strength and pardon from
the same source, even from Jesus Christ who was crucified for their sins.
They know that they are to wash their robes of character in His blood, to
find acceptance with the Father in His name, if they would be in the bright
assembly of the saints, clothed in the white robes of righteousness
The family is named after the Father. Those who enter the heavenly
mansions will have the name of the Father and the name of the city of God
written in their foreheads. They will bear the divine superscription and be
partakers of the divine nature
[104]
10
Selected Messages 1:258, 259
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11
The Review and Herald, July 19, 1892
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