Who is my brother?

(Mark 3:35) “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."

I thank God for His gentle rebuke in the way a loving father gently correct a misguided child. This privilege afforded his children is looked upon in the heaven realm, with if it were possible, this thought travelling through the minds of many heavenly hosts; “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalms 8:4): - And yet even with all our weakness as men and women, it still pleased the Lord to send His Son to die in our place, thank you Father God! I do not make reference to us prior to salvation, those who were once dead in their trespasses and sins; I make mention to those who live.

Having said that we also know that God is a consuming fire; “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)

I wonder throughout life how many times I have stretched the grace of God to accommodate some selfish act, mostly relating to sin of some sort. In other words if and when I place myself before God or a brother then I am guilty as charged. We are clearly taught that if we love our neighbor as ourselves we prove that we love God. If not then John has this to say; “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.” (1John 2:9-12)

Why is it that we stumble at times? I would suggest that if we love our brother we will not stumble as we abide in the light. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? (Matthew 7:1-4)

Who was the Lord Jesus addressing in this text? Was it not those who opposed Him, those who thought they knew better, and those who used the law to find justification? Nevertheless these men were spiritually dead; “how then can a dead man be judged?” is where I finished yesterday.

It is obvious that even the dead will be judged and they will be responsible for every one of their actions; we are clearly taught that at the “White Throne Judgment” every knee will bow and confess Jesus as Lord, praise His name! “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:11-12)

The greatest of all biblical expositors is undoubtedly the Apostle Paul. In fact he even stresses this point, making it clear to his readers that what he penned is his gospel and not another’s; “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:16)

Therefore although the dead never find salvation in and through the blood of the Lamb, they will never escape judgment. I trust this is clearly understood.

Let us now consider the sovereignty of God with that thought in mind. Why then do some find life and others not? There are many opinions on this topic, but let us not focus on the minds of men if in fact that is all it is, men’s carnal reasoning.

Paul knew he would receive various objections pertaining to this question and so in his brilliance, he deals with it concisely and with precision. Lets us therefore unpack and follow some of his calculation…

Let us firstly lay a platform to build upon. We understand that God created the heavens and the earth before we were created. Now if we who are simple in comparison wish to build a house, do we not first get a draftsman or architect to design and draw up the plans? God in his mastery has mapped His plan out from beginning to end, that then must involve every fascist to His plan. If the builder miscalculated any of his measurement by millimeters, how then would the finished house be perfect? It wouldn’t be! And we know that God is perfect, in other words nothing can be added to His person or character, if something could be added this would mean He has flaws, which He obviously hasn’t! Therefore everything he does will ultimately end in perfection!

We may say if God is perfect, how can this world be in such a mess, sin on every corner. Murders, starvation, crime, rape and child abuse the order of the day. Obviously far from a perfect world! This is where we start to enter into the brilliance of His domain and I will not suppose to speak on His behalf as if I had all the answers, but this I will say, God is in perfect control and it will be understood by all at the appointed time. He has written His script and every “t” will be crossed with every “i” doted. There will be no exception! Praise the name of Jesus as He is the pivot of this perfect plan.

Some will respond to the gospel and some won’t, some will respond for their bellies sake while others learn to lay down their lives for Him. Some will need to be physically broken in order to learn obedience and for this I am truly thankful, “God chastens those whom He loves”. Some will be imprisoned and martyred while others not and so forth. And then their will be those who are the enemy of the cross, those who oppose the gospel with everything they have and yet that is also part of His plan, it was preordained. Here is a specific example that clearly spells it out; “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.” (Luke 22:3-6): - Was this Judas’ decision or was it part of God preordained plan? The answer is clearly understood if we stick to the teaching of scripture and we remove our carnal rational. Here is what it teachers; “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born." Judas, who would betray him, answered, "Is it I, Rabbi?" He said to him, "You have said so." (Matthew 26:24-25): - We see a clear warning from the Lord directed at Judas and yet he did not repent, why not? It had been written, it was part of the script! And yet we are taught; “but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."   

 Nevertheless still responsible for his actions! Time is up, Lord willing we will conclude this topic in tomorrow’s blog and hopefully we will have a clearer understanding on God’s Sovereignty and how His plan plays out in the lives of all.

Signing off

Tyrone