What stood out
to me was that the first coming of Christ is explained as, “he had to be made like his brothers”. Jesus took on himself “flesh and blood”[3]
because his “brothers” were already
flesh and blood. He came into the world conscious of us being his brothers,
brothers he needed to rescue from the world, the flesh and the devil, so that
we could fellowship with him in brotherly love.
I
love it that I was Jesus’ brother in the heart of God before time began. When I
was chosen to be holy and blameless in his sight[4], and I was predestined to be adopted as God’s son[5], I was then considered to be Jesus’ brother even though Jesus had
to come and deliver me from death.
Before
time began, God knew that he would have his creation ruined by sin. He also
knew that he would create and have a people of his very own who were holy and blameless
in his sight[6]. However, he knew that this would not be accomplished through
creation alone, since the devil would lead the whole creation into sin[7]. Instead, having a people in the image and likeness of Jesus[8], would require that he adopt them out of their orphan-world of sin,
and into the home of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit[9].
When
God chose people who would belong to him, who would be in his Son’s image and
likeness, and when he predestined that these sinners would be adopted as his
sons, we were already God’s sons and Jesus’ brothers even before the creation
of the world[10]. We were chosen to be sons, and so we were sons. We were chosen to
be brothers to Jesus, and so we were brothers to Jesus.
When
God created the world in all its beauty, and Satan came and corrupted God’s
creation with sin, it was as though every human being was captured into Satan’s
prison camp. Everyone inherited Adam’s sin nature, and everyone was born in
sin. However, all the children God had chosen for himself, and had predestined
to be his sons, were already considered brothers to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So,
when it says that Jesus “had to be made
like his brothers in every respect,” we are called to this wonderful
realization, that we were already his brothers even while we were imprisoned by
sin. Even when we survived prison camp by serving the enemy and so getting some
worldly reward for our bondage, we were still brothers to Jesus, chosen and predestined
to something that Satan could not stop no matter how horrific his prison camps
could become.
This
is the wonder-filled thought for today: Jesus loves his brothers. He came into
the world because we were already his brothers, but we were in Satan’s prison
camp and could not enjoy fellowship with our heavenly family. Jesus died for
his brothers. He laid down his life for his brothers. He secured the freedom of
his brothers. And now, all those who have been born again into the family of
God,[11] are invited to live in brotherly love relationship with Jesus
Christ, and with the rest of the household of God.
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