Romans 1:4-6 English Standard Version

4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

What does it mean to belong to Jesus Christ?

In the world we all struggle for a position in the world. We want to belong in order to have a life worth living. It begins in the family. We identify with our birth order. The first will always be the first. No one that comes after that one can replace them, even by death. It is an unmistakable reality.

In the world, position means success. We have coined the phrase, “rank has its privileges.” We equate success with position, CEO, President, Pope, and there are many leaderboards that show our rankings. We put numbers to positions to track our progress. We want to be number one. But that is the world, that is not Kingdom living.

Romans 8:29 English Standard Version (ESV) 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.

No matter how much we look like the firstborn we will never be the firstborn in the family of God. That has to be made clear.

John 3:28-29 English Standard Version

28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.

John the baptist refers to Jesus as the bridegroom.

Ephesians 5:31-32 English Standard Version 

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Which is it, our big brother or our betrothed?

What is the profound mystery?

Lamentations 3:22-24 English Standard Version

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

This will be difficult to understand from a standpoint of our personal experiences in training, ministries and gifts. We relate and often rely on where we have been and what we have been taught.

If that way contains things that differ from God’s approach in dealing with us in letting His will be known, He will correct it. How He makes that known to us is not based on who we were but rather on who we are becoming.

God is faithful. We are constantly being changed and we will never be complete in this life. While we may have come a long way from where we were, we must not take on an attitude that we have arrived. We have not.

As I returned to my studies on Psalm 119 alphabetical listings I related the meaning in ways based on prior teachings in numerology. Finding meaning in numbers is an ancient practice and there are many who believe that those significances should take first place.

While God brought me around to revisit the meanings in the Hebrew alphabet it was not to teach but to learn. It was meant to show me the errors in my thinking that were overly influenced by my past instruction. I was leaning on learning rather than leaning on God’s faithfulness.

Hebrews 4:16 English Standard Version (ESV) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The confidence we feel in coming before this throne of grace is because of the relationship not what we have done or what we think we know. God has a purpose for us and if we are to walk in His will, if we are to discover what that purpose is, then we must come to Him with an attitude of humility and expectation of discovery. 

It is not that I was wrong nearly as much as I saw things from the perspective of what I had been taught. God changed my perspective.

Others will have their perspective and we will not always agree. My past experiences color my perspective and it does the same thing for others. If we can accept that, maybe we can show a little grace in the face of differing perspectives.

There is a difference in perspectives and sound doctrine.