To Encourage You

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord”

When God blesses us with the gracious gift of eternal life through faith in His Son, He becomes our Father. What an unspeakable blessing it is to know that we have a God Who loves us as His children. He will never abandon us. He will never turn His back on us.  Rather, He will bless us with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). These are all the things that are part and parcel of eternal life; things like eternal joy, eternal peace, eternal hope, and a promised eternal existence free from sorrow, or pain, or sickness, or death.  

But also included in these eternal blessings are eternal relationships with others that have been likewise blessed.  These relationships are with our newfound brothers and sisters in Christ.  How thankful are you to God for them? They are people who, like us, know what it is to be made very aware of their sin, and who have been overwhelmed by the grace of God shown to them in spite of it.  They, like us, have experienced the forgiveness of sin. They, like us, have had their eyes opened to the precious truths of the Word of God.  Because we have a common experience, we have a relationship that is unlike any other human relationship.  There is a love between us because we have the same Father and the same brothers and sisters (the first and foremost of whom is the One Who “is not ashamed to call (us) brothers” (Hebrews 2:11)). There is an unbreakable bond between us. It’s a bond that is evident the moment we learn of that other brother’s or sister’s common faith.  We can share in what God has done for us. We can talk about the things of God, like the joy of the Lord, God’s help in our times of need, and the knowledge of God as He teaches us more and more about His nature and the awesome privilege it is to be called one of His own. 

We have a union with our brothers and sisters in Christ that is so much deeper than that of our brothers and sisters by blood in that we are not only members of the same family, but we are also members of the very body of Christ.  We are aware not only of our relationships with our spiritual siblings, but of our need for them, as well.  We are likened by God to parts of a physical body in that “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:21-25).  Because of this intimate fellowship of the members within the spiritual body of Christ “if one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26).  It is the brothers and sisters in Christ, who, unlike those in any other human relationship, “love one another” (John 13:34), “are devoted to one another” (Romans 2:10), “honor one another” (Romans 12:10), “accept one another” (Romans 15:7), “instruct one another” (Romans 15:14), “carry one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), “are kind and compassionate to one another” (Ephesians 4:32), “speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19),  “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21), “bear with one another” (Colossians 3:13), “encourage one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:18), “pray for one another” (James 5:16), and “forgive one another” (Colossians 3:13).  We do all these things for one reason only: it is Christ in us working in and through us, to the glory of God. 

So, are you thankful for other believers in the body of Christ? Surely you “ought always” to be, as Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonian believers above, for it is in these relationships that Jesus has chosen to work through us and show Himself to us in myriads of wonderful ways.