The Family of God

David Pelzer was an abused child. He wrote about it in his book, A Child Called It, telling of his experiences from around the age of four until 12 years old. It became a New York Times best seller as was his second book, The Lost Boy, where it tells of his experiences up to about age 18.

The abuse this child suffered is incomprehensible. He lived in Sonoma County, California. The events in this book began in the early ‘70s. He was abused so severely by his mother, that Child Protective Services finally removed him from his home and placed him in a foster home. He says in his book, “There is not a doubt in my mind, that had I stayed with my biological mother much longer I would have definitely been killed.”

In the first chapter he tells about being sent out of the house when he was nine. He describes his feelings and the thoughts that flowed through his mind while walking down the sidewalk, not knowing where he would stay that night, not knowing where he would get anything to eat, not knowing anything, not knowing anybody. He described it this way: “I have no home. I am a member of no one’s family. I know deep inside that I do not now, nor will I ever, deserve any love, attention, or even recognition as a human being. I am a child called ‘it.’ I am all alone inside.”

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated instance. Throughout the United States, at present, there are millions of children like this with no home and no food, but not all of them are in as severe a case as he was.

As he walked down the street a long way from the home he was sent from, he sees homes where there are people who are laughing and he hears some of them listening to music. He tells what went through his mind when he heard and saw that. He says, “I wondered what it would be like to be welcomed in a home. I wondered what that would be like.”

He said, “I wish I was a real person.” When he was taken back to his parental home by the police department and was told he was at home the thought went through his mind, “Home? I have no home.”

Later, concerning foster children who have had the privilege to be adopted when the parents have developed attachments with the children, he said that to be adopted is the highest honor bestowed on a child who longs to become a member of a family.

The desire in this young boy’s heart was to be loved and to belong somewhere. He wanted to be a part of a family, and he didn’t have any. That desire, my friend, is the desire that God put into a human soul. That desire is not something that just developed or evolved; that is something that God put within you. Sin is the reason why so many have anxiety. They are in situations that are similar to David Pelzer’s.

When I talk to young people, I find that most are primarily interested in finding a life partner. They want to fall in love. They want to have a family. They want to be a family. In heaven there is nobody up there that does not belong to a family. Everybody belongs. Nobody is left out. There is nobody that has no place to go. That experience does not happen there. Lack of familial bond would not happen on this earth either, except for sin.

There is often a lot of talk about the second coming of Christ, and it is right that we should do that because, as Christians, we are pilgrims and strangers in this world. When Jesus comes, we are going to go home to our big family. We hope and pray that all of our family members here are going to be there with us.

Ellen White wrote, “Infinite love—how great it is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desires a larger family of created intelligences.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1081.

Why did God create this world? He wanted a larger family. He wanted you to be part of His family. Unfortunately, what is happening in this world is that the devil is trying to steal people from God’s family. He has been very successful. At the end of the world and after the millennium, the Lord is going to face the devil and the devil is going to have to face Him, and the Lord is going to ask the devil, Why have you robbed me of my subjects?

Ellen White tells us that the devil is not going to have anything to say.

My dear friend, if you are going to go home, where your real home and your real family are going to be, you need now to become part of God’s family, the royal family of God. Adam and Eve were initially part of an even larger part of the family, but because of sin they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The plan of salvation was arranged so there would be a way to bring them and their children back.

Ellen White wrote, “He [God] created man [and woman] for happiness.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 290. There never would have been any unhappiness if we had not chosen to sin. Once man was cast out of the Garden of Eden, away from the protection of the evil one we found out what it is really like when you do not obey God and do His will. We find out there are all kinds of problems and we get into all kinds of trouble. One of those problems is the amount of abused and homeless children with no one to love them—no family.

The Bible says in 2nd Samuel 14:14, last part, that God “devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.” Jesus died so that through His merits you could be redeemed from the guilt and power of sin and be adopted back into the family of God. That is the essence of the plan of salvation.

Galatians 4:4, 5 states: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

That is what David Pelzer wanted so desperately. He tells how he was placed in several different foster homes, wondering if there would be anybody who would ever love him enough to adopt him and make him their child so he might have a family. It never happened.

Why is it that we need the adoption into the family of God? When Adam and Eve sinned, all of their children were born sons and daughters of the devil. You do not have to do anything to be lost. Everyone born is already lost, unless they are adopted. If you want to be a member of God’s family, not just a foster child but be adopted, consider the following:

Several Facts About the Family of God:
1    Who are God’s family here on this earth right now and how can one become part of it?

The Bible describes God’s family on this earth right now as His church. 1 Corinthians 12 is about the church. Verse 13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (the church)—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

When a person is baptized with water it is a symbol of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. When you get baptized by water, you become a member of the professed church. But when baptized of the Spirit, you become a member of the real church and your name is written down in heaven. This needs an explanation so nobody misunderstands. There will be millions of people that have been baptized with water but will not be in heaven. However, not a single person will be lost that has been baptized by the Holy Spirit.

The water baptism is only a symbol of the real thing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 12:13.) Ellen White explains it this way: “Through this simple act of believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are as a child born into the family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son.” Steps to Christ, 52. This is also explained by the story of the prodigal son. He did not have to be baptized before he could again be a member of his family. He repented of his lifestyle of sin. His heart had been changed by the Holy Spirit and he came to his father, who covered him with his own robe, symbolizing the robe of Christ’s righteousness.

2    Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, told them there was a condition to being adopted into God’s family. He said, “Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty’ ” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

The unclean thing that has defiled our world is sin. The Lord says, I would like for you to be My son, My daughter, but you must separate yourself from sinful habits or I can’t trust to take you to heaven where all is pure.

3    You cannot be a star player. You have to be a team player. Romans 14:7 says, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.”

That is a powerful verse. To have harmony in the family there needs to be team effort. There are no stars, just team players. No one member lives to himself; everyone must be considerate of others.

The devil’s temptation is for each family member to be concerned only about themselves, having no regard of how their decisions affect the other people in the family. All self-serving people will be expelled from the family of God. In that family nobody lives to himself.

4    You can never be a member of both God’s family and the devil’s family.

1 Corinthians 10:21 states: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and the table of demons.”

Notice that this verse does not say not to. It says you cannot. My dear friends, Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life, but they could not have access to both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Since they chose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the human race has been eating from it ever since. We do not have access to the tree of life. Thus eventually we all die.

Friends, if it seems as if your prayers are not being answered and the Lord is not doing anything for you, check where you are sitting. Sometimes the reason for unanswered prayers is that you are praying to the Lord while sitting at the table of demons. The Lord is not going to answer your prayer while you are unwilling to leave the devil’s table.

5    “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:16, 17).

The Spirit of Prophecy states the following: “It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure.” The Review and Herald, January 2, 1900.

Notice it does not say you cannot unite, but if you do, it is impossible for you to remain pure.

6    What excluded Satan from the royal family? The devil started treating his Creator and his fellow angels in the wrong way and he had to be excluded from the kingdom of heaven. He started a war in heaven.

It says in James 3:13–16, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”

The devil became conceited and jealous of the Son of God. His self-seeking and envy disrupted the peace of heaven, causing other angels to be dissatisfied.

Do not think that it is not important how we treat other people in God’s family. It determines whether in the judgment we are allowed to stay in the family or not.

7    God gives people tests to see whether they are fitted to become members of the royal family.

When Jesus comes, His children, His family are going to be taken up to heaven and they will become members of what Ellen White calls the royal family. To remain part of the family, all must become fit to become members. All must not only be saved by the merit of Jesus, but also be fit. This being fitted has to do with the work of the Holy Spirit and is why Jesus said to Nicodemus that unless he was born of the Holy Spirit, there was no chance for him to be saved.

God allows us to be tested and if we fail the test He brings us around again to take the test again. By the way, I am very happy that when I have failed tests God does not give up on me and He allows retests.

If we understand that, we should thank God when we have trials and say, “Lord, help me to learn what I did not learn the last time. Please help me to learn this time what I am supposed to be learning from this trial.”

8    The members of God’s family must not be cold and unloving to others. They may have done many things and still be making all kinds of mistakes, but they must not be treated coldly. If they are part of the family, even if they have all kinds of defects yet, they must be treated with love and helped to overcome their defects. No one will overcome their defects while being given a discouraging cold shoulder.

9    It is impossible to get ready to go to heaven hibernating in a cave somewhere. All have to learn to be gracious and how to get along with the other people in God’s family. Those who do not learn that will not be going to heaven.

It is alarming to see the friction, fighting and strife that often exists among God’s professed people. It means that somebody somewhere in this church, in this family, is not yet ready to go to heaven.

Do not think that God has to have the church to save the world. He does not. One of the main reasons for the church is so that those preparing for heaven can learn how to get along with their brothers and sisters in the faith.

Just like the foster child, all of us want to belong. It is inherent to want a family. The ultimate joy is to be part of the family of God. However, to belong to His family, there are conditions to fulfill. God will never call anyone to enter heaven who will destroy the family or any family member.

Pray that you will be fitted to become part of the royal family in heaven.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

 Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.