SERIES: Christmas Presence
LESSON 04
TITLE: God Is With Us in Our New Family
MAIN TEXT: 1 Kings 19:19-21
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Our service to God was never meant to be a solo mission. Elijah was feeling lonely and depressed, so God guided him to another man named Elisha. He would become Elijah’s protege, his apprentice, his student - but in a sense they were becoming friends and brothers. When Elisha was chosen, he burned his plows and slaughtered his oxen for a big barbecue celebration. Elisha showed his commitment to the mission and his commitment to Elijah as his new teacher, friend, and father figure.
Jesus was born into an earthly family, but in his ministry he redefined what family means. This new heavenly family is connected not through the bonds of blood, but through the waters of rebirth. “Whoever does the will of my father is my brother and sister and mother.” We get to be “born again/from above” as children of God. As such we become one new, big, extended family.
This gift of the new family was promised from long ago. God knew it was not good for man to be alone. Eventually he would call out Abram and his wife to be the parents of a whole new nation, one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The greatest blessing is not some present under the tree, but those who gather around it with us. And in the new kingdom, we have a whole new family.
