My Relatives

           Our family, on my mother's side, would often hold reunions where all of the family would get together for a meal, relaxing and catching up on each member's family news over the past year. One man in the family had created a genealogy on a window shade that went back several hundred years. You could find your name on it and then whoever you married and your children. The genealogy was impressive to see and to realize how much work had been put into making it and keeping it up to date. People seem to be interested in their family history. Many new companies have come into existence due to people desiring to find out where the roots of their family are located. I have already mentioned some time ago, about the dna test that some of us took which gave evidence of where we came from in the world. Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" The Bible has a number of genealogies present in the text which are interesting to study. The Epistle to the Romans does not contain a genealogy as we would know it, but it does show a connection that exists with all of us. If we were able to go back far enough in our own investigations of our ancestries, we would all arrive at the same point which is Adam and Eve. The Apostle Paul made the connection in order to show that we were all sinners due to that connection with Adam. In one sense, we were there. The Apostle Paul went on to say in verses 18 and 19, "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” 

        Our connection, one to another, makes it possible for redemption through the act of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross by paying for all of our sins. If we were not connected through the family history, we would all need our own individual redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, paid the full price for each and every sin through the events of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were made sinners by our connection to Adam and we can be made righteous through our connection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the Lord Jesus Christ Himself could say, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh to the father but by me.” (John 14:6) As a result, we have a world filled with either Christians or pagans. There is not other group. There is not a third group of people in the world with good intentions that is going to make it into heaven. The person that says that all roads lead to heaven is in error. The person that says we all speak to the same God is in error. It makes no difference what kind of label you put on a group. It is either a believer or a non believer. It is either Christian or non Christian. It is either Christian or pagan. Matthew 7:23 says, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” It will make no difference to the man made label that you put on a group. It is either believer or non believer. It is not Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Buddhist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Muslim or Unitarian. You are either a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ or not. It is in the genealogical record. Praise God today for this great salvation that He had made available for us through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.