The Family Of God

INTRODUCTION

Dan Dierdorf is a former professional football

player who is now a television sports broadcaster.

“I’ve been on this incredible roll,” he says with

wide-eyed amazement.

“I’ve made more money and bettered myself every

year since I was 21 years old. If my life were a

graph, it would be one continuous line at a

45-degree angle, pointing up.”

While his professional life has had few hitches,

Dierdorf has experienced one grievous, crushing

personal setback. In January, 1985, his

two-month-old daughter, Kelly, died, a victim of

sudden infant death syndrome. Speaking of that

tragedy he said, “My wife, Debbie, woke up at 4 in

the morning and realized she hadn’t heard the baby

cry for its feeding at 2:30 or 3. She knew right away

that something was drastically wrong. She came

back into our bedroom carrying the baby. How do

you describe it? It is beyond belief. Every day you

sit around and start falling farther and farther into

that hole.”

Dan Dierdorf says that his daughter Kelly’s death

taught him a hard lesson.“It made me more sensitive

to other people’s problems,” he says.“When

everything is going well, you’re not aware of other

people’s problems. You don’t have the time. Then

when something happens to you, all of a sudden you

find out that virtually everyone you know has a

problem, sometimes a worse one than yours and you

have been blind to it.” Problems. Burdens. Pain.

Heartaches. Regrets. Everyone has them; no one

escapes them. Consequently, everyone needs

someone to encourage them, to help them through

life’s most difficult times.

The Lord desires that we be there for each other.

Galatians 6:2 says, “CARRY EACH OTHER’S

BURDENS AND IN THIS WAY YOU WILL

FULFILL THE LAW OF CHRIST.” Helping each

other with the burdens and heartaches of life is

God’s desire for those who name the name of

Christ.

As believers we are called children of God. 1 John

3:1 says, “HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE THE

FATHER HAS LAVISHED UPON US, THAT WE

SHOULD BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF

GOD!” At the cross our relationship with God is

restored and renewed. We become children of God

and members of the Body of Christ. In establishing

a relationship with God through Christ, we

automatically establish a relationship with each

other. In Christ we are family! As family members

we are expected to be there for each other. We are

to love, accept, understand, encourage and help each

other. We are to make a difference in each other’s

lives as we face the adversities, tragedies, hurts and

temptations that are an inevitable part of life in this

sin marred-world. Jesus’ third word from the cross

is a powerful reminder of this fact.

NEAR THE CROSS

While hanging from the cross and waiting for

physical death to relieve His unbearable pain, the

Lord Jesus spoke to this responsibility of His

followers. An endless array of voices were

contemptuously raised against Him as He lifelessly

hung from that cross.Everywhere He looked He saw

those who were ridiculing and taunting Him. “YOU

SAVED OTHERS……SAVE

YOURSELF…..COME DOWN FROM THE

CROSS….”

“When Jesus looked down from the cross, He saw

not only the ignorant indifference of His

executioners, but the anguish of His followers”

(Packer). Peering out over the crowd Jesus couldn’t

escape the distraught and pained look on the face of

His mother Mary and His beloved disciple, John.

He also saw the faces of Mary Magdalene and Mary

the wife of Cleopas. Shocked, bewildered and

saddened they were standing near the cross.

The faithful few followers were there, not out of

duty, but out of love and devotion. “If you and I had

been in Jerusalem that afternoon when Christ was

crucified, I wonder how near the cross we would

have stood. It is one thing to sing, ‘Jesus Keep Me

Near the Cross,’ but quite another thing to actually

stay near the cross.”We need to be near the cross

and identify with the Savior.We need to be close to

the Lord for the sake of others.Only as we are living

close to Him can we be an effective witness to those

who don’t yet know Him. We also need to be close

to Christ for our own sake. It is the place from

which we are more apt to hear Him speak and it is

the place of victory and blessing.

From the cross Jesus spoke a special word to His

mother and disciple John. As He looked out and

saw the pain and suffering etched onto the face of

His mother, He called out the tender words recorded

in verse 26 of our text: “DEAR WOMAN,” He said,

“HERE IS YOUR SON.” “As used in Biblical

times, the title ‘woman’, did not imply a lack of

respect or affection (as it might today). ‘Woman’