The God and His Family Series consists of 16 episodes. In the New Testament, one of the most common descriptions of God and his people is that of a family. This series is designed to talk about that relationship in detail.
Jesus introduced the concept that God is three spirits in one – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From that terminology, God is a family.
Jesus and the New Testament writers often use family terms to describe the relationship between God and his people. They draw on relationships such as: father, children, sons and daughters, and adopted sons and daughters. These relationships not only imbue privileges, but also confer responsibilities.
It’s hard to see in English but Jesus sometimes refers to God as his Father and sometimes as “Daddy.” Part of the Good News of Jesus is that God can also be our Father and Daddy.
The twelve spies return from the Promised Land. They describe the land as being incredibly productive, but ten of them warn against invading the land and facing the inhabitants. The people decide to follow their advice instead of being obedient to God. God gets angry and sentences the people to wander in the wilderness until the rebels die.
The two spies that want the people to follow God are Joshua and Caleb. God rewards them by allowing them to eventually enter the Promised Land. This is what God says of Caleb, “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Later, Moses said that Joshua also followed God wholeheartedly.
Can you imagine God saying that about you? Not only are you his servant, but you are a special servant. You have a different spirit from everybody else because you follow God wholeheartedly. Apparently following God wholeheartedly has always been a special, differentiating quality.
It’s not hard to see wholehearted in someone’s life. Think of an avid sports fan, a gamer, someone who can only think of making money. Their passion is all they think about. Everything else exists to help them follow their passion.
