Family in Christ

Phil 2:1-4

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

The first philosophical question that I asked when I was little was, "How did I come to be?" It was the question about my past. The immediate answer was biological: my parents. But the ultimate answer was theological: God. That theological answer helped me form the answer to my question during my adolescence: "Who am I?" It is a question about my identity. And the answer is that I am God's beloved child, because God made me and saved me and gave new life for me. As I grew older and had more responsibility with my wife and child, I began to ask a different question: how am I going to survive? What do I need for my life? HOW AM I GOING TO LIVE? It was a question about my present and future. And I often answer this question wrongly. When LOVE is what I need for my survival and prosperity, I often am fooled to think that money is what I need for my survival and prosperity. With what does man live? Many say money when Jesus says, "a person does not live on bread only but on every word that comes out of God's mouth." 

God made us with love. So when we lack love, we feel lacking and empty. Even when having enough money, if we do not get any attention and care, we feel empty and unhappy. But even when we are poor and empty handed, if God's love shines upon our heart, we get up in the morning with such motivation and get on with our lives strongly, believing that God will make a way for us. We all know that what we desire ultimately is love not money. But we still often chase after money and not love. 

We don't need to chase after love since God already loves us and all we have to do is to be still and receive God's love with faith. God knows our need and fills our need with love that provides. All we have to do is to pray this prayer: Thank you for loving me, God!

How does God love us? The most important theme of theology is Christology. We must understand Jesus correctly. Jesus is God incarnate. Jesus is God's way of loving us. Why Jesus way? Because when you love someone truly, you want to be with that person. God is with us spiritually but when we were too fleshly, God had to come in flesh to touch us, to be present with us fleshly, to hug us and walk with us. Jesus was God's way of being with us in flesh. Now where is Jesus? Church is Jesus's body that God uses to keep loving us and the world. We are the church. God loves us and the world through us. And without unity that is achieved only through forgiveness, which is the emphatic form of love, we cannot be the conduit of God's love for the world. Let us keep our unity in Christ as family in Christ. Amen.