Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Less than seven miles from my home here on the Ranch is a beautiful valley called the Crystal Valley. There is a family there who has been farming that valley since the 1860s. Not only can they trace their family back that far, they can trace their farm back to around the time of the Civil War. That is amazing! Most people can’t even trace their family back past their grandparents. Now, I can trace my family all the way back to Abraham and all the way up to Heaven. You can too if you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3 says it this way, speaking of the gospel, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” He talks about the gospel given to Abraham. “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” He is talking here not just about Jewish people. Thank God he is talking about the blessing of Abraham that might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.
Verse 26 says, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” “For ye are all one is Christ Jesus,” he goes on to say in Verse 28. The bottom line is that there will only be one family in Heaven, and it is not yours and it is not mine. It is God’s family.
The only relationship that will matter to God regarding salvation is the one you have with Jesus Christ. That is what all this business is about Abraham’s faith and how those who trust in God’s plan of salvation are the children of Abraham. I am spiritually of the family and lineage of Abraham because I am in the family of faith. I am a child of God by faith in the Son, the Lord Jesus, whom He would send through the family of Abraham.
Now, this gives me a couple of things. First, it gives me a framework for dealing with other people. Verse 28 says,” There is neither Jew nor Greek…neither bond nor free…neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” He is not saying that distinctions on this earth don’t matter. He is saying that they are not the determining factor when it comes to Heaven.
You can be Jewish, part of God’s special beloved people, and put your faith in the Lord Jesus. You can be a Gentile with no Jewish lineage, but still be a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus. So many times we are drawn to people who like our alma mater, football team, or state, but the most important framework is what they have done with the Lord Jesus.
Second, realizing that there will only be one family in Heaven gives me purpose in dealing with others. A person’s goodness or grand lineage won’t suffice if they have never trusted the Lord Jesus. That gives me a purpose in my dealing with other people. We need to be giving the gospel as God gave it to us.
Several years ago I was privileged to be in New York City to give the gospel. I am always struck by the Jewish people through whom God gave the Lord Jesus Christ. They are a special people. Some of them have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ just like some Gentiles have.
I remember talking to a Jewish man who was a believer. I just thought to myself that the two of us have more in common through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ than I would have had with other Gentiles or than he would have with other Jewish people. There is only one family in Heaven, and that is God’s family. If you are going to be in God’s family, you must come to God by faith in God’s Son.