Jesus Our Brother (Part 1)
We are familiar with the Bible’s teaching about God being our Father. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9), and Paul told us we have “one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:6). Are we as familiar with the Bible’s teaching about Jesus being our brother? Hebrews 2:11-12 states: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’” We often refer to the church as the family of God, and it is, but what does it mean that Jesus is our brother? Let’s study this relationship and notice a few answers to this question.
To have Jesus as our brother means that He claims those who have been sanctified as His family. Paul discussed this relationship in Galatians 3:26-29: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Paul begins by pointing out that we are children of God in Christ Jesus. We became such children by going through the new birth in baptism (John 3:3-6). At that point, we became sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11) and Christ became our identity, and just as Christ is God’s child, so also, we become children of God. This means that we are all part of Abraham’s family now, and brothers and sisters with Jesus. Romans 8:17a states, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” It is a wonderful blessing to have family!
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley