Where do believers come from?

Today is Mother’s Day and we want to honor the mothers among us, both physically and spiritually.

Our 2020 Theme is “Seeing Spiritually” We have practiced seeing the world, not just through natural eyes, but with spiritual eyes.

Our current sermon series is called “Be the Church!” last week we talked about the church as a “Community of the Called.”

We have talked a lot about the church, not as a building, meetings or an institution, but as believers.

We still haven’t answered the question, “Where do believers come from?”

It’s kinda like the question you once asked your mother. Or that you asked your father who said, “go ask your mother!”

So where DO believers come from?

Like babies, they come about through a process of spiritual formation.

The term “spiritual formation” is often used as a synonym for discipleship. It comes from Galatians 4:19. We are going to be looking at Galatians 4:8-20, but we are going to start with the last part first.

Galatians 4:19 ESV

19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

Paul uses the analogy of birth, parenting and human growth to describe spiritual formation.

Believers are formed by God but birthed through people.

Galatians 4:19–20 ESV

19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Spiritual parents give birth to spiritual children.

Paul is writing to the Galatian believers who converted to Christ on his first missionary journey.

He wants to reassert some influence in their lives because he sees the need for correction.

He wants them to know that he is not just another lecturer passing through their town with the latest idea.

There was a real powerful encounter that happened when he was with them and something supernatural occured!

These people are not just Paul’s converts they are like his children.

There is a DNA connection. John uses the same analogy: 1 John 3:9 (ESV)

1 John 3:9 ESV

9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Where do believers come from? Here’s my answer:

Just like the miracle of conception is the miracle of new birth. It happens in a moment of love and passion when heaven and earth come together, and we come alive with the knowledge of God.

Spiritual transformation is a miracle and a mystery, but it’s also a lot of hard work!

I think that one of the reasons why motherhood is to be celebrated is that there ought to be some recognition for the sacrifice that goes into childbirth.

Pregnancy is a wonder! The child needs a safe place to develop inside the mothers body.

It’s amazing but its also invasive and uncomfortable.

All you can do is make sure you take care of yourself and trust the developmental part to God.

Psalm 139:13–16 NLT

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

At this point I want to just pause and recognize that Mother’s day is not a joyous occasion for everyone.

There are those who are grieving the loss of a mother.

There are those who grieve the mother that they never had.

There are those who would like to be mothers but for one reason or another, that hasn’t happened.

There are those who have lost a child and today is a reminder of that event.

Whoever you are, and whatever the reason, you are allowed to be sad.

To say that you can enjoy spiritual motherhood may not be a consolation, but it is still something to be celebrated.

In Gal 4:19, there is a twist, however on the analogy. Not just that a believer is being formed, but that Christ is being formed in the believer!

Galatians 4:19 ESV

19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

Whenever a new person comes into being, it is a reflection of the image of God, a person created in His image.

However God’s image has been tarnished, distorted by sin.

Jesus came to redeem us from sin by His own blood.

Jesus is the image of God.

To have Christ formed in you is to return to the original image of God.

Ephesians 4:22–24 NIV

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

When you lead someone to Christ, your job does not end when they pray to receive salvation.

Paul says he is in labor for the Galatian believers.

The word Paul uses is an expression of extreme pain which always refers to birth pains as if labor pain were in a category all by itself.

He’s saying that, “The pain I feel for you is so intense that it can only be compared to labor pains.”

But sticking with the birth analogy- something good is going to come out of this-- Christ is being formed in you! In other words, you are going to come out looking like your heavenly Father!

The role of a parent is a full-time job. Spiritual parenting is like that too.

With new believers you often feel like you are “carrying” that person for a period of time.

They call or email you every time they have a problem or a question-- which is literally all the time!

You’re always thinking about them, praying for them and hoping that all of the bad things that can happen won’t happen.

New believers are often unaware of how significant every stage of their development is to their spiritual health and growth.

They may not understand how profound the consequences of their sin may be.

They’re trying everything without realizing what may be harmful to them.

You job doesn’t end when they come to Christ. Oh, its just beginning!

Believers are shaped through interaction with more mature believers.

Galatians 4:12–18 ESV

12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you,

Recognize that you are a role model.

Three times in Paul’s letters he tells believers to imitate him (1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:6)

Paul is not afraid to say that if you want to know what it means to be a Christian you should watch someone who is already doing it.

If you a follower of Christ you can invite people to join you on your journey.

That doesn’t mean that you will always do everything right. But you have a direction for your life and are able to give guidance to others.

You are a role model whether or not you know it.

If you are a parent, your children will do what you do, not what you tell them to do.

The best way to instruct in good behavior is to model it.

Part of being a role model is relating.

Paul didn’t just say, “become like me,” but “I also became like you.”

We don’t just model adult behavior for our kids but we also get down on the floor and play.

We show them that we can be silly and fun and yet still be kind and have appropriate boundaries.

You are an example in both your strengths and in your weakness.

One of the ways that we relate is by letting others minister to our needs.

When Paul came to the Galatians, he had a need and they ministered to him.

It may have been a physical need like eye problems or malaria.

Before Paul could even preach to them about Christ, they were already being moved with compassion.

They were demonstrating Christ to Paul before they even knew about Christ.

When Paul preached the gospel to them he was affirming something that God had already arranged to draw out of them.

Now he’s trying to get them to go back to that state of child-like faith.

In missions we often find that people are best reached with the gospel when they feel a mutual relationship.

We are not just giving them the gospel, but we are also affirming what God is already doing and and through them.

Likewise our children will sometime be used of God to minister to us.

“Daddy are you speeding?”

They may be speaking truth or sharing observations that we need to hear.

They bring joy, love and and life to our homes.

Allowing them to love, comfort and instruct us sometimes can be an important part of their development.

Your children don’t always have to like you.

After Paul left Galatia, other teachers came teaching that you needed to follow all the Jewish laws as a Christian.

These people had an agenda. The Jewish state was under occupation by Rome. If the rapidly increasing Christianity, which came out of Judaism, could be used to increase the Jewish population it might gain them an advantage with Rome.

They were also under the sincere belief that God’s purpose was for people to be made perfect by following the law of Moses.

So their conclusion was that Gentile Christians need to convert to Judaism in order to become followers of Christ.

They were very friendly to the Galatians, but they did not have their best interest in mind.

A parent is not the same as a friend or an acquaintance.

So here’s the dilemma, people who don’t have your best interest in mind will tell you what you want to hear to win you over. Once you are under their influence they will manipulate you and try to control you.

A good parent will tell you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it.

They want you to exercise you own will so they won’t force you, but give you the opportunity to do the right thing.

They might even let you make mistakes, knowing that it’s the best way to learn.

A parent is commited to your growth and development, not to your personal happiness.

They have an end in mind that extends beyond the moment.

They are not one way when they are with you and another way when they are not.

Their commitment to you extends beyond just the time that they spend with you.

Larry Krieder has written a great book on this subject called “The Cry for Spiritual Mothers and Fathers.”

Believers become mature when they do for themselves without needing to be told.

Galatians 4:8–11 ESV

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Religious rules and systems are for training and are not to become the goal.

What’s wrong with celebrating special holidays and religious festivals?

So these Jewish teachers taught the Galatian believers about the feasts of Israel and about Sabbath.

Perhaps they related them to pagan feasts and perhaps they didn’t the point is the same.

Rituals are designed to teach us about God, but they are not our salvation. Only Christ does that.

When you are doing things that are supposed to make you a better person in God’s eyes then you are appeasing God, like a false god, not submitting to God as your maker, creator and redeemer.

Paul calls these rules “elementary principles.”

Elementary is like kindergarten. (Like, don’t stick you finger in your nose.)

What you learn in kindergarten is very basic. It doesn’t prepare you for your vocation. It’s just preparing you for school.

If you think that becoming more religious is going to make you a better Christian, you’re going backward.

Ephesians 4:13–15 NLT

13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

Religion teaches us about God, but relationship comes through an encounter with Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

Doctrine and disciplines are the primer, not the goal.

Intellectual knowledge may help us to know the truth, but love brings it to life.

Christian life and growth is not something we can manufacture, it must be cultivated in a living environment.

Colossians 2:6–7 The Message

6 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. 7 You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

The true objective of becoming a believer is relationship with God.

What does it mean to have a relationship with God?

Paul contrasts knowing God with being a slave to false gods.

People worship idols because of superstitions. “If you don’t do this, something bad will happen.”

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians worship God out of fear and superstition.

Knowing God is a reciprocal relationship.

When you love and worship God, you find out that God loves and adores you!

When you learn to know God, you learn that He knows you better than you know yourself.

Galatians 4:6–7 ESV

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

The goal of spiritual formation is to be remade according to God’s original image.

We were originally made for fellowship with God, so fellowship with God is not just the means, but the end as well.

When you have a relationship with God you will reproduce spiritual life and growth in others.

This part is not in this text, but any discussion on spiritual formation would not be complete without mentioning that there is a byproduct to this goal of knowing God.

In the natural world mature plants, animals and humans all reproduce.

Physically mature parents can produce children, but they cannot raise them to maturity where they themselves are immature.

Spiritually maturity is like that too. Any believer can lead someone to Christ, but you cannot teach what you do not know.

If you want to be able to be an example like Paul you will need to press in to knowing God.

If you want to give your children a spiritual heritage, seek God for yourself.

Love God with all your heart and see what God will birth through you.

Where do believers come from?

Just like the miracle of conception is the miracle of new birth. It happens in a moment of love and passion when heaven and earth come together, and we come alive with the knowledge of God.

Questions for Reflection:

Is your experience with God more like religion or is it a relationship? Is it a reciprocal relationship? How has your relationship with God produced life in others?

Who may be looking to you for an example? What have you sacrificed to see another person grow spiritually? Have you shared Christ with anyone lately? Have you spent time in prayer for someone? How can you be more intentional about encouraging others spiritually?

Who is an example of Christ to you? Who do you look to for spiritual direction? Who has help you grow in your Christian life? Take time to thank your spiritual mother or father today.