Why the God Family

Where is the real beginning of the Bible narrative? The Bible starts with Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

But the chronological start of the Bible narrative is in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God takes us back beyond the creation of the angels—a long, long way. God and the Word were perfect in unity and love for eternity.

John is the only Bible writer who discussed the Word—in his Gospel account, his three epistles and the book of Revelation—showing what a profound subject this is. He was the only one specifically prepared to write about it! John spent a lot of time with Jesus Christ, and he lived to old age while Christ’s other disciples were martyred. All 11 apostles besides John were martyred! So John lived decades longer than the others, giving him time to ponder the depth of the truth revealed to him by Christ before writing it down.

Through the Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God created the angels and then the universe. The archangel Lucifer was assigned to bring light to Earth. Here on our planet, he ruled a third of all the angels. This was their training for rule over the entire universe.

Yet Lucifer rebelled, and all the angels under him. All the light disappeared from Earth—a major catastrophe. “And the earth was [should read, became] without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2). Lucifer and his angels became Satan and the demons and destroyed the Earth. That is always the result when we get away from God’s rule and His way of life.

John skipped past the angelic rebellion in his Gospel account because he had a family plan in mind. Long after Lucifer transformed from light-bringer to adversary, the Word became Jesus Christ and came to Earth to teach about the Father and the Son for the first time. This was a new plan set in motion by the angelic rebellion. Why the change? God now wants to bring human beings into His Family! He is calling some of us into that Family today—to succeed where the angels failed. Once Christ returns, we will be born again into the very Family of God and share David’s throne with Christ, ruling over the Earth and the universe forever!

Mankind alone—not the angels—is given the potential to be born into the Family of God. We are God’s Plan B, but it’s a better plan—a family plan! “But Plan B involved tremendous risk! Now God was taking a chance of losing the Word, who later became His Son upon begettal in the virgin Mary,” I wrote in The God Family Vision (request your free copy). “The Word would have to divest Himself of His eternal glory and live a perfect life, as a mortal, human being, to qualify as the unblemished sacrificial lamb to pay the tremendous price for the sins of all mankind (John 1:14).”

The Creator is greater than His creation. He gave His life to pay for the combined sins of all mankind past, present and future—once we repent and accept that sacrifice. What a price to pay! The Word of God was immortal, yet He chose to give that up so we could have a chance at eternal life too! If you really learn this the way you should, it will just about make you faint. It is that awesome.

“And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4). Those in God’s little flock today, the firstfruits called before Christ returns, can grasp this truth and experience full joy. Do you believe Christ? Do you want full joy? It comes from understanding the Family of God!

Even though the angelic rebellion was a catastrophe, it opened up something we never would have seen otherwise: the Family of God. When the angels failed, God’s Family plan began.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. … And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-4, 14). This is such awe-inspiring truth.

“The Word, then, is a Personage who was made flesh—begotten by God, who through this later begettal became His Father,” Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in Mystery of the Ages. “Yet at that prehistoric time of the first verse of John 1, the Word was not (yet) the Son of God. He divested Himself of His glory as a Spirit divinity to be begotten as a human person. He was made God’s Son, through being begotten or sired by God and born of the virgin Mary.”

The Family Parallel

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5). The world did not understand why Christ came to Earth the first time. He was savagely beaten, marred, crucified and sacrificed (Isaiah 53). Think about that sacrifice, which God’s people commemorate each spring at the Passover.

Why did Christ come? Can you answer this question?

“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6). From the beginning, God created man and woman. He created marriage and family. Physical family is a type of the spiritual family, an awesome creation. Christ came to Earth with a message about family!

Sadly, humans often fail to make marriage work. Through Moses, God offered divorce to the ancient Israelites—because of their hardness! (Mark 10:4-9). To this day, family doesn’t function like it should in the world. Still, God made family so man and woman could become one and be born into His Family!

“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). There is no other Light! Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and he is full of darkness. His reign will end very soon.

“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:10-12). God gives His Holy Spirit power to human beings so we can become His sons! We were created to become the sons of God forever. This is a birthright, God’s gift to us. We can’t earn it. How many people understand it?

We have the honorable right to be born into the Family of God and do something that Lucifer and the angels could not qualify for. Once we are born, we will rule for all eternity!

Why the Family of God? Oh, how we need to understand this! It is the only way to have full joy.

Declaring the Father

Here is the crux of the whole matter: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (verse 18). While on Earth, the Son declared the Father. He didn’t declare Himself. It didn’t revolve around Him. The God Family revolves around the Father. This is a message for all mankind, unlocking their incredible potential.

Some leading psychologists downgrade the vital role of a father in the family. That is a nation-destroying falsehood.

Ninty-five percent of God’s own Church today doesn’t understand this truth because they don’t honor the Father (Malachi 1:6). They have lost the God Family vision. They don’t know why the Family of God. They should know because they were taught!

Before this is over, billions of people will have an opportunity to be born into the Family of God. The false trinity doctrine confines God to just three Personages: God, the Word and the Holy Spirit (even though the Holy Spirit is a power, not a person). But God says, Oh, no! It’s the Father, the Son and many sons soon to be brought to glory! (Hebrews 2).

Today, not many sons are being brought to glory—only a little flock. However, the God Family will soon include all mankind—according to God’s perfect timing. The firstfruits called out of the world before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ are just the beginning.

The Almighty God can create nothing greater than Himself—and He is re-creating Himself in man today. This required our Savior coming to Earth and shedding His blood. His vesture was dipped in blood (Revelation 19:11-13). He gave His life for all people who have ever lived. What a price to pay for our sins! Thanks to Christ’s sacrifice, our glorious future in the God Family is now possible.

The Apostle John explained all this in his writings. He promised that we would have full joy if we just strive to comprehend why the God Family. There is no greater promise in the Bible.

To learn more, study my free booklet John’s Gospel—The Love of God.