Daily Devo - Friday, May 9, 2008

“…my brother…”
Philemon 7 (ESV)

One of the very first sins in human history was the betrayal and murder of one brother by another. It happened just after the Fall (i.e. the sin of Adam and Eve that made humanity fall from its state of perfection and goodness).¹ Cain, the older brother, became enraged with jealousy and slew his younger brother Abel. God himself actually warned Cain of the danger of his growing anger prior to the murder, but the anger became too great and soon Cain found himself consumed by it. A strong as the bond of brotherhood is, when we allow ourselves to be coupled with anger it forms a bond far stronger than any sibling relationship.

In the few years that I have been counseling professionally I have witnessed horrid examples of individuals betraying their families. Father who have the perfect family—gorgeous and loving wife, well-behaved children, etc—throw it all away for the felt-need of an extramarital relationship. Mothers who develop an addiction to drugs (either prescription or illegal) and who allow their children to be stripped by the state because feeding their addiction has become the priority. Grandparents who have retired in wealth and use their money to constantly travel the world, and therefore fail to be a regular presence in their grandchildren’s life—children who desperately need a godly, loving example. Sin comes in many forms; but regardless its form, it always bonds to our very souls. As such, it becomes our first allegiance—our first priority. Compared to this, no family relationship has a chance of competing against our relationship to our sin.

But there is one thing more powerful than sin—and that is the cross of Christ! Cicero called the cross “a most cruel and disgusting punishment”². Yet by undergoing this “cruel and disgusting punishment” Christ waged war against sin itself—breaking its power over God’s elect and restoring person-to-person relationships to their proper place of honor. Of course, the first relationship restored is our relationship to God the Father. Now, because of the cross, we can love the Lord [our] God with all our heart, soul and mind. As a logical consequence of this newly restored relationship with the Father, we can now also love our neighbor as ourselves.

In other words, the cross undoes Cain’s betrayal of brotherhood. It restores—actually recreates—a new family of believers. This is what Paul means in Romans 8:29 when he says that Christ is the “firstborn of many brothers”. When we recognize someone as a brother or sister in the faith we are doing nothing less than declaring Jesus’ victory over sin and death. The simple greeting of “my brother” is in reality the joyous shout of victory. The enemy of true brotherhood has been defeated, and Christ is the victor. Sin destroys brotherhood, but grace the Christ sustains it.


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¹ Interestingly, the very first human-to-human sin also occurred within the family. Instead of truly honoring and loving Eve, Adam grumbled against her when asked by to explain his disobedient actions.
² Cicero, Against Verres II.v.64, para. 165