If I were asked that question my first answer would be this: justification by faith.

And in the year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation my answer would come all the more readily. But I’d be wrong.

I can still remember first reading Knowing God by the famous theologian J.I Packer where I discovered my mistake.

There he explains the greatest blessing we have as Christians is this: adoption as sons.

“Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers, even higher than justification. Justification is the primary blessing of the Gospel because it meets our primary spiritual need. We all stand condemned under God’s judgment. So we need forgiveness of sins and assurance of a restored relationship with God before we need anything else in the world.

But this is not to say that justification is the highest blessing of the Gospel. Adoption is higher, because of the closer relationship with God that it involves.

Justification is a forensic idea conceiving God as judge. Adoption is a family idea conceived in terms of love and viewing God as father. In adoption God takes us into his family and fellowship and establishes us as his children and heirs. 

To be right with God as judge is a great thing. But to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater.” (p187)

Packer immediately goes on to cite Galatians where justification leads to the greater blessing of adoption:

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  Galatians 4:4-6.

And so next time you are thinking of what the greatest blessing we have as Christians is, remember that we are adopted as children of God and we are able to call him our Father.

Simon Chaplin

It’s hard to imagine, but it’s only a relatively new concept to have a separate demographic called ‘youth.’

It started after the Industrial Revolution had driven young people from their rural villages to assemble in the urban factories.

No longer was the whole family living, working and worshipping together, as they had for thousands of years.

What’s more, the efficiency of the assembly line found its way into the church, with a series of different cradle-to-the-grave ministries that focus on age-specific groups.

This specialisation has many benefits, especially as a way of ensuring that children and youth are taught in a way that recognises that they learn and relate differently than adults do.

It has also been a good way to help reach people who are not yet part of the church, as our focused ministries to seniors, men, women, parents, singles, youth, and children, help ‘like attract like’ in our community.

Yet, maybe we will have a bigger impact on those inside and outside the church if we focus more on intergenerational ministry?

This is the message that Simon and I heard this week at Youthworks’ House Conference, where we heard visiting speaker Timothy Paul-Jones, Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In his conference talk, he challenged us to keep developing a church culture, “in which segmentation and specialisation become exceptional instead of assumed,” and where these ministries and activities, “occur on particular occasions for clearly-defined purposes, but the typical pattern of ministry is multi-generational.”

For, he is convinced that “a generationally, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse church will exemplify a more powerful witness, a more resilient faith, and a greater reliance on gifts that the Holy Spirit alone can give.”

Let’s keep working together to explore ways we can minister together across the ages, as we seek to build Christ’s church as we await his return.

Jodie