With temperatures in the 90's last week, afternoons were a really good time to be indoors in Washington, DC. The Library of Congress had been on our "to do" list for years but we never seemed to have enough time. With Libbie checking out children's literature for school, I decided to use the impressive worldwide resources to do a little research into my family history.
In a couple of days I had a list of names and dates of family members going back ten generations to my great, great, great (x10).... grandfather who immigrated from Ireland into the Pennsylvania area in 1740. The military record of his son, John Orbison, my ancestor, showed his enlistment date into the young American revolutionary army was on July 4, 1776!
All of us have family histories that stretch back to Noah! There is no telling how many noteworthy men and women with amazing stories make up our past. But none of those records are more impressive than our family records as Christians.
Consider these notes of record:
"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (Jn 1:11-13 NKJV).
"...for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 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 offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:26-29 RSV).
"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," (Heb. 2:11 NKJV).
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! ... Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet ;been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 Jn 3:1-3 NKJV).
Now that's an impressive genealogy that we all share!
- Tim Orbison