But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. - John 1:12. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. - Romans 8:16-17. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. - Galatians 3:25-27. 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 seed, and heirs according to the promise. - Galatians 3:28-29.
Have you ever wondered if you were adopted? Some people have had that surprise in their lives, and Matthew Roberts is one of them. He found out from his sister when he was ten-years-old that he had been adopted. After Matthew became an adult, he was able to locate and to make contact with his natural mother. Matthew's natural mother, Terry, did not at first want to reveal the name of the father. However, she eventually told Matthew the truth that his birth was the result of a rape in 1967. His father, Matthew now knows, is Charles Manson. Of course, it was a shock to discover what had been hidden from him and for a while he sank into depression. Matthew says, "I wasn't able to speak for a day" after finding out about his father. Matthew believes that he is different from his father in that he, unlike his father, is a very peaceful and non-violent person.
I enjoy genealogy and find it to be somewhat like solving a mystery. For the most part, I have been excited to learn about the lives that my ancestors lived; however, with a couple of them, I was sad to find out that I was related to them. For the vast majority of people if you could go back in time researching your genealogy you would find at least one or two of those ancestors that you might call the black sheep of the family. Matthew Roberts found one a little more closely related than most of us, but he appears to be handling this unpleasant knowledge well.
The good news is that we are not responsible for how our ancestors lived their lives. We are responsible for ourselves, and how we live our own lives. Of course, how we live our lives will definitely have an impact upon our descendants.
The even greater good news is that if we know Jesus as our personal Savior, we have been adopted into the royal family of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We have become heirs of God Himself and our inheritance will be eternally wondrous.
Even if your natural father is Charles Manson or even Adolf Hitler you do not have to live like they did. You can instead live your life for the Lord and become more and more like Jesus. You can establish a spiritual heritage of goodness, and righteousness to pass down through the ages. It's up to you.
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