“When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”…For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’… “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple…..In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:15, 24, 26-27, 33 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.14.15-33.CSB
The religious thought God was on their side because they were part of His people by virtue of their birth and identification through circumcision. God revealed Himself to humanity first by creating and living with us in His perfect garden. After our rebellion and His judgment of the world through the flood, He revealed Himself through our conscience and nature, finally choosing a man, Abraham, to begin a more thorough revelation of Himself so that humanity could be restored to Him. This restoration was fully inaugurated through Jesus, Who is God and Who promises eternal life with God as a result of faith in Him – His death on the cross for our disobedience and His resurrection of the dead for our eternal restoration. Life with God is not the result of human birth to a particular people nor of a specific religious practice, but life forever comes by being born again into the family of God by faith in Jesus, Who then makes us His siblings for living forever with Him and God the Father. This faith is demonstrated by total commitment to Jesus and His ways. This commitment loves God more than all other human loves, making them seem insignificant. This commitment is also seen working for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, making the pursuit of worldly wealth and its pleasures irrelevant and unwanted. Everyone who will enjoy eternal life with God on the new earth with Jesus the King has loved God most and served God sacrificially. This is how we know those who genuinely have placed their faith in Jesus as Savior.
