We Are Children of God
Prayer for Illumination
God of Word and Wisdom, the Risen Christ opened the minds of his friends to understand the Scriptures. Send us Your Holy Spirit to open our minds to receive Your truth and love which can fill our hearts and change our lives. In the name of Jesus, the Living Word. Amen.
Have you ever tried the Ancestry DNA test? Before, tracing your roots meant hours in the library scouring birth records and census information. Now, with advanced DNA technologies, you can discover your genealogy with just a swab from your mouth. Anyone can take this test and easily get answers about their genetic heritage.
I’ve never tried it, but a simple saliva sample, which contains cheek and immune system cells, is all that is required for analysis since every cell in our body contains our DNA and our unique genetic code.
Many people have recently tried the Ancestry DNA test to make a family tree, especially during COVID-19. Unexpectedly, some people found long-lost family members through the project while others sadly found some family secrets.
For example, Jodi McDaniel from Muskoka, Ontario who was adopted as a baby, found her biological father through this test. He didn’t even know the existence of his daughter.
She was also surprised to learn she had more than 400 relatives listed. Besides her biological father, she discovered one half-sibling, a first cousin, 14 second cousins, six third cousins, and 608 fourth cousins, to date.
As Jodi eventually spent time with her newly found biological father, they discovered that they share a lot of similarities, not only in their eyes and noses but also in their hobbies.
Does your child resemble you? Do you see many similarities with your child? Or do you resemble your parents? Are you more like your mom or dad?
Today’s text tells us that even though we - you and me - have different last names; different ethnic backgrounds; different looks; different personality traits and hobbies; and speak different languages, we have one Father - the Almighty God, and we are all His children.
That’s who we are! And that’s quite a statement, isn’t it? But, the status is not given to all of humanity. God the Creator created the heavens and the earth and everything in it.
Every human being is His artwork, but that doesn’t mean that all of them are the children of God in the sense John means it here.
Here he speaks of those who have received the love of Jesus in a life of fellowship and trust with Him. John clarified in the Gospel of John 1:12-13, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
Those who are born again - those who are born of water and the Spirit, now have the power to become children of the heavenly Father.
To be God’s children is quite an exalted status. What an honor, what a privilege, for God to call us His children! If God calls us his children, then we get to call on Him Dad. If He is our Father, then He will provide for us and defend us because that’s what fathers or mothers do.
Moreover, John amazes us that we are not just children of God, but God’s beloved children, dearly and deeply loved, so much so that He sent His Son to save us. V1, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
“Lavished on us” speaks many things. First, it speaks of the measure of God’s love to us. Lavish means “generously spending, freely giving, or using more than is necessary or reasonable; more than enough.”
Secondly, it speaks of the manner of God’s giving of love. ‘Lavished’ has the idea of a one-sided giving, instead of a return for something earned.
Perhaps, most parents might have a glimpse of Father’s love. Because parents will do anything to protect their child. But God’s love for us is more than any parent’s love.
Matthew 7:11 says, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Some people might have a hard time believing the simple truth - the truth, “God loves me”. We intellectually know that this statement is true. You have heard the sermons. You have prayed for these truths. You’ve also told others, ‘God loves you.’ You’ve, of course, read Jesus’s own words through the Bible.
Honestly, when I look in the mirror, I don’t always see someone who looks lovable or who is good enough to be loved by God. And I need to be constantly reminded of how deeply God loves me.
What is your response to God when He simply says He loves you? God loves us - fiercely, vulnerably, courageously, and unendingly. Whether you think this news is the best in the world or you barely notice it.
Whether you come to church reluctantly or with joy and expectation, whether you have had a lifelong relationship with God, have just come to know God, or aren’t even sure God exists - God loves you truly, deeply, and lavishly because you are His dearly beloved child - that is what you are.
If you still struggle to believe how much God loves you, then sing ‘Jesus loves me’ over and over. “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.”
John assures us that, even though we are already God’s beloved children, with a new identity, we aren’t finished yet. When Jesus comes again with glory on the Last Day we shall be like Him. When our Lord returns to take us home to be with Him forever we shall be like Christ!
How so? Our bodies will be raised imperishable, no longer subject to suffering or death. Glorified bodies, fitted out for life everlasting.
No more pain, no more sickness, no more sorrow to weigh us down.
We shall see, with our own eyes, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Can you imagine that? We shall see him as He is: exalted, enthroned, dazzlingly brilliant, and yet still our gentle Shepherd.
And we will see Him face to face. The awe and the joy we will experience are beyond our ability to utter or to fully contemplate.
John encourages his readers to be pure, just as Christ is pure. Knowing our eternal destiny - what we will be, and living in this hope will purify our lives.
When we know our end is to be more like Jesus, it should make us want to be more like Jesus right now. It should make us want to be ready, to serve Him more joyfully now, to please Him more now, and to do what is right.
Sin is a big deal for John. Last week, we heard John’s warning: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Sin is evidence of our old nature still at work in us.
We know that we should not live a lifestyle of habitual sin. We should not continue to sin. However, reality is different. We still sin, even when we profess to believe in Christ, even when we claim Him as our Savior and Lord. No matter how hard we try, we find ourselves slipping into old patterns of behavior.
We justify that as long as nobody gets hurt, we can do whatever we want to satisfy our desires, we tell ourselves. Lying is okay, if we’re doing it to save face or protect another person from painful information.
Stealing is okay, if we’re only taking from some impersonal corporation, or finding some way to take advantage of “the system.” Sexual sin isn’t really sin – it’s just satisfying a natural urge that’s part of the human condition.
Sin isn’t really sin, our culture tells us – it’s just being myself, doing what comes naturally. Everyone else is getting away with it, so why can’t I?
When my daughters were younger, they used to ask me for permission or make excuses, saying “Everyone else is doing it.” Everyone else is cheating. Everyone else is skipping the boring Career course. Everyone else is going to the party. Everyone else wears clothes like that.
John reminds us that “everyone else” isn’t who we are. We are children of God, and our Father, who lavishes His love on us, expects us to act like it. God expects us to behave counter-culturally because we have been changed. We are no longer slaves to sin, but beloved children of God.
When we abide in Christ, we live into our identity as God’s beloved children. We take on the character of the One who loves us so much, who died for our sakes.
We may, from time to time, fall into old patterns of sin. We may fail, many times each day, to stay connected to Christ.
But we have God’s forgiveness as our refuge when we stumble, and we have God’s grace to help us live as the children of God.
He will strengthen us for the fight.
The message of John’s letter to us is simple: “Become what you already are.” Remember You may not always feel like it. You may not always find it easy. None of us is perfect – yet.
“What we will be has not yet been revealed. Yet, what we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him.” You are God’s beloved child. Become what you already are. Live into your new identity. Start acting like it.
Friends, remember that we are made a new creation through faith in Christ Jesus. When we received Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, when we first took the body of Christ and drank the cup of salvation, our spiritual DNA was changed. The old sinful self is made into a new being. We become children of God.
Look around you. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ. You don’t have to take the Ancestry DNA test to find them. Even though each of us is unique and diverse, we share some things in common. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4)
It is my prayer that you will realize God’s lavish love for you today. Allow His love into your hearts to begin to understand the depths of it, and respond to the Father Heart of God.
Feel the heartbeat of our Father God. Tell yourself, “I am a beloved child of God. I am who God says I am.”
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!
Let us pray.
Abba Father, thank You for pouring lavish love on us and setting us free by sending Jesus Christ. Thank You for giving us the right to become Your children. Help us remember our identity and live like who we are now. In the name of Jesus, the Righteous One. Amen.