Have Some Sense — 1 John 3:1-3
” Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”
Do you sometimes need a reminder of how many blessings you have? From time to time, most of us take things for granted and become dissatisfied. Then we forget to give thanks for that with which God already has blessed us. Are you like that? The Apostle John seemed to think we might have this problem. So he reminds us how greatly our Heavenly Father loves us. “ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God .” What an awesome privilege!
We should have a sense of WONDER at the love of God! Christians should marvel that redeemed man is the pinnacle of God’s creation. Evolutionists believe we began in a pool of primordial slime and underwent countless centuries of chance mutations to accidentally become an organized society of relationships, law, and order with an unexplained capacity to invent and create. Christians know that not only were we created, but also God has redeemed us and now made us His children. Have you ever heard someone proudly tell of how he descended from nobility? Or have you ever heard someone trace her lineage to one of the Founding Fathers of our country? Many take pride in their ancestry. But all Christians may take heart in the fact that we are children of the King of Kings – the all-knowing, everywhere-present, all-powerful King of the Universe! John indicates that this love is beyond any love found among men on earth. Why is God’s love for us so unusual? Do not most parents love their children?
The striking difference is that God adopted us from among His enemies to be His children. We did not deserve such a privilege. The Father cannot stand sin, yet He chose to adopt us from the camp of sinners. And He let His own Son suffer and die to cleanse us of our sins. No earthly love has ever done such a thing. Do you need to pause today and thank God for this great manner of love He has shown toward you?
We should have a WILLINGNESS to be misunderstood here on earth. Sometimes adopted children do not feel that they are “understood” — they feel a little “out-of-place” in the world. Christians will experience the same: “. . .therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not .” The world does not know our Father so they cannot understand our relationship to Him. True Christians will always seem a little out-of-place and “at-odds” with the world. This world is no longer our home. So if you feel like the world does not understand you, consider yourself in good company.
We should have a sense of WAITING for the transforming power of God . We make a journey of faith toward an incomprehensible God. No preacher can describe with pinpoint accuracy the nature of our heavenly existence or our heavenly home. What we shall become is also a mystery – we only know that God’s transforming power will make us like Himself. “ Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. ” So we wait for that day when God shall restore us to what He originally created man to be and to enjoy eternal, unhindered fellowship with Him.
But while we wait to arrive there, we should prepare ourselves. “ And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Do you know beyond every shadow of doubt that you are God’s child? If not, ask today for forgiveness from your sins and accept Jesus as your Savior. Then you will be adopted into the wonderful mystery of the family of God. If you know you are His child, then repent of worldliness and strive even now to be more like Jesus. Purify yourself even as He is pure!
Author: Robert W. Rohlin
This devotional first appeared July 18, 1999 in the Advancer , a Sunday school teacher’s guide published by the Baptist Publishing House . It is gratefully reproduced here with permission from the publisher.