"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1, NKJ)
Here are some words a friend wrote to me:
"I have been mulling over (those verses) and I am seeing the reality of that in a way I have never quite before. I mean, as Christians we hear those words ALL the time. I am "a child of God," God is our Father, we are all God's children... you hear that all the time. It's hardly a new idea!!!!
"But the REALITY of that, I am not sure the world in general comprehends - or even I still fully comprehend.
"To the world, it's like God is an option. Take him or don't, believe in him or don't. We would exist either way through the natural processes of physics and biology.
"But that is like saying believing in your parents is an option.
"Having a RELATIONSHIP with your parents is an option, for sure, but there is nothing you can do to deny their existence. The fact that YOU exist is unalterable, undeniable evidence and proof that THEY exist.
"The fact that I was born has put me into a relationship with my parents that can never be denied, no matter what I say or think or believe. It just IS.
"And that is our relationship with God. He brought us into existence - we are HIS children. All of us here on earth are God's children, no matter what we say or do or think. We just ARE.
"For sure, sin has estranged that relationship, but the relationship itself can never be denied. But if sin has caused us to be cut off from our family, Jesus made the way for us to be brought back in - the thing God desires more than anything in the universe.
"But either way, no matter which we choose, we are AWAYS God's children. That is not an option or a choice. It just IS.
"And God's love for us never, ever, varies or waivers.
"As I am sitting here thinking through this, I am thinking that as Christians maybe we tend to think that being a "Child of God" is something only we have. And, truly, in a sense it is. But that is in the sense that our relationship with God has been reconciled, and just like the prodigal son, we have been brought back into the family. But even when the prodigal son was off living a life of sin, he never stopped being his father's son.
"I am thinking that when Jesus ate with sinners, it wasn't with the idea that they could BECOME his brothers and sisters, but that they WERE his brothers and sisters - only they were lost, cut off from the family, and his heart was yearning to bring them back.
"Boy, as I wrote that, I was thinking how I felt when it seemed we had lost (our daughter). My heart ached, it ached so bad I wondered how I could take it. She was my daughter, and I was losing her to the world, to the power of evil in the world. I realized then the pain God must feel a billion times over.
"His heart breaks for his children.
"Wow.
"How can He do it? How can He bear it??? How can God go on for all eternity feeling that pain???
"And then I considered that all that pain, all the agony and suffering God feels for the children he so dearly loves, was settled at the cross. Jesus took it all on there - that was the REAL suffering of the cross - and it has been settled for all eternity. It is over and done with.
"So now God deals with us in joy, in the joy of that victory on the cross.
"But...
"We are ALWAYS God's children, every one of us, every single person I will ever meet."
Here are some words a friend wrote to me:
"I have been mulling over (those verses) and I am seeing the reality of that in a way I have never quite before. I mean, as Christians we hear those words ALL the time. I am "a child of God," God is our Father, we are all God's children... you hear that all the time. It's hardly a new idea!!!!
"But the REALITY of that, I am not sure the world in general comprehends - or even I still fully comprehend.
"To the world, it's like God is an option. Take him or don't, believe in him or don't. We would exist either way through the natural processes of physics and biology.
"But that is like saying believing in your parents is an option.
"Having a RELATIONSHIP with your parents is an option, for sure, but there is nothing you can do to deny their existence. The fact that YOU exist is unalterable, undeniable evidence and proof that THEY exist.
"The fact that I was born has put me into a relationship with my parents that can never be denied, no matter what I say or think or believe. It just IS.
"And that is our relationship with God. He brought us into existence - we are HIS children. All of us here on earth are God's children, no matter what we say or do or think. We just ARE.
"For sure, sin has estranged that relationship, but the relationship itself can never be denied. But if sin has caused us to be cut off from our family, Jesus made the way for us to be brought back in - the thing God desires more than anything in the universe.
"But either way, no matter which we choose, we are AWAYS God's children. That is not an option or a choice. It just IS.
"And God's love for us never, ever, varies or waivers.
"As I am sitting here thinking through this, I am thinking that as Christians maybe we tend to think that being a "Child of God" is something only we have. And, truly, in a sense it is. But that is in the sense that our relationship with God has been reconciled, and just like the prodigal son, we have been brought back into the family. But even when the prodigal son was off living a life of sin, he never stopped being his father's son.
"I am thinking that when Jesus ate with sinners, it wasn't with the idea that they could BECOME his brothers and sisters, but that they WERE his brothers and sisters - only they were lost, cut off from the family, and his heart was yearning to bring them back.
"Boy, as I wrote that, I was thinking how I felt when it seemed we had lost (our daughter). My heart ached, it ached so bad I wondered how I could take it. She was my daughter, and I was losing her to the world, to the power of evil in the world. I realized then the pain God must feel a billion times over.
"His heart breaks for his children.
"Wow.
"How can He do it? How can He bear it??? How can God go on for all eternity feeling that pain???
"And then I considered that all that pain, all the agony and suffering God feels for the children he so dearly loves, was settled at the cross. Jesus took it all on there - that was the REAL suffering of the cross - and it has been settled for all eternity. It is over and done with.
"So now God deals with us in joy, in the joy of that victory on the cross.
"But...
"We are ALWAYS God's children, every one of us, every single person I will ever meet."
3 comments:
WOW!! It is so profound!!
Only one thing I would add to that!... As Christians, though, we have been adopted into God's family!
I understand that in a sense, all people are children of God, because He created us. But the Bible also talks a lot about adoption. In John 1:12 it says, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
"..Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" (Rom 8:14-15)
Just something to ponder!
Hey!
As I was writing I had in mind the ideas you sent.
As I have read and considered the Bible, this is what I understand...
There IS something that happens when a person accepts Christ. Something changes. It is the whole being born again thing that Jesus told Nicodemus about. Because of sin, we are cut off from God. It is as if we have a fatal disease. Sin IS a fatal disease. And unless we accept Jesus and his dying on the cross for us, we will die from it.
But when we accept Jesus-when we believe - something happens. We are changed. We are reborn. We are brought from death to life. We are spiritually brought into the Family of God. And I am thinking that is the sense that we are "adopted" into God's family. But I am thinking using the word "adoption" is just a way of trying to describe that reality in simplest terms. Obviously, it IS true. We are brought into God's family in a way that we were not before. But I don't think that changes what I was saying. After all, Jesus died for us when we were SINNERS. He loved us as his own BEFORE we were reborn.
I guess the thing I was getting at is realizing that God's love for us never changes. He doesn't love a person who is saved any more than a person who is lost. A person who is saved is not more precious in His eyes than a person lost in sin. But we are ALL his children, saved or lost - and his desire is to bring us ALL back into is family - and I am thinking it is the idea of restoring us into God's family that the idea the phrase "adoption" is getting at.
That's how I see it anyway!
Oh... another thing!
The whole idea of inheritance figures in too! A person who is estranged from God by sin is cut off from God's family, he is cut off from God's inheritance, the riches he promises to his children.
And it is in the sense that we become God's children when we believe in Jesus and his name (as it says in John), that we are adopted into the Family of God, we become eligible to inherit the blessings of God.
So, it seems to me, neither idea negates the other! It is just a matter of terminology, and the difficulty of using words to describe reality.
WORDS FROM MY FRIEND!
WOW! What more need one say.. you've said it SO well! Don't think I need to blog today! :-)
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