2 Cor. 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Unless one is born again, he is not a child of God. We are born into the kingdom of Satan, and to a more or less degree, we are children of wrath because of sin. And as far as children go, we are far from ordinary. We are extraordinarily rebellious, selfish, disobedient, lawless little brats who fully deserve the punishment that sin brings to the unrepentant. Yet God still calls us to Him. Knowing our craziness, the chaos that our lives consist of, and the lies and deceit and the manipulation our habits and addictions bring as baggage, God still loves us with that unconditional quality that defies logic and reason. God’s love for man, even in his present state, is a complete mystery.
Ps 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Whilst we are extraordinarily rebellious, God is extraordinarily faithful. He doesn’t give up on anyone so long as He sees a flicker of hope, even just a smouldering wick God will not extinguish. Despite our many faults and failures, regardless of the insanity of the mental world so many of us live in day to day, God wants us to be His children. He is a Father who constantly, faithfully, and unfailingly forgives and yearns to wrap His loving arms about us and assure us of His love. He is a Father who is absolutely, totally emphatically crazy about us. Why? Because He made us. In the beginning He made us in His own image and likeness, perfect beings moulded and shaped by His own hands, therefore He can look past the ugliness and scarred mess our lives have become, and see the potential each one of us has if we but surrender to Him, and allow Him to work in us again that image we have lost through sin.
Jesus came to deal with the sin problem. He came not just to die in our place thus taking upon Himself the punishment due us, but He also came to live out a life that can be ours by allowing Him to live in and through us. He said
Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The apostle John says : 1Jo 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
So God does not love us because of who we are, nor because of anything we have done, but rather He loves us because of who He is, and what He can make of us, and accomplish through us to the benefit of others. From selfish introverted pleasure seeking hedonists, God can transform us into loving selfless kind hearted peace loving joyful generous children of the living God.
My earthly father owned a small business in a moderately sized city. He specialised in a product and service which was unique in town, for there was no-one else offering anything similar. Before he died when I was but a youngster of twelve, I well remember the pride I had in being his son. He was highly respected in the community for his trade, his service, and character. I was proud, not because of anything I was or had done, but solely because of mine and other’s estimation of my father. How much more pride then ought we to have if we are the children of the Creator of the universe? Simply because of who He is, and what He has done. And He is our Dad. And just as I had certain privileges in being my father’s son, so also do we have certain privileges in being a son or daughter of God. And not just ordinary run-of-the-mill privileges either.
If God is our Father we are children of a King. That makes us princes or princesses, members of a royal household, children of a reigning Monarch. So in direct proportion to the greatness of the King, so are the privileges great for those He calls His own.
Thus as we grow in our relationship with Him, for "by beholding we are changed", so also do we grow in character and we take on His nature.
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
No longer children of wrath, destined to die, we are children of grace, destined to immortality. And our heavenly Father delights in changing our entire lives, turning them upside down and inside out to free us from the bondage of sin, addictive past-times, and selfishness.
Jesus said that the greatest love is that which is revealed when one lays down his life for another. He also said to His disciples that when they see Him , they have seen the Father. In other words, what the Father would do, Jesus did. What and who the Father is, Jesus revealed. Jesus gave His life that we might live. The Father therefore would have done likewise if it were possible, but He is immortal so He gave us His Son, to take on human form that He might die in our place. What love is this? How can we refuse such great love? How can we neglect such great salvation? How can we turn away from such a generous offer that we may be adopted into the family of God?
Give yourself to God today my friends. Tomorrow may never come. You will never regret it, though you may live forever, never will you cease to praise God for His love. Allow nothing to stand in the way of your life, your hope, and salvation in Christ. Nor allow anything, including church, to pretend to be the means by which such life, hope, and salvation comes. The gospel is not about anything other than the very person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Come to Him today. This very minute. Nothing can replace Him. Nothing can substitute the reality of our High Priest now ministering in the heavenly sanctuary, interceding and mediating on your behalf before the throne of the Father.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need". Hebrews 4:16
“And down through the ceaseless ages all things, great and small, animate and inanimate, will declare that God is Love.”
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Unless one is born again, he is not a child of God. We are born into the kingdom of Satan, and to a more or less degree, we are children of wrath because of sin. And as far as children go, we are far from ordinary. We are extraordinarily rebellious, selfish, disobedient, lawless little brats who fully deserve the punishment that sin brings to the unrepentant. Yet God still calls us to Him. Knowing our craziness, the chaos that our lives consist of, and the lies and deceit and the manipulation our habits and addictions bring as baggage, God still loves us with that unconditional quality that defies logic and reason. God’s love for man, even in his present state, is a complete mystery.
Ps 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Whilst we are extraordinarily rebellious, God is extraordinarily faithful. He doesn’t give up on anyone so long as He sees a flicker of hope, even just a smouldering wick God will not extinguish. Despite our many faults and failures, regardless of the insanity of the mental world so many of us live in day to day, God wants us to be His children. He is a Father who constantly, faithfully, and unfailingly forgives and yearns to wrap His loving arms about us and assure us of His love. He is a Father who is absolutely, totally emphatically crazy about us. Why? Because He made us. In the beginning He made us in His own image and likeness, perfect beings moulded and shaped by His own hands, therefore He can look past the ugliness and scarred mess our lives have become, and see the potential each one of us has if we but surrender to Him, and allow Him to work in us again that image we have lost through sin.
Jesus came to deal with the sin problem. He came not just to die in our place thus taking upon Himself the punishment due us, but He also came to live out a life that can be ours by allowing Him to live in and through us. He said
Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The apostle John says : 1Jo 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
So God does not love us because of who we are, nor because of anything we have done, but rather He loves us because of who He is, and what He can make of us, and accomplish through us to the benefit of others. From selfish introverted pleasure seeking hedonists, God can transform us into loving selfless kind hearted peace loving joyful generous children of the living God.
My earthly father owned a small business in a moderately sized city. He specialised in a product and service which was unique in town, for there was no-one else offering anything similar. Before he died when I was but a youngster of twelve, I well remember the pride I had in being his son. He was highly respected in the community for his trade, his service, and character. I was proud, not because of anything I was or had done, but solely because of mine and other’s estimation of my father. How much more pride then ought we to have if we are the children of the Creator of the universe? Simply because of who He is, and what He has done. And He is our Dad. And just as I had certain privileges in being my father’s son, so also do we have certain privileges in being a son or daughter of God. And not just ordinary run-of-the-mill privileges either.
If God is our Father we are children of a King. That makes us princes or princesses, members of a royal household, children of a reigning Monarch. So in direct proportion to the greatness of the King, so are the privileges great for those He calls His own.
Thus as we grow in our relationship with Him, for "by beholding we are changed", so also do we grow in character and we take on His nature.
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
No longer children of wrath, destined to die, we are children of grace, destined to immortality. And our heavenly Father delights in changing our entire lives, turning them upside down and inside out to free us from the bondage of sin, addictive past-times, and selfishness.
Jesus said that the greatest love is that which is revealed when one lays down his life for another. He also said to His disciples that when they see Him , they have seen the Father. In other words, what the Father would do, Jesus did. What and who the Father is, Jesus revealed. Jesus gave His life that we might live. The Father therefore would have done likewise if it were possible, but He is immortal so He gave us His Son, to take on human form that He might die in our place. What love is this? How can we refuse such great love? How can we neglect such great salvation? How can we turn away from such a generous offer that we may be adopted into the family of God?
Give yourself to God today my friends. Tomorrow may never come. You will never regret it, though you may live forever, never will you cease to praise God for His love. Allow nothing to stand in the way of your life, your hope, and salvation in Christ. Nor allow anything, including church, to pretend to be the means by which such life, hope, and salvation comes. The gospel is not about anything other than the very person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Come to Him today. This very minute. Nothing can replace Him. Nothing can substitute the reality of our High Priest now ministering in the heavenly sanctuary, interceding and mediating on your behalf before the throne of the Father.
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need". Hebrews 4:16
“And down through the ceaseless ages all things, great and small, animate and inanimate, will declare that God is Love.”
