Children of God!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:1-2).

You are a child of God.  It is because of His love that you have life.  It was God who decided whether you would be male or female; He determined the color of your skin, your hair, your eyes.  He chose the time and place of your birth.  Your conception was no accident.  Your birth was not a mistake.  God has supreme power over life and death; you were conceived because God wanted you to live.

Some people don’t appreciate God’s gift of life.  A woman who gets pregnant through assault might have a hard time seeing her baby as a gift—yet that little one is proof that God can bring something wonderful out of any tragedy.  Others might curse God because they were born with a birth defect or were raised by people who were unloving—but this is not God’s fault, it is the result of sin.  Sin damages everything it touches.  Sin keeps us from fully enjoying the gifts that God gives us.

Sin makes us ungrateful and mean-spirited.  Sin causes us to act selfishly.  Sin makes us use and abuse others, destroying every relationship. Sin alienates us from God, making us outcasts and runaways.  God our Father is a loving God, but He brooks no disobedience.  This is why Jesus chose to suffer on the cross and die; He endured the Father’s punishment in our place, sparing us from the hell our sins deserve.  Jesus took on the role of the eldest child who shields His brothers and sisters from harm.  He did this because He loves us, and He wants us back in the Father’s good graces. 

Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we are reborn.  He gives us a fresh start at life, unburdened by guilt over past mistakes.  Sin made us filthy little beggars living alone on the streets; the love of Jesus forgives us, cleans us up, and brings us into God’s large and loving family.  Through Christ, God offers us adoption as His sons and daughters. 

You are a child of God.  God is your Father because He gave you life at the moment of conception.  Sadly, sin stole you away from Him.  But through Jesus, God offers a new start at life—Paul writes, When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ (Colossians 2:13).  God has given you birth and rebirth—you are doubly precious to Him!

Sadly, the world doesn’t share God’s love for you.  In fact, the world doesn’t really know what to make of people who claim God as their heavenly Father and Jesus as their precious brother. 

Consider our history.  Christians refused to worship the gods of Rome or fight in her armies; when they were arrested and executed for treason, those Christians sang praises to God as they died in terrible pain.  During the Dark Ages, Christian monks devoted their lives to making hand-written copies of the Bible instead of finding a wife and raising children to carry on the family name.  During the years of the Black Death, Christians risked infection with an incurable disease to care for the sick and dying. 

Consider our beliefs.  We believe in a God who is Father, Son and Spirit, yet is one God not three.  We believe in a God who punished His own Son for our evil ways.  We believe in a God who forgives sins without demanding anything in return except our love.  We believe in a God who fills us with life by eating His body and drinking His blood when we take Communion.  Yet this God remains unseen; we only experience Him through the words of His Book.

Consider our outlook on life.  We value service over power.  We value respect over pride.  We value giving over having.  We don’t think of death as a friend, nor do we fear its coming.  We are willing to admit our mistakes and we are willing to forgive those who have hurt us.  We respect authority.  We don’t like gossip.  We don’t worry about tomorrow.

The world doesn’t know what to make of this.  Christians don’t behave like everyone else.  Christians don’t look at things the way everyone else does.  Some think we’re deluded.  Some think we’re crazy.  Some think we’re dangerous.  But the world doesn’t ‘get’ us because it doesn’t know Jesus.  The world only sees things through the distorted lens of sin; Jesus reveals the truth. He demonstrates what true love is. He forgives our mistakes and mends what we have broken. He gives us the confidence to face each problem with hope.  He gives us faith to accept the unexplainable.  He shows us how to live with no worries and no regrets. He opens our minds to eternity.  Life can be confusing, chaotic, downright scary.  Only Jesus can offer life that really makes sense.

Of course, we all wonder about life after death.  Where will you be?  What will life after death be like?  Will you be reunited with departed loved ones? 

God doesn’t tell us a great deal about heaven.  We know that it is filled with love and peace.  We know that it is a place of rest for the weary and healing for those scarred by life.  We know that nothing evil is permitted near its gates. 

Heaven is where God lives, along with all who serve Him.  There are angels beyond counting, singing praises to God and carrying out His will.  And God has opened His beautiful home to those who died trusting in His love.  Jesus said, There are many rooms in my Father's house. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am (John 14:2-3). 

God does not tell us much about heaven for two reasons.  First of all, how do you describe a perfect spiritual realm to people who have lived their entire lives on a sin-filled earth?   It’s like trying to describe color to a blind man.  We can’t imagine living as a soul without a body, and we can’t picture what life would be like free from all effects of sin. 

The other reason God doesn’t say much about heaven is because we won’t be staying there permanently.  When Jesus returns on the Last Day, He will purify this sinful world with heavenly fire and then seed it with new life; earth will become the paradise that was lost so long ago.  When this happens, Christ will raise our bodies from the dead and return our souls to the land of the living.  God never intended us to die; sin made death necessary.  When all is restored to perfection, death will be a thing of the past and we will live on the new earth forever.

What will our risen bodies be like?  The details are unknown for now.  But we do have these words from Paul: the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:21).  We will be freed from all the effects of sin—genetic disorder, chronic pain, disease, crippling injuries, and the weakness of old age.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4).

When we look forward to the new life that awaits us, one of the things that excites us most is the thought of finally seeing our Lord face to face.  All our lives we’ve heard about Him and have wondered what He looks like.  It’s can be hard to feel close to God when you’ve never laid eyes on Him.

Why can’t we see God?  He’s with us constantly.  He touches and maintains every corner of the universe.  So why does it often seem as if God is nowhere to be found?

The problem lies with us.  Although God and His angels are constantly at work everywhere, sin keeps us from seeing it.  We come through a serious accident with only a few cuts and bruises and say that we’re lucky to be alive.  After countless bad dates, we find the person of our dreams and say that sooner or later the right one was bound to come along.  People see incredible things happen in their lives and mark it down to coincidence or serendipity or good karma from living right.  What they don’t see is the hand of God showering them with His love.

Sin also makes us deaf.  The Bible is God’s message, preserved on paper so it can be read to people in every time and every place.  Through the words of Scripture, our heavenly Father speaks to us—but like naughty children, we tune Him out and don’t pay attention.  We don’t want to hear criticism for our wrongdoing; we don’t have the patience to sit and listen and learn.  God talks to us constantly, but we’ve learned to ignore religious plaques on the wall, religious bumper stickers on cars, religious messages on the radio or TV. 

As much as we ignore God, it’s little wonder that we feel abandoned and alone.  He is constantly talking to us; He performs miracle after miracle.  But sin makes us deaf and blind.  Sin hides God from our perception.

In Jesus, God came and walked among us—but even then people could not see what was right in front of them.  They could not accept the truth of His words.  Their blindness led to His death on the cross.  Their blindness wouldn’t accept the testimony of all the men and women who saw Him alive on Easter and heard Him over the 40 days that followed. 

Jesus said, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).  For now, We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  But Jesus is coming back, and when He comes down from heaven in all His glory, the Lord will give us eyes like His, eyes that can see the truth.  At that time we will, at long last, finally see Him as He is.