Alba 7-28-2024
BEHOLD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER'S LOVE
I John 3:1-3
Juanita Slater of West Chester, Ohio told this story in the Christian Reader: She said, “When I was staying with a neighbor’s five and seven year olds, I heard a squeal coming from the next room. Then I heard Becky’s voice, 'Mike, God doesn’t love you when you do things like that.'
“A second voice, 'Yes, he does love me. He’s ... he’s just disappointed in me.'” That sounds about right. Indeed, God must be disappointed with us at times, just like any other parent—but He doesn’t stop loving us!
Our Heavenly Father has loved us from the beginning, even when we were not so lovable. God does not abandon us when we mess up. His love is amazing. God loves His children lavishly. How can we be so sure? Because God would not have sent Jesus to die for our sins if He didn’t love us.
I John 3:1 speaks of that great love saying, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us.” Some translations say, “See how much the Father has loved us”. But there is something stronger that gets our attention in the word, “Behold!” I am sure that none of us can fully grasp the extent to which God's love is given to us.
We can talk about the care He took in creating this world to provide us with wonderful things.
We can talk about the way He cares for us as we daily walk with Him. And we can talk about the great love He showed when Jesus came to this earth, first as a baby, and then as our Savior who sacrificed Himself for us.
There is no greater love! The closest we can come to grasping the full extent of that love is to come to know that He did all of that for each of us. When we experience that love in our own life, when we accept the reality of such love and allow it to touch the depths of our hearts and minds, that's when we begin to grasp how wonderful it is. Behold such love! Because of His love for us...
1. Look At Who We Are
We are the children of God. I John 3:1 says that the Heavenly Father claims us as His children! In fact the gospel of John chapter one tells us that we have been birthed into His family. Verses 12 and 13 say this: “as many as received Him [that is, Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Jesus told us in John chapter three that we must be born again. And then He said, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (vs. 5) We come to Christ by being aware of and repenting of our sins. And in faith we then submit to the Lord in baptism to rise in newness of life, born of the water and the Spirit.
But God so wants to be our Heavenly Father that He doesn't stop there. We are not only His by birth, but also by adoption. Some children were playing out on the playground at school, teasing each other as children often do. They began to pick on a child who was adopted. "You don’t have real parents," they taunted. "You don’t even know who your real parents are! You’re just adopted."
To that, the adopted child responded. “Oh yeah? When you were born, your parents didn’t have a choice. They had to keep you. My parents didn’t just have me. They wanted me!”
Christian, you are a child of God because God wanted you. In Christ you became a member of His family.
He put His name on you when you were baptized. And that work which began at that time, God has continued in your heart to this day so that you can say with confidence, “I am a child of God!”
What wonderful place to be. We are the children of God. Yet the world doesn't seem to appreciate who we are. That's why verse one says this: “Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” Think about it. They rejected Jesus, treated Him as a criminal, spat upon Him, killed Him.
They took some nails and the nailed Him to the cross until He died. Why should we expect to be treated any better?
In John 1:10-11 we read, “He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” If those who saw Jesus Christ didn’t know or receive Him as the Son of God, how can we expect nonbelievers to know and receive us as children of God? We are among those who because of our relationship to a Heavenly Father are actually aliens here in this world. Nonbelievers often are not in agreement with God’s values or instructions, but that’s to be expected.
It is hard at times when we see where the government or late night TV comedians or Hollywood, etc. constantly opposing Christ, Christians, and Christianity. The spirit of antichrist is at work. They have tried to get “In God we Trust” off of our money. They have complained about having the nativity scene displayed anywhere. They don’t want to hear the name of Jesus used in prayers. Then this week, the opening of the Olympics in France featured drag queens portraying the apostles and a female DJ as Jesus in what appeared to be a part of a fashion show — apparently mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of The Last Supper.
You name it and the world opposes Christ and those who are His people. But rather than being angry at those outside of Christ, our prayer should be that they may be what we are; children of God. And that they may be changed along with us when we see Him as He is.
You know that when they put Jesus on the cross, they thought by doing that they could shut God down. But the world failed! All they did was to make the love of God the greatest message throughout all of history!
Are we beginning to grasp how wonderful it is? Behold such love! Because of His love for us, look not only at who we are, but also...
2. Look At What We Will Be
I John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” What a promise! The day will come when we will truly be like Jesus.
One fellow said that when he was a kid he always wanted to be like Leonard Franklin Slye! Do you know who that is? Well if you don't know that name, perhaps you know him better by the name, Roy Rogers. Well I guess that Roy Rogers was a fairly good model for a young boy to want to be like. But there is a better one.
There's a hymn that says, “Be like Jesus, this my song. In the home and in the throng; Be like Jesus all day long! I would be like Jesus.” This scripture in First John chapter three tells us that, as we aspire to that now, one day it will be a reality.
Philippians 3:20-21 reminds us, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Some day we’ll have a glorious body like His: no aches, no pains, no diseases, no aging. No band aids in heaven! No pills, no chemo, no blood pressure medication, you name it. Old things will pass away. All things will become new.
I Corinthians 15:50-52 says, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Joni Eareckson Tada, paralyzed from the shoulders down after a diving accident in her teens… is known for her incredible joy. A joy combined with thoughts of heaven. She has said, “My assurance of heaven is so alive that I’ve been making dates with friends to do all sorts of fun things once we get our new bodies. I don’t take these appointments lightly!”
Some people imagine heaven as a stiff, even boring place. Yes, it is a place where we can rest from our labors.
But we are not just told of a future in which God simply says “Take off your coat and relax.” No, scripture tells us that God will be able to say, “Take off your worn body, slip into something more comfortable; and welcome to unlimited fellowship and fullness of life. There is a feast prepared… a party waiting!”
There is a lot we don't know about being in heaven with Jesus. But we do know that as God's children, we have been able to enjoy more than we deserve here in this life. So why would heaven be any less? Behold such love! Because of His love for us, look not only at who we are, and what we will become, but also...
3. Look at What We Ought to Be
I John 3:3 tells us that “everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” We need to stay pure.
When we come up out of the waters of baptism, we are just as pure and guiltless as a newborn baby. Then, as Christians, we need to maintain our purity as we "walk in the light as he is in the light" (I John 1:7).
The truth is, we are a work in progress. I am sure that we disappoint God when we do what we should not do. But what God wants is for us to continue to make progress. What God wants is for us to learn to let more and more of Jesus to shine through us, and less and less of ourselves to shine through. God just wants to continue to work in us and shape us into what He wants us to be.
In the news this past week was the report of President Biden ending his campaign for a second term for the the presidency. His statement said, “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” The truth is, polls were showing that he was losing.
Do you remember that Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States also chose not to seek a second term. When he issued his famous “I do not choose to run” statement, he was besieged by reporters wanting details. The statement was considered ambiguous and led to considerable debate as to the intentions (saying, I do not “choose”) of its language.
One persistent journalist kept asking, “Exactly why don’t you want to be president again?” “Because,” Coolidge replied, "there’s no chance for advancement!” We need to believe that as Christians there is always room for advancement! God expects us to grow to be more like Jesus in the here and now.
By the way, do you know what the largest room in the world is? The answer is: Room for improvement. When we are in Christ we have received His righteousness. But in spite of that, a lot of times, we still make wrong choices. We act childishly. We haven't grown as we should. It’s been said, “You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.”
Philippians 2:14-15 tells us to, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
One day we’re going to be all that God saved us to be. But we do have the potential to be more like Jesus right here, right now. If there are areas in our lives that should not be there, we need to ask Jesus to take over those areas and submit to Him. He’s really the one that does the purifying, because He doesn’t like to live in a filthy house. None of us is perfect, but God is ironing out all the wrinkles. God is cleaning up all the spots, and the church is headed for perfection. Our part is to live like we’re a part of His family!
Of all the names found in the Bible for God, none seems to reveal more about His true nature than the term, “Father.” Most parents, if they truly love their children, expect certain things of them. They pray and work and do all they can to influence them in certain directions. They have high hopes, big dreams, certain lofty expectations. God has high hopes for each of us. He calls us to purity.
The knowledge of God’s Father-love is the first and simplest, but also the last and highest lesson that we can learn concerning His design for us.
Because of His love, we should respond with a desire to be holy as He is holy. Because of His love, He is preparing heaven for us. Because of His love, He calls us His children.
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us.
CLOSE:
Dana Chau, currently the Asian American Leadership Center Director of Christ-centered Living Network, told this story:
I was talking with a neighbor whose car was hit from behind. He got out and made sure the driver who hit him was okay, and he calmed her down. That’s love and that’s kindness.
But in order to compare with the great love God has for us, my neighbor would have to pay for the damage of both cars out of his own pocket, adopt the driver at fault into his own family, and give that driver full family privilege. That’s how great God’s love is.
Paul speaking of Christians in Romans 8:17 says, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ...."
God’s love would have been great to have simply forgiven us our sins through Jesus’ death on the cross. But His love didn’t stop there. He gave us the right to be His children and heirs with Christ. We who are His through obedient faith in Jesus Christ have all the privileges of being a member of God’s family.
