Psalms 116:12 “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?
There’s a song that comes to my mind this morning that I used to hear quite often when I was a little boy. We call them the Old Dr. Watts. (Some of ya’ll remember them). I know I am a child of God. Although I move so slow. I’ll wait until the spirit comes and move at God’s command.
A lot of Christians don’t realize exactly what we have when we have Jesus. Many of us don’t realize what we have when we know that we are a child of God. Romans 8:32 “He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also, freely give us all things.? This being Father’s Day today, we can realize the benefits of being a child.
When my father was a live, I didn’t have to worry about anything. I didn’t have to worry about what I was going to eat. What I was going to wear. What where was I going to lay my head at night. I could lay down at night knowing that my Father would provide for me. All I had to do was bee obedient to what he asked me to do.
And so It is as children of the most high God. We ought to thank God for everything he’s done for us. We ought to be on our knees daily. Praying in season and out of season. We have so much to thank him for. We ought to be able to walk into the house of God and worship him in spirit and in truth. We ought to be able to be obedient to his word, for who wouldn’t serve a God like that.
There are seven specific benefits that I want to elaborate on this morning that you and I have simply because we are a child of God.
#1 One of the benefits Christ has for us is the benefit of Love. There is no greater love than the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” The young folk sing a song. “Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so.” There is no greater benefit of being a child of God to know that Jesus loves me. One thing I’m glad about this morning is that no earthly circumstance cannot change the love of God. Paul said in Romans 8 that nothing shall separate us from the love of God.
#2. The benefit of Grace. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve. Grace brought Salvation. A lot of people think you can get it by signing your name on some church roll. A lot of people think you can get it just by being baptized. You can’t Salvation without Grace. There’s no other name under heaven by where we must be saved except the name of Jesus. His name is above every name. His grace is sufficient for all. Ephesians 2:8 “For by Grace are ye saved through faith that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.” Let me emphasize this it is a gift. You can’t buy it. You can’t take it you. No man can give it to you. Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
#3 The next benefit we have of being a child is the benefit of mercy. That’s God not giving us what we do deserve. We deserve Hell. We were wretched people. We fell out of grace. Somebody said that we were “too mean to die and wasn’t fit to live.” But thank God for his mercy. Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according ot his mercy he saved us.” Not accordnign to what we’ve done but according to his mercy, he saved us. He is a merciful God. I’m glad I know him. Thank God that he does show us mercy. All of those times we step out of his will. Thank God he is a merciful God. Thank God that we have that benefit that we can say, the Lord looked beyond my faults and saw my needs. He looked beyond my failures. He looked beyond my short comings. He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs.
#4 We have the benefit of the Holy Spirit. There’s a lot of Christians I believe that don’t know that the Spirit of God is. 1st John 4:13 “Hereby know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit.” You can’t get the Spirit of God unless he gives it to you. Ephesians 1:13 “After that you believe you were saved with the holy seal of promise.” Notice it says after you believed. A lot of people don’t recognize that. But we can’t get the Spirit until we believe. The Spirit of God is what convicts man of sin. But you are not going to get it until you believe it.
#5 We have the benefit of forgiveness. Thank the Lord for that one. 1st John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Now because he forgave us we are suppose to forgive our brother and sister. The bible says if you forgive not men of their trespasses neither will the father forgive you of yours. I believe that once you have been forgive or have forgiven, you ought to forget about it. Bringing up peoples past is not forgiving them. When Chrsit forgave us, he casts them into of forgetfulness. Don’t just tell somebody that you are sorry. Mean that you’re sorry.
#6 We have the benefits of riches. I thank God for the riches I have in Christ Jesus my Lord. The world can never satisfy your hungry soul. There are people out there looking for something, searching for something. A lot of people don’t know what life is all about. They are living their lifes and getting old and they don’t know Christ. They need something to grab hold to. They turn to drugs, alcohol, gang banging. We must share the word of God with them. We need to tell them that the World don’t have anything to offer. We have to share the word of God with them. We need to tell them that the world doesn’ have anything to offer you. But Christ have everything.
#7 We have the benefit of eternal life. Jesus said I am the resurrection. He that liveth and believe in me shall never die. Paul said in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. Sin means death. Christ means eternal life. You cannot inherit eternal life. You can only get it when Christ gives it. People need to study that word give. John 3:27 “A man can receive nothing except it be given to him from above.” You can’t have anything if Christ doesn’t give it to you. Nothing. No Hope. No Peace. No Joy. The devil wants to strip you of all the blessings and benefits that God has given you. If you let him. He will He will take away your hope that is built on nothing less that Jesus’ blood and rightesousness. He will take away your peace. That peace like a river that flows continually. He will take away your joy. That joy that you have that the world didn’t give to you. But if you let the world, the world will take it away.
I don’t know about you this morning, but I want the benefits of being a Child. Let me get self out of the way and let me tell Satan to go away so that I can get where I need to be with God so that I can receive all the benefits that God has to offer. I don’t know about you this morning, but I want to be a blessing to others. I want to let my little light shine so that somebody may see my good works and glorify the Lord which is in Heaven.
