Beloved Children of God
“See what kind of love
the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we
are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;
but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him
as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure” (1
John 3:1–3).
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
This short text is
brimming with Good News:“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that
we should be called children of God.” Did you hear that? God deals with us in
love and calls us His children.
Not only that: He calls
us “Beloved!” Much loved. Dearly loved. We’re not just some orphan children God
brought into the world and then left to fend for ourselves. God is not some
deadbeat absentee father. We are His dear children; He is our dear heavenly
Father. God loves you dearly in Christ!
For the sake of His
beloved Son, God deals with you in love. He does not deal with you in anger,
saying, “You’ve got one more chance to shape up before I drop the hammer. He
doesn’t deal with you in fairness, saying, “I’ll help you out as much as you
help Me.” He doesn’t deal with you on a contractual basis: “I’ll give you one
blessing for every five good deeds you do.” No, God deals with you in reckless,
extravagant love. He declares, “Love equals hard work, service to others. I
love you so much that I’ve worked hard for your salvation. I’ve given My Son up
to death on the cross to save you from your sin.”
Furthermore, God’s love
is ongoing—He hasn’t stopped loving you. He gives you all that you need for
life today. He gives you all that you need for eternal life. All this He does
this out of His Fatherly love and mercy without any merit or worthiness on your
part.
Furthermore, God calls
you His children. He doesn’t call you His enemy, even though you were born as
an enemy of God (Romans 5:10), naturally doing what He commanded you not to do.
Rather than defeat you as an enemy, God gave His Son to make you His beloved
child. Rather than condemn you for eternity, God gives you everlasting life.
Rather than treat you as a foreigner, God calls you one of His chosen people. Rather
than treat you as His servant who must earn your keep by how hard you work, God
calls you His beloved child.
The Father has made you
His beloved child for Jesus’ sake. He’s borne you into His family—not by your
labor, but by the work of His Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. As a Father, He’s
declared His Word to you, teaching you about matters of life and death. He’s
given you His commands, so that you know the rules of the house. He’s told you
about His love for you in Jesus. As a Father, He’s promised to keep speaking to
you in His Word, and He promises to keep you fed.
And what does He do to
you if you disobey Him? He keeps providing for you—He keeps telling you to
repent and keeps giving you forgiveness. He keeps providing forgiveness to keep
you as His child. That’s what a loving Father does for His beloved children.
And what does He do if you run away? He pursues you, inviting you back at every
opportunity. He patiently waits for you, welcoming you back with open arms.
That’s what a loving Father does.
“See what kind of love
the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” This is,
by the way, the theme of the family handbook—you probably know it as the Small
Catechism. (Show copy of Small Catechism)
Here, you learn the Ten
Commandments to learn the house rules—and how much you need to be forgiven for
not keeping them. Here you learn the proper fear, love, and trust of God taught
in Scripture. You learn the Creed to learn about the God who has sacrificed to
make you His child forever, and how He provides for all your needs of body and
soul. You learn the Lord’s Prayer, to learn how children speak to their Father
who is in heaven. You learn about Baptism, how you were born into the family
and live in the family. You learn about the Office of the Keys and Confession,
so that you might be sure that the Lord keeps speaking His Word of life to you.
And you learn about the Lord’s Supper, where He feeds you His body and blood
for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of your faith unto life everlasting. And you are to keep on
reviewing these doctrines for a lifetime.
You’re beloved children
of God. That’s what we all confessed today. And here’s the Good News: God says
the same thing about you, too. You’re God’s beloved children, right now. It’s
not a future thing, but right now you’re sons and daughters of the king. In
Christ, you’ve already conquered the world. For His sake, the kingdom of heaven
is already yours.
Here’s the tough part:
“The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." Because
the world doesn’t believe in Jesus, it’s not going to honor you as His
children. But you are His beloved children! You are blessed, even when it looks
to all the world as though you are not.
Look at our Gospel
lesson from Matthew 5 today. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted… Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.”
It’s still the same.
The world didn’t get the prophets so it persecuted them. The world didn’t know
Jesus, so it had Him put to death. The world doesn’t know Jesus, so it doesn’t
know you. It doesn’t get you and your faith. It doesn’t understand why you’d go
to worship instead of sleeping in or going to a sporting event, because it
knows about rest and recreation, but it doesn’t know about Jesus.
The world doesn’t
understand why you’d preserve the life of the unborn, even when that child has
Down,s Syndrome, because it doesn’t know the Author of life. It doesn’t
understand why you’d resist immoral temptations that would make your life “more
fun,” because it has no faith in Christ or the eternal life that He brings. It
doesn’t understand why you would spend two hours of your weekend hearing and
studying God’s Word in the worship service and Bible class, rather than spending
it on a thousand other things you could be doing with “your time.”
The world is
self-serving: it has to be, because it’s rejected the only true God to serve.
Therefore, it’s not going to understand you. For your efforts to help the
unborn or stand for morality, you’re going to be considered a kook. For your
hunger and thirst for the righteousness found in God’s Word, you will be called
a "hater." So you live by faith. The world doesn’t know you, but God
does. In His love, He’s made you His beloved child. He supplies strength to
endure. He forgives your sins for Jesus’ sake, and He promises you everlasting
life.
Be aware that the world
has a willing ally close to home—your old sinful nature. Your Old Adam doesn’t
get you, either; and he’s going to make the most of every opportunity to work
you over. Sometimes, you’re going to make a mistake—one that brings with it a
lot of shame and consequences. The embarrassment will be thick enough to taste,
and it’s not going to feel good to be you.
Old Adam will get a
hold of this, trying to persuade you that you’re either too rotten to be God’s
child, or that God must be to blame if He let you mess up so badly. He’ll do
his best to make you despair. But you live by faith; and by faith you remember
the love that the Father has given to you for Jesus’ sake. You have God’s Word
that He calls you His beloved child. Even if you have misused the freedom He
has given you in order to sin, God still loves you. For even though you may be
unfaithful, the Lord is faithful to you. He who did not spare His own Son to
make you His will not forsake you now, but stands ready to forgive.
Sometimes, things are
going to happen—bad things. Whether you’re in high school or a
great-grandparent, tragedies are always possible. The world and Old Adam are
going to team up to declare that you must have a worthless Lord if such things
would happen to you. But you live by faith. Even as the world mocks your
sorrows, you know by God’s Word that your sorrows are part of this world which
is passing away. By faith, you know of the love that your Father has given unto
you. You’re His beloved child, and so His kingdom of heaven is yours forever.
Sometimes, thanks to
Old Adam, you’re going to like that world that doesn’t know Jesus—you’re going
to like it better than the Lord who has redeemed you. The temptations are many.
You know your weaknesses better than anyone else, and they are too often
measured not by how hard you resist them but by how much you indulge them. If
sin were always terrifying and its wages immediately evident, this would be
less than a problem; but all too often sin looks necessary if you’re “really
going to live your life” in this world. To be honest: Sometime sin looks more
desirable. Old Adam is so near-sighted he has a hard time seeing anything
beyond himself and his own comfort and appetites.
Old Adam will do his
best to make grace and eternal life look boring and burdensome, and to make sin interesting
and desirable. But you know better. You live by faith. Despite the pleasures
that this world promises, you know that they will pass away with the world, and
a better kingdom is yours. Behold God’s love for you. He’s made you His beloved
child, and the kingdom of heaven is yours.
That’s what God says to
us in today’s text, and that’s what we rejoice to confess—to say with Him.
You’re going to see a lot of stuff in this world—some that seeks to seduce you
from your Savior, some that seeks to repel you from Him. But by God’s grace,
you know better. For now, you live by faith—but the Lord is at hand. He is as
near as His Word, declaring that you are His beloved child for Jesus’ sake.
This is so, because the
Holy Spirit has washed you by water and His Word in Baptism, so that you might
be God’s beloved child forever. Christ feeds you His body and blood for the
forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith. For Jesus’ sake,
you are beloved children of God. His kingdom is yours, and you will see Him in
His glory. You are blessed. You are forgiven for all your sins.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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