All Beholding Beauty devotionals are written as short, worshipful reflections to help you meditate on God’s Word.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” – 1 John 3:1a
You, dear Christian, are a child of God! And this is all the result of the love that God the Father has lavished unto us.
I can’t read this verse without hearing echoes of Ephesians 2:1-3 ringing in my ears: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
We have all arrived on the scene of God’s world DOA, spiritually dead on arrival. And due to our sin, we were not children of God, but children of wrath. That wrath is God’s perfect, good, righteous anger toward our sin, which is worthy and deserving of eternal punishment.
That was who we were; our identity was this: child of wrath! But 1 John 3:1 preaches a glorious message that is filled with great news!
Here’s the message: God the Father loves us in spite of our sin, and He has done everything necessary to bring us back to Him! He has taken our sin away from us and cast them all into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19)! He dealt with our punishment by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our substitute (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-11). Jesus, the true, eternal child of God essentially became a child of wrath on our behalf on the cross, the place that He received the judgment that we deserve!
Jesus has made it possible for us, children of wrath, to receive a new identity: children of God!
How can it be, O Lord, that your grace, love, mercy, and compassion would be lavished onto me? How can it be, O Lord, that you would give up your One and Only Son, in order to gain me as an adopted son?
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Dear Christian, I urge you today to see what kind of love the Father has given to us! And don’t just see it for a few seconds, but gaze upon it, focus upon it, and fix your eyes on it for as long as you possibly can throughout your day!
What kind of love is this that He has He shown us? Extravagant love! Glorious love! All-satisfying love that will delight your soul for all of eternity! The Apostle John said, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we enter into a beautiful relationship with a Heavenly Father who loves us more than we could ever imagine! And through the Spirit that the Father and the Son have given to us, we can gladly cry out, “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6) as His beloved children!
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
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