Being Children of God
Scott Harman
January 27, 2024
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Listen to this daily worship
1 John 3: 1-3 (NIVUK)
1 See what great 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. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Before I was a parent, before I was married, I thought I could be perfect for God. Indeed, the author of 1 John says, “all who have this hope in him purify themselves.” Then in verse 6 it says, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.” Before I had committed myself to others truly, I thought I could actually avoid making a mistake. Maybe a better way to put it is that I thought I could avoid getting dirty; I could stay pure to use the language of 1 John.
To be clear, I’m talking about myself here; my own personal experience. I’m not saying anything specific about singlehood or couplehood or parenthood. I’m just saying that for me, in my own journey of faith, and also where I’m at in the journey of life right now, with kids that will soon be adults, all these verses about being God’s Child seem framed up in my experience of being a dad.
The times I had to run out into the mud and pick my fallen child up. I had to get dirty.
Sometimes it was actual mud. Sometimes it was metaphorical mud.
It doesn't really feel great to get dirty, but when it comes to my children I’ll get dirty.
So I don’t really see this passage the way I used to. The love that God lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God, was his willingness to get dirty.
His willingness to be beaten.
His willingness to bleed.
His willingness to die.
And his lavish love was so great that he didn’t stay dead.
How great is that!?!?
If Jesus got dirty, then I can get dirty. If we are to be like Christ, as the passage says, we sometimes need to run into the mud for his children. Somehow, personally, I feel so freed by that idea. Instead of ordering my days trying to avoid difficulty, to avoid conflict, or pain; my days can be ordered around love, which sometimes means making a hard choice, doing a hard thing, or sharing another’s burden.
Prayer:
Dear God, how great is your love that you have lavished upon us!?!? I worship you for getting dirty on our behalf. I want to be like you, I want to be purified by you. Lord, today give me the courage to get dirty on behalf of your children. If we are to be like you we must love lavishly. And so Lord, as your children, draw us deeper into understanding and knowledge of your lavish love.
Amen
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