“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” – 1 John 3:1 NIV
One of the most astonishing claims in all of Scripture is that God, the Creator and Lord over all creation, has made us his children. We were without hope and without God in this world, and through Jesus, God brought us into his family. We were his enemies, but he made us his sons and daughters.
When Jesus taught us to pray, he could have taught us to address God as “Creator” or “Lord” or “Most Holy King”. These would have been accurate titles which would have inspired humble fear. Instead Jesus taught us to address the King who is above all kings and kingdoms as our Father. God’s absolute greatness and unfathomable glory, make the title Father even more shocking. The all-knowing, all-powerful God and righteous Judge, loves us tenderly and calls us his children. It is truly a great love that God has lavished on us in calling us his children.
Yet the Apostle Paul gives us another astonishing perspective. He told us that believers in Jesus received this position and privilege because God adopted us. This means God chose us to be his children. No one could force God to make us his children. He did it because he wanted us to be part of his family. Paul wrote to the believers in the city of Ephesus that God “predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” (Ephesians 1:5) Did you catch that? Our Father adopted us “in accordance with his pleasure and will.” It made him happy to adopt us.
And if this were still not enough, Paul wrote to the believers in Rome that, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15). We cry “Abba” to our Heavenly Father. “Abba” is not formal like “Father”, it’s informal and intimate like “Daddy” or “Papa”.
Can you wrap your head around this? Does your heart have the courage to embrace this? The Lord of the universe loves you so greatly and tenderly that he wants you to call him “Daddy”.
We can have confidence in this position and privilege because our Father is faithful. He is not going to un-adopt us. He knew all about of our sin and our lukewarm hearts toward himbefore he chose to adopt us. Because of his faithful love and grace he has made believers in Jesus a permanent part of his family.
God being our Father is not always easy to understand or accept. It’s even difficult for many people. What about you? How would your life be different if you fully embraced God as your tender, faithful Father who chose you and will never let you go?
Scripture readings this week
- March 15 – Exodus 9:13-35
- March 16 – Exodus 10
- March 17 – Exodus 11
- March 20 – John 12:37-50
- March 21 – John 13:1-17