Read
1 John 3:1-3
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. 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. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Reflect
The central hope of the gospel and, indeed, the full scope of Scripture is that we are rescued from the curse of sin, redeemed by the love of Jesus, renewed by the power of the Spirit, and even beyond that, reconciled to the heart of the Father. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of his glory and expanding his family.
This is a radical idea. That God has always, since his first initiating act toward humanity, set out to form a family. And to draw us into it.
Through Adam and Eve, Noah and his offspring, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Israel, David and the kings, all the way to a dusty nowhere town and a couple of nobodies named Joseph and Mary.
What a thought. If there is a God of any kind anywhere, anyone would imagine this deity setting out to create a kingdom of servants around its own exalted throne. That’s pretty much the script of every religion everywhere. But the prevailing narrative has now been turned on its head. This God has called us sons and daughters, and our inheritance is his love. And as you can hear in John’s own words, the world has yet to recover from the absurd surprise of it all.
If there is a God, you would assume that he is great.
The shocking twist is that he is good.
Pray
Our Father, help us remember that this journey toward awakening is a journey deeper into the bonds of your family. Amen.
Conference
What does it mean to you to be a member in the family of God? How does that change the way you engage with your church, this group, and other relationships?
For the Awakening,
Matt LeRoy