He’s Our Heavenly Father
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of
God; and every one that loveth is born of God,
and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God; for God is love (1 John 4:7-8).
God is your Father! The Lord Jesus confirmed
this in John 20:17, when He said to Mary,
“…Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my
Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I
ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my
God, and your God.” Jesus knew God as His Father;
now, He calls Him our loving heavenly Father as well.
He sure is; we’re His offspring.
1 John 3:1 says, “Behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not.” O, the power and
import of this verse! He lavished His love upon us, so
that we might be called the “sons” of God! Do you
know what that means? It means we’re His sons in the
same sense that Jesus is the Son of God.
If you’d recall, that was the reason the Jews wanted
Him dead; they heard Him say, “I’m the Son of God!”
They said, “How dare you; a mere man, you’re making
yourself equal with God?” “Therefore the Jews sought
the more to kill him, because he not only had broken
the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father,
making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).
The latter part of 1 John 3:1 that we read says,
“…therefore the world knoweth us not, because it
knew him not.” The world doesn’t recognize God
as our Father, and us as His legal and vital offspring,
possessing the same life and nature with Him, because
it didn’t recognize Jesus as such when He walked the
earth. Nevertheless, “Now are we the sons of God”
(1 John 3:2).
Now that you’re born again, you’ve been made
alive and awakened to the fatherhood of God. Eternal
life has been imparted to your spirit, and there’s a
fellowship, a oneness with God that’s so real: “And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father”
(Galatians 4:6).
Prayer
Dear Father, I thank you for the great love with which you loved
me, demonstrated in sending Jesus to die in my place for the
propitiation of my sins. Now I can call you my loving Father.
I don’t walk in fear, but in confidence, knowing that your
love for me is eternal! Thank you for bringing me into such
glorious oneness with you, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further Study
1 John 4:16-19; James 1:18; Hebrews 2:10
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
Jeremiah 33
Philemon 1:1-25
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
John 8:44-59
2 Kings 24-25