1 John 3:1 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God."
"Bestowed on us" can also be translated "lavished on us". It has the idea of a one-sided giving, not a return for something. Spurgeon says this about it... "I have published it before heaven and earth, and made the angels know it, that you are my children, and I am not ashamed of you. I glory in the fact that I have taken you for sons and daughters."
Guzik says, "If we are truly children of God, then it should show in our likeness to God, and in our love for our 'siblings'."
Being the Christmas season, I have been pondering a lot about this holiday as of late. I have been asking myself, and inquiring of the Lord as well, about what glorifies Him through this holiday. How much of what I do as we celebrate "Christmas" brings Him glory, and how much grieves Him? These are questions we all should be asking ourselves and going to the Word to find answers for & then walking in obedience when He shows us.
Today, Christmas Day 2012, I have been pondering His love. It has brought me rest today as I thought so much about His birth.... and His death. We sang a song at church a few weeks ago that said, "He was born to die." His sole purpose for being born was to bear the wrath of God for my sin, so that I can in turn receive life that only Christ deserved. Not only do I deserve death, but I deserve God's wrath. But, because He was born, instead of wrath and death, I get love and the title "child of God". That is love.
To be a child of God, we must have regenerated hearts. We must be "born again" as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, and be made "new creations" as Paul talks about in 2 Cor. 5:17. We are saved by grace through faith. It is a gift of God -- the greatest gift ever given. If you are truly His child, you will bear a likeness to God.
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