I Am The Beloved of God
At the time I am writing this, it’s a few days before Father’s Day. I love being a dad to my children. It’s a great honor and privilege to get to parent them.
Knowing the way I feel about them and the way I feel about being a father to them, it still absolutely amazes me that God feels this way about me and being a Father to me.
He adores you too, and He loves being your Father as well. And that is what happens the moment you put your faith and trust in Jesus for Salvation.
God becomes your Father and you become His child. You receive a new identity.
THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD
In the opening chapter of the gospel of John, we read these important words:
12 …to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
(John 1:12)
John says, “to all who received Jesus.” Not those who impressed Jesus. Not those who earned a certain status, went to church a certain number of times, gave money, or served in a soup kitchen, but rather “to those who received Him.”
And to those who received Jesus through faith, John says are born again of God and become His children. There is a spiritual rebirth that takes place in you, and you become a child of God the moment you receive Jesus into your life by faith.
And this becomes your new identity. This is who you are. Who you were always meant to be.
I love the way John describes those of us who receive Jesus by faith in verse 12. He said that “he gave us the right to become children of God.”
And there are 3 words John uses here that I just want to quickly draw your attention to.
RIGHT
The first one is “right.” This confers status as a child of God.
Think about this: you have the full authority to the exalted title of “Child of God.”
I mean the God of the universe…the holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise God of the universe who speaks things into existence and holds the world together in His hands…The Lord of Lords and the King of Kings…The Almighty…The Great I Am…has given you the right to be called a child of His.
BECOME
The next word in verse 12, I hope you notice is “become.”
John said that God gave the right to become a child of God. “To become” means there’s been a change.
You weren’t a child of God, but you’ve become one now. You were someone before Christ, but now you are someone different. You have changed.
CHILDREN
The final word I want to highlight is in verse 12, and that is the word “children.”
Leon Morris, in his commentary on the gospel of John, writes about how John uses the term “children” instead of “sons” here, and that he does that to draw attention to the community of nature.
You now share the DNA of God the Father. That is why you are not just called His child but have become His child.
So, being a child of God isn’t just a title. No, at the very core of your being, you have changed into the very nature of a child of God. Therefore, the title reflects who you’ve been changed into!
I AM THE BELOVED OF GOD
After writing about the right to become a child of God, the apostle John writes later in one of his letters about the kind of child you are.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now…
(1 John 3:1)
You are not just a child of God; you are a beloved child of God. Beloved means “dearly loved.” You are not just loved, but you are dearly loved.
You may even remember that this was God’s term for Jesus. Jesus was God’s beloved Son in Whom He was well pleased (Luke 3:22).
If God uses this term to describe Jesus, think about what that says about you!
Here is what Brennan Manning says about this in his book titled, Abba’s Child:
Living in awareness of our belovedness is the axis around which the Christian life revolves. Being the beloved is our identity, the core of our existence. It is not merely a lofty thought, an inspiring idea, or one name among many. It is the name by which God knows us and the way he relates to us.
(Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child)
The name by which God knows you is “beloved son,” or “beloved daughter,” and it is the way that God relates to you on a daily basis.
Therefore, be diligent to define yourself in this way: “I am the beloved of God!”
ABBA FATHER
As a beloved child of God, we have the privilege of approaching God as an intimate Father.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 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 8:14-15)
“Abba” is the Aramaic word for “father.” It was used primarily within the family circle and in prayer. This reveals the intimate nature of the relationship you have with God as a child of His. He is your Dad.
In his book Classic Christianity, Bob George gives a great example of this intimacy from back when John F. Kennedy was president…
The small boy, not quite 3 years old, skipped down the imposing corridors. But armed servicemen, who are the best of the best, took no notice of the child who ran past their assigned posts. The boy passed several staff members on his way, who likewise took little notice except for an occasional smile. Passing a secretary’s desk, the little boy did not acknowledge her wave, intent as he was on his goal. In front of the door stood another armed sentry. But the guard made no movement to hinder the progress of the child who opened the door and went inside. With a grin, the boy just ran across the carpet of the Oval Office and climbed up into the lap of the most powerful man in the world. Influential cabinet members had to wait to continue their discussion as President John F. Kennedy and his son, John-John, exchanged their good morning hugs and kisses…
This contrast has always struck me: the most powerful man in the world, and the little boy who could stroll past secretaries, staff members, and security guards and jump into his father’s arms. But can you imagine someone objecting? ‘Now, wait just a minute! Don’t you know who that man is? He is the president of the United States, the leader of the greatest nation on earth. You can’t just waltz in here anytime you want. And you certainly can’t be sitting in his lap! Who do you think you are?’ John-John would have just looked up at his challenger with a surprised look. Then, with a grin of total confidence, he would have said, ‘He’s my daddy!’ Because you see, John-John knew who his father was, and he knew who he was.
(Bob George, Classic Christianity)
It makes all the difference to know who your Father is and to know who you are.
You are a child of God, and the most important Being in the universe may be sitting in the Holy of Holies with armies of angels guarding His presence while He is in elaborate thought and discussion about all the important things going on in our world, but you can come skipping into the room and crawl up into His lap and rest in Him.
And if the angels were to try and stop you and ask, “What do you think you are doing? This is the God of the universe; the most important being in this universe. He is holy and perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing, and He has thousands of important things to be thinking about and managing, so who do you think you are to just barge in here and sit in His lap?”
You can just look over at them and say, “But this is my Father, and I am His beloved child.”
Purchase the books listed in this article on Amazon!
Are you struggling to accept God’s love?
We’ve bought into the lie that we are worthy of God’s love only when our lives are going well. But when life begins to fall through the cracks and things become less-than-perfect, we scramble to present a good front to the world―and to God.
God longs for us to deeply believe and know that He loves us and accepts us as we are. He calls for us to remove our mask and establish an honest and deep relationship with Him. When we are our true selves, we can finally claim our identity as His own―Abba’s child.
Like so many Christians, Bob George started out in love with Jesus, only to end up feeling disappointed and empty. Drawing on his struggles and his teaching and counseling experience, Bob cuts to the heart of believers’ common questions…
Doesn’t God expect me to clean up my act before I approach Him?
I know God loves me―but does He accept me?
I’m saved and forgiven… do I just wait for heaven now?
In Classic Christianity, believers will see the way back to the life Jesus provided―a life set free from the law’s bondage, lived in the newness of the Spirit, and secure in the Father’s affection.
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