Last week we began a new series on identity and how we define ourselves, and if you missed last week, I can’t encourage you enough to go back and watch last week’s message on our YouTube channel or Facebook or our website…wherever…because we did an introduction to this series and we talked about a lot of things that I think really set the tone for this series and I think are really crucial for us to understand…

But one of the things we talked about is how we tend to identify ourselves by what we do, a role or title that we have earned, or sometimes by what other people say about us…

And we do that b/c this is the way we see it work in our world…and when we see that those things don’t always work for us or define us in a way that brings meaning and significance to us then we also try to latch on to any and all kinds of things out in the world to define who we are…being a U.S. citizen or belonging to a certain political party or maybe we try to define who we are by our sexuality or by our appearance or any or all kinds of other things.

But of course all of these things are fleeting…they can change with which direction the wind is blowing and so we are either having to work extra hard to try and maintain an identity we’ve earned or we are constantly changing how we define ourselves and constantly trying to figure out who we are…

But that is because this was not how were meant to define ourselves or what we draw our identity from…

See our identity is something that is not meant to be earned…our identity is not something that was meant to be defined by our feelings or our thoughts or what other people say about us…our identity isn’t meant to be found in a place we live or a political party or by our sexuality or appearance…

Our identity is meant to be found in Christ.  He defines who we are.  And it is not something we earn from Him or achieve, it’s something we receive from Him.  Let me show you what I mean.  Look at John 1:12

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 says, “to all who received Jesus.”  Not those who impressed Jesus… not those who earned a certain status or went to church a certain number of times or gave a certain amount of money or served in the soup kitchen a certain amount of times…no, “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 at the moment you receive Jesus into your life by faith.

And this becomes your new identity… “You are a child of God.” This is who you are…this is who you were meant to be… the core source of your identity is your relationship with your God and Father through Jesus Christ His one and only Son, whom you are now in union with

I love the way John describes those of us who receive Jesus by faith in v. 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.  The first one is “the 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 are some of His titles…

And you have the right to be called a Child of His…You are a Child of God.

So that’s the 1st word I want you to notice…but look at the next word he uses in v. 12, “become.” 

John said that God gave the right to become a child of God.  In other words, 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’ve been changed… So it’s not just a title…no, at the very core of your being, you have changed into the very nature of a child of God…and so the title reflects who you’ve been changed into!

And that brings up the 3rd word I want to highlight that John used in v. 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 and cross references this with 2 Peter 1:4 which talks about…

How we are “partakers of the divine nature,” how we share in the divine nature of God. 

Let me put it this way: You now share the dna of God the Father…that is why you are not just called His child but HAVE BECOME His child.

This is who you are…this is who you’ve been changed into at the very core of your being.  Do you really believe this?  I mean, how would your life change if you truly believed that you share the same dna as God your Father and that you are really his son or daughter?

But listen, there’s more to this.  John goes on in one of his letters and uses a term to describe even more fully what kind of child you are…Look at 1 Jn 3:1

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…

You are not just a child of God, you are a BELOVED Child of God.  Now beloved isn’t a term that too many of us use any more, but of course it 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.  In Luke 3, when Jesus was being baptized by John, we are told that God said…22 … You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

God calls Jesus His BELOVED Son…his dearly loved son in whom he is well pleased.  And keep in mind that this is before Jesus started His earthly ministry.  He hasn’t healed anyone yet, he hasn’t performed the sermon on the mount, he hasn’t walked on water or done any miracles yet…and God says “you are my BELOVED Son in whom I am well pleased.”

And listen, the same is true of you!  YOU are His Beloved Child as well, and He is well pleased with you too.  Not because of your behavior or your performance, but just because you are His kid.  Isn’t that amazing?  I mean, you get that, and that truly can change your life!

In his book, Abba’s Child, Brennan Manning tells the story of a man named John Eagan, who was really just an ordinary man who was ravished by God’s love for him in being His child and wrote about it in a diary he kept.  And he writes in his diary one day while he was on this spiritual retreat about a mtg he had with a spiritual mentor named Bob, and this is what he writes about their conversation…

Bob says to me, “John, the heart of it is this: to make the Lord and his immense love for you constitutive of your personal worth.  Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.  God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth.  Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life.

And then John goes on to declare this:  The basis of my personal worth is not my possessions, my talents, not esteem of others, reputation…not kudos of appreciation from parents and kids, not applause, and everyone telling me how important I am to the place…No, I stand anchored now in God before whom I stand naked, this God who tells me, “You are my son, my beloved one.”

After telling this story, Manning would go on to write…

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)

Guys, 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…so do what Bob told John to do: “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.”

There’s one other passage I want us to look at though today to kind of round out this message on our identity in being God’s child.  Look at Romans 8:14. Paul says…

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.”

Paul here as well as in other places like Galatians 4 contrast the difference between being a slave and being a son of God.  A slave had no rights… a slave was seen as property… a slave doesn’t receive an inheritance… and a slave lived in fear…Fear of his or her owner and how they would treat them and fear of rejection (if you are just property then you can be thrown out at any time)…

But a son in this day and age had security, a son received the inheritance, a son had status…And Paul here says that “you are a son.”  Now that has nothing to do with being a female or a male…regardless of your gender, Paul wants you to see the status you have as God’s child…

But Paul then goes beyond that and describes the type of relationship we have with God in being his child.  He says that by him we cry, ‘”Abba, Father.”

In other words, you don’t have to fear your Heavenly Father treating you poorly, you don’t have to fear Him rejecting you…You are secure as His child, and you have an intimate relationship with Him…one where you are loved and accepted completely by Him.

In his book Classic Christianity, Bob George gives such a great example of this from back when John F Kennedy was president. He writes…

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…

Bob writes, 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!’  B/C You see, John-John knew who his father was, and he knew who he was.

It makes all the difference to know who your Father is and to know who you are.  You are the child of God…the most important being in the universe…he may be sitting in the Holy of Holies in elaborate thought and discussion about the 100’s of thousands of important things going on in our world and there might be armies of angels all around guarding his presence…

But you can come skipping into the room while all of the angels just sit back and watch as you crawl up into the arms God, and if the angels 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 Daddy and I am his beloved child.”  And you can crawl up into his lap and rest playfully in his arms.

You are a beloved child of God.