Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 23

January 23;      I John 3:1;       232/260(III);        ‘Children of God’

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

The joy of John in this verse is almost incredulous.  He surely knows this, but God’s love still amazes him, that the Lord calls us His children.  John 17:23 teaches us that God the Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus.  The love of the Father sent the Lord Jesus to remove our sins so that we could become His children.  The Lord Jesus loved us as well and was willing to suffer and be separated from His Father for a time in order for us to be reconciled to the Father and become His children.  It is as if the plan of salvation, because of their love, bestowed upon us by the Father and Jesus still overwhelms John.  The world does not know us as His children.  Perhaps you spent some part of your life ‘in the world,’ doing what the world does.  Once you became born again and have become serious about the things of the Lord, you no longer even desire to do things you used to do.  Walking with the Lord, learning about Him in the Word, talking to Him in prayer and doing the work of the ministry makes us foreigners to the world and the things of the world.  What an honor, the world did not know the Lord Jesus and just like Jesus, the world does not know us either.  The Lord Jesus came into this world to save us and as His children we now intend to do our part in order to see as many as we can minister to, give their hearts to Jesus as well.  Things that may have been important to us no longer are.  As His children we want to be just like ‘Dad.’