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Behold What Manner of Love

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him (I John 3:1 NIV).

Whose family do you belong to? There are those who would have you believe that God is the Father of us all, regardless of our spiritual state. But is that true, is it biblical? Scripture teaches us that there are only two families in this world, the family of God and the family of the devil. Scripture also teaches us that all of us were born spiritually dead, alienated from God, and therefore as members of the devil’s family. Whether we realized it or not, we had as our father the devil. Yes, I realize that much of what I’ve said up to this point is politically incorrect. But honestly, do we really need more political correctness, or do we need the TRUTH?

Does God really love us? If He does, how much does He love us? We only need to look to the cross for the answer to those questions! He loves us with an everlasting love. John says that God’s love for us is so great, that He acted upon that love by sending, by giving His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on that cross in our place in order to remove us from the devil’s family and bring us into His own.

Here is the dilemma every human being faces. We are all born sinners (Rom. 3:23) and the penalty of sin is death, both physical, but more importantly, spiritual (Rom. 6:23). As a result, from the time we were conceived we were already alienated from God, from the time we were born we were in enmity with Him, we were His enemies (Col. 1:21). The only hope of us being reconciled to God, the only hope of us having our sins forgiven, the only hope of us becoming members of God’s family would come through spiritual regeneration. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless we were spiritually “born again,” we would not see the Kingdom of God; much less enter it (John 3:3-7). Salvation is found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and in no one else, there is no one else who can save us (Acts 4:12). Even though virtually every religion in the world teaches that man can either save himself or at minimum contribute to his own salvation through some system of “good works,” that theology is completely inconsistent with what the Word of God teaches. There is absolutely nothing any of us can do, in part or in whole, to be reconciled to God (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7).

Yes, God loves us, but that doesn’t mean we get a free pass. God is holy, righteous, and just, as well. And because He is holy, righteous, and just, He cannot allow sin in heaven. Unless we acknowledge our sin, repent, and by faith appropriate the gift of eternal life by trusting Christ and Christ alone for our salvation, we will remain as members of the devil’s family here on earth and after physical death, we will spend eternity with him in hell. Listen closely, God desires for all people to know the truth and to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). The Truth, not political correctness, will set you free (John 8:32). Here it is folks, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

We all have a choice, to believe or not to believe. We all have a choice as to what we will do with this Jesus. What is at stake? Our soul is at stake! If what the Bible teaches is true, then no other decision we make in life will be more important than this one. Nothing else will matter much if we don’t get this one right. Are you willing to chance an eternity in hell, to risk an eternity completely, wholly, and utterly separated from God without ever even giving what the Bible teaches due consideration, without doing everything on your part to find out if Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be and to determine whether or not He did what the Bible claims He did for you? God will never impose Himself on you; He will never force you to do anything against your will. But know that if you reject His Son, if you reject the Gospel, then you have no one to blame but yourself for the consequences. By the way, not making a decision is a decision in and of itself.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). How great is God’s love for us? Christ died on Calvary’s cross so that through a personal relationship with Him we might become children of God and members of His family. God is NOT everybody’s Father, but the real question is, is He YOUR Father?

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Comments

  1. Very good message. Hard to convince people they are not children of God without faith in His Son - Jesus Christ.

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