God went farther than saving you, He made you His child too!
Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! (1 Jn 3:1)
God made you His child by adopting you and making you a natural child by giving your spirit birth through His Spirit:
12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. (Jn 1:12-13)
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will … (Eph 1:4-5. See also Gal 4:4-5; Col 3:12; Jn 15:19)
Did you catch Eph 1:4 above? He CHOSE you to be His before the world even began. He handpicked you out of the 8 billion people alive today to belong to Him and become His child. That is an honor that very few people receive:
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. (Mt 7:13-14)
You are one of very few people in the world today and of all time that God has saved and made His child. At any point in history only a small percentage of people are true believers – during Noah’s time there were only 8, during Elijah’s time in Israel there were only 7,000, the prophet Isaiah speaks of how numerous Israel is and how few will be saved (Rom 9:28; Isa 10:22-23)
What it means to be God’s child
It’s mind blowing to take in that you are God’s child, isn’t it? Take time out now and think about what that means to you and Him.
It’s obvious but being God’s child means that God is your Father!
For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. (Jn 16:27)
He’s not just any Father, He’s the perfect Father who owns everything, is all powerful, merciful, wise, loving, etc.
Being God’s child means you to all the benefits that come with Him being your Father. Here’s a few to consider:
- He loves you (Rom 5:8)
- He blesses you with good things (Eph 1:3; Jms 1:17)
- He has a close relationship with you (Rom 8:15; Jn 15:15)
- He is always there for you (Heb 13:5; Ps 27:10)
- He understands you (Ps 103:13-14)
- He provides your needs (Mt 7:7-11)
- He protects you (Ps 121:7-8; Ps 91;4)
- He encourages you (Jn 16:33; Isa 40:31)
- He guides you (Ps 119:105; Ps 23:3; Pv 16:9)
- He comforts you (2 Cor 1:3-4)
- He teaches you (Ps 32:8)
- He disciplines you (Heb 12:5-11)
Let it sink in … God is your Father. You are God’s child.
Everything a good earthly parent does for their child, God does infinitely better for you as His child.
Look at what God said He was willing to do for Israel (His children):
3 For I Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior, give Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place. 4 Because you are precious in My sight
and honored, and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations instead of your life. (Isa 43:4-5)
That applies to you too since you are His child. God even gave up Himself for you.
God put His Spirit in you to develop a super close relationship with you:
15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” (Rom 8:15)
The term “Abba, Father” is one of extreme closeness and can be thought of as “Daddy”.
God is your Daddy who loves you more than you can imagine and one day He will tenderly wipe away your last tear:
… God … 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes … (Rev 21:3-4)
Spend time with your Heavenly Daddy. Thank and appreciate Him for taking you to be His child.
Think about it
How does it make you feel to know that God chose you to be His child?
How does your relationship with God change once you are His child?
What comforts you most about being God’s child?
What excites you the most about being God’s child?
How should knowing you’re God’s child change how you look at life? How should it change how you look at life?
How does it make you feel knowing that God Almighty has such a close relationship with you that He is your Daddy?
What does that mean to you?
BIBLE DEVOTIONS FOR LIVING 