SONSHIP

"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, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." 1 John 3:1-3 ESV


My last name is Robison. My father is Col. Don Robison. I come from a family that has fought in every war Americans have fought in from Vietnam all the way back to the French and Indian wars. Not only that, I have a distant Aunt in Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington, and a distant cousin George Washington. When it comes to earthly family stock, I have a lot to be proud of but it is nothing compared to the family of God that I have been brought into through the blood of Jesus.

Except for the demonstration of God's love on the cross of Calvary, in my opinion the most marvelous proof of God's love for you and me is this: Adoption into Sonship. The right and privilege and authority and the transformation that has been given to us to become the children of God.


John’s epistle has been called the “love” epistle. He mentions love and god’s love throughout the book. As he thinks about God’s love he reflects upon the fatherhood of God and our love relationship with Him as Sons. John gives us four wonderful truths in our text.

1. Because God loves us as Sons we have identity "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God"... (Verse 1a )


John writes in other translations “behold what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us”. John invites us to look at the Father's love and to be staggered, amazed, and astonished by it; the depth, the quality, and the commitment of His heart. When we observe the apostle John's word our text the tone of John's words virtually bristle with urgency and excitement. "Come quickly and see! Look! Listen! You can't imagine what I have to tell you!" I like that. Here's an elderly man nearing the end of life who still gets excited about the love of God. Why? Because John knew that God's love has bestowed on us the greatest of all blessings: Sonship. Here is the measure of God's love. Here is the test of how deeply He treasures us.

The astonishing thing is not just the fact that God loves us, but how God loves us. The Greek word here “potapen” originally meant “of what country or race”. It is an exclamation of surprise or astonishment. What kind of country is this that is represented by a love like this? It is so strange, so otherworldly, so divine that it makes us children of God. It’s a strange kind of love, a love that we’re not accustomed to on this earth. What kind of love is it? The supernatural, heavenly, infinite, divine, holy love of the Father. John purposely uses words to help us to see the way we can approach God.


Notice John says that this love has not just been shown us, revealed to us, spoken about to us though He has done all of that but even more- He has lavished His love upon us!(Romans 5:5) What does this love do? He lavishes love on Sons! He calls us children of God. We have a new relationship with God in terms of intimate Sonship. Who am I? That’s a question we all ask at one time. Who determines who I am-parents, friends, others, society, myself? Am I what I do? Am I my relationships? Am I what I own? Am I how I look? Am I what you determine me to be? What happens when lose everything that once gave us identity in this world as has happened to me. God says "you are a child of God". We are to be called “children, beloved children of God! Oh how John wants us to let God redefine us!

2. Because God loves us as Sons we have potential "and so we are. "(Verse 1b )


We have new status and we have new life. “That is what we are!” (NIV) We aren’t hoping to be or expecting to be. We are! Paul speaks often of this as well. For example in Romans 8:15-17, "for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ"


In Hebrew culture the testimony of two witnesses was given to establish a truth, we have just that. Paul says, both our innermost being and the Holy Spirit (Called the Spirit of Sonship.
When you become a child of God you become an heir of all that God owns. All that belongs to God is your inheritance. (Read 2 Peter 1) In the resurrection everything that exists will be yours. And God will care for you for ever and make you infinitely happy in his presence. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of adoption. Being a child of God, therefore, is not a universal status everyone attains by natural birth. It is rather a supernatural gift one receives by believing in Jesus. Adoption is wholly and utterly an act of God's spontaneous and uncoerced love.

My heart breaks each time I see or read about the orphans in such lands as Sudan and Bosnia. Political oppression has taken its toll on countless little children who have been cruelly abandoned. They are alone, discarded, often diseased and deformed, helpless, and without hope. It isn't a pretty picture. It's just as ugly when looked at spiritually. For we are all born spiritual orphans. Apart from Jesus Christ we too are abandoned and stricken with a fatal disease called sin. We have no family, no father, and no future. Here is where God's incalculable love makes its appearance.

Today when a childless couple visits an orphanage with a view to adopting, they invariably base their choice on physical beauty and intellectual skills. Rarely does one hear of a child with Downs’s syndrome being adopted. Rarely does the orphan with physical defects go home with new parents. Prospective parents want to know about a child's natural father and mother. Was this child the product of rape? What is his ethnic origin? Did she come from "good stock?" What is his IQ?

God's choice of us is utterly and eternally different. He didn’t make us His children because we were prettier than others. Divine adoption isn't concerned with physical health or financial wealth or potential or one's past history. God loves the unlovely and unappealing. God loves because God loves. That is why you are His child. Because He loves you. But God does. The love that John has in view here in 1 John 3:1 is not the love that merely takes care of paper work and adopts. That would be amazing beyond words -- to be adopted into God’s family. And Paul does describe it this way. But John sees more. John 1:12-13, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."


John goes to great lengths to insist that entrance into God's family is on a different plane from entrance into one's earthly family. The biblical doctrine of adoption makes sense only when we remember that we are not God's natural children. It is true that God is the Father of all men and women insofar as He is the Creator. But many such "children" of God will spend an eternity in hell. One does not become a spiritual child of God by being born, but by being born again. Let me explain.

God does not adopt. He moves in, by his Spirit, his seed, John calls it, and imparts something of himself to us, so that we take on a family resemblance. If you are a child of God you are so by adoption, yes, and by more than adoption, by new birth.

3. Because God loves us as Sons we have destiny "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (Verse 2)


John reaffirms what he said in verse 1 “We are”, not shall be.These are the facts. Conduct does not determine relationship. You either are a child of God or you are not. Relationship is something that is fixed and remains. We shall never be more the children of God than we already are now. When once you understand adoption, your heart will cry the same."' It isn't make-believe. It is more real than you can ever imagine. To every soul that doubts, to every heart that wonders if it's only a name, a label, with no substance, John reassuringly declares, "And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:2). It's fact. It's truth. It's reality.


But all that this means is still unsure to us. It’s only the tip of the iceberg of what is in store for us in the future. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:9, " However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."


There are three certainties about our destiny:

A. We know that He will appear

B. We know that we will be like Him

C. We shall see Him as He is Nothing shall interfere with the Father’s purpose for us. We have so much to look forward to!


4. Because God loves us as Sons we have hope "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (Verse 3 )


What is the impact of all this on our life today? John spells it out in simple terms. Hope is the guaranteed expectation for all of God’s sons and daughters enabling them to look forward to the future with joy in the present. Objectively,whether we believe it or not, it is based upon God’s divinely guaranteed promise. Subjectively, it means the activity or habit of looking forward to the day of what has been promised becoming ours in actual enjoyment. It is very different than optimism. Why? John tells us that because of Sonship we never are beyond hope! Hope purifies our purpose. Hope tells us that the best is yet to be. Where there is hope for the future, there is power in the present.” Romans 15:13, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Only where there is hope is there life! Hope generates energy, enthusiasm, and excitement.


So, how great is the Father’s love for you? That you should be called a child of God! I have identity, I have potential, I have destiny, and I have hope! May this truth help you to be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height...to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19) and “to be imitators of God as dear children.” (Ephesians. 5:1)

Basking in Sonship,
Pastor Bill