Being a Culture of Rescue and Redemption
As we seek to honor the sanctity of human life this weekend on the 38th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade decision, tomorrow’s message will be on “Being a Culture of Rescue and Redemption from 1 John 3:1. The text calls the readers to stand amazed that His immeasurable love has rescued us from our helpless state and made us His children forever. And if we are children, and we are, then we will fight against our sin, and we cannot be indifferent to living righteous lives of love.
God making us his children gives us insight into 1) God’s love for us and 2) how we are to love.
JI Packer’s famous quote from Knowing God helps us understand how important this image is for our relationship with God.
If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, Find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life it means that he doesn’t understand Christianity well at all.” p201
The metaphor of God as our father and we as his children also helps us know how to love.
Paul says in Ephesians 5:1, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Paul says we should imitate God as his beloved children. We love like God our Father. We love like Christ our brother. We should strive to be who our Daddy is and do what our Daddy does, walking in the love our brother Jesus walked. One way we can image forth God and walk in love is by caring for children. In the sermon, we will explore one way we can image forth God and that is by sacrificially spending our lives for children, especially the unborn, the orphan, and the needy. May God open our eyes to His beautiful love for us, His children, and prepare our hearts for the outrageous love the justice and mercy of God calls us to.
Praying for joy and power to imitate him as beloved children
