KNOW YOUR BELOVEDNESS
In his book Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller shares a
story of how he helped a friend whose alcoholism was destroying his life: “Last
year, I pulled a friend out of his closet. His marriage was falling apart
because of his inability to stop drinking. This man is a kind and brilliant
human being, touched with many gifts from God but addicted to alcohol and being
taken down in the fight. He was suicidal, we thought, and the kids had been
sent away.
We sat together on his back deck and
talked for hours, deep into the night. I didn’t think he was going to make it.
I worried about him as I boarded my flight back to Portland, and he checked
himself into rehab. Two months later, he picked me up from the same airport,
having gone several weeks without a drink. As he told me the story of the
beginnings of his painful recovery process, he said a single incident was
giving him the strength to continue.
His Father had flown in to attend a
recovery meeting with him, and in the meeting, my friend had to confess all his
issues and weaknesses. When he finished, his Father stood up to address the
group. He looked at his son and said, “I have never loved my son as much as I
do at this moment. I love him. I want all of you to know I love him.” My friend
said that at that moment, for the first time in his life, he could believe that
God loved him, too. If God, his Father,
and his wife all loved him, he believed that he could fight the addiction, and
he might make it through.”[1]
A father’s unconditional love changed an alcoholic son for good.
If an earthly father could love his
alcoholic son that much, how much more could our heavenly Father love us? No
matter what you are going through today, God is here to tell you He loves you
so much and delights in you as his dearly beloved son or daughter. Do you Know
Your Belovedness? That was what the Apostle Paul was writing in Ephesians
4:32-5:1-2
The Apostle Paul affirms our new
identity and purpose in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly
loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and
gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
“Therefore, be imitators
of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ
also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God
as a fragrant aroma.” (NASB). If we were to imitate God as his beloved
children, we need to know who our God is and what our Belovedness is. Let’s
explore these aspects of father-son/ daughter relationships.
I. God
is Love.
What is your view of
God? How do you approach Him? Your view of God and how you approach Him deeply
affects your relationship with Him. Some approach God as the ruler, master, and
judge of the world. Someone who is up there waiting to punish our wrongdoings
and reward our good works. If that is how we approach God, our relationship
with Him is no different from that with a police officer who writes a ticket, a
teacher who grades our papers, or a judge who rules a verdict. In the world,
many approach God with fear.
The scriptures show us a different
God than we have imagined or told. The Apostle John, also known as “the
disciple whom Jesus loved,” gives one of the most profound and all-encompassing
definitions of who God is. I John 4:15-16, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus
is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely
on the love God has for us.” God is love. Whoever lives in love
lives in God, and God in them.
The essence of God is love. For our study, we
refer to the Greek word Agape to describe God’s love, which is
selfless love. All the attributes of God are summed up in this one word: Love.
All that God is Love and all that He does is motivated out of love, including
his justice and punishment of sinners. God is not full of love, but He Himself
is Love.
We do not know what true love is without knowing God.
This is how God shows his love for his people. God loves his people with
an everlasting love. Exodus 20:6, “But I lavish unfailing love for a
thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.” In Jeremiah
31:3, “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an
everlasting love. With unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself.”
God Loves his people
unconditionally. You
don’t have to be a good person. By the way, none of us deserve God’s love, yet
He loves us unconditionally. God’s expression of His unconditional love is
found throughout the Bible. No matter how bad we have become, God never stops
loving us. While we were yet sinners, God loved us unconditionally.
Romans 5:6-8, “You see, at just the
right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very
rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person,
someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
When Jesus came into the world, the
Jews rejected Him. John 1:12, “Yet
to all who did receive 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.” That was what the
Apostle Paul called the Ephesian believers, “beloved children.”
II.
Know Your Belovedness.
Unlike many other
religions, Christianity believes in a God who created the universe and made
humanity in His own image so that He could love and have a relationship with
them. The biblical authors affectionately describe that relationship as a “father,
son/daughter” relationship. Approximately 18.3 million children across America live without a father
in the home, comprising about 1 in 4 children. Many do not know that God
loves them.
If you grew up in such a home, it
would be hard to understand when I say God is your loving Father and you are
his beloved son and daughter. Or perhaps you may have grown up in a two-parent
home yet may have difficulty knowing you are dearly loved by God.
Here are a few scriptures that help
you understand how much God loves and delights in you. I John 3:1-3, “See what
great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of
God! And that is what we are! Relish in the fact that we are God’s beloved
children.
Here is how God tenderly expresses his
fatherly love and care to the fledgling nation of Israel. Hosea 11:1-4 “When
Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more
they were called, the more they went away from me. It was I who taught Ephraim
to walk, taking them by the arms, but they did not realize it was I who healed
them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them, I
was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed
them.” As a loving father, God is intimately involved with us.
When God looks at His obedient and
faithful children, He is delighted. Psalm 147:11, “The Lord delights in those
who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” This was how the
Psalmist affirmed his Belovedness, Psalm 18:16-19, “He rescued me from my
powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in
the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a
spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” God knows and sees
everything you are going through.
One thing I want you to leave with
today is that you know your Belovedness. God loves you passionately. He
rejoices over you with singing. Your heavenly Father knows what you need, and
He cares for you. Trust in His unfailing love, providing hand, healing and
comforting touch, and protecting power from enemies. Your Father and Mother may
forsake you, but God promised never to leave or forsake you because you are his
beloved daughter and son.
