Adopted as Children

See what kind of love the Father has given to us,  ~1 John 3:1a


John, a humble disciple of Jesus Christ, would have us to take note of something about the love of God. He calls us to examine what manner of love God bestows upon those who trust in Jesus as Savior. The manner of God’s love becomes evident when you consider what God does...

that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  ~1 John 3:1b

John is not talking about some label applied to believers by the world, or something we just decided to call ourselves. No, he is talking about something God did. God is the One who calls us His children; we are literally, legally, and lovingly adopted into the family of God by the Father. And, I might add, undeservedly...

The reason why the world does not know us is...  ~1 John 3:1c

When God adopts someone into His family, there is a great and permanent divide created between the believer and the unsaved world. Have you experienced a break or a disruption in your relationship to those who remain outside the family of God? When your unsaved friends and family question and wonder about whom you have become, there is a reason they no longer seem to understand or know you...

 that it did not know him.  ~1 John 3:1d

The world does not know God, at least not in the way His children know Him. So, because the world does not know the Father, neither do they know the Son, or recognize those who have been adopted into His family. The truth is, the world knows of God even though every attempt is made to suppress that knowledge (Romans 1:18-23). What we as children of God should expect is hostility and enmity with the world because God's reality is so evident a war is waged against Him. When we find ourselves at odds with the world and even experience the hostility directed against Jesus Christ, we can rejoice because it is the world acknowledging that we are of Him. Are you a child of God? Have you been adopted into the family and can you rest in the assurance of salvation? Just remember your assurance should come from the Word of God, not from anywhere else.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.  ~1 John 3:10