Today, as we observe Valentine’s Day, I am grateful that God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son and that whosoever (i.e., anybody and everybody) believes on Him should not perish but shall have everlasting life. I believe that the Prophet Jeremiah caught a glimpse of God’s love to come when he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write in Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The Father was thinking of us then and is thinking of us even now. He has not abandoned us and through His Son has sent us the Valentine’s Day Gift of all time, if you will, to heal the brokenhearted. In Christ Jesus, we have peace and not evil. Indeed, we have an expected end that is being further materialized in this season of More Amazing Grace. By grace and through faith, the Father has an endgame of victory and a more abundant life for each of us.
Again, we celebrate Officer Eugene Goodman who was officially recognized by Congress on last Friday for his courage and example of self-sacrifice. Officer Goodman’s bravery in real time reminded me that love is stronger than pride. Despite being called the n-word multiples times, I believe the Father was calling him as his own dear son and to be the shield of love. Greater love has no one than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. Thank you Officer Goodman and we salute you!
Our focus today is on St. John 1:12, which reads:
As a child and teenager, I often was asked the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? I am sure that many of you have been asked the same question and in fact, like me, have asked other young people the same question. Typically, we do not ask the question of WHO they want to become but simply WHAT they want to be. Although we ask the question perhaps in the spirit of inspiring our youth to achieve and aspire to greater heights in this life, the primary focus usually is on a particular profession or career path that in our minds will make them money or will make us proud of them. Not necessarily proud of who they are or should become in Christ but proud of what type of job they are going to perform. So, we ask them with great interest but not with much depth whether they are going to be a doctor, a lawyer, or a professional athlete.
However, in the light of eternity, who we become (the quality and essence of our existence as souls presently cloaked in corruptible flesh) is far greater than any occupation or career path we can choose in this life. We have been mis-educated to become more preoccupied with those things that will make us rich, famous and powerful rather than on Him who will make us whole. We become whole only when we begin exercising the power (the right, the privilege and the authority) to become the sons and daughters of God. What we want to be when we “grow up” has no power over sin and death. There is absolutely nothing obtained in this life that we are getting paid for that we can take with us when we have fallen to the grave.
However, John reminds us that as we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we then have the power to initiate the process to become the children of God. Well, how do we exercise the power to become the children of God? I submit to you that to “become” starts with income. In other words, to become we must first let Him come in and abide within us (into our hearts, into our minds, and into our mouths) as we deliberately, intentionally and consistently receive Him and believe on His name. To believe on His name, is not as if the name alone has some magical or mystical power. The name Jesus is simply the Greek transliteration for the Hebrew name Joshua. There are many among us who bear the name Joshua. To believe on His name, is to believe on the person Jesus Christ, and points us directly to Him that was crucified on the cross, resurrected from the grave, and is now sitting on the right hand of the Father.
As we begin this process of becoming, we have to grasp that our salvation is in confessing and professing Him. It is not simply calling and repeating the name Jesus over and over again like it was some incantation to move us to some higher state of spiritual frenzy. Our salvation is in confessing Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living and Loving God. Romans 10: 8 – 13 bears this out so clearly for us:
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
We can read verses 8 through 13 repeatedly, and what we will not find is that our salvation is in the confession of sin. The Word says that we are to confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, and then we shall be saved. Why? It is without controversy to reaffirm that the Lord Jesus purchased our salvation with His own blood that we might exceed His own expectations and by His self-sacrifice alone we obtain salvation. It is so unfortunate that we have been mis-educated into believing that we should confess sin more than rightly dividing the Word of Truth to know that we are called to confess the Lord Jesus for our salvation.
I believe that the reason why sin has such a dominion and stronghold over so many who identify with Christianity is simply because they have only confessed sin and have not yet confessed the Lord Jesus to experience what it means to become Christlike. They have yet to initiate the process and to fully exercise their authority to become the daughters and sons of God. Unfortunately, many so-called Christian who have joined religious institutions, which we affectionately called the “church,” have yet to become a member of the body of Christ because they have not confessed Him.
I am not condemning anyone but just calling out in the spirit of love the need for pure transformation. In First Corinthians 12:3, the Word proclaims, in relevant part, “that no person can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.” It is that magnificent experience that creates “spiritual causation” for all who believe to become the daughters and sons of God. We can come as we are but we will never stay as we are because “but by the Holy Spirit” we are being transformed to become Christlike. Not church-like but Christ-like. In this process of becoming more Christlike, we transcend beyond what we know as church membership and become a member of God’s family.
The Word further reveals that to become God’s children requires outcome (i.e., we have to come out from among them and be separate). Romans 6:14 – 18 crystallizes our understanding that “to come out” is an absolute necessity. As Paul so wisely shares that we should not be “unequally yoked with unbelievers” in verse 14, he is speaking about both those who believed in Jehovah and those who did not believe in Jehovah. In other words, Paul is speaking not only to heathens but also to Jews who had theology but had yet to come into the deeper revelation of Lord Jesus. Indeed, many know God only from the viewpoint of religion and have not allowed Christ to bring them into a complete panoramic view that God was in Jesus Christ reconciling man back to Himself. To become God’s children, we must move from Old Testament Theology to New Testament Christology.
As we come out, we do so with an understanding that God’s will is for us to be insulated not isolated. Yes, we are in the world but we are not of the world and insulated from the dominion and shame of sin. In this pandemic of unrighteousness, God has called us to be socially and virtually distant from the virus and infection of sin and death. If we do so, if we just come out and come back home, God says I will receive you. I will be a Father unto you. You shall be my sons and you shall be my daughters saith the Lord Almighty. You can come home. Welcome Home Daughters! Welcome Home Sons! Welcome Home Children! Welcome Home!