April 11th

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  When Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the purpose of dying on a cross for our sins, He did it so that we could become sons and daughters of God instead of remaining objects of His wrath (see Eph. 2:1-3).  In 1 John 3:1, we read these staggering words about anyone whose faith rests in the Good Shepherd as the only means for salvation: “See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him” (1 John 3:1).  Because the Good Shepherd laid down His life (John 10:14-18), sinners like us can now experience and know the love of the Father!

Nothing in us required God to forgive us, let alone go beyond pardoning hardened sinners like us, but He did go beyond simply forgiving us. John wants us to think long and hard about the great love of the Father that sinners should be called children of God. What does it mean to be made the children of God? It means that God lovingly calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light to be His treasured possession. The love of God is a love that will not settle for a truce, but a love that calls sinners like us into a relationship with Him through His Son so that we can be called sons and daughters of the Most High!

In Psalm 23, we discover that it is by the grace of God that anyone is brought into the fold of His sheep, and it is for His glory that He has done so. The invitation to be included as one of His sheep has nothing to do with our performance and everything to do with His grace and glory!  This Sunday, we will consider Psalm 23:3, “He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.”  What this means is that the love of God for sinners like us begins with grace and ends with His glory.  

If you have been saved by the blood of the Good Shepherd, you are now a child of God, and nothing in heaven or in hell can ever change that!  You are God’s now, and this is why the apostle John continues in verses 2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

If you are a Christian, God has lavished his love upon you.  You are his child, and as his child, you are the recipient of a treasure that will never spoil, grow old, or fade.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday in our 9AM and 11 AM worship services.

Grace,

Pastor Keith