Saturday, November 26, 2011

Why Christians Feel the World is Against Them? 1 John 3:1

Why do Christians feel like outcasts in their own communities? Christian values are mocked and if the faithful try to fit in they feel like they have compromised their faith. If believers try to change the world it only makes enemies.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." 1 John 3:1, NIV.

LAVISHED LOVE
The love the Father has for us is unimaginable and measureless. It is a love that He "lavishes," that He pours out in great quantity to a measure that far exceeds the merit.

US
Who does He lavish this great love on? It is us, the sinful, rebellious, traitorous people who crucified his son. God does not just lavish his love on us he goes beyond; The Lord gives us a title that means everything, "the children of God."

DIVISION
There is a division in humanity, a division between those who have come to God through his Son and those who have not. He says those that have not yet come to Jesus do not know God and therefore do not know His children. This knowing is not just an intellectual acknowledgment like when you recognize a face, but knowing as if you are in the same family household. This is a knowing that is an ongoing, growing, mutual, intimate, understanding that leads to love and service.

We don't fit into the world is because the world does not know Him like this; it rejects Christ and his claims and must reject his followers. A Christian actively living his faith in Jesus becomes a statement the world must respond to, and there are only two responses that make sense- rejection or conversion.

THE BIGGER PICTURE
That the world rejects us is small compared to the love the Father has lavished on us. This world is decaying and passing away before our eyes, trying to find acceptance in it is to share its fate; but another that is without end is going to be revealed and that is a far better possession than anything this world has to offer.

If you have trusted Jesus as your savior you are a child of God and have already left this world behind. You are His and are joined in His fate here on earth and his glory in heaven. To learn more about finding Jesus see my other blog.

(c)Adron Dozat