The Children of God

To rise each morning is miracle enough. But to rise each day knowing oneself to be a child of God is to live in the very realm of miracle. To know that one’s existence and one’s faith are pure gifts of love from God is the source of rich, true and humble joy in the life of a believer. It is the reason why we Christians go out into the world each day full of hope. It is what helps us to see God’s love in all things, and in every person we encounter during our day. It is in knowing that God generously and faithfully gives us this faith, hope and love each day, that helps us endure, too, the rejection of the world.

John tells us, ʺThe reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.ʺ (1John 3:1) This, of course, is true. But it is also true that the world can come to know God through our lives of faith, hope, and love lived out in humble service to all we meet in the public square. Because we know ourselves as children of God, we also know that it is our loving duty to praise him and serve him joyfully with our lives, both at home and in society. And, yes, we know that the world may still reject us.

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But there is more too. ʺBeloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.ʺ (1John 3:2) Because of Jesus we have been shown the way. Because of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we live our daily lives in faith, hope, and love in anticipation of that time when, ʺwe shall be like him, for we shall see him as is.ʺ This, finally, is the eternal ʺDawnʺ upon which we Christians yearn to gaze when we have ʺshuffled off this mortal coil,ʺ that is, the face of God in his Triune Fullness, undistorted by our human frailty. Because we yearn so, and because we believe, we rise each day and endeavor to live our lives as true children of God. For we believe that, ʺEveryone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.ʺ

Let this be our daily prayer: Lord, let me, like a loving and dutiful child, praise you with my mouth and with my deeds throughout this day, so that I might one day humbly stand in the full light of your Presence and see you face to face. Amen.