We are all privileged in some area of life. A privilege is a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. I have the privilege of calling my mom Mom. Only three people ever had that special right. It was granted to me and my siblings because she gave birth to us and spent her life teaching, disciplining, and loving us to become responsible adults. As her child, we had certain privileges that others could not rightfully receive. Those who are Christians, spiritually born of God, have the greatest privilege on earth and in Heaven. He gave us the honor of calling Him Father.
I John 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
I John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
In I John 3:1, we are told that this privilege of calling Him Father is granted because of the great love that God has for us. We have been adopted into His family. We are chosen by God and are given all the rights and privileges of a son or daughter. Note that the first word of verse 1 is “behold.” Behold is a word that means to see, to pay attention to, to observe. To observe, we should spend time looking and thinking about it. It’s not a look where we glance and move on. It is what we would call a stare. This look is one where we contemplate and soak up what we have seen. This look engages our intellect and emotion. He tells us to behold the kind of love that God has given us. This love is fatherly love.
Unfortunately, at first, this privilege of having God bestow on us fatherly love is not appreciated the way it should be because our view of our heavenly Father is tainted by the type of earthly father we have. It is very hard to understand this kind of love because it doesn’t exist in any other relationship we have.
By nature, we are heirs of sin. Sin always distorts our view of God. When we act according to our birthright, we are children of disobedience. Our sinful nature causes us to feel full of pride, which leads to ingratitude and a sense of entitlement. If we will lay aside our pride and take a long look in the mirror, we will begin to see what a privilege it is to be adopted into God’s family.
God has granted us the privilege to be part of His family. We certainly don’t deserve it. No merit of our own could give us this right. Everything we can do that the world considers good is as a filthy rag compared to the righteousness of God.
Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
When we get a clear picture of who we really are without God, we can begin to understand what an awesome privilege it is to be called His child. We deserve eternal Hell, the torment of the greatest magnitude, but He offers an eternal Heaven. While Hell is a torment greater than we can imagine, Heaven is pleasures greater than our minds can imagine. Hell is full of tears. Heaven has none. Hell is full of fears. Heaven has none. Hell is inhabited by the most depraved creation. Heaven is inhabited by God himself.
I John 3:2 teaches us that we don’t fully understand what the full benefit is of being His child. However, we know enough that we should be full of hope for what eternity holds for us, enough that it will sustain us through the trials of this life. John does make it clear that when Jesus returns for us, we will become like Him. Our bodies will no longer be corruptible. Here, we have bodies that are prone to sickness and eventually die. Our new body, like Christ, will never experience death or pain.
Philippians 3:21 “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
When we see Him as He is, the impact of this will make us like Him. We will be changed! Wow, becoming God’s child is the greatest privilege known to man. It brings us every advantage of a Father-child relationship. We are loved, protected, encouraged, admonished, and disciplined. Yet, we also gain more than our earthly fathers can offer. We gain eternal life and a transformation to perfection. No other privilege offers this great of a reward.
II Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
