I am beloved of God.
Although the love of Christ is too great to understand fully, my Christian identity asserts I am beloved of God. I am part of the bride of Christ.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
1 John 3:1 NIV
What an awesome realization that the God of creation lavished His love on me and chose me as His child. I have been set apart unto Jesus Christ through adoption, making me a child of the divine marriage between Christ and His bride, the church. God chose the church to be His bride through which every individual Christian is brought into His family by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The family of God is not metaphorical, symbolic, or ethereal; but is real, tangible, and a true manifestation of His power to bring each child of God into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Lord, and Father.
I am part of the bride of Christ.
When the Holy Spirit indwelt His believing children at Pentecost, the assembly became His bride, the church. Don’t get confused here. Individual believers are not the bride, but all who are joined together in unity through the Holy Spirit collectively become the bride of Christ.
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For the body is not one member, but many.
1 Corinthians 12:12, 14 NASB
The Greek word translated church means “a called-out people.” The church is made up of saints—people who have been “sanctified” or “set apart” by God. As the husband and the wife are made one through marriage, the Christian is made one with Jesus through regeneration.
The love of Christ is too great to understand fully.
The apostle Paul frequently expressed his amazement when he contemplated the believer’s position as beloved of God.
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Ephesian 3:14–19 NLT
Those who are beloved of God should love like Christ.
Not only was Paul astonished and rejoicing in the love he enjoyed, but his realization also compelled him to share the overflowing riches of Christ’s love. With deep desire, he pleaded with the Father so that others would experience the manifold blessings. The ultimate understanding of Christ’s love completes my life with the fullness and power that can only come from Christ.
In him we live and move and have our being.
Acts 17:28 ESV
He is all we need.
Insight Journal
- I believe I am a beloved child of God because . . .
Excerpts from Marriages that Minister by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis. Available from your favorite book retailers, including Amazon and Redemption Press. (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)
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