August 22, 2024
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 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 fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)
It's an honor for me to be J.T. Elliff's son. Admittedly, he chose to have children but he didn't know quite what he was getting when he got me. But it has been my honor and joy, for almost 73 years now, to be the son of J.T. and Jewell Elliff.
With God the Father, it is different. God knew EXACTLY what He was getting—warts and all—when He brought me into His family. What is amazing is that, for some reason, He chose me to be His son. When you stop and ponder this for a moment, it's one of the most humbling, awe-inspiring truths in the world.
WE'RE DIFFERENT
The Elliff family is different. Some would even say, "weird!" But we are who we are, made so by a combination of genetics, life experiences, backgrounds, heritage, and a massive dose of God's grace.
Those of us who are God's children are not like the rest of the world. God inhabits us. We have a new DNA. A new agenda drives us. We are still in the world and affected by all of its temptations and ideas, but there is something fundamentally changed. We should not expect others to understand this or necessarily appreciate it. In fact, they may see the followers of Christ as their enemies. John says, "The world does not know us because it did not know Him" (Vs. 1).
WE'RE CHANGING
Each day and experience is designed by our Father to "work together for good" and accomplish His purpose to "conform us to the image of His Son." But the most dramatic metamorphosis will come soon when we are transported out of this sin-wrecked place, either through death or Christ’s soon-coming. John states that "we do not know what we will be like," but there is something breathtaking that we do know: "We know that we will be like Him!" (vs. 2)
Think about that for a moment, and a "hallelujah" will come from the depths of your soul. "We will (this is a promise) be like Him!" Think of everything that Jesus is in His perfection, love, grace, wisdom, and power, and realize that very soon, you will be transformed into that likeness.
C.S. Lewis caught this vision:
"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal." (Mere Christianity)
If you are a child of the Father, it's good, and it will only get better soon. We should live the remainder of our earthly lives in humble gratitude and on a deliberate mission to tell others that Christ is inviting them into His family, too.
December 20, 2024
December 17, 2024
