Children belonging to a royal household

 

1 John 3:1

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

When we are born again, which means we have confessed Jesus as our Saviour and Lord and Master and have received His Holy Spirit within us, we are adopted into the family of God and His royal household as His children.

It is so important to Father God that we believe this, that both Jesus and Holy Spirit confirm it.  Jesus in Matthew 12:49-50:

Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

And Holy Spirit in Romans 8:16:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

I was reminded of what being a child in a household means one day when one of my children, upon returning home after school, opened the fridge door and took out a juice bottle to pour some of it out to drink without asking permission first. She acted from out of her position of belonging to our family – she knew that we would supply her with the food she needed, and that she was therefore fully entitled to take what we had provided – all within the boundaries set by our household rules of course.

If you are one of the fortunate ones who had a righteous man (who understood his role as a loving father) as your father while growing up, you will have had a beautiful picture presented to you of what it means to be a child of God.  And if you were not in that fortunate position, think about what a perfect father looks like, because this is what God is:

He wants us to call Him Abba, which really translates to ‘Daddy’, used by all Hebrew children today when they address their father. It implies a loving relationship, a confidant secure position, though also a reverent and obedient attitude.  No child will willingly call an unapproachable or completely absent or abusive father, Daddy.

We are on the same footing as Jesus in God’s eyes.  He sees us as siblings of Jesus, our older brother. A perfect father never has favourites among his children, they are loved the same.

We have a child’s right to receive everything our Father provides for us, and we have permission to simply open the ‘fridge doors’ and access all His promises to us.

 We inherit what Jesus inherits, which is everything!  One day, when our current life here on earth has ended, we can know that we have been included in our Abba’s testament.

Points to ponder: What barriers did your childhood experiences erect which now make it impossible for you to see God as your loving and perfect Father? Make an appointment with our Healing Rooms to have those barriers permanently removed!

Children of God