Sermon Title: The Father’s love is given to you in Christ!
Text: 1 John 3:1-3
3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Amy Carmichael, a Christian missionary, when criticized for her humanitarian work in India, responded, "One cannot save and then pitchfork souls into heaven ... Souls are more or less securely fastened to bodies ... and as you cannot get the souls out and deal with them separately … you have to take them both together."
Quoted in: Ruth A. Tucker, Guardians of the Great Commission.
As we today celebrate All Saints Day. We look with favor at all of those the Lord uses to bring the loving Gospel to this world in need. Through the Father’s love, He sent His son to ransom the many and to bring, by the working of the Spirit, to faith in Christ all so that we might know:
The Father’s love and that it is given to you in Christ!
It might have been wonderful just to know that your Loving God has made restitution for your sin. That He sent His son Jesus Christ into the world to pay the price for what you could not pay. But then our loving God does something truly remarkable. He gives us son ship and adopts you and me into his family. He makes us His children and just as He gave His only begotten son He now calls us to be His children in Him, in Jesus.
3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
You are truly His children, even though you didn’t know Him. In your sinful nature you were dead to God and so are all who are born in the natural way. We are all born dead to God spiritually and only by the miracle of rebirth in baptism can we know him as a loving God and Father who desires to make us His children by faith.
The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Have you ever considered where you might have been had it not been for the love of your parents?
Ill.
This is the story of Matthew. Not the biblical Matthew but a biblical truth just the same. It begins with a fellow SMP student Rennie Kaufmann who is pastor of Risen Christ Lutheran church in Plymouth, Michigan.
Rennie’s wife Karen and two of his children went on a mission trip to China. In the process they met a young boy of 13 who is in an orphanage. At 13 he was closing in on the age limit of 14. If not adopted by 14 he couldn’t be adopted and the chance for the Kaufmanns to bring this child to a new life and home would have passed.
As the Kaufmanns say on the blog designed to help with some of the costs of bringing their new son home:
[We want to be his "Forever Family" and show him how much God loves him. He CANNOT make himself be adopted. We must reach in and PULL MATTHEW OUT. He is 13 years old and if he is not adopted by 14, he NEVER CAN BE. His chance will be gone as will ours with him.
His special needs have a great chance of being helped here in America.
Our Family will do EVERYTHING we can to BRING MATTHEW HOME. He lives about 7,800 miles away. Total cost to bring him home about $31,200. The first part in this journey is to raise ($15,000 or 3900 miles) to get our family’s dossier to China. Please consider sponsoring some miles to bring Matthew home. ]
Rennie and his wife Karen have five other children, 4 boys and 1 girl. The sacrifice and cost is great. But after over a year or more of fundraising and prayer, and looking into how they could make this desire a reality, Matthew Kaufmann is on his way home with his new adoptive parents as a true son of this family.
As Pastor Kaufmann wrote this past week:
“Matthew has a forever family. We said this is for keeps ... no turning back ... For good times and for bad ... sickness and health ... We chose him.
He continues, “So many thanks to so many people. Especially ... I thank you my Lord for choosing us ... for stepping from eternity into time to adopt me and each one of us in my family ... for us to be able to call you Abba Father. Thank you for moving in so many hearts to help us rescue a life and give him a forever family. I am humbled and blown away by this gift of love to us. I pray that MANY, MANY hearts will be stirred to do this journey, too ... to bungee jump out of their comfort zone and adopt ... In the end, at our end, it is ALL about love...”
And today (Sunday) we also saw/ will see God’s wonderful adoptive work in Christ with the bringing of little Sophia to faith and adoption into His family where she will/has received the Kingdom just as you and I have in the blessed name of our loving God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
The Father’s love is given to you in Christ!
Christ Jesus adopts you. He calls you to be His child and He gives you life. He comes to you where you are and makes you his. He brings his means where and when it pleases him and he does what we could never do … save ourselves.
As we think and live today as God’s saints and as we remember all of those who went before us. We can truly rejoice with the words of the Gospel for today.
Blessed are you because Christ was poor in spirit.
Blessed are you because Christ mourned.
Blessed are you because Christ was meek.
Blessed are you because Christ hungered and thirsted for righteousness.
Blessed are you because Christ was merciful.
Blessed are you because Christ was pure in heart.
Blessed are you because Christ was a peacemaker.
Blessed are you because Christ was reviled, persecuted for righteousness sake and as a result the evil that was falsely put against him brought the Kingdom of God to you.
So, 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
One cannot save souls into heaven apart from the bodies that they inhabit. So God calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. He makes us sons and daughters by his Spirit’s work and because of his work we are Saints, disciples and blessed because heaven is now our home.
May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you now and forever.
The Father’s love is given to you in Christ!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
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