All
children are a great blessing! Today as I write this article I am in the
hospital anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child, Samuel William. When
Samuel is born he will receive all the love which we as parents can bestow upon
him, we will seek to provide every opportunity we can for him, and he will be
an heir to all of his parents’ earthly possessions and any heritage which we
leave behind.
These benefits would apply to
Samuel regardless of whether or not he is our biological child or if we adopted
him. All children are blessings from the Lord and deserve the very best. This
is very similar to that of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are
heirs to blessings from God on earth, and in heaven. When it comes for our time
to pass from this life, even then we will experience the blessings of being His
children. We are heirs to a rich inheritance beyond our imagination on account
of what Jesus did for us (Rom. 8:17; Eph. 1:5-6). “No eye has seen, no ear has
heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1
Cor. 2:9).
Scripture says that God the
Father has adopted us as Christians as His children (Eph. 1:5). This adoption
as God’s children is based on His foreknowledge of who would receive Jesus
Christ as their personal Lord and Savior (Rom. 8:29; 1 Peter 1:2). Thus, God
knew in advance which route that we were going to take by our own freewill, yet
He did not cause us to take the route which we did. At first this can be a
difficult concept to understand but it is similar to how a parent can often
tell their child’s actions before they ever do them, yet they did not cause
them to behave in this way. Even still, God has a plan to bless those who He
foreknew would receive Jesus to be His child.
This plan is to bless us as
His children with His love (Eph. 1:4-5). “For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). He is working all things together for our
good, showing us how to be able to persevere through whatever trials we may
face along the way. There is no outside power, circumstance, degree of
suffering, or temptation which can rip us out of the firm grip that God has on
our lives. Therefore, as the Apostle
Paul says, nothing can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:35-39).
Therefore, when you come to
times questioning your self-worth; remember who you are as a Christian. You are
an heir to the throne. You are His child. When you think of yourself as
worthless, remember that you are a son or daughter of the King of kings and
Lord of lords. You are His masterpiece (Eph. 2:10). And He valued you so much
that He sent His Son to die for you, so that you might be able to have eternal
life. This is an issue that is compounded by our society—as we compare
ourselves with others, and compete with the Joneses. And it is one that I will
work to address with my son once he arrives. I will tell him daily that he is
loved by myself, and God, that his self-worth comes from value which our
Heavenly Father places on us; we are of infinite value (John 3:16). We as
Christians are heirs to the throne. May we all recognize our true value, and
value others the same.
Because of His love,
Matt
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