We often speak of “God’s children” lightly.  We say things like, “well, we’re all God’s children” meaning that we are somehow all the same and so we should be nice to one another; that is surely the case, but it doesn’t go far enough. John adds another aspect to this term:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:1

I won’t argue with anyone who says that all people are “God’s children” in the sense that God loves us all., but did you notice what John has done here? He has made a distinction between those who have received Jesus and entered relationship with Him, and those who have not.  Those who have entered into this covenant relationship have entered into His Sonship as co-heirs in God’s household, and the inheritance is eternal life.

Yes, the Father has truly lavished great love upon us!

But what about everyone else?  Is it just their tough luck?  Hardly! A better question is this: How will we respond to the example of Christ serving and saving us from death, combined with God’s great love?  Take a moment to consider…

I hope that your response is that we need to obey the command of Jesus to go and make disciples! Yes, that is our covenant response to His great mercy and love; to share it with those who have yet to receive His offer of grace.

How shall we go about sharing Christ’s love today?