To know God as Father – that’s just incredible. In 1 John, it says that there are only two types of sons – the sons of the devil and the sons of God. And to know that I was a son of the devil, that I was an enemy of God. It’s amazing how being lost, being without the knowledge of the true God of the Bible, everybody talks about God, and everybody says, “yeah, we’re all children of God.” But how can you be children of God if you’re doing exactly what He says you shouldn’t do and you’re happy and enjoying it and rejoicing and actually looking forward, planning to do it. He said that for those who do that are His enemy. They’re not His sons and daughters. They’re His enemies.
And that’s what I was. I was His enemy. I rejoiced in the things I hated. I actually found pleasure and joy and happiness on doing the things I hated. And no desire at all in obeying Him, in honoring Him. See, He commands us to honor our father and our mother, because it’s a picture of how His children need to honor Him. And I never honored Him before. I always did everything that He actually commanded me not to do. And the good that I did was for my own self. It was to absolve me. So knowing that, in the light of Scripture, I realized I was His enemy. I realized I was condemned by God the Judge.
Many people say God is a loving God. He’s not a judge. Well, I’m afraid to tell you that you need to read your Bible, because that is incorrect. He will judge everyone. Okay, as you live your life, His judgment is accumulating on your life over your head. That’s why He calls all of us to repentance. Yes, Christ is love, but the first words that came out of His mouth in ministry when you read the Gospel is He’s calling everyone to repent and to come to Him. It’s in the Bible. Read it. Yes, He is love, but that’s not all. He came not to condemn. He came to save. He came to perform and die on the cross, but He’s coming back, and this time He’s coming back as a judge. And He’s going to condemn all those who are His enemies – I was that. I was His enemy. I really enjoyed doing what He hated. I really enjoyed doing everything He commanded me not to do.
And now, by His grace, He moved me from being His enemy, from being a son of the devil into being a child of God. Through Christ. By Him dying on the cross, taking my place, taking God’s wrath for me. Giving me new life like 1 Peter says. Being born again like Christ telling Nicodemus in John 3, be born again. Unless you’re born again, you will not be able to see the Kingdom of God. That’s what He did in my life.
I’m not claiming to be better than anyone. To the contrary, I’m claiming to know who I am without Christ and who I am in Christ. Actually, who I am in Christ I’m learning every day more the wonders of being a son of God in Christ. So, there is great joy. There is an amazing hope in knowing God as your Father through Scripture, and being convinced through His Word, through His revelation: This is who I am. This is who I am – holy, and I will judge every soul. It is appointed to man to die and then to face God, to face judgment. The difference is how are you going to face Him? Are you going to face Him as His enemy? Or are you going to face Him as His son?
And that’s the difference. I am growing. I have many shortcomings. Yes. But I’m growing and He’s teaching me because I am His son, because I believe in Him. When He says that Christ dying on the cross is sufficient for me salvation; when He says that I am wicked; when He says that I deserve to go to hell, I believe that. And that’s why I cry out for Him to save me because I have no hope. I knew I needed to live according to the standard, and I wasn’t able to. I tried. And I wasn’t able to. And today, I try, and I’m not able to, but guess what? It’s not about me trying. It’s about me trusting Christ and trusting my Father in Heaven when He says that my faith in Christ is sufficient. And as safe as I am in this chair right now, and I’m able to rest, that’s what He calls me to do. To rest in His promise. And to rest in Christ.
