Worship Ministry - May 2024
Sons and Daughters of God
Hymn 64 from Hymns and Spiritual of Isaac Watts
1 Behold, what wondrous grace
The Father hath bestowed
On sinners of a mortal race,
To call them sons of God
4 A hope so much divine
May trials well endure,
May Purge our souls from sense and sin,
As Christ the Lord is pure.
I am blessed with such a great family! A wonderful wife and two kids that I get to do life with every day! A wonderfully loving dad who has taught me so much and loves me well despite my faults. A compassionate mother who worships at the throne of Jesus and a step-mom who loves me fiercely. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are so supportive, and encouraging, and I think I might be their favorite child! Two brothers, three sisters, four brothers-in-law, and three sisters-in-law with twelve nieces and nephews!
That is a big family, so big I had to think when counting to make sure I didn’t leave anyone out! One of the incredible parts about this big family to me is that out of thirty-plus people I only share genes with six of them, yet we are family. We are this weird conglomerate of people who love and care for one another. We are all different, have different interests, and have different personalities, but we are bound together in love.
1 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. 2Beloved, 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. 1 John 3:1-3
Seems like just yesterday my brother, Austin, and his wife were announcing that they were going to foster to adopt Grayson. A little boy who was born into a broken world, unable to swallow correctly because of neglect, but two people opened their hearts to him and gave him a home. They love him not because they made him, or that they share the same “blood”, but rather they love him just because he is who he is. He was a baby, he didn’t give them anything other than spit-up and dirty diapers, but they were willing to sacrifice and pay whatever the cost. They formed a family. A few years later they adopted Grayson’s brother Jordan. I am so thankful that I get to call them family!
Similarly, we offer God nothing more than the “spit up and dirty diapers” of our sin throughout our lives, and yet despite that sin, we can become His son or daughter! Through Christ’s death, we can be adopted into the family of God and receive everlasting hope in Him. God was willing to sacrifice and pay whatever the cost. We can know Him!
This is the grace that Isaac Watts is writing about in “Hymn 46,” that even though we are undeserving and unworthy, He “bestows” on us the title of son or daughter, and we receive the riches and abundance of His house. We receive the divine hope of Christ that is everlasting. He loves you like no other can. So run to Him, trust Him, call Him father!
Love you and mean it!