“What you think about when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” This is a quote from A.W Tozer. This quote recently stopped me in my tracks. What comes to your mind when you think about God? This is certainly a question worth pondering.
I was adopted at a young age and let me tell you all that orphan trauma is real. Lots of orphans develop an “orphan mentality”. An “orphan mentality” takes on the world with a “fatherless” mentality. Orphan vs the world. The “orphan mentality” is a mindset that says, “no one is going to provide for me, no one is going to protect me, my name is my own, and if I am going to make a name for myself, I am on my own”.
With one breath and with one cross, God defeated the orphan mentality. There are no orphans in God’s Kingdom. The problem is that we might still live like orphans, even as believers. But God’s Word says that if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you friend, are a child of God. Romans 8:14-16 says, “For all who are led by the Spirt of God are children of God. So, you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”
What if I truly lived my life every day in the belief that I am a child of God? How does that change how I look at myself, my relationships and my world? It should change everything that I think. It should change everything that I do. It should change how I treat people. How I love people. Because I am empowered with the Holy Spirit, the only way that I can fail in my purpose and calling is when I forget Whose I am. All people are made in the image of God. We bear God’s image. Only humans have this characteristic! Not angels. Not animals. Only humans. God loved humans enough to create them after the likeness of Himself! Let that sink in for a minute.
Now, when you put your trust in Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son, everything changes! Image bearer, yes. But now, you are a child of the One True King! Royalty! This is your status now in Christ Jesus. You have a new identity. A new status. A new family tree. The God who created the world simply by His Word calls you His child. You are the apple of His eye. As a child of God, you are and have always been on God’s mind. He created you. He pursued you. He rescued you. He redeemed you. He stretched out His arms and died for you. He justified you and made you righteous in His sight. This is incredible news, right? What an awesome privilege for God to see us just as if we had never sinned! Can I get a million hallelujahs!! But, believer, as great as this news is, it is not the highest privilege of the gospel. The highest license of the gospel is that God adopted us as His own and calls us “Child”. Son of the King. Daughter of the King. My birth certificate and your birth certificate are now stamped with CHILD OF THE KING. How can we not read those words and be in utter awe of our amazing Jesus! He loves us so much that He chose to become like His creation, to walk with us, to talk with us, to be tempted like us, to work like us, and then, to stretch out His arms and die for us. Why? So that He could snatch you up for Himself and stamp your birth certificate with MINE. This one is Mine. CHILD OF GOD.
Why in the world wouldn’t that make us want to radically live every second for Jesus? We were created for the One who died for us. This is our purpose. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus. And when we realize that this is our purpose and begin to walk in it, everything begins to make sense. Will it be easy? No, certainly not. That’s not what Christians are promised. Happy? Maybe not. We really aren’t promised that either. But fulfilled? Yes! Because when we believe we have a Father in heaven who is for us, who loves us unconditionally and who will stop at nothing to secure us as His, there is a mental shift. Suddenly, the importance of earthly things fades because we know we were created for something bigger and Someone better. This is not our home and one day we will be united for all of eternity with our Abba Father, but until then we are called to live in our new identity and our new purpose. Our identity lies in Christ alone. It’s about Him. And when our lives become about Him and our purpose becomes His purpose, the blurriness becomes crystal clear. Created for Him. Living for Him. Loving like Him. Equipped and empowered by Him.
We were created in His image. We were created for a purpose. We were created for a Person. We are His children. We are loved by Him. He walked this earth pursuing the hearts of others, radically loving others and serving others. We are stamped with His DNA. His name is Jesus.
Let’s follow Him. Let’s imitate Him. Let’s pursue others like Him. Let’s love like Him.
Bre Harper
CHM Contributor
