Christian or Child of God?

CHRISTIAN OR

CHILD OF GOD? W R I T T E N B Y R O B Y N T I C H A U E R

+\SRFULWH For a while, each time I looked in the mirror, those were the words going through my mind. I had allowed my conviction to turn into a source of shame. What conviction? The conviction that my life, while I called myself a Christian, was not anything near the example Jesus had set out for us during his walk on Earth. $ ZDWHUHGGRZQ NLQG RI IDLWK KDV become normalised. We go to church on Sunday, sing these incredible VRQJV WKDW ȴOO XV ZLWK SDVVLRQ DQG then leave to go back into the world, looking like the world. We try and be the best people we can be, we try to have some quiet time, and we give the beggar on the street a smile. Some of us even tithe. That means we’re good Christians, right? I guess so. But is that enough? Don’t settle. Recently I learnt that the term ȆFKULVWLDQȇ LV DFWXDOO\ D PDQPDGH word. Meaning, God and Jesus never used that term to label followers of Christ. People made it up. And as it

RIWHQ JRHV PDQPDGH LGHDOV DQG institutions are often broken, due to the mere fact that we’re all sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14 Jesus didn’t come to Earth so that we might merely become Christians. +H FDPH VR WKDW ZH PD\ EHFRPH VRQV DQGGDXJKWHUVRI*RGFRKHLUV in Christ. This means that, because we’ve accepted God as our Lord and 6DYLRXU ZHȇUH ȴOOHG ZLWK WKH 6SLULW ZHȇUH FKLOGUHQ RI *RG DQG ZHȇUH FR heirs of Christ (Romans 8:17). Our sonship gives us the same authority and power that Jesus had (Matthew  Identity is key. The beauty of realising that we’re FRKHLUV RI &KULVW LV WKDW RXU LGHQWLW\ is secure. Our identity simply cannot be stripped from us. Our identity is in Christ. When God looks at us, he VHHV XV WKH ZD\ KH VDZ -HVXV +H looks upon our faces with delight, with unconditional love and with an

XQZDYHULQJ FRQȴGHQFH LQ ZKR +H made us to be. No matter our past, our mistakes, our sin, our shame... God sees us, his sons and daughters, with the same OHQV KH VDZ -HVXV +RZ UHDVVXULQJ and absolutely remarkable, is that? Cool... Now what? It’s pretty cool to hear we have that much power. But do we really believe it? And once we believe we have access to this authority and power... What are we meant to do with it? By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another . John 13:35 That doesn’t sound too hard... In theory. The unfortunate truth is that we fail to love one another, even our own brothers and sisters in Christ. The division we experience even within our own churches is shocking. If we look at verse 34, we’ll see that we’re meant to love one another the ZD\ -HVXV ORYHG XV +LV ORYH GRHVQȇW condone sin, but it does love the person despite it. So, if we love people the way Jesus did, in truth and righteousness, they will witness it and will know that we’re not merely Christians, we’re not hypocrites, but we’re sons and daughters. And they will be intrigued, EHFDXVH+LVORYHLVHQGHDULQJDQGȴOOV the hunger we all experience. Yet... Are we even getting that right? Our Great Commision, as sons and daughters, is to make disciples of the QDWLRQV 0DWWKHZ  7KDWȇV D pretty big responsibility, but luckily, we simply need to share the gospel truth, we aren’t responsible for people’s salvation (Philippians 2:12). I am a child of God! Understanding what it means to be a child of God, over being a Christian, holds so much freedom. It allows us to break free of the hypocrisy and labels of Christianity. It allows us to truly walk in the love and fruit of the Spirt. The Spirit gives us access to power and authority to make tangible change in our communities, in our nation, in our world. It grows and develops us into EHDUHUV RI WKH IUXLW *DODWLDQV     VRPHWKLQJ RXU QDWLRQ QHHGV so much more of. Intimacy with the Spirit, and access to God, allows to become more like Jesus. We become FRKHLUV $QG ZH UHDOLVH KRZ VLPSOH and incredible, it is to love one another DQGVKDUHWKHMR\RIWKHJRVSHO We’re perfectly positioned to be warriors in Christ, leading the spiritual battle for liberation and change in our QDWLRQ /HWȇV QR ORQJHU EH VDWLVȴHG with idly sitting by, let’s prepare for battle and love our nation!

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