Living as a Child of God, Now and Forever

Devotional

Day 1: Clinging to God When Life Feels Like Quicksand

The weight of doubt, grief, or shame can make faith feel like grasping at smoke. Yet showing up—even with trembling hands—is its own kind of worship. God sees the single parent counting pennies, the widow staring at an empty chair, the addict fighting for one more day. He meets us not in spite of our unraveling edges, but precisely within them. To cling is to choose trust when certainty crumbles. [29:44]

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8, ESV)

Reflection: What circumstance or pain are you white-knuckling today? How might clinging to God—not solutions—shift your posture?

Day 2: Lavished, Not Earned

Love that demands performance breeds exhaustion. But divine love drowns us in a different economy: adoption. Being called God’s child isn’t a title earned through gritted teeth, but a name whispered over us as we are—divorced, addicted, grieving, questioning. This lavishness disarms our striving, replacing transactional religion with the scandal of belonging. [33:30]

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you still equate God’s love with your “good behavior”? How might living as a lavished child change that?

Day 3: Hope as a Purifying Fire

Sanctification isn’t self-improvement—it’s a future promise pulling us forward. Like a child awaiting Christmas morning, hope in Christ’s return reframes today’s battles. Every act of forgiveness, every resisted temptation, becomes rehearsal for eternity. We don’t purify ourselves to earn heaven; we purify because heaven’s reality is already reshaping us. [47:14]

“Beloved, 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. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3, ESV)

Reflection: What mundane choice today (patience, honesty, kindness) could become an echo of your eternal identity?

Day 4: The Weaned Child’s Contentment

A weaned child doesn’t clutch for milk but rests in the familiarity of her mother’s arms. Maturity here isn’t independence—it’s deeper dependence. To stop demanding immediate fixes and instead lean into God’s heartbeat is to trade anxiety for a quieted soul. Contentment isn’t resignation; it’s trust that the One holding us knows the way home. [53:09]

“But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” (Psalm 131:2, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you still “crying for milk” instead of resting in God’s presence? What would childlike trust look like there?

Day 5: Family Resemblance in Progress

A toddler learning to walk falls often, but no parent questions their belonging. So it is with God: our stumbles don’t revoke our adoption. The enemy whispers, “You still sin—you’re mine.” Christ thunders, “You’re mine—that’s why sin won’t stick.” Our identity isn’t a mood but a blood-bought reality. [45:29]

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1, ESV)

Reflection: When has shame over failure made you forget your family name? How might approaching God as “Father” change your next confession?

Sermon Summary

John sees a church living with real pain, real doubts, real sin, and yet still clinging to God. The faces in the room tell a truer story than religious duty ever could. God meets people in the middle of divorce, addiction, grief, shame, sickness, fear, and uncertainty, because sometimes clinging to him is all a person has left.

John writes 1 John as a plumb line when truth and lies have gotten mixed together. The text gives a hard test: children of God do what is right and love their brothers and sisters. Sin exposes the dilemma, because nobody naturally passes that test. Humanity begins fallen, unable to make itself part of God’s family by trying harder.

Christ enters humanity to break the power of the devil, free those held by fear, and take away sin. The Father lavishes love on sinners before they clean themselves up. Jesus dies “while we were still sinners,” and his righteousness covers those who receive him and believe in his name. New birth is not a self-improvement project. God does the work, and faith receives the life he has already given.

John also knows that children of God still sin. Jesus remains the advocate for those who fail, and God and the devil do not have a blended family. A child of God does not move in and out of the Father’s house every time sin shows up. Grace gives room for the learning process, for the metamorphosis of learning how to live like the family a believer now belongs to.

Hope becomes the engine of that transformation. John says that those who hope in Christ purify themselves, because one day Christ will appear and his children shall be like him. Sanctification is the slow process of becoming more like Jesus, not merely managing addictions, actions, or outward appearances. The direction of a life matters, and Christ’s relentless love calls his children boldly back to the throne of grace.

The Father’s love must also move from the head to the heart. A childlike heart does not earn a place in the household or demand proof of care every moment. The image of a weaned child resting with its mother gives the posture: contentment, safety, trust, and hope. God’s children can rest because the Father knows, sees, pursues, and holds them. Hope in the Lord belongs both now and forevermore.

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Key Takeaways

1. God’s family is received, not earned [42:38] New birth puts the focus on God’s work, not human effort. A child does not produce the family that receives them, and believers do not produce their own adoption. Christ has already come, died, risen, and opened the way into the Father’s house. Faith receives what grace has given. [42:38]
2. Sin does not create dual custody [45:29] A believer’s sin is serious, but it does not mean God has abandoned his child to another family. Christ remains the advocate for those who come honestly with their failure. Grace is not permission to stay stuck, but confidence to come back without hiding. The Father teaches his children how to live like they belong. [45:29]
3. Hope purifies the heart over time [48:39] Hope is more than wishing for easier circumstances. Hope fixes the heart on the day believers will see Christ and become like him. That future begins shaping present desires, habits, and loves. Sanctification grows through looking toward Jesus, not through pretending harder. [48:39]
4. Contentment rests in the Father’s care [55:44] The weaned child knows the mother, even without controlling the next meal or the next moment. Contentment does not deny pain or stop asking God for help. Contentment rests in the Father’s character while circumstances remain unfinished. Hope says that God is present now and faithful forevermore.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:50] - A Community Clinging to God
[32:41] - A Shift in Perspective
[33:30] - Children of God and Children of the Devil
[35:16] - First John as a Plumb Line
[38:01] - Born Into a New Family
[40:39] - Christ Died While Sinners
[43:48] - When God’s Children Still Sin
[46:28] - Hope and Sanctification
[50:05] - The Heart of a Child
[53:09] - The Weaned Child’s Contentment
[56:53] - Hope Now and Forever

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 John 3:1-10
“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. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” [33:37]

Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [40:39]

Psalm 131:1-2
“My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” [53:15]

Observation questions

In 1 John 3:1–10, what signs does John name that distinguish children of God from children of the devil? [37:15]
What does John say Christ came to do regarding sin and the devil’s work?
According to Romans 5:8, at what point did Christ die for people, and what does that reveal about God’s love? [40:39]
In Psalm 131:1–2, what picture is used to describe a calm, contented heart, and what qualities of that child were highlighted? [53:47]

Interpretation questions

If God’s children are called to do what is right and love one another, how can 1 John also give assurance to believers who still sin? [44:15]
What does it mean that becoming a child of God is received through faith rather than achieved by trying harder? How does this protect a person from both pride and despair? [42:17]
How does hope in the day Christ appears shape a believer’s present fight against sin, rather than becoming an excuse to wait passively? [47:14]
Why is the image of a weaned child helpful for understanding contentment in God? What is the difference between trusting the Father and demanding that he immediately change every circumstance? [55:12]

Application questions

Where are you presently carrying pain, shame, doubt, grief, fear, or uncertainty? What might it look like this week to keep clinging to God in that specific place rather than pulling away from him? [29:44]
When you fail or return to a familiar sin, do you tend to hide from God, try to fix yourself first, or come honestly to Jesus? What would it look like to approach him as your advocate this week? [48:58]
Is there an area of your life where you have been measuring spiritual growth mainly by outward behavior management? How could fixing your hope on becoming like Christ reshape your desires and next steps? [49:20]
What evidence do you see that God has been slowly changing the direction of your life, even if the process has felt incomplete? Where do you need grace and patience in that process? [45:59]
What situation is making it hard for you to be content right now? How can you bring that need honestly to the Father while also resting in the truth that he sees, knows, and holds you? [56:09]
Who in the group or church family could use a reminder that they are seen, loved, and not abandoned by God? What is one practical way you could show them the love John describes?

Sermon Clips

45s

“And I just wanna let you know this morning that that you might feel like you're in between. Like, some days you feel good, and some days you feel not. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the family of the devil. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the family of God, and I just kinda go back and forth. And I just wanna put you at ease. I'm speaking to your heart this morning, friends. You know, God and the devil don't have a blended family. not like you split it's not it's not a dual custody thing here. It's not like you go to the devil's family on the weekends, even though you act like it. Alright? You're still in the family. You're in his family because of what he has done.”

48s

“I'm telling you what, the the work of being born is not on the person being born. It's on the previous generation. Right? It's your parents your parents had more of a say in you being born than you did. And here's the thing about being born of God, even though it's a spiritual it's a spiritual birth, God has done the work for you to be born. It's not on you. Your job is just to receive it the same way you kinda received it. In this in this physical life, you you just receive the life that's been given to you. And the same thing with the Lord. He's he's the one that sent Jesus. Jesus did all this before you were even a thought. And so it's already been done.”

45s

“I wanna I wanna I wanna preach to your heart. So what you have to do to open your heart, you have to just say, Lord, I'm here. I'm I'm surrendered to you. What can change in an hour? Anything about those situations that you walked in with? Probably not. You know what can change in an hour? Your perspective on those situations. And when your perspective shifts, when your perspective gets in alignment with how big God is, how much he loves you, how good he is, I'm telling you what, it changes everything. Changes absolutely everything. And so we open up our hearts to you, Lord, this morning.”

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Sonrise Church | Fort Wayne, Indiana This sermon · AI assistant

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