“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”John 1:12 NKJV
You are Known
When we decide to follow Jesus, we’re given a new life in Christ. But what exactly does that mean?
Jesus came and died for everyone who ever lived — that’s us — and when we give our lives to Him and make the choice to follow Him, we get a new life in Him. We get adopted into His eternal family, with all the rights that go along with that.
When we say “yes” to Jesus, we are choosing to believe everything about Him is true. We’re agreeing that He lived a perfect life, died for us, and rose from the dead. When we believe this, we are adopted into God’s family as His children.
Being God’s children means we get unlimited, constant access to God’s presence, love, and authority. And the great news? No one can separate us from God.
We don’t receive new life as God’s children from our parents or earn it from our good deeds—it’s something God freely offers us. He alone has the authority to adopt us into His eternal family, and He promises to never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
At the moment of our adoption, our old identities no longer matter. Every unkind name we were given, every mistake we’ve made, every hurt we’ve experienced (or caused)—it’s all erased. Our identity, security, and future are now rooted in the God who loves us and died for us.
Take a few moments right now and reflect on that. If you belong to Jesus, you are not alone. You are known by the Creator of the universe who calls you His child, knows you by name, and loves you unconditionally.
Be encouraged: Jesus doesn’t just save us; He transforms us. And He adopts us as His own!
Share your faith: There are people all around you who haven’t yet trusted in Jesus. Take a step of faith and tell them how He’s changed your life.
Prayer: God, thank You for loving me. You see me as I truly am, and you still accept me. Today, I bring all of my struggles, insecurities, and false labels to You. You know what I’ve been called, and what I’ve believed about myself. Please replace any false narratives with Your truth: that I am Your child, and greatly loved by You. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Note after sharing the devotional: In Christ, every hurt we’ve experienced has been erased. In Christ, every hurt we’ve caused has been erased. I included both statements because they go together. Biblically speaking, we are commanded to both repent and forgive. But it seems that the truth that gets neglected is the truth that in Christ, our past pains that others have done to us have been erased. I believe that Jesus commands us to forgive is because He Himself has already forgiven them. And to be clear, the reason given in Scripture time and time again is that His command to forgive is because He has forgiven us. But since what is jumping out to me is what is not often preached, this is why I feel led to highlight it. Just like He has forgiven us, He also has forgiven them, regardless of whether they believe let alone receive His forgiveness. And of course, whether or not they repent is another matter entirely.
The matter at hand, of course, is that of our identity. I’ve blogged about this in the past before shutting it down after a post or two (I originally intended for it to encompass multiple posts), due to life getting in the way. The idea was that I would devote each post to a different facet of what we have called “identity” based on labels that the world has given us, labels related to race, gender, nationality, locality, family heritage, line of work, work-related role… and then more trivial things like sports fandom, school fandom, celebrity fandom… and then outright unbiblical things like identity rooted in various different sins. The end goal was that I would then redirect each category of identity to such a one in Christ. Sure, on the surface I might be a straight, white, middle-aged Chicagoland man who roots for the Chicago Cubs, but most of these are things that won’t come with me when I pass away. They’re not important. What will matter is: did I receive Jesus Christ as my personal King and Savior, did I submit every day to Him, and did I receive his forgiveness and let Him transform me (with no strings attached or exceptions made) so that I would then live my life according to His love and His commandments? If yes, then all my sin and pain can be washed away, and then in heaven, all the former things will be washed away. And we will have resurrection bodies as well.
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.””Revelation 21:1-4 NKJV
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.””I Corinthians 15:51-54 NKJV
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