Lesson 9: God's Love is Kind – He Turns Sinners into Sons

Ephesians 1:4-6 "…even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved."

The Bible is clear. God not only accepts us for who we are, He not only forgives us of our sin, He not only calls us saints, but He adopts us into His family. He turns sinners into sons! Once again, that is incredible!

What we see in the text here is that out of kindness, God not only sent Jesus to die for our sins, but He adopts us as His very own children! Who in their right mind would take people who sinned against you, did not want to have anything to do with you, and basically hated you, and then turn around and adopt them as one of your very own children? That is what I call love! That is what I call kindness.

Imagine that a man whose only son had been murdered wrote a letter to the person convicted of that murder, offering his forgiveness and to adopt him as the replacement for the lost son. Not only does the man offer to adopt this murderer, but to use his influence to get him set free from prison. He will be set free, his record completely removed, and he will become the heir to all this father’s great wealth. Though the murderer cannot replace the lost son, the father loves him as if he were truly a son, and he wants to care for this young man. We could not imagine such a situation ever happening!

That is exactly the kind of love God has shown to each one of us. You see, the gospel is not just about God being willing to forgive us of our sins; it is not just about God being willing to forget our sins. It is not even about God bringing us into His family. What is amazing about the gospel is that He does it for those who killed His very own Son.

That is why there is something very wrong with us if we cannot seem to appreciate that God takes sinners just as we are. He turns us into saints and adopts us as His very own children! Your life can never be the same once you truly understand the loving-kindness of God.

This is the awesome message we get to tell other people: "God not only exists, but through Jesus Christ you really can have an intimate personal relationship with the Creator of the universe before it is too late!" I tell you, if the world is ever going to believe our message, then we must stop acting like practical atheists. We must begin demonstrating by our lips as well as our lives that God is Love!

Thought Question: What can you do to live as if God loves you and wants you in His Family?