You are God’s beloved
It was Sunday morning after the darkest Friday the world has ever known.
The one many believed was Messiah had been crucified, killed, hung on a cross and humiliated until he died. At first his disciples had scattered in fear but now they’ve gathered to comfort each other and wonder together about what it all meant and what happens now.
Why did God do this?
Why did Jesus die?
Why was He willing to allow Jesus, His one and only begotten Son, to perish and suffer and die.
And why is He unwilling for you to perish, to suffer eternally from the disease of sin, and die?
Because…
You are God’s beloved.
Beloved
God loves you so much that from the very beginning, from before time began, He was unwilling for you to perish! He wanted and He wants you to have eternal life.
From before time began God had already made the decision for the provision of healing waters that could save you from the disease of sin through death and resurrection.
Why?
Because, You are God’s beloved.
We live in a world that tells us nobody has ever loved us. That we are largely unlovable.
And that if those who say they love us knew what we knew about us, they wouldn’t love us either.
But what happens when that lie, the lie that tells us we are not loved and not worth loving, is challenged by the love of God?
And it’s because of this love, God’s love, that God made a way for what began in the garden in the very beginning to be UNDONE.
Undone
In was there, in the garden of Eden, that Adam and Eve first believed the lie.
Their first sin wasn’t eating the fruit from the tree, it was failing to believe the truth that God loved them and wanted nothing but the best for them.
When they stopped believing in the goodness of God and believed the lie that God was withholding something good from them, sin entered the human story.
How many times have we stopped believing in the goodness of God and started believing the lie that God was withholding something good from us?
How many times have we sinned?
But the Good News today is that God loved and God loves us too much for us to perish. That the love of God for us is so great that nothing could separate us from His love for us.
So God, in His great love, made provision for our healing from the disease of sin that infects us and leads to death.
And we receive this free gift of healing when we believe this eternal truth.
Paul says it this way,
“…we believe that Christ died for all…” – 2 Corinthians 5.14
Christ Died for ALL
This is what we believe.
On Easter Sunday this is the truth we declare in faith.
That Christ died for ALL.
That means Christ died for me, Christ died for you, Christ died for everyone.
Why did Jesus die?
Because, You are God’s beloved!
This is the eternal truth Jesus declared from the cross with his arms spread wide.
You, all of you, are God’s beloved.
You Roman soldiers.
You Jews who cried, “Crucify Him.”
You corrupt religious leaders.
You Roman politicians.
You who believed in me and now weep at the foot of the cross.
You disciples who followed me but have now abandoned me.
All of you are beloved by God.
You mom, you dad, who far too often feel like a failure.
You son, you daughter, who continue to forget who you really are and give into sin, addiction, self rejection, anger, hate, slander, gossip, lying, and more.
All of you, believe it or not, are beloved by God.
We know that we are beloved by God because Christ died for ALL.
And Christ is God’s beloved Son.
Beloved + Baptism
It was at His baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist where these words were first declared publicly over His life.
Luke, who wrote down as many eye witness accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus as he could find, tells us this story in his gospel…
21 One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son, and you bring me great joy.”
Luke 3.21-22
As Jesus emerged from the waters of baptism God the Father declares this truth and this identity over his life… “You are my beloved Son, and you bring me great joy.”
This is the same truth that is declared over your life and my life as we emerge from the waters of baptism.
“You are God’s beloved son, God’s beloved daughter…”
Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5.14…
…we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
From Death to Life
How did we die? When did we die?
This is what happens in our baptism!
In our baptism we choose to die to our old life so that we can be born again and be resurrected with Jesus to experience the new life He offers.
This new life includes a new identity:
“You are also God’s beloved son, God’s beloved daughter, AND you bring Him great joy.”
The greatest danger we face in this life is not the pursuit of power, position, money, and acceptance. It is self-rejection. Doubting and even forgetting who we really are. Our truest identity.
Adam and Eve forgot who they were in the garden.
Forgetfulness always leads to unfaithfulness.
How often we forget who we are.
This is who you are. This is your truest identity. You are God’s beloved. You bring Him great joy!
You see…
15 He [Jesus] died for everyone so that those who receive his new life (this new identity) will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. – 2 Corinthians 5.15
Because Jesus died, everyone can receive new life. What happened in the garden of Eden has been undone. The curse of sin has been reversed by the great love of God revealed in Jesus at the cross.
Sunday
On Sunday morning at dawn, women who were close to Jesus were on their way to the tomb where they had buried Jesus.
When they arrived they realized something had happened that would change everything forever. Jesus was not there! He had risen!
What they didn’t know then but would soon come to learn was that in His rising death had been defeated and what began with Adam in the garden had now been undone.
Fallen humanity, once forced out of the garden because of Divine love is now welcomed back into full and unhindered fellowship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit because of this same Redeeming Love and a Red Thread that pulls us together through faith and grace.
This Red Thread has a name.
Jesus.
New Life
Can you remember a time in your life where this Red Thread appeared?
Where the redeeming Love of God was present in your life?
Paul says…
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. – 2 Corinthians 5.17-18
Our baptism changes our identity, it changes everything.
The power of sin has been undone. We have a new identity. We have become a new person. The Spirit of the Living God is living inside of us!
And because of this, we have the task, the responsibility, the opportunity to share this Good News, to reconcile people to God!
How do we do this? By sharing THIS incredible message….
You are God’s Beloved. And you bring Him great joy!
Maybe you thought nobody has ever loved you.
God loves you.
You are God’s beloved.
This is your truest identity.
This is who you are.
The only question is… Have you stepped into your new identity and walked through the waters of baptism?
If not, are you ready to step into your new identity as a beloved son, a beloved daughter of God? To accept the free gift of God’s salvation?
You may wonder, when is the right time to make that move? To take that step?
Paul says this in the very next chapter…
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. – 2 Corinthians 6.2
On Easter Sunday some 2000 years ago, Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave! Our enemy was defeated.
And today, on Easter Sunday some 2000 years later, I want to remind some of you or your baptism because your baptism changes you’re identity! I want to remind you of who you are.
You are God’s Beloved. And you bring Him great joy!
We are Beloved
Jesus is God’s beloved. He lived, He died, and He rose again so that you could know that…
You are God’s beloved.
I am God’s beloved.
We are God’s beloved.
