JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Good News Focus is on First John 3:1.

“See that 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.”

That word “lavish” is a rich word, meaning that God’s love was expressed to us generously and extravagantly. He did not withhold His very best from us, but offered Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sins at the cross. That was the purpose for Jesus’ birth 2,000 years ago. He came as God’s gracious and generous gift to the world.

One of the benefits of knowing God’s love is to be included in His family as a child of God. Speaking of Jesus, John 1:12 says, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Jesus is our Source of Good News, leading us to a place of being identified as a child of God in the Year of Vision.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com