Recognize The Son Of God (2025-11-18)

Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s transition from our relationship with our Heavenly Father, to recognizing who His only begotten Son.

Today’s scripture, John 3:16-17 (NLT) testifies…
[16] “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [17] God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Consider…
My wife has many contacts in her cellphone, 99% of them are names of people she knows. However, when her phone syncs with her car, the top two contact are…

  • ICE Husband
  • ICE Mother

As her husband, I love that because she is letting everyone who needs to know that In Case of Emergency, contact my husband and Mother.

Being identified by relationship indicates these are the two most important, and closest people in her life.

If God had a cellphone, I imagine His top two contacts would be…

  • ICE Son
  • ICE Spirit

…That’s because God would say the two most important, and closest people to Me are my Son and my Spirit.

Today, we’ll just focus on the Heavenly Father’s first contact.

Matthew 3:17 (NLT) attests to His Son’s importance to Him…
[17] And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

But we must back up two verses to see what makes His Son so special. Matthew 3:15 (NLT) says…
[15] But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.

What makes God’s Son so special is His obedience.

The Apostle Paul emphasizes this beloved obedience in Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT)…
[6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Notice, God’s innocent Son humbled himself in obedience and died a criminal’s death on the cross.

This is the perfect illustration of 1 Samuel 15:22 (NLT) that clarifies God’s preference…
[22] But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

We may not be God’s only begotten Son, but we can absolutely be His humbly obedient children. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

It’s the Son’s humble submission that led to His Heavenly elevation and ultimate name recognition. Philippians 2:9-1 (NLT) declares…
[9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So let’s recognize the first thing about God’s Son is His humble obedience.

Romans 5:18-19 (NLT) reiterates the power of the Son’s redeeming obedience…
[18] Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. [19] Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

It also segues into something else that makes God’s Son so recognizable.

Romans 3:24-25a (NLT) explains…
[24] Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. [25] For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

We’re freely made right because God’s Son paid the debt. Although Salvation costs us nothing, it cost God everything, specifically His dearly beloved Son.

1 Peter 1:19-20 (NLT) adds…
[19] It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. [20] God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

I don’t know that we fully understand that we may have been born in sin, but we’re not born to sin. You see, sin is a slave master, so just like children that were born into slavery were slaves by birth, that didn’t mean they had to be slaves all of their lives. You see, when someone was willing to, and could afford to buy a slaves freedom, they were no longer obligated to the slave master.

Romans 6:6-7 (NLT) explains…
[6] We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. [7] For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

This is what the atoning sacrifice God’s Holy and Righteous Son did, set those who believe on Him free from the…

  • Penalty for Sin
  • Power of Sin

…and eventually the Presence of Sin.

I just realized a difference between Sin and the Son is switching out the selfish ‘I’ focus with the selfless ‘O’ or other focus.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT) reveals ‘O’ could also stand for offering…
[21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

God’s Son is recognizable as our sin offering that makes us right in God’s sight.

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) expounds that His Son was a love sin offering…
[9] God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. [10] This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

This directly ties to today’s verse, which highlights what makes God’s Son most recognizable, which is He is God’s gift of Love.

Ephesians 1:4-7 (NLT) expounds…
[4] Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. [5] God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. [6] So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. [7] He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

Reading these verses highlights God’s Son indeed shows us the Father’s…

  • Love for us
  • Choosing of us
  • Relationship with us
  • Pleasure in us
  • Kindness to us
  • Grace on us

That’s who we should see when we envision God’s Son. No doubt the blood shed is so very prescious, but it’s only part of God’s gift of Love in the person of His Son.

Dare I suggest that perhaps the most precious expression of God’s love is recorded in Matthew 1:23 (NLT), which says…
[23] “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

Don’t get so caught up in all that God has done, that you miss the most important thing He did was give us His physical presence in His Son.

Colossians 1:15-17 (NLT) explains…
[15] Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, [16] for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. [17] He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

And John 1:1-4,14, 18 (NIV) testifies…
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
[14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
[18] No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Although we may not still be able to see Jesus in person these days, we know that He can from Heaven to Earth to show us the way to live as obedient children of our Heavenly Father.

This brings me to the final recognizable fact of God’s Son, He is the likeness that that He wants us to be transformed into. Holy Spirit just showed me that even though God created us in His image, He wants us to be transformed into his Son’s likeness.

1 John 3:2-3 (NLT) declares…
[2] Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. [3] And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

And Romans 8:29 (NLT) explains…
[29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Here’s the image God wants us to focus on, His Son!

I like the way Zach Williams sings it…

Oh, I have days I lose the fight
Try my best but just don’t get it right
Where I talk a talk that I don’t walk
And miss the moments right before my eyes

Somebody with a hurt that I could have helped
Somebody with a hand that I could have held
When I just can’t see past myself
Lord, help me be

A little more like mercy, a little more like grace
A little more like kindness, goodness, love, and faith
A little more like patience, a little more like peace
A little more like Jesus, a little less like me

Today, recognize the dearly beloved Son of God, and aim to be more like Him!

In fact, Jesus’ disciple whom He loved exhorts us in 1 John 3:16-19 (NLT)
[16] We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. [17] If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? [18] Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. [19] Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.

God’s Son is His love on display, and as obedient children others should see us the same exact way.

The Holy Spirit showed me one final fact from today’s scripture, it’s interesting that God points out He sent His Son to save not judge.

That reminds me a sermon note my wife shared that nets can be used to save or snare. In both cases it’s the same net with the same intent to catch. What differs is the motivation. Love saves, judgement snares.

So in recognizing God sent His Son in love, with love, to save, let’s make sure our motive for casting nets is the same. God’s Son came to save others from, not snare them in, sin. 🤔

Recapping, recognizing the Son of God is realizing He is…

…to everyone that believes in Him

Although this list isn’t anywhere near exhaustive, it is reflective of the Child-like qualities our Heavenly Father wants all of His children to possess and display, live accordingly.

My last thought is, many people knew the man named Jesus but few truly knew the Son of God. The Holy Spirit showed me, the power and authority in Jesus’ name is based in His relationship as God’s Son. For us that means it’s our relationship with our Heavenly Father that matters most, not our temporary names. So although we can’t share the only begotten Son’s name, we can reflect His recognizable relationship.

Today’s song is…
Sweet Little Jesus Boy / We Didn’t Know

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)

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