Dearly Loved

When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, a voice came from Heaven saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Matthew 3:17 NLT).

Then we read in Ephesians 1 that “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” (verse 5 NLT).

The next verse continues, “So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son” (verse 6 nlt). Or, as the New King James Version renders it, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

This means that as Christians, God loves us as much as He loves His own dear Son. Here’s what Jesus said to the Father: “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:22–23 NLT).

Before knowing Jesus Christ, we were without hope. But through Jesus, God has adopted us as His own beloved children. And now we are precious and dear to Him.

Yet God doesn’t love us because we are lovable. Rather, God loves us because we are in Christ. We have been made “accepted in the Beloved.” God loves us unconditionally, has accepted us, and has given us all that we need to effectively live the Christian life.

And because we have this special relationship with God, it should impact us in the way that we live.