CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  (John 1:12-13 NKJV)

Why do we gather for worship? Why do we gather as a church? We gather as the people of God to hear our true names being called. When we are baptized, the heavens break open and we hear God saying to us, “Thou art my beloved son, thou art my beloved daughter,” because God knows our true names.

I think of my forefathers and foremothers in the time of slavery. They were called everything except children of God. But they did not derive their identity from the names that their slave masters called them. Instead, they stole away and sang: “Hush, hush, somebody’s calling my name. Hush, hush, somebody’s calling my name.” And then they sang another verse: “It sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling me name. It sounds like Jesus, somebody’s calling my name. 

-- Zan W. Holmes, Jr. in “Encountering Jesus”

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