Jeremiah 3: 19But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
God is speaking and asks a question to which he then gives the answer. We sure couldn’t come up with the answer to this. It’s something unsaved people need to understand. It’s not how your friends see you or how the world sees you that matters. How does God see you? This is the truth of the unsaved person’s condition before God. “How shall I put thee among the children?”
This is a logical and practical question. Think about how you raised your kids. Suppose you took them to the park and a gang was hanging out there, a gang whose kids use drugs and alcohol. You don’t allow your kids to do that. What if one of the gang members came up and wanted to go home with you and be one of your children? You’d probably say exactly what God did. “How do you expect to be one of mine if you don’t change? How can you be a member of my household and act like you do?” A person would have to be naive to allow that.
Think about it. Isn’t that exactly what people are doing to God today? Many think they can believe whatever they want and be accepted by God. They believe they can do whatever they want and be all right with God. God says “how do you expect me to give you a home in heaven when you want to continue as you are?” How do you expect to be one of God’s when you won’t listen to him? What do you expect God to do when you won’t take Jesus, his only begotten son, as your Savior? What is God supposed to do when you won’t deal with your sins? We insult God when we act or think like this. It doesn’t work like that.
God says “how shall I put thee among the children?” Consider this. God is not being mean. He wants us to know the truth about ourselves. None but the Lord would have thought to put it this way. I used to believe anything was all right. Then I thought nothing was right. I turned to the occult, then drugs. I did all this before I was 17 years old. How could I fit in God’s family like I was? I couldn’t! I’m so glad the Holy Spirit showed me the truth about myself. I could not have been put in as one of God’s children as I was. I saw that. When I came to the Lord for forgiveness of sins through his son, I was saved. There is no reason for anyone to be lost. There is no reason for anyone to be a backslider.
The condition of a person’s soul is not a small matter. Many take it lightly. God doesn’t. Many play around with their soul, but God doesn’t. If you walk on hot coals, you’ll get burnt. If you play with serpents, you’ll get bitten. We think so lightly of God’s mercy and grace. We think we’ll escape. Every morning many of us look at the obituaries in the newspaper to see if anyone we know died. One day someone will read our name in there. We need to prepare for that now and be ready.
Jesus told the people that by nature they were children of their father Adam. They said they were of their father Abraham; “We be not children of fornication…”. An obvious insinuation. Jesus had news for them. They wouldn’t accept him. They considered him an illegitimate child. They heard the story about how Joseph and Mary, already pregnant, were married. They asked him where his father was. In John 8 he said “ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” Jesus knew the truth. Mary gave herself to the Holy Spirit and conceived Jesus into her womb. Jesus bore the reproach of the talk. He told them “ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
Their original father, Adam, brought sin into the world and thereby brought spiritual death to all. He told them they had the nature of Adam. “Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.”
He didn’t stop there. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” You may say “I’m not a devil worshiper!” Of course you’re not. However, the devil works slyly on people. He floods society with the thinking that suggests that all is fine. The devil would have you believe everyone gets to go to heaven. Instead of choosing Jesus you reject him. When you know right from wrong but don’t choose the Lord, you are choosing the devil. You’re doing exactly what he wants you to do.
Satan has never treated anyone like a father. What good are his trinkets if you die without Jesus? He looks at you as his prey. He wants to devour you. His goal is to keep you from Jesus so you will die in your sins and follow him into hell. You will not be in heaven with Jesus unless you’re saved. That’s why God asked “how shall I put you among the children?” Realize how unable you are to be put in the kingdom of God. Can you call him Father and turn from him?
Look at Galatians 4:3-5. “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
God has only one begotten son—Jesus Christ. He is divine. He was willing to become a child of Mary and take on human form. He gave his all on Calvary so we can have a Savior we can touch. He became the way to heaven. He made it possible for us to become adopted children of God. The only way to call God your Father is to accept, trust, and follow his only begotten son. If the only father you have is the devil, the opportunity is before you to have your sins forgiven and call on God as your Father.
“How shall I put you among the children?” He can only do it by Jesus Christ. Come home to your only rightful Father, or just run along home with your foster father of lies to destruction.
Now you know the truth.
The choice is yours.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 