No Longer Orphans
Scripture Reading — John 14:15-21
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
—John 14:18
All of us inherited an orphan spirit from Adam and Eve, who lost their home and inheritance when they sinned against God and had to leave Eden (Genesis 3). They damaged their relationship with God, with each other, and with God’s creation. But God has worked steadily to restore that relationship ever since.
There are times when each of us can detect the orphan spirit within. It happens when we feel as if we don’t belong, or when we feel we cannot relax and be ourselves. We believe we have to work to receive all that will come our way, because there is no inheritance. Our identity is not secure, so we invest heavily in our appearance and other physical things.
God the Father has made reconciliation possible through Jesus, his Son. Jesus willingly came from heaven to earth, emptied himself to become a human servant, living among us and suffering for our sake to pay the price for our sin. Jesus is in union and fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is secure and at home with his Father, and because of him we can “become children of God” (John 1:13).
The cross stands in history because God wants his children back. He does not want to leave us as orphans but calls us back to him. Our orphan heart can be replaced with a son’s or daughter’s heart. Has your heart been replaced?
Lord, we come to you out of our isolation in sin. Thank you for making us your children again, because of Jesus. Amen.
About the author — John Kuperus
Since he was young, John Kuperus has had a passion that everyone would know Jesus. Spreading the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) is very important to him. To be better equipped for missions, John attended Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He applied these skills with marketplace evangelism in a business he started in Sussex, New Jersey. This calling continued to follow him, so John attended seminary and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, serving a church in Ontario for eight years. Currently he serves as a missionary for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He witnesses Jesus changing lives as people walk out of the darkness into the light. John is married to Helen, and they have seven children.
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