Are You An Alien?

In 1 John 3:1-3 Christians read: See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.

John calls us God’s children. Do you know why? That is what we are.

So….

Who do you think you are?

I am a child of God, and this is very encouraging to me:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

A child at the Ranch wore a T-shirt that read I am an alien based on the following verses from 1 Peter:

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. (NASB)

It’s true. If you are a Christian, you’re an alien and stranger in this world. You may not like being an alien, but if you are a follower of Jesus Christ that is exactly what you are.

On the other hand, if you are in love with this world, you do not love God. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

Does this describe you?

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. John 15:19

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.  Romans 12:2

If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you need to realize that the reason you don’t “fit in” is because you’re an alien, a stranger in this world.

Who do I think I am? I am a child of God. I am a priest. I am holy.

“Holy? Is that a good thing? Isn’t it an insult to be called holier than thou?”

If you are a follower of Christ, you are holier than those who don’t follow him. Genuine followers are holy, set apart. They do not conform to this world. They obey their Lord, Jesus Christ.