Christmas Eve

1 John 3:7-8

1 John 3:7-8 “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

1 John is written by the apostle John

John writes the gospel of John in a way that Magnifys Jesus as Christ, as the Messiah, as the Savior

First John was written to warn and instruct the readers about false teaching (2:26; 3:7)

that denied Jesus Christ had come in the flesh (4:2, 3).

This teaching held that Christ only appeared to be human, so that there was no real incarnation and no divine Savior who was able to die as an atonement for sinners.

Christ only seemed to die.

R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 2262.

John is writing to clear up these false teachings about the Messiah

In our small text we have today we can draw out 3 gifts from Jesus for application

We have a clear purpose for living

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil

The devil has no control over our eternal soul once we are in Jesus

Therefore, we can rest knowing that we are in Jesus

However, we must believe

1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

Believe in Jesus and love one another

Trust Jesus and love people

This goes beyond the merry time of Christmas

This should extend to every day of your life

Why? Because that is the first gift Jesus has given you

He has given you a purpose to live that is for him and loving towards others

Hope that our failures will be forgiven

Walk on eggshells

We do nit have to walk on eggshells

Jesus came as a sacrifice for our sins and failures

He has freed us from the bondage of sin

This is not a license to sin -

Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

Rather, our purpose pushes us to walk freely in righteousness

Supernatural Help in the Fight against sin

Jesus does not leave us alone in the fight

1 John 4:4 “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Our third gift: Christ will help us overcome sin