The Blessings of God's Children
All right. well, if you take your Bibles and turn with me to 1st John chapter number 3, 1st John chapter number 3.
I want to speak to you just for a few moments this evening on the blessings of being a child of God 1st. John, 3:1 tells us Behold what manner of love? The father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved now, are we the children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him for. We shall see him as he is and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you, Lord. So much for this beautiful day that you've given us this opportunity. Lord to come to your house and I'll or just be reminded of the blessings that are ours as we think about Lord, Your Love toward us, such a great love. That we could not even begin to Fathom. And Lord of the blessings that you have bestowed upon us because of that. Great. Love you have a made us your children. Through your son, Jesus Christ. So father, I pray that we would just bask in your goodness tonight. Bask in your blessings that are ours and father, we pray as we go throughout the services. We get to our prayer time. Father, I pray that we would just lift up those who are in need, Those physical needs. But Lord also those who are who are in spiritual need tonight. Father, we love you. We ask all these things of Christ name, amen. I don't know of any of the other scripture that really just mazes and just blesses me more than this 3. Versus these three versus here in 1st. John, as it speaks about the love of God, speaks about the grace of God that has been bestowed upon us. It speaks about the plan of God. And it speaks about. Also the great, hope we have, not in ourselves but In Christ Alone.
A few things by way of introduction that we need to remember tonight that really should motivate us and living out the Christian Life. We need to realize what we are. We need to be reminded of what we are and what is VS1. Tell us we are. We are God's children. Think about that. We are God's children. And then we need, we need to understand to be reminded what we shall be. We shall be conformed into the image of Christ. When we get to heaven is what verse to tells us that though, we are still in the flesh now. This is not what this is, not what we will be in heaven. Where shall be pure? As Christ himself is pure and then we need to know and be reminded of what we should be as verse three Tails as we should be a people who live pure and holy separated lives at The Lies. We live here on Earth are not perfect lies, but we should live differently than those who are of the world.
So it's truly amazing that God's love has been bestowed upon us. And John tells us that this is a love that the world cannot know. The world has no really no way of knowing this kind of love I love of. God is brought it as deep as marvelous as boundless as measureless Of course, the most accurate way to measure the love of God, is to what to look at the cross of calvary. Because it was on the cross. We see a love that is so immense that it moves the Lord Jesus to die for his enemies. Moved him to die. For the Unworthy. The unlovable and ungodly. Romans 5:17 says that Christ died for the ungodly. For one will rarely die for a righteous. Romans 5:8 says, but God, demonstrated his love toward us that even though while we were yet, sinners Christ died for us. I notice first of all, the glory of who you are in Christ, The Glory of who you are in Christ. Again, listen to the beauty of verse one behold, what manner of love. The father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. That word. Behold he wants us there to reflect upon the greatness of the Father's. Love The word behold means to gaze upon to study to ponder. When John wrote this, John was an old man. He's well into his Sunset years and but yet even, after all of these years that he has been saved, he still contemplates and still meditate upon God's grace and his love.
It would do as well to stop and think about the wonderful position into which God has brought us as sinners. And making us his children. John says, God's love has been given to us. That we should be called the children of God. We who were Sinners, we were enemies of God. We who deserve God's Wrath yet? We are the ones to whom have been lavished with God's love.
And by means of God's forgiveness of our sins. And the new birth, we are in the family of God through the legal Act of adoption. when we come to faith in Christ and adopted, Our death are send that has canceled or given a new name. We become Heirs of God and Joint heirs with Jesus. Turn the Romans chapter 8
Turn the Romans chapter 8 and verse number 12.
Let's read about. this thing of being adopted,
Romans 8, and verse number 12, Says, therefore brethren. We are debtors not to the flesh to live, according to the flesh for if you live. According to the flash, you will die. But if you buy the spirit, you put to death, the Deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God. but you did not receive the spirit of bondage, again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father The spirit himself Bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children then heirs Heirs of God and Joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together. So we see in this portion of scripture in Romans chapter 8 we receive adoption from God. Himself is what? Verse 15 tosses And that the adopted one has no reason to fear. He says, for you to not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. And then we noticed that the adopted son is able to cry. Abba Father. Beloved father.
Notice a stew.
He says, behold now. We are the children of God. Behold. Now we are the children of God noticed that he does not. Say we shall be the children of God, or we soon. Shall be the children of God. He says, we are the children of God. So not only are we immediately his children now but we are also unequivocally his children. He says we are and there is no, maybe there's no doubt about it. We are, if you are in Christ, if you have been converted, you are his child now.
One Theologian said this, a Christian is someone who should be able to say? I know I am persuaded. I am certain that I am a child of God, how many Christians are least those who are in denominations that believe that you can lose your salvation are constantly wondering and my saved, am I believe I am I doing enough. Have I done too much that I might lose my salvation last week I was visiting with a man that is dying. He only has a few days to live. He grew up in a Pentecostal denominations into which you could fall from grace and he was scared. and I was able to give him several scriptures and Peach to him of eternal security and was that means that when we are adopted in Christ, that that gives us security And I told him to look if we could lose our Salvation, we would lose our salvation. But that is no salvation at all. If our Salvation is up to us, And so by the grace of God, he was able to see it. He was able to be minister to and I praise the Lord for that.
Notice also. Inverse to we see the glory of where we are destined. The glory of where we are Destiny, says behold. Now we are the children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. So, here the Apostle John switches from talking about who we are and he starts talkin about here of what we shall be.
John knows that in order for us to understand what we will be, we have to start with who we are. The children of God. May God is Not only interested in making us his children. He desires for all of his children to Bear the likeness of his son, the Lord Jesus. Until gone is about the business of making us more like Jesus Through the act of sanctification. There is the sanctification that takes place. The moment that we are born again. That is we are immediately positionally sanctify. We've been set apart met the children of God now, but then there's also that Progressive sanctification where the Lord Works upon us as individuals working through our lives. Making us more, holy making us more christ-like. Do we have positional sanctification, which takes place the moment of conversion. And then we have that practical Progressive, sanctification that God is working through us to make us more holy and he does that through different events. He does that through trials many times through the trials that God uses in our life to make us more. Holy to make us more like the image. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. So don is about making all of his children to make an all of his children, conformed, to the image of our Lord. Jesus Christ, we are children of King, Jesus now. But we have not come into our full inheritance.
It is ours now but we don't come into it until we get to heaven. I notice also in verse 3,
The glory of his appearing. The glory of his appearing. He says, but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him for. We shall see him as he is. I would have John mean when he says we shall be like him. But first, we will be, we will have a glorified resurrected body in heaven. I think about that, that's one reason to Rejoice tonight. Right? At one day, we're going to have a glorified body, a new body, a body, that cannot be tainted by, I see you in, or death, or Decay or disease. Right now, we have a flashlight body but one day we're going to have a spiritual body, a body that cannot be touched by time and decay. Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 verse 21. But Jesus will transform our lowly body to be like his body. Our Heavenly Body will be something like Jesus. Resurrection body a body that is not bound by time. A body that is not bound by space. A body that will never age or grow sick, a body that will never die. Second, we will have a purified character. We go to heaven, God will forever rid of us once and for all of sin. Praise the Lord for that. We no longer will have to wrestle against our sin nature. We will never have to wrestle against our sinful flesh. When God saved us, he gave us a new spiritual nature, but our flesh is not yet saved. But when we, when we get to heaven, our flesh will be saved to be glorified. We praise the Lord for that.
Third. We will have a satisfied heart. Will have a satisfied hard. Psalm 17:15 says ask for me I Shall Behold your face in righteousness. When we see our savior face-to-face in glory, we will be like him and we will be eternally satisfied. I don't know about you, but I am not satisfied with my spiritual life. I want to do more more for my savior. I think about that moment that we will see him that moment. We will be spiritually, eternally satisfied. We will see him in all of his glory, we will see him in all of his majesty. And right now, we have to see him. How Through The Eyes of Faith. None of us have ever seen the Lord Jesus with our physical eyes, but one day, our faith will become sight. And we shall see him as he is.
Think about this.
Verse 3.
Says an everyone who has this hope in him. Purifies himself just as he is pure. So John has told us what we are, we are the children of God and he has told us what we will be like Jesus when we shall see him and then a three he tells us what we should be.
So if we're to be like Christ in heaven, then we must act like Christ. Now John says what we should be is Holy and we should live a holy and Pure Life.
And the reason we can and should is because we have hope and that work hope here means a settled certainly based on the Promises of God. It is not the hope that. I hope tomorrow is a sunny day and not a rainy rainy day. Know the hope that is mentioned, here is a hold that is steadfast and sure. So again, he speaks hear of gods, Almighty love that has been bestowed upon us. That were bestowed. There is a word that has been granted to not one that has been somehow earned this love not someone who has worked for this love but one that is just a recipient of God's grace and his love.
That we should be called children of God.
when the Christian sees himself in this, what happens a lot of times that people can get depressed and get discouraged because they lose sight of their worthiness. And they lose sight of how much God loves them. They lose sight of what they are because they have been bestowed upon themselves, the grace and love of God. If you think about that and meditate upon the fact that you are his child, it will bless you and it will help you in times of discouragement. That we are now his children. and even though we are not what we ought to be, we are not what we should be. Praise God. We're not what we're going to be our. We're going to one day. Be a perfect person. That is purified through the Lord Jesus Christ. So I pray that's a blessing and a help to us. I just feel this evening, we need to be reminded I've gone to love. We need to be reminded of who we are in Christ.
It helped us in these dark and discouraging days, and which we are in.
Will continue to pray for David Healy. I want to see if I got an afternoon updates here.
Yes, his brother-in-law said he is sore and doesn't feel good, but he's doing much better. The tube came out this morning. He's running a low-grade fever, so they're trying to figure that out. He'll probably be there for a couple more days at least in the hospital. The most of, you know, the story. What happened yesterday, morning that he woke up not feeling well at all had very severe chest pains and he is a type of person as most men that do not like going to the doctor and when Karen asked him, how he was feeling. He said, I need to go to the hospital. And so she knew when he said that something was bad wrong. She got into the ER, And within 10 minutes of him being in that, ER they had already determined that he was having a heart attack at that. Moment are having some very difficult issues with his heart. The determined that he had a blockage in, I guess it's his aorta or what they called, the Widowmaker that was a hundred percent. They were able to put a stent in. I was able to go talk to him. Probably all my maybe just 15 minutes after they got the stent in. He was doing great doing wonderful and his family was in talked and we were laughing together rejoicing. Because the Lord's blessings I left about an hour later got a phone call that he had relapsed. That was the word. Actually what happened was his heart just stopped completely. I mean he coded on them the nurse came in they are in a measly hit a button that you know called in all the other nurses May begin to do CPR on him and they had to shock his heart twice to get it started back again. Fortunately praise the Lord and did they thought maybe that the stent had collapsed but it did not what the doctor believes happened is that it had the heart had some type of a spasm that after being severely blocked from that blood and then freeing up that blood flow like that it can cause a spasm that just Stops the heart and it's it could happen within the first 24 hours pretty rare, but it did happen. Fortunately the doctors are able to bring him back. But obviously due to the CPR that was done on him and all those chest compressions. He is very sore and but wow a miracle doctor said
That you're very, very fortunate to even be here and then to have an episode where his heart completely stops. It just a double Miracle upon his life in. So continue to pray for his healing. Pray for Karen, she is You know, having a very difficult time.
Anybody else we need to remember.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay. Continue. Pray for Richard Hartley's, mom.
Yes, Jan.
She has to go Friday for surgery and she was a little, you know, concerned about it. And I told her that we would pray for her.