First John Chapter 2 28 -3 1-10 Children of God or the devil?

First John Chapter 2 28 -3 1-10 Children of God or the devil?

Like last time the words of John will not be hard to understand, but they might be hard to hear, if we are till entangled in the world, and or have fine sensibility’s to being politically correct or be afraid of offending people or don’t like that there is a clear us and them, the children of God and the children of the devil. Black or white, no room for gray, and this is the words that John heard from Jesus, when Jesus was teaching John. The question for us today, or in all times, are we ready to hear the teaching of Jesus? Or will we close our ears and hearts? I think Kyle engleman, pastor, asked in a bible study, do you try to be Jesus HR/PR manger? And explain away the true, but hard words of Jesus, or what God does, let me explain, God did this because, and we take away form who God is and instead talk about a God we think people will accept.

The strange part is, that would be false teaching, and we have let people astray, no as another old Pastor said, unleash the word of God, let people hear, then the Holy Spirt can work on the hears hearts. I aske the people in the biblestudy to sit in and under the text and try not to escape to other texts we might like better, because God can teach us about Him self in all the texts. About His glory and about our need of a savior form sin and rebellion.

I found this helpful: To wake people up… PPT -

In 28 John starts out with a call to abide in Jesus, and stay and walk in his teaching that they heard form the beginning. So that when Jesus comes back, they and we may be confident in him, and not shrink away from Jesus in shame his coming. (Are there things in your life and conduct that make you what to hide from Jesus? That is why you need to hear the teaching of Jesus). John is pointing them and us towards freedom in Christ, a longing for Jesus to come…

Then for them and us, letting the Holy Spirt guide us and teach us, and let us as verse 29 say act like we know that Jesus is righteous, and know that we and others have been born of Jesus, if we practice righteousness as Jesus did. A new creation born of Jesus. How amazing, what Joy… New in Christ. And it gets even better, that God showed his love for us in Jesus, and now John writes that we can be called the Children of God… And we are John states. Let that sink in, let that settle in. In Christ his righteousness we can be born of him and be called the Children of God by kind love of the father as the Holy Spirt opened our eyes to see and know Jesus. The is the great news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God made a way for us, from being children of Wrath children of the devil, to cleansing and redemption adoption in to Gods family being called his children. All of our need and longings met I Jesus Christ, and the father by the work of God the Holy Spirt.

Do you feel wired strange in this world, John writes that is not a bad thing, - Jesus felt the same, the world did not know him, if we are in him the world will not know us. (Have the way you live made people questioned you? Have you been left out, because you don’t participate in what in normal? Have people asked why do you give that much away? Why don’t you get a better job, education, why do you pray? Why do you serve me and my family? I must have runed your day.) It is good when we are different in the world, it is good when you don’t feel at home here, because we look to Jesus coming back, is our hope, not the world as it is now. As John wrote 2 weeks ago, don’t love the world, it is fading away, but doing the will of God last forever. Stand out don’t fit in, most people are lost, and they need a light, salt, someone that stands out… Let that be us… Not just strange for strange sake, but because we live like Jesus has changed us and we are born of him and can be called Children the Father. Do you live that way, not because you have to but because you can’t help it… Because you are changed.

John states it again in verse 3:2, beloved dearly loved, we are God’s children now, not just later it is a present fact, eternal life starts now with Jesus, as God’s children. We are not totally made new yet, that we be made complete as Jesus comes back, then we will know what we will be like, new body no sin, or fight with sin, we shall be like Jesus and we will see Jesus as he is in glory, our mighty savior king, in his resurrection body. – Fully know Jesus and be fully known by God. (All will bow and confess who Jesus is).

In verse 3 John writes in we have put our hope in Jesus we will reject the world and the sins in it and purified our self in the power and work of Jesus, because he is pure. This is contrasted to the people that keep sinning and make that the way they walk, going after lawlessness and sin… that is a sign of a person that does not know Jesus. Why John writs in verse 5 because Jesus came to take away sins, (not to give us our sin), and in Jesus there is no sin. True freedom, what Joy.

The false teachers and the people going after the praise of the world and things of the world and that keep sinning, - they don’t know Jesus, abiding in sin shows that they are not God’s children. And that they have not known or seen Jesus. – They don’t underhand who Jesus is and why he came and that he is coming back. They don’t know Jesus. Therefore, they don’t know God.

Explaining more John writes; again little Children don’t be led astray or deceived, The ones that are walking in righteousness, in Jesus are the righteous as Jesus, but the ones that makes it there life to sin to keep walking in sin even defending there sin, is of the devil the slander, the one that deny Jesus is the Christ, and have been sinning from the beginning, they are the children of the devil.

Jesus came, to destroy the works of the devil, not to promote sin. But to loosen and destroy his works.

Then the ones born of God, can’t keep on in sin, because Gods seed in in him, then the work of God in the person and that person born of God will not keep on sinning. (A warning and encouragement, we can overcome sin, because Jesus did and we are reborn in God, but also a warning not to fall in to the trap of accepting sin, because Jesus made a way for sin to be killed, not accepted).

Then John writes it is easy to see who; the children of God are, and who the children of the devil are.

The children of the devil are the ones that don’t love the brothers, and don’t live a righteous life in Christ.

(Popular false teaching is that everyone is God’s Children, that is a lie, according to Jesus and John there are specific things that have to be true about us, if we are the children of God, we have believed in Jesus from the Gospel of John, and the things John just wrote here, we need to be born of Jesus, the changing power of the Holy Spirt, and loved by the father and then called his Children. If that is not true you’re not a child of God, - You are made in the image of God, and therefore you have value and dignity, - problem would be that you have joined the rebellion, and become a child of the devil as you sin and live for your or other peoples glory and not for God, you have not been born of Jesus you have not received the anointing of the Holy Spirt, then your not an child of God). It sounds innocent, but in theology, what we know about who God is this is very serious, don’t say God has done something he has not and don’t clam or give people titles that you’re not able to give. Jesus is clear the some of the people he speaks too are sons of the Devil)

What about you are you a childe of God or the Devil?

What Great news is this text, how we see who Jesus is, How we see the love of God. How we are called up to be righteous in Christ, How we see that Jesus came to take away sin and destroy the work of the devil, how we shall be like Jesus when he comes back, new resurrection body, we are asked to abide in Jesus so we can stan in him as he comes back, that we set our hope in Jesus, and kills sin as Jesus did, Purify. What very great news.

We can therefore reject false teaching and living, that is done by the devils Children, that also hate the brothers, and teach false about Jesus, and don’t know the father, they have not been born of God. They will try to deceive, but don’t let them.