S - Epistle of John Pt. 6 (1 John 3: 4-10)

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1 John 3:7–9 NIV

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.

Over the last few weeks we have talked plenty about Jesus, and about Jesus coming back. Again last week I asked you a question:

Have you ever thought about Jesus coming back?

This would be the third week in a row that I ask: What will you be doing when Jesus comes back? I mentioned that Jesus’ return functions like a form of accountability. But I don’t want us to only think about Jesus coming back, and in the process forget why Jesus came to us in the first place.

In the old testament, in the first 3 chapter in the book of Genesis we have the story of Adam and Eve. And I know many of you know this story, we’ve read a couple of times here, you’ve heard other people talk about this true story before. And maybe you want Jesus to come back tomorrow, maybe you are excited to see Jesus coming down in the clouds and maybe, you want to see what heaven is like.

But I don’t want us to pursue the ending of this story, and in the mean time forget the beginning.

Let me as you:

What is your favorite movie? Do you know how it ends? It’s hard for me to think of my favorite movie, it really is. There are so many good movies out there. But if you asked me to stick to a genre of movies, it might be easier for me to pick. For instance, my room mate and I in college used to do homework together and sometimes we’d watch Hercules.

I love that movie, I love the songs, I love the story. But the movie has a beginning. And just like every other movie I’ve seen before, it has an ending. But the beginning is important because it does a couple of things:

It introduces us to the important characters.

It introduces us to the problem.

And for the rest of the movie you and I are given the task to watch the characters deal with the problem. In Hercules, Hercules had to deal with this evil Greek god that was trying to steal his girlfriend and get rid of him. But if I have never seen the movie, and I just skip to the last 5 minutes, I would have no clue what it was about. Because the beginning is just as important as the end.

Friends, it works the same way in the Bible. There is an ending, the Bible explains to us what the ending will look like, we just haven’t lived it yet. So it is important for us to recognize why Jesus is coming back.

The book of Genesis teaches us about this man named Adam and his wife named Eve. And God gave Adam a beautiful garden a beautiful wife, a great place to live and he gave Adam everything he ever wanted. Not only that but God and Adam had a beautiful relationship. A perfect relationship. With all the free stuff that Adam had, God gave Adam one rule.

Don’t eat from a very specific tree in the garden. But what does Adam do? Adam eats from the tree. We call what he disobedience. God gave Adam everything and Adam disobeyed God and it came with a lot of consequences.

Some of the consequences that come from it:

The world is no longer perfect. That’s why you and I suffer. There is suffering and hurt in the world because sin is here.

You and I sin too because we have inherited this desire to sin against God too.

But the worst thing that happened from sin entering the word is that now Adam is no longer in a perfect relationship with God. Sin put a wall between God and Adam. It separated Adam from God.

Now, we said earlier that the beginning of a story tells us a couple of things. It introduces us to the important characters:

God.

satan.

Adam.

We have three key figures in the story. And they will be a part of the story until the very end. Let me remind you that we have the end of the Bible in revelation but we have not yet seen the end of the story. SO who represent who in the story?

God - God

satan - satan

Adam - Us

This might not be what you want to hear but you and I are Adam in this story. So now think for a minute, every single time you see Adam’s name or Eve’s name replace it with yours. So when it says that Adam has sinned you can read as: Luis sinned. Or Stephen sinned. or Erik Sinned. But you and I have sinned against God. It’s not my favorite part of the story, but it’s the truth.

Now the scene is set for us. We have the three big characters in the story, God, satan and Us. And now we have a problem.

Sin. Sin is the problem. It’s actually the biggest problem the world has to deal with. Sin has caused so much hurt, pain, destruction in the world. It’s the reason we can’t get along with each other. Sin is the reason wars happen, anxiety and depression exist. And you and I now have to deal with it.

The hard part is that it’s our fault sin is in the world. And every single time you and I sin, we add more of it into the world. Imagine it like this:

We are up on the top of this giant cliff with God and the only way for us to fall off is if we sin. Now that you and I have sinned against, there is no way for us to climb back up. We can’t, we are stuck inside this massive pit, a pit that we dug by the way, and now we can’t get out no matter what we do. So now what? Well, that’s the problem to the story. We can’t get back to God. We’re stuck with sin and with satan.

The beautiful part about all of this is, that the bible tells us how one of the 3 character is going to fix it all. satan isn’t gonna fix. We aren’t gonna fix it, we broke it. But God can, and God will. So God sends us a hero to fix it all, that Hero’s name is Jesus. And he can fix the problem that we have created.

How in the world is He gonna do that?

Let’s read together:

1 John 3:4–6 NIV

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

The bible teaches you and me that we know He appeared. Who is He? Jesus. Jesus appeared to humanity a little over 2,000 years ago to take away our sin. See, Jesus showed up a couple of times in the Old Testament. He showed up to Abraham and told him that He would have a son. he showed up to Gideon and gave Gideon the strength to free the people of Israel from the sin of idolatry and oppression. He showed up for Daniel’s friends in the pit of fire to keep them safe from an evil king who wanted to kill them for worshipping God. And He showed up for you and me on the cross to take away our sins. To free us from the bondage of sins and to keep us away from hell.

But it cost Him, Jesus, His life. Because that’s what it takes for you and I to be free.

Jesus himself came to earth to deal with sin because you and I could not. And if He hadn’t, we’d be in a whole lot of trouble.

But I want to remind you of what John said last week, John tells you and me that we should:

Remain, Abide, or continue in Jesus. After Jesus died on the cross, He came back to life 3 days later to prove that He is God, and only God can defeat death. So if He can take on death, He can give you a better life. A life that is no longer worshiping sin and a life that will one day lead you to heaven.

But you have to trust Him. Verse 6 shows us the difference between those who have chosen Jesus, and those who have not.

1 John 3:6 NIV

6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

No one who remains, abides, continues or lives in Jesus will keep sinning. And those who keep sinning on purpose, and ignore God’s calling on their life has not even seen Jesus, let alone know Him. Which one are you? Do you know Jesus? Have you allowed Him to change your life? Make you into a better person? Or do you ignore His calling on your life because you would rather pursue sin?

What sin am I pursuing Pastor Luis? Are disobedient? Are you chasing after relationships you know the Bible is against? Are you hiding away in your bathroom to look at things you shouldn’t? Are you using words that you’re not supposed to? Are you creating rifts in your relationships just because you want to be in control?

Or are you following Jesus with everything you’ve got? Are you asking God to show what He wants you to do next? Are you being kind to people who don’t deserve it? Are you being respectful to God, His house and His gifts?

Which one are you? or better yet:

Which one would you rather be?

If you don’t abide, live, continue or remain in Jesus. Then you are far away Jesus. I promise you, that It’s not God’s fault if you are not in a relationship with Him. It’s only yours. We read in chapter 1 of 1 John, that all He wants a relationship with you. And He has done everything to make sure it’s easy for you to be in relationship with Him.

But Jesus didn’t come just to defeat sin, He came to defeat satan:

1 John 3:7–8 NIV

Jesus showed up to destroy the devil. The devil is a sinner that has been defeated. The devil knows he’s been defeated. he lost to Jesus on the cross. And he knows that one day he’s going to lose round 2 with God. But in the mean time, he’s going to do everything he can to trick you, and to keep you away from God.

In the same God has done everything to bring you close to him, satan has done everything to keep you away.

And because feels better to sin, most of humanity will follow satan instead of Jesus. Again, who would rather be? Would you rather follow Jesus or satan? If you follow your sin, you follow satan by default.

How do know that satan is trying to deceive me? If what you want is making you turn away from Jesus, then satan is trying to deceive you.

A wise pastor once told me if your theology is pushing you away from Christ then it’s bad theology. In the same way, if the things you do are pushing you away from Jesus that’s sin. You could do a good thing, but if it leads you closer to satan and further from Jesus, then it’s wrong.

But guys, Jesus did not come just to defeat sin and to defeat the devil. I praise Him because He has. But He also came to tells us what it looks like for us to be different from the world:

1 John 3:9–10 NIV

9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

How do I know I’m a child of God? If I do what God does. God wants the world to see the differences. If you truly follow Jesus, people will know the difference. They may not be able to tell at first, but after spending time with you people will notice a difference.

wait a minute, this person doesn’t blow up when they’re angry. Wait a minute, this guy is so patient. Hold on, this guy has a lot of self control. Why does this guy keep talking to me about Jesus?

One my friends once said this:

One day I’m going to die. And I don’t know what people are going to say in my funeral, they might say: “Hey this dude was a pretty good guy.” Or “I remember this funny story about him.” But what I really want people to say about me is: “This guy never shut up about Jesus.”

A true follow of Jesus talks about Jesus. Because Jesus is the solution to the world’s sin. The bible teaches us that this was always God’s plan. God didn’t send His son Jesus to die on the cross as a plan B. It was always the plan from the beginning. God knew you and I would sin against Him, and He knew what it would cost for us to be in heaven with Him one day. And even though He knew we would mess it all up, He still created us. Knowing it would cost Him His Son’s life.