From Astonishment to Action: Living as God’s Children

Intro

This morning we pass the halfway point of 1 John. I hope you’ve enjoyed studying this book as much as I have. I’ve particularly loved how John communicates to us big ideas but then tells us how to live them out. That continues today as we grapple with what it means that we are called children of God. And how we live in the reality of who our father is

1 John 2:28–3:3 NIV

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Verses 28 & 29 represent a shift in the letter. from here on out John has given his case against the heretics that have infiltrated the church. He’s told them that Jesus is the light that we are to walk in, he’s shown them that he is victorious over death, he’s told them how Jesus is THE truth. Now he shifts from what the result should be if they really believe all those things. The rest of the book is going to have a heavy emphasis on God’s love and our response to it. these two verses bridge the gap between the two distinct yet complementary halves of John’s letter.

In them we see John continue his command from the previous verse to remain, continue, abide in him. Hes demanding a continual, deepening relationship with Christ which comes out of their status as dear children. If we do this we see that when he appears meaning when Jesus returns like John writes about in the book of revelation we can be confident? Why

1. Righteousness Brings Confidence.

When we come face to face with Jesus during His second coming or when we pass away the righteous will meet him with confidence and not be ashamed. I don’t know if you have ever walked into a situation with 0 confidence but I sure have.

For me when I was a kid my mom was a stay at home mom through most of my childhood, and that was a blessing. but because of that my dad sacrificed and worked a lot to provide for us. A sacrifice that I didn’t truly understand and appreciate until I had my own kids. My mom ran the house but my dad was still the ultimate authority, and the times were rare because obviously I was a near perfect child. but they did happen when I would mess up so bad that mom would tell me the scariest words you could ever hear. Your dad is going to deal with you when he gets home. Often times he wouldn’t get home until 11 PM so I would just be waiting all day stewing in the shame of what I did preparing to receive my punishment. but on the days that didn’t happen which was 99% of them, I couldn’t wait for my dad to come home. I would hear the garage door open and we would eat a late night snack together and watch Stargate. and it was great.

when he arrived and I had done what he wanted me to do, obey my mom I met him with confidence, when I didn’t I met him with shame. Righteousness brings confidence.

How can we possibly meet Christ at his second coming with any sort of confidence, this is Jesus the king of kings who died for us who is returning to judge the world? The righteous stand in confidence.

You may think I don’t know if righteous is the word id use to describe myself. how can I be righteous and run to him with confidence when he returns instead of running and hiding in shame? By doing what he’s been telling us this whole book. Walk in the light by abiding in Jesus. Our righteousness is not based on us it is based on Him. When we put our faith and trust in him for salvation his righteousness becomes our righteousness. and because we have his righteousness we can stand confidently when we see Jesus face to face and when he takes unto the presence of our father.

1 John 3:1–3 NIV

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

John invites his readers and us to just stop for a minute. What we translate see what great love is a word that always means astonishment. John is astonished by the love the father has lavished on us that we would call us. sinful us his children.

List people. He would call sinful Daniel his child. Thats the most astonishing one to me. When I read this passage and become astonished with that truth the take away I am left with is.

2. Astonishing Love Makes us God’s Children.

This morning I want you to dwell on how astonishing it is that God would love you enough to not just save you, not just make you his subject, but to adopt you into His family. May we never lose just how astonishing that is. May we never get over or move past that. John certainly hadn’t it.

a theologian named Burdick puts it like this

1, 2, 3 John (1) Be Confident and Ready for His Coming (2:28–3:3)

God loves the sinner, not because He is drawn to him by his lovableness, but because, in spite of man’s unloveliness, God sets His mind and will on seeking man’s highest good This is what is amazing about God’s love.” It is a divine, initiated love that is active, for it seeks to bring sinners into the family of God.

God doesn’t love you because you are good or because you are so loveable he cant help it. He loves you because he is good and he chose to love you. Before the foundations of the earth was laid he decided he wanted you in his family. John said that he lavished his love on us. the picture that, that word paints in its original language is that of a gift from God the Father that cannot be earned or bought, it is given freely and can’t be withdrawn or returned. He has given us love in such a way that it becomes part of of us. He lavishes permanent abiding love to his children.

when I hear the word lavish in this context I think of someone just being bombarded with gifts to the point that they cant hold them anymore and they fall to the ground and they just keep being given gifts to the point that they are draped and surround by all these extravagant gifts that they could never have purchased and all there is to do be look up from the ground and be astonished at the one giving you these gifts.

The gift of God’s love is the greatest gift we could possibly be given. to be brought into his family through the sacrifice of Jesus. When we think about it should lead you to astonishment. And if it doesn’t than you may have never experienced that love. You may have heard about it, sang about it, learned about it, but you’ve never experienced it. Jesus is not a concept to be learned about he is a person to be experienced, to be in relationship with, to abide in.

How do we know if we are abiding, if we have experienced his love and should be confident in our righteousness?

1 John 3:4–10 NIV

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 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. 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. 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.

There is some strong language there. Is John saying that we sin we lose our salvation or we were never in the family of God to begin with? Absolutely not. God is not going to kick you out of the family if you screw up anymore than my dad was going to kick me out of the house when he got home and i had disobeyed my mom. Like I said those days where I got in big trouble were rare. Why were they rare? because I actually was a pretty good kid. Why was I a good kid? because I just born a good kid? No I was a good kid because of who my parents are. I have some of their tendencies, their instruction and discipline factor into my reaction to every situation I am in. Who i was as a kid and who I am now is heavily influenced by who they are.

John is saying if we have been born again, and we are children of God. Who you are will be influenced by who your dad is. If you are abiding in Him and you are in fellowship with him like he talked about in chapter one you will not live a life characterized by sin. John isnt suggesting that the children of God will not commit a single act of sin. He’s already said multiple times in this letter that they will. Instead John is describing a way of life, a character, a prevailing lifestyle. and that is that the believer will not live a life characterized by sin. The believer may fall into sin but he will not walk in it.

3. God’s Children are Identified by Righteousness

Instead of living a life characterized by sin we live lives that are identifiable by the righteousness of God that we got to see lived out in Jesus. Righteousness is a defining trait of our father. But we have to be careful because it isn’t the practice of righteousness or appearance of righteousness that makes us righteous. But it reveals the nature of the one who is practicing righteousness.

1 John 3:10 NIV

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.

John reaffirms that both the children of God and the children of the devil (those who have rejected God as the source of truth like we talked about last week) Both groups are identified by what they do. Righteousness is an inner quality that displays itself outwardly, Wickedness the is the same an inner quality that will display itself outwardly. It is the wilful rejection and active disobedience against God’s moral standard. That is a defining characteristic of the children of the devil. In the same way Christians are identified by their righteousness that comes from abiding with Christ. Children of the devil are identified by active disobedience against God because that a defining characteristic of satan.

Remember one of John’s goals of this letter was to reassure the believers of their salvation he wasn’t trying to make them doubt it. His goal in giving us this section is not for us to have to wonder if we are saved or not every time we sin. The Spirit speaking through John wants us to know that you are child of God who he has chosen to lavish his love upon. You have been declared righteous not because of your ability to behave righteously. But because of who your father is.

Faith precedes behavior, but right behavior is the natural result of proper belief. We come from the one who is righteousness embodied, therefore we live righteously through the power of the Holy Spirit. John calls us to live in such a way that we are identifiable. People can tell who your father is because of how you act.

People always say I look like my dad. They never say my dad looks like me. Why? Because the child points to the father. Who is your life pointing to? are you living out of your inward righteous to the point that people know who your father is because you look and act just like him? or does your life point to a different father? is who’s you are identifiable your life. Whether you realize it or not it is.

If you are here today and you say look I do look like my father I look like the world and the devil because I have not been brought into God’s family. That can change today come and find me during the last song.

If you are here today and say I am a child of God, but i’ve gotten comfortable with sin. Ive not been walking in the light, my life is not pointing to the father. you can repent of that today.

But what I am going to offer the opportunity for everyone to do today is take some time being astonished before God at the gift of his love. that we would choose to lavish it upon us.

We are going to do that in a special way that believers have done for 2000 years. We are going to take communion. We are going to do it a bit differently than we have done it in here in the past because I want us all to take the time and reflect on the astonishing love of God that brought you into his family through Jesus’ broken body and spilled blood. As you go through the line and collect your elements. dont take it right away. take it back to your seat, or spend some time at the altar thanking God for the body and and blood if you feel led to. search your heart. repent of any unconfessed sin. any areas of your life that if people look at it they wouldn’t be able to tell who your father is. spend time thinking about the astonishing love of God. and after everyone has gone through I will read the passage and we will take the bread and the cup together.

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 CSB

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”