(Week 7)

Announcements:

Icebreaker:

Dose a straw have one hole or 2

Is cereal soup

Text:

1 John 3:1–10 ESV

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 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. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Prayer:

After initially, looking at the text, what are some thoughts that you have?

Is there anything that you see that stands out to you?

What are the themes or the ideas that we see in our text today?

Is there any connection points with last week and this week?

I wanted to show you something from the preaching the word commentary:

Every Christian should always live in these three arenas

#1 what we are

#2 what we shall be and

#3 what we should be

What we are is children of God (v1); What we shall be is conformed to the image of Christ when we get to heaven (v2); What we should be on the basis of these two are people who live pure lives(v.3).

John and his gospel and a Letters emphasizes the idea of family;

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Are all of us children of God; Are all people children of God?

Why or why not?

What does it mean to be a child of God definitionally?

What does it mean to be born again?

Have you ever chosen to identify with somebody?

When you choose to date or marry somebody, you are now attaching yourself to this person; Whether that’s my girlfriend or that’s my husband or wife, you are identifying with this person. They now become part of you and a part of what people think of you. If your boyfriend or girlfriend does something stupid, you’re not associated with that stupid act.

I think that that’s why John is trying to draw attention to this; Because the god of the universe has chosen to bring us into identification with him. We are now associated with him; The most loving thing I believe anyone can do is to know you deeply and still love you deeply

And that’s what we have with Christ. We have this deep relationship where he knows our deepest flaws, but still chooses to be our father.

And the thing about being a parent is, it’s something you can’t take back. It’s something that you can’t undo Once you have a child, you can’t go back

In the same way once we become a child of God, God can’t and won’t change his mind; We are now a part of his family. That’s the kind of love we have as children of God.

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

What is John describing here?

The reason the world doesn’t perceive understand Us as people is because they don’t understand Christ.

Matthew 10:24–25 ESV

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Again, talking about that association, we have with Christ

Now that we identify with him as one or “little Christs”, which is what Christian means We now also identify with his suffering

Again, if you marry, or are dating a partner who does stupid things you are now associated with those things

That’s a reality that we have in Christ. We are associated with him so that when we stand before the father, we have grace and mercy.

But we are also Associated with him in this life, which will bring us much trouble and tribulation

The reality is those who be associated with will affect us and since we are if we have Christ as our Savior children of God

We can’t expect to be understood by the world

We can’t expect to be fully understood by the unbelievers

This has so many facets to it

If we are dating or in relationships with people who don’t know the Lord

And we genuinely love Christ and want to make him our number one there will be attention there because truthfully there will be a Disconnect.

One person will want to chase after Jesus with all they have and the other is very content where they’re at

And I don’t say this to shame or attack that situation or the unbeliever but it’s a legitimate reality

When two people have a fundamental disagreement upon a foundational truth in their life, it’s hard to maintain relationship

When I worked construction, the guys on the job site would look at me with a sideways glance because I chose to live differently than they would

They didn’t understand me, nor did they want to understand me; The reason is because they don’t understand Christ

So if we are children of God and we are discovering their tension with old friends; There’s tension within dating relationships

This may be because one of you has seen and known Christ and one of you has not

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

If one person is chasing after Jesus and the other person wants to stay stationary

There will be Tension and struggle and no one will go anywhere

This is the reality of when we become Christ followers there are many sacrifices and many hardships

But I’m not saying to run away from Unsaved friends, but what I am saying is; That any relationship with anybody who doesn’t know Christ will have a disconnect when it comes to Christianity and our view of life

On Sunday after church, I went over to Sophia’s kitchen, and there was a old high school buddy of mine who played on a different basketball team that I did growing up

I got to see him he said Zach and then he also called out my dad’s name

We walked over I gave him my handshake in a little bit of a hug

Ask him how he’s been doing what he’s been up to. It was a good conversation, but then he asked me what I was doing.

And I told him I was working for the church now doing students and young adult ministry

And instantly there was a disconnect, and I told him that he should swing by sometime for young adults if he ever has a free moment

And he politely told me that’s not really gonna be his thing if he’s being honest, but he appreciated the invite

It was an instant disconnect in our conversation and in my heart I’m like what I do wrong. What did I say wrong but the reality is he doesn’t know me because he doesn’t know Christ.

And I truly hope that one day he will and that God will work on his heart and give me another opportunity.

Any other thoughts when it comes to verse one?

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

What What thoughts do you guys have on this passage??

What are the ideas and themes?

Again, we see John referring to us as children referring to us as believers

But we fully like Christ;

1 John 1:8–10 ESV

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

There is a reality that until we pass on to the next life and our reunited with Christ face-to-face, we will not be like him

We will not be free from our sin and our struggle completely until we are released from our flash and given new bodies

That this happens because we shall see him?

In the Old Testament, we see Moses entering the tent of meeting, and when he would leave the tent of meeting which he would sit face-to-face with God

When he would leave, he would wear a veil over his face because the glory of God would shine from him

And it would scare the people

I believe this is a glimpse of what will happen when we see Christ face-to-face

That we will be fully and completely embellished and viewed it with his life

And we will be purified by his light

Yes, we will get new bodies. But more importantly, our bodies, and our spirit will not be corrupted with sin any longer

We live in this reality of we are already saved, but we are not yet fully sanctified

But when we see Christ face-to-face, this will happen

What are your thoughts?

3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Now we come to this section where if we are children of God

#1 what we are

#2 what we shall be and

#3 what we should be

Because of the first two truths, we now look at what we should be

When we know that we’re children of God; And we know that we will one day before the sanctified,That we will one day be like Christ

Our desire becomes to begin to act like Christ now

We desire to live in holiness, Choosing to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world

We begin to practice righteousness; We begin to look at Christ and look at ourselves and try to change not by our ability, but by his ability

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 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. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.