Sermon Tone Analysis

“The Reason the Son of God Appeared Was to Destroy the Works of the Devil”

/Why Do We Need to Be Born Again?

Part 3/

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By John Piper December 23, 2007

 

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*1 John 3:1-10*

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 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.

Why Christmas Happened

Two times in 1 John 3:1-10 we are told why Christmas happened—that is, why the eternal, divine Son of God came into the world as a human being.

In verse 5, John says, “You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

So the sinlessness of Christ is affirmed—“in him there is no sin.”

And the reason for his coming is affirmed—“He appeared to take away sins.”

Then in the second part of verse 8, John says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

And the specific focus John has in mind when he says “works of the devil” is the sin that the devil promotes.

We see that in the first part of verse 8: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”

So the works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy are the works of sin.

So two times John tells us that Christmas happened—the Son of God became a human being—to take away sin, or to destroy the works of the devil, namely, sin.

So Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 20), and “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man,” (Luke 2:52), and was perfectly obedient and sinless in all his life and ministry, all the way to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 4:15)—in order to destroy the works of the devil—to take away sin.

Jesus’ Incarnation and Our Regeneration

Now we are in a series of messages on the new birth.

So the question I am asking today is: /What is the connection between Jesus’ birth and our new birth?/

What is the relationship Jesus’ incarnation and our regeneration?

To answer this question let me try to build a bridge from last week’s message to this text here in 1 John 3:1-10.

Last week, we saw that when we ask why we need to be born again, the answer could look backward to our miserable condition in sin and corruption and say that’s why we need to be born again.

Or we could look forward to the good things we will not experience if we are not born again—like entering the kingdom of God—and say that’s why we need to be born again.

We gave ten answers to the question why we need to be born again in the first sense—looking back on what we were apart from new birth.

And we gave five answers to the question why we need to be born again in the second sense—looking forward to what we will not enjoy if we aren’t born again.

The Great Love of God

Now the bridge between that message and this text today is the great love of God that comes to people who are dead in trespasses and sins and who are his enemies, not his children, and makes them alive.

Ephesians 2:4-5 puts it like this: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love [!] with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”

So the greatness of the love of God is magnified in that it gives spiritual life—that is new birth—to those who have no claim on God at all.

We were spiritually dead and in our deadness were walking in lockstep with God’s archenemy, the devil (Ephesians 2:2).

The justice of God would have been well served if we had perished forever in that condition.

But for that very reason our new birth—our being made alive—is a magnificent display of the greatness of the love of God.

“Because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ.”

You owe your spiritual life, and all its impulses to the greatness and the freedom of the love of God.

Now this is the bridge to today’s text.

Look at 1 John 3:1-2, and think with me how John magnifies the love of God in this passage.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us [there’s the link with the greatness of the love of God], 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.

Beloved [loved ones!], 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.”

Four Observations from 1 John 3:1-2

Make four observations with me to connect this text with the greatness of the love of God in Ephesians 2:4 last week and our question from last week about why we need to be born again.

*Observation #1: Made God’s Children*

When verse 1 says that we are “called” the children of God, it doesn’t mean we were the children of God but not called that, and then God called us that.

No, it means that we were not children of God.

We were like the rest of the world referred to in verse 1.

We were dead and outside the family.

Then God called us children.

And we became children of God.

Notice the words “and so we are.”

Verse 1b: We are “called children of God; and so we are.”

The point is God made us his children.

This is the new birth.

God made us alive.

*Observation #2: The Greatness of the Love of God*

This new birth into the family of God is owing to the greatness of the love of God, just like it was in Ephesians 2:4-5.

“See [Look!

This is amazing!] what kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called the children of God.” John was amazed, just like Paul was—just like we should be—that rebels, enemies, dead, unresponsive slaves to sin like us are made alive, born again, and called the children of God.

John wanted you to feel the wonder of it.

*Observation #3: Our Final Perfection Secured*

This amazing love of God that gave us life when we were dead and caused us to be born again and brought us into the family of God secures our final perfection in the presence of God forever.

Look at the way verse 2 connects the love of God, our present life as his children, and the future we long for.

“Beloved [those loved by God in this amazing way!], 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.”

John sees an unbreakable link between what we are now and what we will be when Christ comes.

He expresses it with the words “we know.”

“We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared [our perfect conformity to Christ awaits his coming]; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him.”

In other words, perfection of our sonship is coming.

We know it is.

How?

We are his children.

And all that’s left in this adoption is the consummation of our transformation when we see Jesus face to face.

His presence will complete it for all the children of God.

And “we are God’s children now.”

*Observation #4: The Necessity of the New Birth*

Observation #4 simply makes explicit something obvious in what we’ve said so far: The new birth is a necessary prerequisite and a guarantee of our future perfection in the presence of Christ forever.

Or, to put it the way Jesus did, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

But if you /are/ born again you /will/ see the kingdom of God—you /will/ see Christ and be perfected in the end and spend eternity with joy in his presence.

Why We Must Be Born Again

So here we are with John’s answer to the question /Why must we be born again?/

John’s answer is: Because if you are not born again you will not look upon Jesus someday and in the twinkling of an eye be changed into his image.

Instead, you will remain under the wrath of God, as Jesus says in John 3:36.

Or, to put it positively, if the immeasurable love of God causes you to be born again and gives you new spiritual life in union with Jesus Christ, you /know/ that when he appears you will be like him.

Because of the new birth, you know you will enter the kingdom of God.

That’s why we must be born again.

Jesus’ Birth and Our New Birth

Now we are in a position to answer the question posed at the beginning: What is the connection between Jesus’ birth and our new birth?

What is the relationship Jesus’ incarnation and our regeneration?

Could not God have simply caused sinners to be born again and then finally conformed them to his own character in heaven, without sending his Son into the world?

Did there need to be an incarnation of the Son of God and a perfect life of obedience and a death on the cross?