Unrecognized
Notes
Transcript
There seems to be a push in our western culture for the Church to catch up with all the changes in society and adapt our beliefs to what is the popular opinion in society today. We’re being told that we are out of touch with society.
In the past few years if you follow religious news you’ve seen several of the major denominations redefine the meaning of marriage and they have made the necessary changes in their governing documents to allow for this redefinition. T
There is an extreme amount of pressure being placed on the church from people outside the church and even within the church to change and to accept what is the new normal in society.
There was a research study that was completed last year that looked at where the Church was headed. It was completed by the Arizona Christian University. Listen to some of the information that was obtained from the research.
The worldview of adults who attend evangelical churches also reflects a different understanding of deity and humanity. For instance, three-quarters of adults attending evangelical churches (75%) believe that people are basically good – a contradiction to the traditional evangelical teaching that because people are sinners, they are not essentially good, and therefore need a savior, identified as Jesus Christ. However, many of these same adults have non-biblical views about the Christian Trinity, as well. While elevating the essence of man to goodness, they have also radically humanized Jesus Christ – 43% believe He sinned while on earth – and demoted the Holy Spirit to symbolic status (58%).
https://www.georgebarna.com/research/320124/american-christians-are-redefining-the-faith:-adherents-creating-new-worldviews-loosely-tied-to-biblical-teaching
It is one thing for people outside the Church define what should or shouldn’t be in the Bible, but it is an entirely different thing when people who claim to be in the Church to redefine things. John in this letter is writing so that we might know that we have eternal life by showing us what it truly means to be a Christian.
John in the previous chapter of this small letter wrote in verse 26:
26 I write these things to you about those who are attempting to deceive you.
The reality is that there are always people who seek to lead Christians astray. It isn’t always a purposeful action on their part, it may be that they have never learned the truth of Christianity and what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. There was an entire denomination and its name escapes me, but the denomination as a whole repented and changed some teachings that their founder taught that were outside the boundaries of what we refer to as orthodox Christianity. They had for years lead people astray but when they were confronted with the truth they repented.
The Church should be known more for what it is for than what it is against. It is easy to fall into a trap of labeling what is sin and then become known for being people who are against everything. I’m not suggesting that we ignore or wink at sin.
Sin is still sin and it is offensive to God and it breaks our communion with God. John in dealing with this sin question is not talking about sin in the world outside the Church but rather about those inside the Church. I read this letter and I picture in my mind that John is more concerned that the people in the Church makes sure that their own house is in order when it comes to living out their faith.
When we come to faith in Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God. What an amazing thing, that God wants to have a relationship with us, with you and I. We’re wanted. Have you ever felt unwanted or unloved? It’s a terrible situation to be in. No matter where you are at today in life’s journey, know this, God loves you and He wants to have a relationship with you. Look at what John writes in verse 1 of our scripture text today:
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us.
I wonder when John wrote that if he might have had in mind the parable that Jesus taught about the prodigal son. Luke in his Gospel records that parable that Jesus taught. I love that story, there are so many nuances to it and many sermons can be preached from it.
In the story, Jesus tells about a father who had two sons. The youngest son decided that he didn’t like living under all the constraints of his father’s house and wanted to strike out on his own and be in charge of his own life. Jesus tells us that he heads off to the far off country where he squandered all his money and ends up taking a job feeding pigs.
The young man is so bad off that he contemplates eating the pig’s food because no one is providing for him. I like how Jesus says that he came to his senses.
Let me say this, if you’ve got a prodigal in your family, keep praying for them. Keep praying for them that they’ll some come to their senses and return home to the Father.
The young man makes up his mind to return home and seek forgiveness from his father in hopes that his father will hire him to work for him because he knows that being a hired hand of his father is better than feeding pigs the rest of his life. So he sets off for home.
I love the father’s response. Jesus said:
20 “So the young son set off for home. From a long distance away, his father saw him coming, dressed as a beggar, and great compassion swelled up in his heart for his son who was returning home. So the father raced out to meet him. He swept him up in his arms, hugged him dearly, and kissed him over and over with tender love.
The father had every right to reject the son and to be angry with him yet he wasn’t. The father was filled with compassion. He welcomed him home not as a hired servant but as a son. Then he lavished on him a robe, a ring, sandals and a party. That is lavished love on the part of the Father.
That is the picture that I see when John writes there in verse 1
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us.
16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
That verse is why I said “the Church should be known more for what it is for than what it is against.” If Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world then it’s not our job as the Church to condemn the world but rather to point them to Jesus.
We need to talk about how much God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. In the course of that conversation we do need to talk about sin and how it separates us from the Father and how it offends Him. We need to talk about the holiness of God and how sin has marred that image of God within mankind.
When we come to faith in Jesus we become children of God. No longer are we living in darkness but now we are living in the light. With that change comes an obligation on our part. It’s not a form of self-righteousness or legalism but because of what God has done for us by forgiving us and adopting us into His family we now want to live lives that honor Him. John writes:
But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as his is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
John is pointing to the hope in the future when Jesus will return to claim his bride, the Church. At that time we will be like him with our resurrection bodies, that state of glorification. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We look forward to that day yet we live now in a fallen world. We have obligations, John says that “everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
That’s living a Holy life, living our sanctification on a daily basis as the Holy Spirit works within us to purify and transform us into the very likeness of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. 13 If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. 14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
Paul tells us we have an obligation.
Take for example a newly married young couple. Before they were married they were two independent individuals who could do what they wanted. They had obligations to their family and even some obligations to each other but they were still free. Once they became engaged things began to change for them until the day they were married. On that day we teach in the church that they became one. No longer are they two separate persons, but they are one in the sight of God. They now have an obligation to each other to live this new life. But, what if the husband decides that he’s going to continue living like he’s still single. What if he continues living without any consideration for his wife? Is he living up to the vows that he made? Of course the answer is no. When they got married and became one their obligations all changed.
In the Christian life when we come to faith in Jesus we no longer have an obligation to the flesh, to the old life, the old way of living. We’re no longer slaves to sin. We know have an obligation to live by the Holy Spirit.
Paul like John writes that we are now children of God. That is a dramatic change that occurs in our lives. Listen again to what Paul wrote
17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
It’s with that thought in mid that John wrote “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” I know that marriage is not the perfect analogy to use, but it comes the closest to describing what John is writing about. When we marry we want to please our spouse, we want to demonstrate our love towards them. John writes that if we have this hope in him, in Jesus then we want to be just like Him. Jesus is pure so we purify ourselves to be like Him.
It is about a change of mind, a change in how we live. That change is initiated by the Holy Spirit and it continues throughout our life as we mature and grow in our faith. Wouldn’t it be great if on the day we got saved that all temptations were done away with? Wouldn’t it be great if we would have been instantly transformed into some super Christian who never has any struggles?
I’ve often wondered why God didn’t do that for us. I think it comes down to his desire for us to trust Him and follow Him daily. There is that moment in time when the Holy Spirit sanctifies us when we say no to the old way of life and the Holy Spirit fills us to overflowing with His very presence. But then comes that daily walking with Jesus and living in the grace that God gives us for each day.
John wrote there in verse 6:
6 Every person who remains in relationship to him does not sin. Any person who sins has not seen him or known him.
I don’t believe that John is writing about individual acts of sin but rather he’s writing about a lifestyle of sin. When we first come to faith in Jesus means that we’ve repented. To repent means that we’ve turned around and changed the course of our lives. We go from living in darkness because darkness is all we’ve ever known to begin living in the light. We’re now heading towards God instead of running away from Him. We now want to please Him. John says that when we enter into that relationship we don’t “keep on sinning.”
That’s not to say that we might give into temptation and fall flat on our face in sin. There is that possibility. John is not talking about that. John is talking about a person who has come to faith in Jesus, that person will not continue to live in a lifestyle of sin. Mosie Lister wrote a great Gospel song that has these words which capture the essence of what John is saying.
Well I've been to the river
I've been baptized
I've been washed
In the blood of the Lamb
I've been changed from
The creature that once I was
And redeemed is now my name
Chorus 1
I've been changed I've been newborn
All my life has been rearranged
What a diff'rence it made
When the Lord came and stayed
In my heart
Oh yes I've been changed © 1959 Mosie Lister Songs
As in the words of that song, when we come to faith in Jesus we are changed. Our live has changed and we no longer live in sin. John says that “No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” What I believe he is saying is that there is no compromise with a sinful lifestyle, there is no gray area. Either you are a Christian, walking with Jesus, being transformed daily by the Holy Spirit or you’re not.
What John writes here goes hand in hand with what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12. Paul wrote:
1 So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. 2 Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.
They are both writing about the transformation that occurs in our lives. Listen to John’s words in the final part of our text. He wrote:
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.
A person who has truly been born again, who has truly put their faith in Jesus with exhibit that faith by a transformed life. The life of a true follower of Jesus is patterned after the life of Jesus. It involves daily taking up our cross and following Jesus. The question that John is answering here is not about “does a person sin,” but rather does a person continue to live a lifestyle of sin. He’s not writing about an individual incident of sin but rather a continued lifestyle of sin. That person John writes is “of the devil.”
John says there in verse 9
9 Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA remains in them. They can’t sin because they are born from God.
If we’ve truly born again we cannot go on living in a lifestyle of sin because God’s seed, meaning God’s word remains in us.
A Sunday School teacher once asked her students to talk about how they felt about their church. The students responded in the usual ways: some said something silly to get the rest of the class to laugh, while others tried to be more serious.
One of the girls was new to the class, and she felt uncomfortable about entering into class discussions, so she never raised her hand, or volunteered an answer. That Sunday, however, she did have an answer for her Sunday School teacher, and it was unforgettable. She said that going to church was, "like walking into the heart of God." (1)
Have you walked into the heart of God?
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us.
Are you unrecognized?