1 John 2:28-3:3 : Children of God - Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
This message is so timely for me and my family as we just came home from Colombia recently with our wonderful daughter, Liseth. We have missed being with our church family very much, but it was a wonderful trip despite the civil unrest that is plaguing the country of Colombia.
I think that most would agree that everyone wants to be part of a family. According to the best estimates there are over 143 million orphans across our world. These children are left without a sense of family. They don’t have a father or mother to tuck them in at night. They don’t have a consistent person in their lives to go to for wisdom. They don’t have someone to go to each time they are sick or hurt.
Some might say to this statistic that there are homes for some of these children and orphanages that care for them. There are governmental systems that help care for some of these children. Yet the Bible is clear about the need for a family. Deuteronomy 6 admonishes parents of families to teach the Word of God to their children. It is to permeate everything they do. Whether they are walking along a path or in their home. The Biblical teaching on the importance of the family would be a long sermon series in itself. Yet, so many are without a family right now.
The scripture today, however, speaks of a different kind of family. As important as our earthly families are, there is a family that is even more important. Frankly, it is because of this family that our earthly families are so important! This section of Scripture teaches us about being children of God. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are given a wonderful gift. We are adopted into Christ’s family. We are called children of God! We are joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). Not equal heirs - as Christ is pre-eminent or above all - but joint heirs nonetheless.
And it is for this very reason, our earthly families matter immensely. How we lead our children in the faith matters more than anything else we do for our children. How we do family worship with our families and teach the Bible to our children matters. How we live our lives day to day in front of our children matters. The doctrine and understanding of God and His Word being taught by the fathers and mothers in each home matters.
In his book, The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter makes the following statement:
“You are not likely to see any general reformation, till you procure family reformation. Some little religion there may be, here and there; but while it is confined to single persons, and is not promoted in families, it will not prosper, nor promise much future increase.” - Richard Baxter
Baxter strikes a nerve as we look at our society today that is marked by orphans both locally and abroad. We live in a society that is marked by moms and dads that don’t fulfill their duties as parents or even as husband and wife - A society that is marked by greed and selfishness that looks at children as more of a burden than a blessing - A society that misses the picture that each child is made in the image of God.
This is one of the overarching visions that I feel called to instill in this church plant moving forward. We need to see reformation in our homes before we can see reformation in our society and world. We need fathers to step up and lead their families. We need fathers to get their focus off of excessive material gain, pride-filled work accolades, and selfish motives and hobvies and place their focus on Christ and their family. Yes, fathers need to provide for their families as 1 Timothy 5:8 so poignantly states, but it doesn’t stop there. They need to provide for the spiritual welfare of their families as well. Mothers need to be focused on being a Titus 2 woman. Mothers need to refuse to measure themselves by the feminist movement and instead measure themselves by the Word of God. A mother who is absent all the time cannot be what God has called her to be. Our children need a consistent mother.
This is applicable to those who have moved beyond the childrearing stages as well. As parents of grown children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or church family each of us needs to take ownership in supporting the importance of family spiritual growth. As Titus 2 asserts, mentor the younger generation in how to run their families. Encourage them. Pray for them.
In summary, our earthly families should be marked by our true spiritual family. As adopted children of God, we should act like such.
I usually do not have such a long introduction, but this scripture today goes right along with our vision for CrossPointe. Let’s dive into the Scripture now:
Read Full Scripture:
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
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.
Prayer
In these verses we are given the ways that a child of God should abide in Christ.
Scripture References: Deut 6, Rom 8:17, 1 Tim 5:8, Titus 2
I. When Abiding in Christ…You Can Confidently Await His Return (2:28)
I. When Abiding in Christ…You Can Confidently Await His Return (2:28)
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
John starts off this section with the same loving greeting - little children. He then uses a word he has used multiple times as well - abide. As we have mentioned before, this word means to remain in Christ. This particular Greek word is translated abide some 23 times in 1 John alone in the ESV.
Why should we abide in Christ? John gives us a direct answer and gives it quickly. So that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink in shame at his coming.
Is this confidence because of how amazing we are? Is it because of the great works that we do? Absolutely not. It is confidence in the completed work of Christ on the cross. He has regenerated us and made us a new creation - John 3. He has imputed His own righteousness into us.
This Scripture does remind us of the stark warning to those who are not right with the Lord when He returns. There will be those who shrink from Him at his coming -
43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.
Brothers and sisters, this is a terrifying Scripture to consider. These servants, most assuredly, will shrink from Him at His coming. They have chosen their own way. They have denied the power of Christ. They have denied the truth of the Word of God.
Unbelievers or false believers will be humbled at His second coming. They will be unable to stand in the Presence of their Almighty Creator - Jesus Christ.
I pray that none of us fall into this category that Jesus has mentioned.
Yet, as true believers, we may confidently abide in Christ as we wait for His appearing. As we abide, we are preparing for his glorious appearing. We look to his appearing as our motivation for abiding and remaining in Christ. And we find our power and ability to carry out our abiding from the wonderful working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
And as we stated before, our confidence is rooted in the Lord and His works. As Proverbs 30:26 states:
26 the badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the rocks;
We are not a mighty people. We are unable to stand against the rulers of darkness using our own abilities and strength. As Spurgeon states, “You are no lion, able to fight your foes and deliver yourself by main strength. You are only a little badger, and you will be wise to hide rather than fight.”
Don’t misunderstand this quote. We are not to cower in the presence of darkness. But we are to hide in the shadow of our almighty God.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
We can confidently “hide” in Christ as we abide or remain in Him.
Before we move on to the next few verses, we must not miss the gleaming truth assumed in this verse. When He appears. Obviously we know this is when Christ appears. But don’t miss the assured statement of John. John lets his readers know that Christ will appear. There need be no doubt about it. Christ will return at His second coming. There will be a judgment of the sheep and goats. There will be a sifting of the wheat and the chaff. As believers, we can rejoice in this glorious fact. Christ will come back for His church. He will rule and reign with no tolerance for sin any longer. He will right every wrong and restore perfection for all eternity. Rejoice my brothers and sisters in the knowledge of this wonderful fact.
However, if you have not put your faith in Christ, this statement is a dreadful one. Christ will appear again. He will return. And in His return, there will be no second chances. He came in like a lamb at His first coming. He was gentle and humble. He was born in poverty. He lived in poverty. He was a servant to all. But at His second coming…oh brothers and sisters…at his second coming, he will return as a lion. As we just compared ourselves to rock badgers - humble and weak - So Christ will be like a roaring lion when He returns. He will destroy those lazy and rebellious badgers who have refused to build their lives on the solid rock. Those who have trusted in their own feeble ways and their own hollow philosophies about life. They will be judged and cast into an eternal lake of fire called Hell.
My friends, as we know this truth, may we be motivated to share the Gospel with all of those around us. Those other rock badgers who continue to build their homes in dangerous places - sinking sand that will soon swallow them up or on rivers that will soon flood. Tell others about the glorious salvation in our rock and Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ.
And if you have not placed your full trust in Christ, I implore you to do so today. There will be a time where it will be too late for you. Don’t let another moment go by without being assured that your faith is in Christ.
Those who have put their faith in Christ abide in Christ and confidently await His return.
We also see in this section of Scripture that:
Scripture References: John 3, Luke 12:42-47, Prov 30:26, Psalm 91:1
II. When Abiding in Christ…You Can Cordially be Part of His Family (2:29-3:3)
II. When Abiding in Christ…You Can Cordially be Part of His Family (2:29-3:3)
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 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.
John nails home the theme that he has put forth over and over again. True believers practice righteousness. They abide - or remain - in Christ. But we see him use a great word here. The word born. As we started off this sermon introduction, we mentioned families and being children of God. In order to be a child of God you must be born of God. John 3 spells out what it is to be born again. Only by repenting of your sins and placing your faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation can make you a new creation and a born again child of God. This faith and trust is in the Son of God, namely Jesus Christ, as your sinless Savior who died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead three days later and now is exalted at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Only through Christ can you be a true child of God.
Moving into chapter 3 verse 1, the point is further clarified. How do believers become children of God? Because of God’s great love! Because of this great love He has adopted us as children. We can now refer to God in an intimate way - as our Abba (which is an Aramaic intimate name for Father).
Ephesians 1:5-8 shows this beautifully:
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
Don’t think I am intentionally avoiding the word predestined here. We will discuss predestination another day. However as an expositional Bible teacher, I must refrain from delving into this as it does not expositionally fall into today’s message.
Frankly, so many pastors and teachers spend so much time on the second word of verse 5 and completely miss the fifth word here. We have been adopted! We have been chosen. Like my wonderful daughter, Liseth, whom we have recently adopted, we have been adopted by Christ. In order to adopt Liseth, we had to give sacrificially of our time, money, and resources. It cost us. We went and lived in a foreign country for a month which was in violent protesting and civil unrest. Yet it was so worth it. However, our adoption by God cost God so much more though. It cost Him his one and only Son. Jesus Christ paid the cost for our adoption. He gave His life so that we may be adopted sons of daughters to the glory of the Father.
How do we know that Liseth has been adopted? She now has our last name. She lives with us. She is beginning to understand what standards our family has. She is learning more and more about the God we serve and worship. She is dressing like us. She eats what we eat. She goes where we go. She is acclimating into our family culture.
If we are truly children of God, what John says next will be true in our lives. The world will not know us - meaning they will not understand us. They will not understand why we value family. They will not understand why we would adopt a teenager from another country who doesn’t speak our language. They will not understand why we give of our resources, or time, our talents to the church. They will not understand why we value morality and integrity. They will not understand why we don’t watch certain things or do certain things. Why - because we are children of God. They did not know or understand Christ, and if we are to be a part of His family, we should be following in His ways - which means they will not know or understand us as well.
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.
As adopted children of God we are given in verses 2 and 3 a beautiful picture of our future coming glorified bodies. We shall be resurrected like Christ! We shall be able to fully see Christ in His glory. As having received Christ’s imputed righteousness, we are pure and holy and set apart for God’s glory.
Obviously there is an wonderful element of eternity in verses 2-3, yet verse 3 also refers to those who hope in Christ now. We are be holy as Christ is holy and to be pure as Christ is pure.
I was recently watching a Christian movie called The Power of the Air. It is about the impact that the media has on our minds and hearts. The movie played out the desensitization that the media gives those who watch films with expletives, sexual immorality, and anti-Christian values.
When the main character is confronted by a missionary from Africa regarding the state of American media, the main character repents and starts only watching what is congruent with Christian values.
This isn’t without difficulty. His friends constantly talk about new movies that come out, and he is left out of the conversation. He is judged by his friends who are even professing Christians for being judgmental and legalistic even though he is grace-filled and loving to his friends regarding these issues.
This movie brings up a great point about our purity. The world should not really understand or know us because of the decisions we make. We should seek to avoid trying to test what all we can do, say, and watch and still be saved. This is a sign of a heart condition - no not coronary artery disease - something actually much worse. It is a sign of possibly having an unregenerate heart - meaning you might not be saved if this is the way you think. At the very least it is a sign of a heart that is in sin and in need of repentance.
Instead, in a gracious and loving way, we should abide or remain in Christ by living a life holy and pleasing to Him.
Allow God change your desires and renew your mind.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
I am not a big fan of the The Message in general because some try to use it as a translation when it is actually more of a commentary - but Eugene Peterson nails this verse when he says:
2 Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
The first sentence hits a homerun in our churches today. Go into many churches today and you may have a difficult time figuring out what the difference between them and the world is. They oftentimes dress the same, talk the same, enjoy the same entertainment, and value the same things.
Do you fit in with the world? If you do…Are you truly a child of God? We have just seen that children of God are not understood by the world in 1 John 3:1.
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.
The world - meaning the evil world system of immorality, greed, selfishness, idolatry - should not understand how you live your life believer.
Brothers and Sisters - I admonish you by the Word of God - act like the child of God that you are.
Scripture References: John 3, Eph 1:5-8, Rom 12:2
Conclusion
As we come to a close, I pray that these verses have spoken to your heart and mind. I pray that you more fully understand the wonderful gift that you have as a believer as adopted children of God. I pray that you do not take this adoption for granted. That you emulate your Father in heaven. That you do as He has commanded as seen in John 14:15:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
I also pray for our families in our church and in our community. I pray that fathers step up and lead their home in family worship, prayer, and in spiritual leadership. I pray that mothers refuse to listen to the world that tells them they are wasting their lives investing in their children and they are not reaching their ‘full potential.’ And I pray that children have their hearts turned toward their parents in obedience and love.
I would like Adam to come forward as we prepare for a time of prayer a the end of this service.
As we begin this time of prayer, feel free to come forward to pray with me or one of our other leaders about anything else that may be on your heart as well.
Prayer
Have a blessed week!