Children of God

Good morning

How is everyone’s weekend going?

Thank you all for being here.

Everyone looking forward to Christmas?

So today we are going to do things a bit different

I know over the last couple of weeks

We have hit some pretty hard topics

Some topics that make you think

Make you really question your motives

Behaviors

But today is a bit different

I got to be honest

I love preaching on stuff like this

Stuff like the love of God

Being accepted by God

So how many in here are parents

Or at least have a nieces and nephews?

You know there truly is nothing like becoming a parent

It changes everything about your life

I mean everything

Down to the lowest detail...

Am I wrong?

For those of you that don’t know

For those of you wanting kids

Dreaming about starting a family

You know those romantic nights with your spouse

You know opening that bottle of wine

Candle lit dinners

Yea,

Maybe watching a movie thats not a cartoon

Maybe its just that personal time you enjoy to just decompress

Yea that doesn’t happen anymore

You know I remember being able to watch my own TV shows

Maybe actually getting to sit on the couch

Now I hardly remember a time when I didn’t watch disney

The couch, used as a storage bin for toys

In all seriousness though

Jokes aside

There really is nothing like becoming a parent

I remember when Susan found out she was pregnant,

I remember texting my brother

Tears in my eyes

I was so happy

Then the day came when my little Sydney was born

That day right there

Indescribable

It was powerful

Confusing, filled with joy, excitement, anticipation

It was so emotional

Truly unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced

That love you feel for your child

That natural instinctual love

Unconditional love

It’s unlike anything you’ll ever experience

And you know its instantaneous

And its powerful

It’s life changing

I mean when I say unconditional

I mean that

There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do

For my daughter

I love her with all my heart

You know

All my plans

All my goals

All my decisions

Center around her

Whats good for her

How its going to affect her

Everything

My motives

The way I treat my wife

The way I love my God

Everything revolves around her

But that’s what it is to be a parent

Everything about your life changes

You become the mentor

The disciplinarian

The educator

The confidant

and at times the judge, jury, and executioner…lol

But i have to be honest

I wouldn’t trade one moment

For the entire world

My life has been different

But it’s been amazing

And I know some of us in here

We may have never felt that love before

Some of us didn’t have the best of up bringings

Some of us didn’t have parents we can really brag about

And to some of us,

This topic is so foreign

It’s feels like a fictionally movie

Something that happens to other people

But what we are going to go over today

It’s powerful

It’s life changing

Once you fully understand the love of God

The reason for that cross

Once you grasp the concept

You are a child of God

That love I just described for my daughter

That’s a love our Savior has for you

Jesus tells us this in

John 15:13 NLT

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

And that’s exactly what Jesus did for you

What He did for me

I know some of us are hurting today

For some of us Christmas season isn’t fun

But today I want you to walk out of here

In full understanding of the love that Jesus has for you.

In full understanding of your acceptance before God

So today we are going to be going over three points

I want us to walk out of here

confident that we know Him.

Confident in our understanding as Children of God and children of a loving father

I want us to look forward to our eternity with Him.

So please open up your Bibles to 1 John 2:28-3:3

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.

Prayer,

I love how John opens up this section right here

Because he hits the nail on the head

He’s hitting a point that I think he has been working on throughout this entire book

He’s talking about sin

He talking about our behavior

Our attitude towards sin

You know and he has spent the last two chapters

Really defining what it means to be a believer

To be a child of God

I know some of you said these were some of the hardest sermons

You’ve heard in a while

And I would agree

These aren’t easy topics to go over

In fact they are condemning

And make you feel uncomfortable

But at the same time they are informative

And honest

And they are needed

But its at this point that we are going over today

Where we begin to see a transition

Where we see a bit of the Good News

Look what he says right here

And I love how the NIV translation puts it

1 John 2:28 NIV

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

Continue in him that you aren’t ashamed.

What’s John talking about here

And this is crucial here

Remember what we talked about last week.

Because what makes this particular verse so interesting

Is that its at this point in theology

Were things get a little bit confusing

The first point I want to make here is that Jesus is coming back for His Church

How many in here have heard that before?

I don’t care what brand of Christianity you come from

I don’t care what denominational label you wear

Every church believes this

I know that for some of us this gets little bit confusing

Maybe difficult to understand

We may not have fully grasped this particular doctrine

Maybe you’ve have never even heard of those end time themes

Such as the rapture

Or

The great tribulation

But the Bible is very clear on this

Jesus is coming back for his church

And that’s the motivation behind us not being ashamed

You do not want to be ashamed at his second coming

Look at this verse again

1 John 2:28 NIV

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

Abide in Him,

Continue in Him

Why?

Let me give you a good example

You ever met someone that is so pure and holy

That they are just annoying

I’m not just talking about chaplains

You no maybe its that one private

That new guy that just got to the unit

Hasn’t been exposed to the Army type of sin just yet

And then you introduce them to life in the barracks

Ya’ll know what I’m talkin about

I used to live in those barracks

I see the smirks

Shoot I get called to the barracks every now and then

But what happens over time to that soldier

Their conscience is seared

Their understanding of right and wrong go away

Why?

Because this sinful behavior becomes the norm

The shock to the system wears off

That individual becomes familiar to the sin

They forgot to continue in Him, to abide in Him

You ever heard the saying you are what you eat?

This is why John is saying, continue in Him.

Abide in Him

Look when your life is surrounded by sin

It is so easy to fall into that trap

To fall into that life style

But the same truth holds true for living a pure life

A life that you wouldn’t be ashamed of.

If you surround yourself with Christ

If you surround yourself with Good living

You become that soldier, that individual that everyone looks up to

That believer that is confident in His faith

That believer that can withstand the hardest storms of life

And if you truly think about it,

Isn’t that what John is getting at here?

How many of us would be ashamed if Christ came down today

Examined your motives

Examined your habits

Your weekend behavior

How many of us could look at Jesus

Give him the passwords to our life?

I got to be honest

I don’t know if I would be able to do it myself

I mean

As I was developing these last few sermons

I really began to look deep into my own life

Deep into my own motives

My own thoughts

Guys we have work to do

Amen!

Each and everyone of us has work to do

You simply cannot call yourself a child of God

While living like a child of the enemy

And that’s the point John has been driving home throughout

This entire book

When you’re a born again Christian

A child of God

Your life will look a certain way

You won’t enjoy the world so much

But then

Look at what it says here in verse 1 of chapter 3

Look at how excited John is to claim that he is a child of God.

Because it almost feels like John is in a bit of disbelief

verse 1

1 John 3:1 (NLT)

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

It’s almost is if he truly understands his sin

Understands the separation that sin creates between God and man

Because he is astounded at the fact

That God would accept him

That God loves him

That God would send his only son to die for him

When you realize how much love it took for Jesus to die on that cross

I’m telling you it changes you

It motivates you to live an entirely new life.

Think about it guys

Jesus knew exactly what was coming

He knew the pain He was about to experience

He the suffering

The torture

The torment

The absolute rejection he was going to feel

And yet out of obedience and love to the father

And out of love for the Church

Jesus died on that cross

Really think about this

And I mean spend some time on this

When He went out that night

To pray in the garden of gethsemane

To beg God the Father for strength

Luke 22:44 says he was so scared He sweat drops of blood

What makes this even more unique

Is that recently they have proven that this is

A verified medical condition for people under extreme anxiety and stress

This man, Our Lord, was so scared about what He was about to go through

He sweat drops of blood

Luke 22:43 says

He even needed an Angel to strengthen him

To give Him encouragement

And then look what Jesus prayed in verse 42

Luke 22:42 NKJV

saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Do you see whats happening here

Jesus was sick about what was about to happen

even to the point he asked the Father if there was any way to get out of it.

Church,

He knew what was about to happen and yet He did anyways

He knew exactly

What type of torture He was about to go through

He knew the punishment His body was going to take

Don’t you think for one second this was easy

Because it wasn’t

This was incredibly difficult for Him

And yet He did it out of love for you

He knew what the law required

He knew what it would take for us to become Children of the Almighty

And out of unconditional love

He died on that cross

Giving you the benefit of eternal life with God

And that is what John is so blown away here

Because of what Jesus did

There is no fear

No worry

No concern over death

No concern over this life

You can have confidence in tomorrow

You can rejoice in everything

Knowing that it’s going to be ok

That God loves you

That He wants a relationship with you

He wants to give you a love that is so pure

So deep

It’s indescribable

I mean

Complete acceptance

Unconditional love

You know how good that feels

You know how rare that is to find that

Complete acceptance of who you are

That’s the love of Jesus

Its interesting because I just watched a Billy Graham documentary

One of the most well known pastors of all time

Preached the Gospel to more people around the world

Than anyone else in history

And as he died as he was passing away

He did so with confidence

And excitement

And great anticipation

Of what was to come

Because he was going to be with Jesus

He understood he was a child of God

Who was simply going home

It was almost like watching a five year old

Waiting for their daddy to come home off of deployment

I’m telling you guys I look forward to that day when I get to meet my Lord and Savior

I look forward to that day when I get to meet

THE ONE

Who paid it all for me.

The one who took the punishment I deserve for my sins

Guys let me tell you

I know many of you know I haven’t always been a chaplain

Many of you know I didn’t live the best life before this

I remember

And my wife can’t testify

I was living a life like many of us do

Doing everything possible

To stay as far away from God as I possibly could

I knew it was wrong

And I knew what the right behavior was

But I didn’t care

I knew I was headed in rebellion against God

But I didn’t care

I heard the Holy Spirit over and over

And I ignored Him

But you know the more I tried to fill my life with

With Stuff

With drinking

Smoking, behaviors I knew went against the Word of God

The more I fell into that trap

The more shallow

and depressed I became.

But when i surrendered my life to Christ became a child of God

I’m telling you guys

My life changed

Everything got better

And Yes of course I have to give up certain things

Of course I had to give up certain sins

But you know what

I don’t miss em

Not one bit

You know one of my most treasured memories is of my conversion

My surrender

I remember the moment it happened

I was sitting at this massive church

I was sitting on the second balcony

And this pastor had crosses set up throughout the church

As you walked in he gave you a pencil and a piece of paper

About three fourths of the way through his sermon

He had us write on a piece of paper

What we wanted to give up to God

Walk it to that cross

And surrender your life over to our Savior

I remember writing things down

Walking up to that cross

And this wave of emotion came over me

I remember I could barely walk back

Tears flowing down my face

Looked like a 5 years old

I mean I cried and cried that day

It was as if all my shame

All my sin

Was being taken away

For the first time in my life

I felt loved and accepted

Like I had never felt before

Since that day,

Everything about my life has changed

My motivations changed

My desires changed

My habits

My likes and dislikes

My approval of certain things

All of it changed

I became that child of God

I was different

I became whole again

I had a new purpose

A new reason to live

A new hope

Thats why Abiding in Him is so important

Thats why pushing away sin is so important

Thats why drawing that line and choosing a side

Is so important

Because one day when He comes back,

Those that call themselves children of God

Will come under His wing of protection

And will be with him forever

And what this book right here tells me

Is that I have everything to look forward to

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Closing>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ladies and gentlemen he is coming again

And just like John says in verses 2 & 3

And the next time we see him

He will be mightier

and more powerful than you could

ever imagine

But our hope is in His promise

That we will live eternally

In His love and protection

Completely and totally accepted by Him

The Bible also says that those that hold this hope

Will live their lives pure

As He is pure

Examine your lives this week

Ask yourself truly are you living in this hope

Is your life pure as your Father is pure

Have you really surrendered to the truth

Lets become Children that make our father proud

Lets become grateful for His love

Take in that joy, that happiness, that John felt here.

I promise you, you won’t regret it.

Guys as we walk out of here today

I urge you

Take notice of the season we are in

Next week we will celebrate the birth of our Savior

Who’s entire purpose on this earth

Was to come and die out of love for you

Walk out of here today confident in know that you are loved

Confident in knowing you are accepted

That you are a child of God

Let’s close in prayer.

Numbers 6:24–26 NLT

‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’

As always if you have questions or would like to talk I’ll hang around for a bit.

Have a great Sunday.