1, 2 & 3 John – The Fingerprints of Christian Authenticity…  (7 of 18)

3:1 – ‘See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God…’

1 John 2:28-3:3

We’re continuing our current series walking through the books of 1, 2 & 3 John.  I’m calling this series: The Fingerprints of Christian Authenticity… because these 3 shorter books bring us face-to-face with tests that show the difference between what’s REAL and what profoundly isn’t.

The background for this was the painful (and troubling) reality that people who had been in fellowship within the local churches and appeared deeply genuine for a time (even a long time) had departed and were actively teaching something different and false! 

This disorienting situation raises honest questions: How do I know what’s real? How can I know that we’re right and they’re wrong? Where is genuine assurance of salvation found?

1 John 5:12-13 (ESV, emphasis mine) –

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

The letters of John provide grounded assurance …that we may know… that we have eternal life.   We should find grounded, comforting and rock-solid assurance knowing we have eternal life – unless we shouldn’t because we’re not genuine.

This morning we’re turning to 1 John 2:28-3:3 and we’ll see that – Our lifestyle is a test of genuineness because we live out what we truly believe, our lifestyle tells the truth about what we really (and deeply) believe! 

1 John 2:29 (ESV) –

“If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.”

1 John 3:10 (ESV, emphasis mine) –

“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.”

It’s easy for a significant gap to form between what we say and what we do!  The danger of saying one thing and doing another is real and we need to realize that we can deny our claim to know God by living in persistent, unrepentant sin.

1 John 2:28-29 (ESV) –

“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.   If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.”

1. Jesus is coming back and abiding in Him is essential!  (1 John 2:28-29)

1 John 2:28 (ESV) –

“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.”

Jesus is coming back and we need to abide in Him! It’s through remaining (or continuing, or abiding) in Him that we will be ultimately confident and unashamed before Him when He returns.  We must not allow all the common pressures of false teaching or sinful and rebellious living to lead to disconnection from Christ!

John 15:1-2 (ESV) –

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:4-6 (ESV) –

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.   I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Branches that become disconnected from the vine are picked up and thrown into the fire.  To remain alive and be fruitful branches must remain connected to the vine!  We must remain in Christ – in order for us to stand before Him with confidence at His return!

Abiding in Christ describes a personal living relationship with Him.  We remain connected through Bible intake, prayer, fellowship and worshiping Him together!  We ought to deeply long to be ready for Christ when He returns – we don’t want to shrink from Him in shame at His coming!

1 John 2:29 (ESV) –

“If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

God is perfect – He always (and by definition) does what is perfectly righteous and good!  God is the definition and standard of good and it naturally follows that those who are born of Him – who are God’s children will do what is right – the picture is of children being like their Father.

If we do what is righteous, if we live obediently in a way that pleases Him – it’s because we’ve been born of Him!  Can you hear echoes of the glorious terminology ‘born again’?

1 John 3:1-3 (ESV) –

“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.   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.   And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.”

2. Reflecting on the glory of our identity, that we are children of God deeply motivates righteous living…  (1 John 3:1-3)

These verses shine the spotlight on the glorious truth that we’re children of God!  Pause and ponder the love that God the Father has lavished on us – pondering God’s love moves us to think about the glorious (and well known) words of John 3:16-17.

John 3:16-17 (ESV) –

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.   For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

John 1:12-13 (ESV, emphasis mine) –

“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

All who have received Him (that’s the Lord Jesus Christ) are born of God – are children of God!  Believers are not only forgiven – WE ARE! And gloriously so!  But it’s much more – we’ve been adopted into God’s family.

1 John 3:1a (ESV) –

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

1 John 3:1b (ESV) –

“The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.”

The world is a place of sin and opposed to God, a place of pride and rebellion against God and His rightful rule – look around and look inside, rebellion against God characterizes the world and the battle that rages within our hearts.

The world is in rebellion against and hostile to its Creator and desperately needs to be saved!  When we struggle with being misunderstood, mocked or generally treated badly by the world we need to remember how the world treated Jesus, it rejected Him. 

John 1:10-11 (ESV)  –

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.” 

John 15:18-20 (ESV) –

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.   If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.   Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”

We need to level with the reality (though it can be uncomfortable) that the world doesn’t understand us and it didn’t recognize Jesus either – the world rejected its Creator!  It’s natural to want to be understood but the world isn’t going to understand (this is a reality check) – as Christians living in a non-Christian world we need to embrace strangeness!

Reflecting on the certain hope we have in Jesus’ return provides perspective transforming and joy filled motivation.  And keep in mind that the hope we’re talking about here is not something that we say – I hope it will happen… – meaning it might if everything works out. The hope here is a certain unshakable future reality!

Revelation 21:4 (ESV) –

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

Jesus is coming back and when He gloriously returns – all of us who truly know Him will be with Him forever in the new heaven and the new earth and then we will finally be like Jesus in perfect sinless purity.

1 John 3:2 (ESV) –

“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.”

Philippians 3:21 (ESV) –

“…who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.” 

1 Corinthians 15:49 (ESV) –

“Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” 

When we reflect on the glorious truth of our adoption as children of God and the certain hope we have of Jesus’ return – this must motivate right living, it motivates a God pleasing lifestyle, it motivates turning away from sin and purifying ourselves.  Eschatology must motivate personal holiness and energetic mission, if it doesn’t we’ve got something wrong in our theology.

1 John 3:1 (ESV) –

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

Ponder the question – Am I a child of God?  If you can honestly and joyfully declare – YES! Consider all that this means, if you’re a genuine believer hear this – You are a child of God! You are chosen and dearly loved!  Everyone is created in the image of God but only those who are born again are children of God.

Romans 5:8 (ESV) –

“…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV) –

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”

Am I a child of God?  If YES – praise God! 

Are you looking forward to Jesus return? 

Ask – Am I abiding in Christ? 

Come and proclaim and ponder the Gospel – proclaim Christ’s death and all its benefits through celebrating the Lord’s Supper together!  The Church is Christ’s blood-bought community.  We all need the Gospel – let’s celebrate the Gospel together!

If you have not yet received the Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord – if you haven’t yet become a child of God, today can be the day – join the family!

1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV) –

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”