I John 3:1-10

The children of God

Would you open your Bibles to…

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Intro

√ New section of 1^st John!

You'll remember that John's letter has two main sections…

The tests of true fellowship Chapter 1:1 - 2:27

The tests of true sonship Chapter 3:1 - 4:19

So, we begin the second section in which John shares with us the characteristics that the child of God will manifest.

√ Hard to outline!

I've really had a tough time breaking down each section of John's letter into bite-sized portions for teaching. It seems like John's thoughts overlap, then contrast, then go back to an earlier point, etc.

About to drive me nuts! Then I found this comforting thought in one of my commentaries…

"The 1^st Epistle of John is notoriously difficult to outline!"

Yes! The point, some weeks we'll get through a bunch of verses, other weeks we might only get through two…

…and that's okay!

Our study this morning looks at a radical truth offered only in Christ…

…that you and me - common people made of nothing more than dirt can become a child of God!

The children of God (vs. 1-2)

1Jo 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

√ Children of God!

Remember, John is writing to Christians - so the "us" found in vs.1 refers to all that have trusted in Jesus for their salvation.

That includes you & me!

Note what it is that John wants you to know about your relationship with God…

…that you are now a child of God!

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!"

J.B. Phillips translates the text…

"CONSIDER the incredible love that the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called “children of God” and that is not just what we are called, but what we are."

What an awesome truth that is! That God is interested in, and desires to have children!

More than that…that He has offered every person on the planet the opportunity of becoming one of His kids!

John tells us how a person becomes a child of God…

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

John 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

In fact, this was one of the key factors in my personal decision to become a Christian.

I was so excited that anyone - and especially God - wanted to take me on as a child of His!

What a contrast to the way that the people of the world look at children. In a time when children are often seen by our society as an…

"Inconvenience"

"unplanned" interruption of one's life style

"product of conception" that must be dealt with

…what a glorious wonder it is to discover that God in His great love has not only redeemed us from our sin - but that He has also made us His children!

Ap. What does it mean to you that you are a child of God?

We can learn a lot about how it is that God sees us as His children by contrasting the natural love of a good human father with the greater love that our heavenly Father has for His children.

Jesus used that contrast in Luke 11:11-13 so I believe we have a Biblical foundation to extend our understanding of how it is that God sees us.

Luke 11:11 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

Luke 11:12 “Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

Luke 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

So, as a child of God how much more will your heavenly Father see…

You as the object of His love

You as the apple of His eye

You as the one of whom He boasts

You as the one always in His thoughts

What a privilege! What a wonder! Are you beginning to see why John is so excited as he writes…

"CONSIDER the incredible love that the Father has shown us - that we should be called the children of God!"

So, John wants you to rest in the love of God and the unfathomable reality that we have entered the family of God by our simple faith in Jesus Christ.

√ Unknown in the world

The second point, which John makes concerning this amazing reality of what God, has done for us…

…is that the world doesn’t see it!

1Jo 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

The reason of course is that when a person becomes a child of God there is no physical manifestation - no change in their external appearance.

Ex. No "glow" - no eyes of fire - no angelic golden hair

So, the person who is not saved cannot make a distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil.

This is because the person who is not saved is spiritually dead - they are not able to discern the family characteristics that separate the child of God from the lost.

But, John tells us that shouldn't surprise us because the people of the world didn’t recognize Jesus either!

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

However, to the person who is born again - made alive spiritually…

…suddenly they are able to recognize their brothers and sisters in the Lord!

Ap. The testimony of the Holy Spirit within you

Your spiritual "eyes" are opened and now when you meet someone new you can sense within your spirit that there is a family bond between you!

Ex. The waitress at lunch, the guy at the gas station, the stranger in Nigeria.

So, don't be shocked when your unsaved friends and family don't see the reality that God's Word says is true…

…that you are now a child of God. Trust His Word and continue to walk with Him and you'll discover that you are in fact His pride and joy.

√ You've got your Father's eyes

In verse 2 John shares an exciting truth regarding our future as a child of God.

1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Wow! John tells us that when Jesus is revealed (the "apocalypse" - the unveiling) that we will be changed to be like Him!

What does that mean?

We can't be 100% certain because John also tells us that the complete understanding of this truth has not yet been revealed.

What we do know from scripture is that we will have…

A glorified body like Jesus' - I Cor. 15:35-54

Complete knowledge - I Cor. 13:10-12

No longer subject to the curse – Rev. 22:3

…with all the benefits that Jesus has promised us.

In short, we'll be like Jesus!

Ex. "You have your Father's eyes"!

Every child shares some characteristic or physical distinction with their parents.

You hear people all the time say things like…

“You look just like your father”

Or,

“I knew you were a Lester, you’re a clown just like your dad”

The spiritual application is that God is working in each of us who have trusted in Jesus to transform us into the image of Christ and will complete that transformation when He returns for His Bride!

Phi. 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Phi. 3:21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Close

√ Are a child of God this morning?

God has invited every person to become one of His children. Have you accepted His invitation?

If not, why not? What could be better than to be…

The object of His love

The apple of His eye

The one of whom He boasts

The one always in His thoughts

You can become a child of God by simply receiving Jesus as your savior.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

The nature of God's children (vs. 3-6)

1Jo 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1Jo 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

1Jo 3:5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

1Jo 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

√ The nature of God's children

You’ll remember that John has two main purposes for which he is writing this letter to Christians…

To encourage them in their faith

To warn them false teachers and their false doctrine

Having just established that we who believe in Christ are the children of God…

…he now gives us the test by which we can discern who is and who is not a child of God.

Ex. Be a fruit inspector – look at the spiritual fruit of their lives!

Mat. 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Mat. 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

Mat. 7:17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Mat. 7:18 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

Mat. 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Mat. 7:20 “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Many Christians (and non-Christians) wrongly believe that we are not to judge other people because Jesus said…

“Judge not, lest you be judged”

…what they fail to realize is the context in which Jesus spoke those words. He was rebuking the Pharisees for their hypocrisy because they liked to point out sin in other’s lives while they themselves were greater sinners.

But, read the rest of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7 and you’ll find that Jesus then exhorted us to judge – but without hypocrisy!

Back to our fruit inspection!

Jesus here in the sermon on the mount, and John in our text, tell us that we can discern the difference between God’s children and those who are not by the spiritual fruit in their lives.

√ His heart

The first distinction between the child of God and the child of the devil is found in their heart…

…that is, their motivation in life.

1Jo 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

J.B. Phillips…

1Jo 3:3 Everyone who has at heart a hope like that keeps himself pure, as Christ is pure.

The point is that the child of God has within his/her heart the desire to do what is right so that they might please Jesus.

That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, or sinless, rather that because of their love for Jesus they really want to do what is right.

Ex. The child of God vs. the child of the devil

The child of God looks for ways to avoid sin and temptation and is truly broken if they do sin.

The child of the devil is that person who may claim to be a believer, but is always looking for ways to excuse their sin and is only sorry about being caught.

So, we can discern a child of God by their attitude toward sin.

√ His life

The second test by which we can tell the difference between the child of God and the child of the devil is by their life style…

…is their life marked by righteousness or by sin?

1Jo 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

1Jo 3:5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

1Jo 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

Note that John tells us in vs. 6 that the distinction between the true child of God and the false is seen by the practice of sin in their life.

“But”, you may be thinking – I still have sin in my life…

…does that mean that I’m not a child of God! I mean – it says right there in vs. 6

“Whoever abides in Him does not sin”

Great observation, but wrong conclusion. You’ll remember that at the beginning of John’s letter he told us that…

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

So, John can’t be telling us that we must manifest a sinless life before we claim to be a child of God. Rather, I believe that John is telling us that the child of God and the child of the devil are discerned by the practice of sin in their life.

Is sin habitual in their life?

Does sin mark their life style?

Once again J.B. Phillips brings this out in his translation of vs. 6…

1Jo. 3:6 The man who lives “in Christ” does not habitually sin. The regular sinner has never seen or known him.

This is the same thought that Paul teaches in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans (especially Rom. 7 & 8) where we find Paul speaking of the war within him between his flesh and his spirit.

So, we can discern whether or not a person is a child of God by their attitude toward sin and whether or not sin is the practice of their life.

The nature of Satan's children (vs. 7-10)

1Jo 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

1Jo 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

1Jo 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

1Jo 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

√ Bad to the bone

John now turns his attention to the false teachers who were trying to infiltrate the church with their false teaching. Note vs. 7…

“Little children, let no one deceive you”

…the deceivers were those antichrists of whom John had warned, who claimed to be Christian, but were not.

John’s advise for discerning the true nature of a person is really very practical and is summed up in vs. 10…

1Jo 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

That is, it doesn’t matter how spiritual a person sounds…

…look at what they actually do! If they practice sin and try to dress it up to be spiritual – they’re a phony!

Ex. Pot smoking cults

Every once in a while I run into these people who claim to be a Christian and yet are total potheads.

They try and use a number of scriptures prove that it’s okay to smoke pot.

Ge 1:30 “Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.

And…

1Tim 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;

The problem with their logic is that the Genesis verse was given before the fall and God’s curse upon the earth. There are many plants today that are harmful to human beings that are here as a result of the curse.

The second problem with their logic is that if we are to abandon reason and simply follow their logic to justify eating (or smoking) any green plant does that mean it would be smart to eat or smoke poison ivy?

Obviously not! There are many things in this world that are not healthy or good for us to partake of.

Rather, these people try to justify their sinful behavior by taking scripture out of context and ignoring those verses which directly contradict their view.

So, John tells us that we’re to use our brains – that good ole common sense that He placed there.

Bottom line is that the child of the devil is known by the sin in their life. They act just like the devil does!

Close

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