1 John 2:29-3:10 The Marks of a Child of God Oh, what a privilege to be called a child of God! 1. God s children are marked by a special love.

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1 1 1 John 2:29-3:10 The Marks of a Child of God Oh, what a privilege to be called a child of God! 1. God s children are marked by a special love. God loves his children in a very special way! Look at the first part of 3:1: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. John is astonished with the love of God for his children. He says, SEE what kind of love... Love as children. Parents, I love your kids. But, I love my own in a special way. And because of this love, I treat them differently. I may call your children. I may teach them the Word. I may take them out for a meal, or whatever. And, I do love them and desire to love them more. But, my love for my own children is still different. Parents, we work diligently to do whatever is necessary and needed to provide for our children and raise them in a godly way. We take every opportunity to teach and lead and pray so that they will know the Lord Jesus. And when they are in trouble, how many of you will not move heaven and earth to help, no matter how difficult? And we all know this is true! In the same way God loves his own children in a special way. This is one of the marks of a child of God. In the OT, God placed his special love on Israel. He promised Abraham he would give him a people. And he would give them a land. And, he would bless them. In my quiet times I have been reading through Deuteronomy. And at the beginning of the book, we see this same people, a rebellious people who do not want to go up and take the land that was promised to them. And they grumble and complain. So God judges them and sends them back into the desert for almost 40 years, where the older generation would die off. Nevertheless, He loves them in a special way. And in Deut. 7:6-9 we read some amazing words. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations... Now, let me ask, How do we know God s special love was for this people? There are many things we see here. Verse 6, God chose them. He didn t choose the all the other peoples. He chose Israel. And he chose them to be HIS OWN treasured possession. In v. 8 we know God loved them because he did not abandon them, though they deserved it. And he delivered them from slavery with great signs and wonders. In v. 9 God was faithful to keep promise. Did they deserve such love? NO! A MILLION TIMES NO! But, God loved them with a special love! Let me ask, Today, how do we know God loves us in a special way? In principle, nothing has changed. We are a rebellious people. We don t deserve his love. OH, HOW I SIN! OH HOW I AM SO UNFAITHFUL! And so are you! But God is faithful. And, THIS is how we know. This is how we SEE! But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ

2 2 died for us (Rom. 5:8). In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption 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 (Eph. 1:3-8). This is what John is saying to us. SEE what kind of special love the Father has given you. AND SO YOU ARE! God sent his Son! Christ died for your sins! Oh, how I have rebelled against my God! Yet, he is faithful! It is finished is good enough for me! This is the love of God. AND IT IS SPECIAL! (Give quick application on the difficult doctrine of the love of God, ie. God loves in different ways.) 2. God s children are marked by a future hope. Look at v. 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. In the beginning of this verse John simply reminds his readers of what he just said, And so we are children of God... NOW. It is not that we will become the children of God. But, NOW, if we have believed on Jesus Christ as the Son of God, we are God s children. Eternal life is ours. But, then he moves to the future. He speaks of hope. And we know he is speaking of hope because of v. 3 when he says, And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. And this specific hope is that we will be like him. Sin still remains. And now, we are not what we will be. But, for those who believe on Jesus, this reality has already begun. We have this hope. Hope waits for a future reality that is grounded (NOW) in the promises of God that we have in his Word. Concerning this glorious hope Jesus prayed, Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory... (John 17:24). What a privilege for the child of God to be given the future hope of glory. Kids, let me ask, Why do you like Christmas? Probably, you like Christmas because of the gifts that will come on Christmas day. And so, during the year, when you think about that day coming, you have great hope within you and when you think about Christmas, especially the gifts, you smile and in your heart you look forward to that day. In kind of the same way, as children of God, we look forward to the day of Christ s coming. Now, let s think for just a moment about the gifts we receive on Christmas. In our family, we have a few gifts for each child. And each of those is wrapped. And we go around the room, each person opening one gift until they are all done. But, Kristen tells the kids which one to open first and second and so on. And she does so that the best gift is opened last. In the same way as we think of heaven, we consider God s gifts, our inheritance. It may be seeing our loved ones who have gone before, or getting to hang out with Adam and Noah and Abraham and David (asking lots of questions), or enjoying a body that will not wither away, or the worship that will take place, or to finally see an angel, or to know that the presence of sin is

3 3 gone. Can you imagine such an inheritance! But, these things pale in comparison to the BEST gift. John says, When he appears we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. The reason we will be like him is because will be where HE IS. He is the prize! He is the treasure! And to be in his presence is to be like Him! Kids, can you imagine not getting anything for Christmas? Not even an apple, or a small bouncy ball. To wake up to nothing. And then to have this year after year. If this were to happen, what kind of hope would you have? None! The world does not have this future hope! Only, the children of God have this hope within them! Today, if you have not believed on the Lord Jesus, you have NO HOPE, only what is here and now in this world. There is no faith. There is no mercy. There is no special love in your life from the Father of Lights, the creator of all things. If you continue not believing on the Lord Jesus, there are no spiritual gifts. And when God s children gather around God s heavenly throne in the presence of Jesus, where they will be like him, you will not find any hope, but only judgment and eternity without God or his gifts. Heb. 10:26-27 says, For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Please turn to Christ and trust Him! Now, As I studied this week, I discovered this truth is VERY important in the teaching of the NT in order to help us live today, especially with Paul. Listen to some of his words: 2 Cor. 3:18: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Phil. 3:20-21: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body... Col. 3:4: When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. This week I asked myself, Why do I rarely think about this truth? I don t think very much about what I will be like when Jesus comes back, or that I will see Him as He is. Do you? Does this hope affect how you live your life now? This is the application for now. Look at v. 3: And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Contemplating, meditating, considering our future hope in Christ at his return will cause us to strive for holiness in our own lives. This is really what the rest of our passage is about. Look at vv. 4-8: 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. There are so many applications of this truth! The coming of Christ and what we will be helps us with persecution. This hope causes us to endure. It causes us to think on things which are noble and pure and good and trustworthy, etc. And we ve simply touched the tip of the iceberg. What a privilege as a child of God to be marked by a future hope! Let s move on.

4 4 3. God s children are marked with an effective power over sin. Really, this is what the rest of our passage is about (as we just read). God s children are given a special power over sin. In v. 5, John says Jesus appeared to take away sins. For, in him there is no sin. Here, he is simply repeating what he has already said concerning why Jesus came. In 1:7 he said, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Then in 2:2: He is the propitiation for our sins. In short, Jesus came to conquer sin and to take the place of sinners. We deserve death. For the wages of sin is death. But, Christ, who has no sin, died in our place. This is the doctrine of justification. If you are in Christ you are a new creation. If you have believed on Jesus, there is NOW no condemnation from God. Jesus was condemned to death in your place. In this way, he takes away sins. But, in this passage, John goes further. He is concerned with practical living in this life after justification. Look at v. 6: No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. And v. 8: the one who practices sin is of the devil. Now, look at the first part of v. 9: No one born of God makes a practice of sinning... The literal translation here is: does not continue doing sin, or does not sin. This has led some to say that we can actually live this life without sinning. But, this conclusion does not fit the context of John, or the rest of the Bible for that matter. So what is John talking about? REMEMBER THE CONTEXT! There were those who left the truth of the gospel they heard from the beginning. They had become false teachers. And, their lives were proving this fact because they did not love the Word. They did not love the commands of God. They did not love their brothers and sisters. John is distinguishing between a false Christian and a true Christian. The false Christian is one who life is marked by wrong doctrine and wrong living. John has already said in 2:19: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Then in v. 20: But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. The true Christian has been anointed. He/she knows the truth. And he/she continues in this truth. He doesn t make a practice of sinning. With this in mind, John is clearly speaking about a continuing in right belief and a continuing in right living. The true Christian, though sin remains, will fight against sin and live righteously in this world. And the true Christian will not ultimately rebel and leave Christ, but instead will cling to him ( for the blood of Christ has cleansed him from all sin ). Let me ask, Why? Why does the child of God continue? (which gets us back to our point). Look at v. 9 again. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. It is right before us! God s seed abides in him... The reason the world keeps on sinning, keeps on unbelieving, keeps on rebelling is because God s seed has not been planted in their souls. But, if you are a child of God, it is because God has planted his seed within you. The literal translation is sperm. There are many illustrations. But, think of my garden. It rests during the winter. I plow it up and nothing grows. There are no seeds planted in the ground. But, in a couple weeks, I will plant seeds. And some of those seeds will produce fruit. With God s seed, there is a difference. His

5 5 seed has a %100 success rate. God ensures that his children are marked with an effective power over sin. What a good God! The very thing we could not do, God ensures this WILL happen. With these truths right before us, let me ask a closing question? From this perspective, Are all people God s children? Let s let John answer that question from his Gospel letter in 1: Speaking of Jesus he said, He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right (power) to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh to be called a child of God! He loves us with a special love. He has given us a future hope. For when he appears, we will be like him. And, He has given us an effective power over sin. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen (Rom. 11:33-36).