1 John 2:28-3:3: Abiding in Christ as God s Children 1 By Rev. Brian T. Cochran

Transcription

1 1 John 2:28-3:3: Abiding in Christ as God s Children 1 By Rev. Brian T. Cochran Introduction Well this week we continue with our series in 1 John. Last week John spoke most explicitly about the false teachers that were threatening his churches. He referred to them as antichrists and identified them as those who had left his churches and were denying that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And so John laid out the test of doctrine exposing their lies. This was the third of the three tests that John lays out in this epistle in order to refute the false teachers and to reassure true believers that they have eternal life (cf. 1Jn. 5:13). Back in 2:3-6 he applied the test of obedience, in 2:7-11 he applied the test of love and last week he applied the test of doctrine (2:18-27). This week we reach a new section of the letter and not much changes. John basically applies the same three tests in a new way. You ll see in 2:28-3:10 the test of obedience, in 3:11-18 the test of love and then in 4:1-6 the test of doctrine again. But whereas John formerly applied these three tests to those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness, in this section he uses them to contrast the children of God and the children of the devil (notice 3:10). As we ll see, the children of God are characterized as those who practice righteousness (2:29) and love their brothers (3:14) and the children of the devil are characterized as those who practice sin (3:4) and hate their brothers (3:15). John likes to speak in stark polarities. You are either in the light or in the darkness. You are either a child of God or a child of the devil. There isn t a grey area in between for John. Everyone in this world falls into one of these two opposite groups. John wants to make plain to his readers the danger of being deceived by these false teachers. And last week we read of two safeguards against the antichrist false teachers namely abiding in Christ through the Word of truth and the Spirit of truth. He continues in our passage today by saying, 1John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him. So John is concerned that his children in the faith continue to abide in Christ and to live out of that union with Christ. And so notice with me the theme of our passage: Theme: Abiding in Christ as God s Children 1. The Result of Abiding as God s Children 2. The Evidence of Abiding as God s Children 3. The Hope of Abiding as God s Children 1. The Result of Abiding as God s Children Once again John refers affectionately to his original readers as his little children in the faith. He exhorts them to abide in Jesus Christ, whom the false teachers were denying. And he gives this exhortation with reference to Jesus second coming: 1John 2:28 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. The first thing to notice is that not only did Jesus come in the past as John explained in the opening of his letter, Jesus is coming again in the future. History has a God-appointed destiny. And Jesus second coming will be different than his first in that his first was a coming in grace 1 This sermon may be copied and distributed as long as the content is not changed, due credit is given to the author, and no money is made in the distribution. Copyright 2010, Brian Cochran and Redeemer Reformation Church (URCNA), Regina, SK. More sermon manuscripts and sermon audio can be found at

2 2 while His second coming will be a coming in glory. And when he comes in glory, he will judge the living and the dead as we confess in the Apostle s Creed. And notice that those who appear before him will have one of two reactions: They will either be confident when he appears or they will shrink back in shame at his coming. And what makes the difference is whether or not one abides in Christ or not. This is why John encourages them to abide in Christ. Those like the false teachers who have abandoned Christ and denied him will be ashamed at his coming. And you don t want to be ashamed on that day. Listen to how it is described by John in Revelation: Rev. 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?. Indeed as the author of Hebrews tells us, Heb. 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The reason that it is a dreaded and shameful event for those who do not abide in Christ is because they have not been clothed in Christ s righteousness by faith. In the parable of the wedding feast in Matt. 22, Jesus tells us that it is like a man showing up to a wedding without wedding clothes. Think about how embarrassing that would be to show up to a wedding in an undershirt, tattered cargo shorts and sandals. Everyone would be staring at you thinking, he doesn t belong here. The same is true of Christ s return, which is described in Revelation as a wedding feast of God s people. If you show up poorly dressed on that day, you will be ashamed. How then should we dress? The proper attire is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Apart from Christ we stand naked and ashamed like Adam and Eve in the garden after they had sinned and their eyes were opened. But if we look to Christ by faith alone apart from our own works, we have been given Christ s righteousness so that we can have confidence when he returns. Paul tells us, 2Cor. 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. What Paul is saying is that on the cross Jesus was clothed in our sins so that we might be clothed in his righteousness. Even though he had the proper garments, he underwent the shame and suffering of God s wrath so that we who look to him by faith might have confidence when he returns. And so, I ask you, have you been clothed in Christ s righteouusness by faith? Have you trusted in his completed work on the cross? If you have not trusted in Christ then you need to know that apart from the righteousness of Christ you will shrink back in shame at Christ s return. And it will be more than mere embarrassment, the almighty wrath of God will be upon you forever. Indeed, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God without the righteousness of Christ. But the good news is that if you look to Christ by faith, you CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE when he returns. His blood has washed away all of your sins and his righteousness has been given to you. Those who look to Christ by faith have already passed through the judgment. We need not fear that day because Christ was already judged in our place. And so, in Rom. 8:1 Paul tells us that there is therefore NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The author of

3 3 Hebrews says, Heb. 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. One of my favorite verses of the hymn we sung earlier And Can it Be is the last verse. And I can t help but belt it out whenever we come to it: No condemnation now I dread; Jesus and all in him, is mine! Alive in him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, bold I approach th eternal throne and claim the crown, through Christ, my own. Beloved, confidence is something that we already have in Christ as we are united to him by faith, and our union with him results in confidence when he returns as well. This is such an important point to stress. It s important because many of us were raised thinking that Jesus return is something to be scared of even after we have trusted in Christ. But this is the exact opposite of what John is trying to tell God s children who abide in Christ. Those who abide in Christ have confidence when Christ returns, not because of our own works but because of Christ s work on our behalf. Jesus return is pure gospel for those who trust in him. One of my favorite questions and answers in the Heidelberg Catechism is question 52: What comfort is it to you that Christ shall come to judge the living and the dead? That in all my sorrows and persecutions, I, with uplifted head, look for the very One, who offered Himself for me to the judgment of God, and removed all curse from me, to come as Judge from heaven, who shall cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but shall take me with all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory. Remember loved ones, that when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead, that he has already been judged in your place. John spoke of Jesus earlier as our righteous advocate before the Father, the one who is the propitiation for our sins (2:1-2). Why then should we fear him? Your only comfort in life and in death is that you belong to Him, and when he comes again that comfort will be fully realized. And so, do not be deceived by anyone who may come to you and tell you some new revelation about Jesus Christ that is not revealed in the Word of God. Do not be deceived by anyone who tries to tell you that Jesus is not the Christ, the son of God who came in the flesh, whether it be your Jewish friends, your Mormon co-workers, or the Jehovah s Witness at your door. Do not let anyone rob you of your confidence in Christ. Abide in Him so that when he returns we will have confidence to appear before Him properly dressed in His white robes. Confidence is the result of abiding in Christ. Notice with me then The Evidence of Abiding as God s Children. 2. The Evidence of Abiding as God s Children John begins to move into the main point of vv. 2:28-3:10, namely that the children of God are characterized by practicing righteousness. He says, 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. John s point is that practicing righteousness is one of the family traits of God s people. Children, has anyone ever told you that you look or act just like your mom or dad or your brother or sister? Children, John is telling us that we as God s children will look and act like our Father in heaven and like our older brother Jesus Christ in how we obey God and treat others.

4 4 It is NOT a condition that we must first meet in order to become a child of God, rather it is merely a characteristic/evidence of our new birth. John speaks of the new birth in his Gospel: John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right 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. In John 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus that if a man is to enter the kingdom of heaven, he must be born again by the Spirit. And so, what he is telling us here about the new birth is that those who are God s children haven t just been adopted and given a new name in Christ, they are also being renewed in nature by the Spirit. When we adopt children today, the children that we adopt retain the same genetic traits as their parents. But in the family of God things are different. We are adopted AND we are being transformed into the image of Christ by the Spirit so that we all more and more resemble his righteousness. And just the mention of being born of God leads John to burst out in wonder that we have become children of God. He ll go on in vv to speak more about practicing righteousness as God s children, but he can t help but pause to marvel at the fact that we are God s children. He says, 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. The phrase See what kind more literally means of what country. John is asking from what country is God s love? It is so foreign to anything that we have know previously about love that it is as if it is from another world. How is it so different? Why does John marvel? In order to feel the sense of wonder that John is feeling, we must remember who we were before we were given God s love in Christ. Apart from God s love in Christ Paul tells us that we were by nature children of wrath following the prince of the power of the air, the devil (Eph. 2). In Romans 1, Paul speaks of who we were apart from God s love in Christ, Rom. 1:29 [We] were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. [We were] full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. [We were] gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. There was nothing desirable about us that made God choose us to be his children. Paul says WE HATED GOD. Later he says that NO ONE SEEKS FOR GOD! (Rom. 3). This is why John marvels that we are now God s children. Imagine that you wanted to adopt a child. You would hope for a child who loves you and wants you to be their parent. You d probably hope to have some sort of connection with that child before you adopted them. You wouldn t want to adopt a child who comes up to you and says I hate you, and I don t want you to be my parent. What a terrible thought! But you see this is who we were with God. And yet, God says, I choose you to be my child, and I love you so much that I am going to purchase you with the precious blood of my ONLY Son by nature. This is why John is so overwhelmed by the love of God. It is completely unheard of. Who loves like this? And John says this is no mere title. He says, we have been called children of God, and so we are! And even though people may not recognize us as God s children, we shouldn t be surprised. John says, 1 The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Recall

5 5 John s words in John 1: John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. Don t be surprised if people won t recognize that you are a child of God and perhaps even ridicule you for it. Rather be encouraged by this. This is just further evidence that you are abiding in Christ as a child of God. They didn t recognize Him and they won t recognize you either. But take heart, it is better to be recognized as a child of God by God himself than the world. You might be shamed by others, but you won t be shamed by Christ when He returns. Abiding in Christ, you have the confidence to stand in God s presence, you have the evidence that you are a child of God, and you have the hope of Christ s return. 3. The Hope of Abiding as God s Children John says, 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. Once again John speaks of Christ s return as something that God s children can and should look forward to. This is our blessed hope. How many of you are tired of your sin? Just when you think you are done struggling with one sin, you fall all over again, or another sin comes along. I have no doubt that if you are a child of God, that you struggle with sin. The question isn t are you struggling with sin. The question is which sin are you struggling with this week? Is it lying, deceitfulness, covetousness, lust, jealousy, hatred, pride, gossip, stealing, dishonoring your parents, not loving God all your heart mind soul and strength, not trusting in God to provide for you, not resting on the Lord s Day? If you are a child of God I know that you struggle with sin. John said earlier, 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,. But not only do I know that you struggle with sin as a child of God, I also know that if you are a child of God, you desire to be done with your struggles once and for all. And so I want to remind you of two things that will encourage you as you continue to fight the good fight of faith against sin. The first thing is what John has already said earlier in his letter: 1John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins. Don t forget these precious words of John as you battle against your sin. Fight against sin remembering what Jesus has done for you in his first coming. He conquered your sin and it was nailed to the cross with Him. You can say with Paul, Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Never forget that Jesus is your righteousness before the Father. And fight against sin knowing that he is interceding for you in the presence of the Father. John encourages us here by saying, 2 Beloved, we are God s children NOW The second thing that should encourage you as you fight against sin is the hope that is held out for you in Jesus second coming. His first coming gives you confidence as you fight against sin and his second coming gives you hope as you fight against sin. Our hope is that one day we will see Him and be like Him in purity. John says, 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 other words, take heart because one day your struggles WILL come to an end. Christ saved you from the penalty of sin, he is more and more saving

6 6 you from the power of sin, and one day he will come again and save you from the presence of sin altogether. What is amazing is that it will all happen by merely seeing him face to face in all of his pure and spotless glory. Right now this is happening progressively as we look to Jesus in his Word: 2Cor. 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. This happens now as we walk by faith and not by sight (2Cor. 5:7) But when Jesus appears, then we will walk by sight and just by looking at Jesus with our own eyes, the Spirit will transform us into his image immediately and finally. The image that was lost in the fall with the first Adam will be restored and taken to a whole new level when we see the Second Adam. We will be confirmed forever in righteousness and holiness. The righteousness and holiness that we long for as we fight against sin will not only be true of us as the justified, it will be completely true in us as the glorified children of God. We will be morally pure outside and inside. The return of Christ is not something that God s children dread, it is something that God s children can hardly wait for! And so, how then shall we live NOW as we wait for that hope to be realized? John says, 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. In other words, what you hope for inevitably determines how you live now. If you hope to be pure, then you will long to be pure more and more now. Think about a child who talks about growing up to be like someone. Do they simply talk about it? No, they mimic that person as they grow up. If a boy wants to be a professional athlete he starts to mimic his favorite one. When I was growing up we had commercials about Michael Jordan, and every boy wanted to be like Mike. And so we would wear Jordan shoes, Jordan clothes, we would try to pull off all of his moves on the basketball court, maybe even letting our tongue hang out for fun. We would try to be like Mike. Many young girls want to be mother s when they get older. My sister was like this. And when I was born, I wasn t her little brother in her mind. I was HER baby and she was my mommy and she would tell people this. Or maybe you know someone who wants to be the next American Idol someday. How often do they sing? In the shower, in the car, while doing chores, etc. It is just a fact that we know from everyday experience that if we hope to be like someone one day, we will try to be like them now as much as is possible. This is John s point. If you long to be pure like Christ in the future, then you will long to be pure like him even now. How then can we purify ourselves even now? We can only purify ourselves now as we diligently attend to the means of grace. We are renewed in the image of Christ by the Spirit as we behold him in the Word and sacraments. You need the Lord s Day. We are exhorted by the author of Hebrews, Heb. 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Conclusion Loved ones, we are called to abide in Christ as God s children. Abiding in Christ we have confidence when He returns, we have the comfort of knowing that we are God s children now

7 7 and we have the hope of one day seeing Christ and being like him. Let us marvel at these truths with John, and let us thank God for so great a salvation! Amen!

8 8 Bibliography 2 Beeke, Joel. The Epistles of John. Webster, NY: Evangelical Press, Boice, James Montgomery. The Epistles of John: And Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, Carson, D. A. and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament. 2nd Ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Kostenberger, Andreas J. A Theology of John s Gospel and Letters. Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, Kruse, Colin G. The Letters of John. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, Marshall, I. Howard. The Epistles of John. The New Testament Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, Riddlebarger, Kim. Sermons on the Epistles of John. Available at (accessed 3/9/10) Smalley, Stephen S. 1, 2, 3 John. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word, Stott, John R.W. The Letters of John. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, Yarbrough, Robert W. 1-3 John. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, This bibliography represents the regular works consulted throughout this series though not always quoted in every sermon. Stott s commentary I highly recommend as the best balance between technical and pastoral commentary.