Children of God. –
July 8, 2007
Intro: Today we begin
a two part message on being the Children of God found in
1 John 3:1-10. A
theme of great importance considering today there are so many wanting to belong
and suffering from loneliness and rejection.
1. Recently a study was done in countries where abortion and
homosexuality is tolerated.
The rate of
marriage has dropped dramatically, as well as people living alone. In
The family has changed,
20& of Canadian live in a single family home, 47% are
blended families and
25% are traditional families. Mankind
does not have to live this
way. John says.
How great is the love of the Father has lavished on us, that we should
be called the children of God. And
that
is what we are. The reason the world
does not know us is that it did not know Him.
1. God has lavished on us His great love. The word lavish means to extravagantly,
Excessively,
freely or liberally give. God’s agape
love which is described in
1 Cor 13:4-8 is
lavishly given to us. Church you don’t
have to feel unloved. He
Wants you to excessively
receive His love. John uses the concept
of Fatherhood when
He talks about
love. Dad, did you know 85% of a children’s
self esteem is developed
Through the
relationship with a father figure. That
is why there is so many self
esteem problems
in our society. Men by and large have
abdicated their
Responsibilities
as Father’s. Talk about James Dobson’s
Dad.
2. Church we are
Children of God. Paul talks about this
concept in his writings.
Sonship comes
through Jesus Christ. We were strangers
and slaves but now we are
sons and daughters
of God. This bible has many titles for
those who belong to Christ.
We are beside
children of God, heirs of salvation and God, Children of the light,
family of God,
the body and bride of Christ, children of the day and the church. Paul
beautiful puts
its this way in Gal 4:6, “because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of
His Son into our
hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba Father,” John closes this
sentence by stating
with an exclamation point. And that is
what we are. The children
Of God.
3. John then states
that we should not be surprised by the world not knowing or
understanding
us. The world scorns, hates and
persecutes us. They are doing this
Because they did
not know Christ. They killed him. His purity, lifestyle, teaching and
Love was beyond
them. Talk about what the Pharisees said
about the woman who
Anointed Jesus.
Dear friends, now we are the children of God and what shall we be, has
not yet been made known. But we know
that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1. John first states
that as children of God, what will we shall be has not yet been fully
known. Paul states in 1 Cor 15:51-58, that we shall
be changed from mortal and
corruptible, to immortal
and incorruptible. He also tell us in 1
Thess 4, it will happen
in the twinkling
of an eye. This is what is called the
blessed hope.
2. John states, that
when Christ appears, we shall be like Him.
Jesus stated in Luke
24:39, that His
physical makeup was flesh and bones.
Talk about this.
3. John then says, we
shall see Him as He is. In Rev 1:12-16, we
have a picture of what
His features are
now. Have someone read. In this verse we see Jesus as the Soon
Coming King. His immanent coming is a theme of all New
Testament writers.
In the O.T. there
are 1835 references and 17 books that give it prominence. In the
N.T. There are 318 references, 1 out every 30
verses, and 23 of the 27 books deal
with directly. For every prophecy on the first coming there are
8 on His second.
Everyone who has this hope in Him, purifies himself, just as He is
pure.
1. The second coming
is design to be not only a promise or hope; it is design to move us
To action. In this case it is to keep oneself
purified. James states in James 1:27,
that
Pure religion,
is to take care of widows and orphans and to keep oneself from being
Polluted by the
world.
2. Purity is an act
of the will and a deliberate choice.
Choosing to take what you have
Inside which is
the righteousness of Christ and applying to all areas of your life.
Talk about the
feeding of the two animals inside.
3. Purity is
understanding you have been bought with a price, so we are to glorify God
With our
bodies. It is realizing you are a temple
of the Holy Spirit. Making a choice
To live separate
from the world. Talk about James
Robison’s transformation.
Everyone who sins breaks the law, in fact sin is lawlessness.
1. John was raised
under Jewish law which believed as we do that that breaking God’s
Law brings
punishment. In John’s day, until Christ
came it was 614 laws. Christ
Reduced it to
two. Love, God with all our heart, soul,
mind and strength and to
Love our
neighbour as ourselves. Today if you
don’t do this you are breaking the
Law of God. Jesus said in John 17, that this how people
will know that we are His
Disciples.
2. Sin has three
consequences, It brings eternal,
physical and spiritual separation from
Him.
3. John states that
sin is lawlessness. Sin has no truth,
morals, standards or values.
Everything
goes.
But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins and
in Him is no sin.
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