Children of God – Sermon 2 November, 2014

Children of God
1 John 2:29-3:3
A new born baby gives great joy to a family for the possibilities existing in that new life. In 2:29 John used the phrase “born of Him” to indicate the wonderful relationship which Christians enjoy as children of God, which becomes possible through the “Son” our Lord and Saviour. The Father longs for us to be His children because of His great love which was demonstrated for all mankind on the cross.
This is a total transformation through His great love and hence we should respond with love for Him and be His children.
Are we the Children we ought to be?
In today’s passage John gives three clear points which are:
1. What we are (3:1)
John here turns His letter from the world to God. The world’s glory may be glamorous and tempting; but it is also shallow and momentary. What the world gives today, it takes away tomorrow. But God gives something permanent, life changing and eternal. It is the Love of God. “How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us, is that it did not know Him.”
We, the righteous and the saints, are called “children of God”. Righteousness begins by faith and ends in love, an agape meaning divine or the highest form of love. While we were enemies, God loved us and sent His Son to die for us (Rom. 5:8)! His love is so great that by the new birth experience we are now related to the One who is the Divine Creator of the Universe, and can call him Father. We are the children of God! We receive from Christ a new nature, a godly nature, and thus are called children of God.
We do not expect the world to understand this relationship, because it does not even understand God. This love and resulting relationship is foreign to the world. Only a person who knows God through Christ can appreciate what it means to be called a child of God.
We can be confident of God’s unfailing love because He has proven it beyond all questions on the cross. We have been reborn into the family of God and as His children are recipients of our Father’s love. This amazing love has made us children of the King!
Sadly we have become so accustomed to expecting God’s love that we take it for granted. We even think of it as something God owes us.
2. What we will be (3:2)
The emphasis in verse 2 is on what the children of God will be in the future. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what will be has not yet been made known. But we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is.”
The reference here is to the time of Christ’s coming for His church. Having spoken of our present dignity as children of God, John now speaks of our future destiny. That by Christ’s appearing we will be like Him.
God’s love for us does not stop with the new birth. He continues ministering to us and transforming us into His image until the revelation of Jesus Christ causes the full, revelation of who we are in Him. Those Christ purchased by His cross will be perfected at His coming.
Then the day shall come when the Lord of Lords will come for us, and the completed work will flash forth in a moment. “What will be has not yet been made known. But we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is.”
3. What we should be (3:3)
The Apostle does not stop here. He has told us what we are, what we will be and now in 1 John 3:3 he tells us what we should be. Verse 3 teaches us that if we hope in our transformation at the return of Christ we should keep on purifying our lives. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Therefore everyone who has this hope purifies, cleans the heart, soul and spirit of thought, word, and action surrendering to God so that by His grace we may separate ourselves from all that defiles.
Our goal for purity is to be pure just as Christ is pure. And have the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
The Holy Spirit inspired hope of seeing the Lord Jesus arouses the determination to be pure like Him. Then the grace of God touches the will of the Christian to drive him to action. Thus the saint, in dependency on the Holy Spirit, puts sin out of his life and keeps it out.
As we read the Gospels carefully and thoughtfully and prayerfully, we will develop a profound appreciation for the character, integrity, wisdom, and strength of Jesus.
The longer we walk with Him and the more we learn about Him, the more we will be impressed by Him, and the more you will long to see Him. Even though now we only see Him through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12).
All this work of transformation is because of the Father’s love. Because the Father loved us and sent His Son to die for us, we are children of God. Because God loves us and lives within us, He wants us to live with Him one day. Salvation, from start to finish, is an expression of the love of God. We are saved by His grace, but the provision for our salvation was originated in the love of God.
Christ Jesus is everything the children of God should want to be. Do we have this hope of being like Jesus? Is it a powerful inspiration/motivation in our lives?
John told us in today’s Scripture reading what we can do to prepare for Christ’s returns. We are to walk with Christ in faith and obedience, keeping our minds pure and our hearts right. Then we will be confident and unashamed when we stand in His presence.
Are we ready to go to Christ and become pure like Him – that will prepare us and take us to the glories of Heaven!
Is hope of being like Christ Jesus a powerful inspiration/ motivation in our lives?
If it is, we will be purifying ourselves as the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ and makes us saints.

Krikor Youmshajekian