SERMON GM14-023
SERIES: Christian Living in a World of Chaos &
Contradiction
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM
SUBTITLE: The Test of Sonship (Part 2)
SCRIPTURE: 1 John 3:1-3
SUBJ: Sonship has its privileges
(Theme/Topic)
SUMMARY: As Sons of God believers are the recipients of beneficial privileges.
(Thesis)
SCHEME: That Christians revel in the privilege of being a child of God.
(Objective)
_____________________________________________________________
CHRISTIAN LIVING IN
A WORLD OF CHAOS
The
Christian Life is Viewed as Son-ship
The Test of
Sonship
1 John 3:1-3
(Part 2)
INTRODUCTION
A.
Membership has its privileges
Back in the 1990s, American Express had an ad campaign
for its credit card: “Membership has its
privileges.”
You may remember some of the
commercials full of exotic vacations, multi-course
gourmet meals and the like. The commercials would usually
end with the slogan “Membership has its privileges.”
The
ad implied that those who were fortunate enough to qualify for this status symbol card also qualified
for certain things that were available only through the use of the American
Express credit card.
So if you wanted to get in on all the
rewards, you had to be a member.”
B.
The Premise of John
There
are privileges reserved solely for those who are the children of God.
Privileges that those who are not children will never know nor enjoy.
Our theme is: “Sonship has its privileges”
This
is a good reminder for us all that the claim of being a child of God is not
only tested and observed by the
consistent practice of righteousness, Sonship always carries various beneficial
privileges for the child of God.
Proposition: I propose to you that as Sons of God believers are the recipients of beneficial
privileges.
Interrogative Sentence: So, what are those
beneficial privileges?
Transitional Sentence: In our text, John identifies
four (4) beneficial privileges of Sonship.
[But
before we begin examining those four privileges, let’ take a minute and…]
REVIEW
We
are reminded that our claim of being a Son or child of God is tested by
practical and measureable means. In this case our claim of Sonship can be
tested by three (3) very measurable and observable means:
·
Sonship is tested by practical means
·
Sonship is tested by relational means (love for other believers)
·
Sonship is tested by Christological means (or by doctrine)
[Last week we began this
section by seeing that …]
1A SONSHIP IS TESTED BY PRACTICAL
GROUNDS (2:29-3:24)
In this section Sonship is
being submitted to the test of behavior. Whether a person has been born into
the family of God can be known by the presence of family likeness in that
person’s life.
Because the underlying factor in this passage is spiritual
birth. Just like the fact that certain traits and characteristics are passed to
a child by natural childbirth, certain traits characteristics are passed to the
person who has been born into the family of God.
I guess you could say it like this, “Like God the Father,
like Child of God.” If you are a child or son of God you will manifest God
likeness.
This brings us to
our first practical test. That is…
1B Sonship demands the practice of
righteousness (2:29-3:10)
This
test begins in 2:29 and runs through 3:10. In this section John clearly
demonstrates that the practice of righteousness is an identifying mark of the
children of God.
[We
see very clear in verse 29…]
1C The Principle
of Righteousness Stated (2:29)
John states the
principle clearly. John uses God as the example or the exemplar to support this
principle.
1D The Exemplar for the Principle (29a)
ean
eidhte oti dikaios estin
“If you know
that He is righteous…”
John opens this section with a keynote declaration. Here is
a fact, an indisputable fact:
“He (God) is righteous.”
2D The Expansion of the Principle
(29a)
“…you may be
sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”
John’s readers already knew this truth or this principle. They know as a fact that anyone
who practices righteousness has been
born again by God.
And
so, the principle is fairly easy to grasp. The claim of Sonship can be tested.
This claim can be tested by practical means. This claim can be tested by a
solid principle identified by John: God is righteous, therefore anyone who
practices the same righteousness has been born of God and belongs to God.
In this section John
clearly demonstrates that the practice of righteousness is an
identifying mark of the children of God.
TRUTH FOR TODAY
John also clearly
demonstrates that additionally, another identifying mark of the children of God
is…
2C The Privileges of Sonship
Suggested (3:1-3)
[Read 3:1-3 in the ESV]
As already stated as
children of God we are subject to a number of privileges. In this small section
John seems to suggest as least four (4) privileges for our consideration.
[Let’s take a minute and examine the first privilege
suggested by John.]
1D Sonship Designates believers as children of
God
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that
we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does
not know us
is that it did not know him.
We Are Children of God
Explanation: (What Does this Mean?)
Verse 1 is closely connected
to verse 29. It is really an expansion on the last phrase of verse
29.
John wants to
ignite a flame in their hearts in order to fire up their
enthusiasm which is growing cold.
idete potaph agaphn dedwken hmin o pathr
“See how great a love the
Father has bestowed upon us…”
It seems that the mention of
God’s love in verse 29 stirs up a deep sense of amazement
in John – See. How great a love.
The word behold, or
look, or see, depending on your translation is a command. It calls for immediate action
Our word is filled with urgency and even excitement.
The word “kind” originally meant “from
what country” it evolved
to mean “what kind, from where” What John
wants
his readers to do is “strongly, and immediately think about the kind or love, or
the source of love that God
has given them.
David
Jackman wrote: “The force is that we need to take time to contemplate this love and
allow its reality to sink down into the depths of our being.”
There is a nuance here with our word love that you
don’t get in the English
translations. God loves the sinner, these readers of John, not because He
is drawn to them by
something within the sinner that makes him loveable, but in spite of everything and in spite
of man’s unloveableness,
God sets Hi mind and will on seeking man’s
highest good.
This is what is amazing to John. This is the first
of at was four great privileges suggested by
this passage. God loves
the sinner simply because He determines to, not because there is anything good or
worthy to love in the sinner.
“God
demonstrated His love us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, ESV)
ina tekna qeou klhqwmen kai esmen
“…that we should be called
the children of God; and so we are.”
This does not say that God
loved us in order that believers might be called His
children. This phrase explains what God’s love actually
does. God’s love turns those who believe into children of God.
They are “called”
God’s children – this is their reputation! John is emphasizing
the natural relation of a child to its parent. John’s emphasis is not on the identity
of these believers but
on the character of these believers.
Another way of
saying this would be, “they are ‘God- children.’
Listen – not only are
we called God’s children, but we ae actually God’s children.
dia touto o kosmos ou ginwskei hmas oti oik egw
auton
“…for this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know
Him.”
“For this reason” or “on account of this,” believers
as children of God are different from the
world. They are radically
different from the world. As children of God they
are family members of God.
The world is
related to Satan and believers are related to God.
Argumentation: (This is why you should believe
it)
·
John 1:12 – “But to all who did
receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children
of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh or of the
will of man, but of God.” (ESV)
·
Romans 8:14, 15 – “For all who
are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the
spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of
adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! The spirit bears witness with
our spirit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs, heirs of
God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (ESV)
·
2 Corinthians 6:18 – “…I will be
a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord
Almighty” (ESV)
·
Galatians 4:5-5 – “But when the
fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under
the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive
adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a
slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)
[Let me illustrate…]
Illustration: (This is what it looks
like)
The Point – God is our
Father
I
read recently about a…
A
preacher whose daughter who keeps a daily notebook. On one page she had drawn a
picture of her father and written carefully his name and address. When asked
why, she explained. She had been watching a movie, Amnesia. She said, "If
I ever forget who I am, I want everybody to know who I belong to."
That is how it is with us. From
time to time Christians need to remind themselves to whom they belong.
Spiritual amnesia is common enough in our experience.
I think J. Packer captured this
privilege best when he wrote:
"You
sum up the whole of New Testament teaching in a single phrase, if you speak of
it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the holy Creator. In the same way, you
sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge
of God as one's Holy Father.
"If
you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much
he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If
this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his
whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very
well at all."
Application: (This is what you do with
it)
So, act like children of
God. Live like children of God.
[The
first privilege that John identifies is that Sonship, or being a Son of God
means that we are children of God.]
Our theme is: “Sonship has its privileges”
This
is a good reminder for us all that the claim of being a child of God is not
only tested and observed by the
consistent practice of righteousness, Sonship always carries various beneficial
privileges for the child of God.
[The
second privilege that John identifies is that Sonship, or being Son of God
means that…]
We shall be like God
2D Sonship Develops believers
in God’s likeness
Explanation: (What does this mean?)
“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…”
agaphtoi nun tekna qeou esmen kai oupw efanerwqh ti
esomeqa
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet
what we shall be…”
The adverb “Now” is actually
first in our sentence. The reason for this is that
John is showing the contrast between the present and the
future aspects of
the believer’s state.
What
Christians are now – children of God – is a reality. But what
they will be in the future has not yet been revealed to them.
Right now
we are children of God but what we shall be has not been made
known to us at this point.
oidamen oti ean fanerwh omoioi autw esomeqa,
“We
know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him
First
of all – even though details about what the believer
shall be have not been given yet, there is some information that can be deduced
from the Scriptures
about the future.
Second – John declares that we know
that we will be like Him. How
does John know this?
Argumentation: (Why Should You Believe This?)
The ultimate aim of the
Christian experience is to be like Christ,
it is Christlikeness
Rom 8:29 For
those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers.
2Co 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.
Illustration: Let me illustrate this for you
Our
grandson is joining the Marine Corp on a delayed entry program. Once he and his
parents sign the contract he is a Marine. He doesn’t know what the future holds
for him, he doesn’t know what boot camp will be like, what is job training will
be lie, or what his first duty station will be like.
Right now
he is a Marine, with no training, no education, no idea of what it means to be
a Marine but he knows that upon completion of all required training He will be
transformed into a full Marine.
We are
children of God right now, but when we see Christ we will transformed into
being like Christ.
Application: (Here is what you do with this truth)
1.
Continue to look at Christ through the
scriptures because it is there Paul told the Corinthians that you are changed
by each glance at the glory of God
2.
Do not resist the work of grace in your
hearts and lives – submit to it
Our theme is: “Sonship has its privileges”
This
is a good reminder for us all that the claim of being a child of God is not
only tested and observed by the
consistent practice of righteousness, Sonship always carries various beneficial
privileges for the child of God.
[The
third privilege that John identifies is that Sonship, or being Son of God means
that…]
3D Sonship Destines believers
to see God
oti oyomeqa a uton kaqws estiv
“…because we shall see him as he is.”
– He says
we shall see Him as he is.
Explanation: (What does this mean?)
John does
not elaborate on the “process” of transformation, or
how we become like him – Christ, but the emphasis is on the
fact that we will be
like him when he returns.
John basis
this declaration on the fact that when we finally see
Christ we will be like Christ. Only those who are will see Christ
just as he really is.
It seems
that the vision of Christ transforms the child of God into
Christlikeness when we see Christ.
Christ’s
true nature and character made visible can only
be seen by those who share His nature and character. Like is perceived by like.
Argumentation: (Why you should believe this)
Psa 17:15 As for me, I shall behold your face in
righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
John 17:24 Father, I desire that
they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I
am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
1Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but
then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I
have been fully known.
Rev 22:4 They will see his face…
Illustration: Like is perceived by like.
Remember
as kids you used to say:
It
takes one to know one?
Some
says, “You're an idiot! “ The person spoken to says, “Well yeah, it takes
one to know one!”
The guy is basically saying, the only way you know I’m an idiot is because you're an idiot too so you know what an idiot is
it's a poor man’s response to a verbal insult, like "gee I couldn't think of anything clever to retaliate with, so "it takes one to know one""
The guy is basically saying, the only way you know I’m an idiot is because you're an idiot too so you know what an idiot is
it's a poor man’s response to a verbal insult, like "gee I couldn't think of anything clever to retaliate with, so "it takes one to know one""
It really
means "Only a person with identical character
traits would be able to recognize those traits in someone else.”
So, only those who have Christ’s character traits, i. e. His children
will see him for who he really is when we see him face to face.
Application: Eagerly anticipate the return of the Lord. Be
alert, be watching, most of all be ready
Our theme is: “Sonship has its privileges”
This
is a good reminder for us all that the claim of being a child of God is not
only tested and observed by the
consistent practice of righteousness, Sonship always carries various beneficial
privileges for the child of God.
[There
is a fourth and final privilege that John identifies in our passage and that
is, Sonship, or being Son of God means that…]
4D Sonship Demands believers
to purify themselves
“And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself
as he is pure.”
Explanation: (What does this mean?)
First – the thing that we should grasp from this idea is that the possession of the hope of seeing Christ
one day is the
strongest incentive for living a pure or holy life.
Second – this hope is not really
grasped or understood except by the Christians who
striving toward this goal is consistent.
IOW, those who say
they are Christians and have no desire to see Christ and have no
expectation are probably not
Christians.
The false teachers
did not possess this hope nor did they have any motivation to be
pure. They wanted to indulge their sin, their flesh, their every
desire.
The hope that each
true believer has is honestly incompatible with moral indifference.
Argumentation: (Why you should believe this)
2Co 7:1 Since
we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from every defilement of body and
spirit, bringing holiness to completion
in the fear of God.
2Ti 2:21
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a
vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy,
useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
Jas 4:8
Draw near to God, and he
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double- minded
Illustration: (Let me illustrate this…)
All
the Jews who appeared before God at the Jewish Feasts were required to purify
themselves from all Levitical and ceremonial uncleanness. In order to appear
before God they had to wash their heads and hair, their hands, and even their
clothes.
So
the hope of appearing before the presence of God and of seeing Christ as He is
inspires the children of God of putting away any and all sin which clouds or
hinders our vision of God and of Christ.
The
present tense of our verb suggests that this purifying of ourselves is a
constant and on-going thing.
John
insists that every individual who holds to this objective
hope willingly and repeatedly exercises self-purification or
cleansing.
Each true
believer who has the hope of seeing Christ as He is uses the
God-given means of cleansing from sinful defilement that
is incurred in everyday life.
This cleaning
from confession is actually our progressive sanctification.
Application: Psalm 139:23-24; 1John 1:8-2:1
So, there are four
beneficial privileges of Sonship. We are called the children of God, we are destined
to be like Christ, we are being developed into the likeness of Christ in this
life and we will one day see Christ.
Our theme is: “Sonship has its privileges”
This
is a good reminder for us all that the claim of being a child of God is not
only tested and observed by the
consistent practice of righteousness, Sonship always carries various beneficial
privileges for the child of God
Next
week Lord willing we will look at the last sub-points in this section:
3C The
Pattern of Righteousness Supplied (3:4-10)
But for now, what do you say
we wrap this up?
CONCLUSION
One day we are going to be like him but until then we must
remember that we are God's children, loved by God from eternally past and
although we have to face hostility in this world, we have a future hope that is
absolutely guaranteed. Therefore we must seek to be holy and live in a way that
is pleasing to our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so the privilege of being God's children also holds
within it the responsibility of living in accordance with the model given to us
by God and lived out by Jesus. The privilege also carries with it the promise
that someday we shall know the invisible God more fully than we do now, and
that when we come to that time, we shall also know ourselves to be pure before
him. Responsibility and promise will merge, both full filled--not by our own
efforts so much as by the work of the One who created us and re-created us in
his own image.
Exhortation: I
exhort you to walk in the fullness of your Sonship and revel in the blessings
and privileges given to us by God as His Sons and daughters.
John wrote in John 1:127, (ESV)
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, or of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God...” (ESV)
Let’s
pray! J
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