(1 John 2:17-27)
A Child of God
Only those who
are truly a child of God, born into His family through Jesus Christ (by His
sacrificial death, burial & resurrection) can actually live a righteous
life. Without Christ, in our
wickedness and sin, we cannot be righteous, but through the blood of Christ our
sins have been washed away and God sees us as righteousness.
1) ABIDE IN HIM (2:28)
Here, we see
again John writing in a fond way to those whom he cares for LITTLE
CHILDREN= IN THE NT USED AS A TERM OF KINDLY
ADDRESS BY TEACHERS TO THEIR DISCIPLES”), and he writes to encourage
other believers to “abide” in Christ.
ABIDE=
TO REMAIN
1) IN REFERENCE TO PLACE. . . NOT TO DEPART
2) IN REFERENCE TO TIME. . . TO CONTINUE TO BE, NOT TO PERISH, TO LAST,
ENDURE
3) IN REFERENCE TO STATE OR CONDITION. . .
TO REMAIN AS ONE, NOT TO BECOME ANOTHER OR DIFFERENT
To remain in
Christ, to dwell in Him, to live according to His word and will.
To let the works of Christ be in and part of you’re very being.
Why should we “Abide” in Him? So
that when He returns we will not be embarrassed or ashamed of His coming, but
may have “confidence.”
A)
THAT WE MAY HAVE CONFIDENCE WHEN HE APPEARS
When He
returns, will we be humiliated because of what we didn’t do for Him, or will
we be able to have assurance knowing that what we did it was all for HIS glory?
We can have that confidence and assurance, and how we can have it is by
abiding in God’s Word.
Colossians 3:16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord.
B)
THAT WE MIGHT NOT BE ASHAMED AT HIS COMING
C)
THOSE WHO PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE BORN OF HIM (2:29)
In our
natural born wickedness and sin we cannot be righteous, but through the blood of
Christ our sins have been washed away and God sees us as righteousness.
Romans
5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one
Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
Romans
6:18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans
10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
2
Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness
of God in Him.
Any one not
born of God, through Christ, cannot be seen this way, for “there is none
righteous, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10)
As children
of God, we have been made righteous. Because
of that, we can live a life pleasing and acceptable unto HIM!
We are not bound to the chains of sin and death, but are free... free to
live a life as God desires. If we
abide in His Word, and live righteously before HIM, we will have that confidence
on the day Christ comes to take us home! Live
confidently! Live righteously! Live for God!
2) WE
ARE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD (3:1)
A) BESTOWED BY THE LOVE OF THE FATHER
B)
THEREFORE THE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW US
The Father
(God the Father) has given us a great deal and quality of love (LOVE=
agape {ag-ah'-pay} BROTHERLY LOVE, AFFECTION, GOOD
WILL, LOVE, BENEVOLENCE)! And
He has given this so that we can be called “the son’s (children) of God” (CALLED=
1) TO CALL. . . TO INVITE; 2) TO
CALL I.E. TO NAME, BY NAME - TO BEAR A NAME OR TITLE AMONG MEN).
Because
of this, the world (those who are not children of God, those who do not
understand and believe.... the world) does not know us because they have not
known HIM.
John
8:19 Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered,
"You know neither Me
nor My Father. If you had known Me,
you would have known
My Father also.
John
14:7 If you
had known Me,
you would have known
My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
3) IT HAS NOT YET BEEN REVEALED WHAT
WE SHALL BE (3:2)
A)
WHEN HE’S REVEALED
1) WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM
2) WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS
Through
Jesus Christ, we are the children of God. Because
of this, we have a transformation awaiting us.
For now, we are still in a sinful body, which is still dying and
deteriorating. BUT, we have some
great news! We shall be changed!
Our bodies will be one day perfected as God had intended them to be and
we will live eternally in a glorified body!
When
He is visibly evident before us, just as another person can be seen today
standing before us... When we can
see HIM with our eyes, and behold His glory, we then will be like Him (become
changed to resemble Him) for we will see HIM as HE is!
B)
ALL WHO HAVE THIS HOPE IN HIM
1) PURIFIES HIMSELF
2) HE IS PURE
Every
person, past present and future.... every person, adult, child, male and
female.... everyone who has this hope, this confidence of Christ’s salvation
within them.... everyone who has received the gift of salvation through the
blood of Jesus Christ “purifies” themselves...
Through the blood of Christ we have been made clean, our sins have been
washed away. Our transgressions
against God have been removed. And
it is our responsibility to continue on living as clean a life as possible, even
in our dying bodies.
Christ
is pure... without sin.... clean and presentable before the Father.
He is pure. Through the
unselfish act of Jesus Christ, we may receive salvation from sin and death.
Through HIM we are able to enter into HIS family and be called the son’s of
God. Because of this, one day we
shall be like Christ, in the sense that we will no longer have sin dwelling in
our flesh, our bodies will be perfected and no more sin, sickness, nor death
will be able to corrupt it! And
with that, we have hope and assurance that we will be purified, not only In
position (as I am placed in Christ), but also in reality (for I will be with
Christ)!
APPLICATION: EPHESIANS 5:8
“For you were once darkness, but
now you
are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”
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