I John 3 – “How great is the Love of God?”
Thesis: God’s love is so great that with it he has made us children of Him and with that comes all the royal inheritances if we live the way we are suppose too.
Scripture Text: 1 John 3: 1-24
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on 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. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we 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 as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Introduction:
1 John 3 reminds us about how great God’s love really is. We could ask the question “How great is it?” It is so great says John that we actually are called the children of God. We are family to God! We are God’s sons and daughters. We belong to his blood line his heritage. We are his heirs. With son-ship and daughter-ship comes family blessings and promising that go with this royal family. We are Sons and Daughters to the King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, The Great I Am, The Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega, and all the other royal titles that go with God. This thought for many people today is not thought about very much. We have often ourselves forgotten who we are when we become the recipients of God’s Divine love and forgiveness. John reminds us we become the children of Almighty God! Wow what an honor!
John tells us in our chapter that we have not experienced all that we are going to be when we get to heaven. There is in store for us Crowns associated with our life on earth. There is coming a new name for each of us that Jesus will give us. There is coming the literal encounter with Jesus Christ. There is coming an inheritance from our Father. There is in our future our own mansion in glory. There is in our future leadership and positions of honor over the nations. There is close encounters of the God kind. There is the privilege to eat from the tree of life. There is coming the day when we get to see our name in the book of who’s who in Heaven “The Lambs book of life!’ Think about this our names will be beside names like David King of Israel, Moses, Peter, Isaiah, Jeremiah guys and girls who are known by only one name. We ourselves will be there right next to others with outstanding reputations.
I thought about this the other day an angel will say Michael McCartney yes here you are a few names before this guy named Moses. I meditated on the thought of how many students try to get their names in the “Who’s Who” book of students. But the most important list of honor is the one were you are listed as a child of God in the “Lambs Book of Life”. It’s book that says all these kids belong to me! And I believe God smiles and say’s, “I am so proud of each and every one of them!” Yes, they are all different-all uniquely different. But let me tell what my son Michael did there in Polk County Wisconsin. I think about God and I am amazed at how much he loves me. It’s a love that is really beyond my reasoning and understanding but I’m glad that God loves me and cares about my future.
Lewis Smedes put it this way, “It may be a very bad thing that I need God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I’m worth dying for.”
Ortberg states it this way, “God doesn’t just love you because he has to, he loves you because he wants to. God delights in you. Of course, that doesn’t mean God delights in everything you do. Your own mother doesn’t do that, if she’s at all healthy. But the fact that you exist-you, your own self- is very good in God’s eyes. God likes to love you” (23, Love Beyond Reason).
T.S. – So let’s take a moment this morning be reminded that as Children of God Almighty we have certain royal behaviors that align with our royal blood line.
Children of God according to the word look and do the following with their royal lives
I. The Children of God choose to no longer continue to sin in their lives.
a. A child of God after experiencing their Born Again moment will not keep on sinning because of their nature change on the inside.
i. To keep on sinning when we say we have been changed is a contradiction and a slap in the face to Love.
ii. Love is the reason we no longer want to sin.
iii. It’s not that occasionally we will make a mistake and fall prey to sin but we will not stay there in the sin and wallow in it’s filth and debauchery. We will get up out of the mud and say, “I am out of here baby!”
b. The child of God’s divine encounter with the person called Love has transformed their inward nature and therefore they no longer want to do the things that hurt the one who loves them.
i. Sin is Self Inflicted Nightmares.
1. Sin always causes hurt and pain to Love.
2. Sin always causes hurt and pain toward our selves.
3. Sin always causes hurt and agony to the ones we love.
4. Sin is the deciding factor that reveals whether Love is really in you heart and life.
a. If you keep on sinning – then Love has not been allowed to take control of your soul/spirit and body!
c. How do we keep from sinning?
i. We must always be on the alert that we have a bent toward sin.
1. Chambers – “Always beware of an estimate of life which does not recognize sin.”
a. We must always remind ourselves that we can sin if we place ourselves in a wrong position in life.
b. Billy Graham has been able to remain faithful to his wife and the Lord because he refused to put himself in a compromising position with sin.
i. This is why some of you need to get rid of the internet if you can not resist sin. Or get a Christian service that will protect you from the sin that is rampant on this site.
ii. Some of you men need to stay away those places that pull you into its web of sin. Avoid it like you would a contagious deadly disease because that is what it is.
2. The truth is no matter how mature we become in our walk with the Lord we can never play and dabble with sin. It will bring us down.
a. Sin has a seductive draw and if you play with it it will lead you into its web!
ii. We must stay humble and not become presumptuous in our lives with God or His Word.
1. Moses got in trouble with God when he did not listen to His instructions completely and he thought he could do it differently because he became angry and struck the rock.
a. ‘It is so easy to become self-reliant as we serve the Lord.’ – Cynthia Heald
b. If we become self reliant and think we can do things our way watch out sin is creeping into the house and there will be a price to pay in our lives.
2. I have often told people especially in the Pentecostal circles to watch when they say “God Said!” We are warned in one of the Ten Commandments to not use the name of the Lord thy God in vain and that just does not mean swearing!
iii. We must confess our sin and ask forgiveness when we sin.
1. The truth is un-confessed sin always leads to worse situations.
2. Sin never leads us closer to God it always leads us away from our Heavenly father and His family.
iv. We need to pray more and worry less.
1. This will keep us out of the trap of sin’s deception which tells you that you cannot trust God.
2. Doubt and fear will lead us away from love not toward love.
v. We need to be receptive to God’s voice and listen to what He tells us through prayer and the study of His Word.
1. Listen to the voice of reason and obey His leadings.
vi. We need to focus more on the Lord than on the circumstances of life.
1. Our focus in life should be to honor our Father not honor ourselves.
vii. We need to put our Biblical insights into practice and weave them into our every day life and decisions.
1. This will only happen if we are intentional about it!
T.S. – The child of God roots out sin in their lives and makes sure that they are not lead astray from the family that loves them.
II. The Children of God are ones who are not lead astray from their family of love but instead they fight for their family’s honor and values.
a. When we encounter the person called Love we also get the blessing of the person called Truth.
b. Truth keeps us from becoming deceived by the person called Deceiver. Truth says look at Deceiver he is wrong and don’t listen nor buy into his lies about the family you are now apart of.
i. The person of Truth is there in our lives to keep reminding us that Love wants us to serve the family. Truth teaches us about the importance of the family values of Love.
c. How do we keep from being led astray from our royal family?
i. We learn our family values and then eternalize them.
ii. We spend lots of time with our family
iii. We communicate with our family members
iv. We listen to our father’s instructions
v. We honor our Father and his lifestyle
vi. We choose it as the only way.
d. Oswald Chambers states this in his Dec 4th devotional: The Law of Opposition “To him who overcomes …” (Revelation 2:7).
i. Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life. Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought. Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired. And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation …” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “… but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition. Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.
e. The reality check we need to realize today is that the Devil and his children will be in opposition to us and they will try to lead us astray.
i. But we just need to realize that the truth is the truth and we must stay focused and committed to truth to stay in the royal family of God even when the world tries to change our lifestyles.
T.S. – The enemy will try to lead us away from our family of love so that he can get us to live and do the wrong things with our lives. But if we heed and hold to the truth it will lead us to live and do right things with our lives.
III. The Children of God are the ones who do what is right so as to please God their father.
a. We do right because of the sacrifice Jesus paid for us on the cross and we do not want to dishonor His sacrifice.
b. We do right because we want to do right for the one we love.
i. A divine love encounter should change our attitude toward doing right and wrong.
ii. Doing right always honors God – Doing wrong always dishonors God!
c. DVD clip from Bluefish TV interview With Jennifer Knapp on Backstage Volume 2
i. She talks about how God lead her back to him and how that love encounter with God lead her to want to do what is right for God.
d. According to John this is a measurement we can use to decide if a person is a child of God or a child of the Devil. Do they do right?
i. Do they act in a way that honors God?
ii. Do they live a life centered a round right living?
iii. Do they make right choices in their lives?
iv. Do they say the right things with their mouths?
v. Do they read the right things with their eyes?
vi. Do they look at things in life the right way?
vii. Do they believe in the right way?
viii. Do they respond in the right way to others?
ix. Do they think the right way?
e. How do we do right?
i. We learn what is right and wrong from the Word of God and from the leading of the Holy Spirit.
1. Jesus said that He would send us the Counselor to lead us into all truth!
2. Jesus referenced that the Word of God would lead us in the right way.
3. The apostles emphasized that the right way was and is found in following and learning from Jesus.
ii. We think right thoughts not wrong thoughts and therefore we must fill our mind with right truths and root out the wrong ones.
1. Thinking right is only attained from reading the Bible and from the leading of the Holy Spirit as we learn Biblical truths.
2. Thinking right can be attained from listening to sermons and teachings from the Bible.
3. Right thoughts are found in Bible Studies and Christ centered devotionals.
4. Right thinking is found and discovered in Christian books.
5. Right thinking is found and discovered in Christian music.
6. We also think right thoughts by not allowing bad thoughts to dominate our mind set.
a. Jesus said that a person who looks on a man or women and lusts in his heart for him or her has committed adultery.
i. Why did he say that? The reason when our mind is overrun with evil sinful thoughts then it does not take long before our actions align with our thinking.
ii. So a man or women thinks and then becomes!
iii. Our minds are a war zone between good and evil.
1. It’s up to us to decide to defeat sin and wrong thoughts before they become acted out in our lives.
2. The best way to do this is to pray and get closer to God and his word.
3. Another to do this is by renewing the mind and having a circle of godly close friends that we can be accountable too.
4. Sometimes our thinking can become distorted and that why the word says there is wisdom in the counsel of many.
5. We need others to lovingly challenge us when we start to think wrongly.
iii. We act right and chose to not act in a wrong or out of character way.
1. We chose the path of right and then do it
a. The battlefield of life is won or lost by how we chose to act in certain situations.
i. Will I act in a God like manner? Or will I act in a fleshly manner?
ii. Illustration of how I choose to act right in a work conflict rather then to act wrong.
b. The key for victory over sin and doing wrong is won by what choices we make in our life when we are under pressure.
c. We have to determine today to choose the right path and then stay on that path no matter what obstacle is thrown our way.
d. We must make a commitment to do right no matter what blows in and out of our lives.
2. The way of love is always right and is always the number one way to deal with situations in our lives.
3. Paul wrote to a church divided up into factions and strife and said these words to them about how to act in a place that has disagreements.
a. 1 Cor. 13: 1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
iv. When we think right, do right, act right we then live right! This is what the children of God do with their lives.
T.S. – When we realize that we are children of God and then internalize that children of God are people who do the right things at the right time for the right reason then we will see a spiritual break through in our world. But for this to happen we must be committed to Love and the way of love in our lives.
IV. The children of God are ones who are committed to loving others in spite of circumstances and injustices.
a. They chose not to act like Cain did.
i. Cain killed his brother Able because God blessed him for doing right.
ii. The world is full of jealous people who will hate you for pleasing God.
b. John throws a warning here and instructs us that as children of God we should not be surprised that the world will hate our loving ways.
i. Why? The truth is they hated Jesus and they will hate you for communicating the truth about sin and true love.
ii. I want to you to understand something today!
1. I have had people get mad at me for saying Jesus is the only way to Heaven!
a. I have been called narrow minded!
b. I have been accused of being in a cult!
c. I have been accused of being egocentric!
d. I have been accused of being dogmatic!
e. I had one person threaten to blow me away when I was preaching.
2. I have had people call me names and say I am this and that because I would not waiver from this message of hope and love for this world.
a. I have had people threaten me for my stance on the Gospel.
i. I have had people reject me and say they want to have nothing to do with me.
ii. When I first became a Christian my parents threw me out of the house for my stance.
iii. They said that I was brain washed and deceived.
b. I have suffered discrimination for my Jesus stand.
i. I once was penalized in college for my Christian stand and robbed of an A.
ii. I was told by the professor that I represented everything that was wrong with society.
iii. She called me a homophobe because I would not agree that homosexuality is okay and not a sin.
c. I have been called an extremist and a danger to American society.
i. I have been called insane and demented for my stance on moral issues.
ii. I have been called old fashion and out of touch with reality.
iii. I have been ridiculed and mocked by others for my stance on Jesus and truth.
d. I have had to deal with demonic forces as I made my stand on Jesus.
i. I have had to confront principalities and powers through the name of Jesus and pray.
e. I have had to stand against the enemy’s thoughts to quit this ministry stuff because it’s not worth it.
f. I have had to deal with unjust accusations on my leadership stances.
g. I have had to deal with being rejected by others for certain stances on truth and righteousness.
3. But I would do it again tomorrow because it is the right way and people need to know and hear the truth because that is what is going to set them free.
4. We forget that the disciples of Jesus paid with their lives to make their stand on the Gospel. And we should also be willing to do the same today.
a. There is an old saying which says, “If you cannot take the heat get out of the kitchen.” But I say if you cannot take this heat from the enemy of our souls then if you give in you will only be placed in a hotter place and there will be no escape.
b. I want to add this thought – In this world we live in the persecution of the truth is coming to America and we need to decide today if we are going to stand and fight or surrender and be toast.
c. The children of God know that love is the reason they have passed from death to life.
i. They know that if they chose to not love and to not forgive others then they instead chose death over eternal life.
ii. John makes it plain in his writings that anyone who knows Christ will chose love not hate and un-forgiveness.
iii. But if they do chose the path of hate and un-forgiveness and no love then they are just like Cain a murderer.
d. This is how we know what love is it always has the same characteristics.
i. The example of Jesus’ sacrifice is pointed to as an example of what love is and what love does.
1. Illustration: John Ortberg shares a story in Love Beyond Reason page 24, 25: Anne Lamott wrote of an eight-year-old boy who had a younger sister dying of leukemia. He was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents asked if they could test his blood to see if it was compatible with hers. He said sure. They tested, and it was a match. Then they asked if he would give his sister a pint of his own blood, that it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight. The next day he told his parents he was willing to donate the blood. They took him to the hospital; he was put on a gurney beside his six-year-old sister. Both were hooked up to IV’s. A nurse took a pint of blood from the boy, which was given to his sister. The boy lay in silence as the blood that would save his sister dripped from the IV, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, “How soon until I start to die?” Love is never so fully love as when it gives.
2. John Ortberg states, “The test of love is that it gives even when there is no expectation of a return” (25).
ii. Jesus example instructs us that we are to imitate and remember what he did for us. This act of selfless sacrifice should therefore compel us to do the same with those around us.
1. Love will always choose to sacrifice for another. It’s in it’s nature!
2. John pushes it to a more practical level when he says that love will cause us to give to someone who is in need. Especially when we have the resources to do so.
a. Love should never turn away a person who is genuinely in need.
iii. The message of our chapter is about how those who are part of the family of God have chosen the path of love. This path of love is filled with acts of love for others and for God. They are acts of selfless love for the sole benefit of the one receiving the act of love into their lives.
1. We are to love in action in deed in reality.
2. We are to love by sacrificing for others
3. We are to love by forgiving others.
4. We are to love by dying to our selfish desires.
5. We are to love because since we know the truth it instructs us too and we choose to obey its direction for living.
Conclusion:
John ends up his letter reminding us that if our heart is condemning us about a loveless act then we need to repent of it and do it right. If we choose to repent of our loveless life and change our behavior to the behavior of love then God promises to open up the door of Heaven and bless us. He also promises to answer our prayers if we obey him and do what is right.
Video Clip: Dead Man Walking: From Videos that Teach -- Fields and James page 52
Can anyone, no matter what they have done, become a child of God?
The Movie: Drama R
Sister Helen Prejan (Susan Sarandon) is a nun who receives a desperate letter from a death row inmate, Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), a convicted murderer trying to avoid the death penalty. As their relationship develops, Sister Prejean must come to terms with ministering to Poncelet as a fellow child of God despite the horrendous nature of his crimes, while at the same time ministering to the victim’s families.
This clip : Start 1:35:45 “That boy, Walter.” Stop 1:38:01
Sister Helen sits with convicted killer Matthew poncelet in his cell. When he confesses that he has indeed killed a man, sister Prejean teaches him that he can become a child of God by asking for forgiveness of his sins and owning up to his responsibility-which he does, realizing that confession doesn’t negate what he’s done. The best he can do is wish the families peace. Poncelet is grateful for Sister Prejean’s compassion and love.
When you are in a right love relationship with God and others then you come to a place in life when you are at peace in the presence of God.
Communion- Today we are going to remember the ultimate love sacrifice made by Love himself. Jesus chose the path of love over hate, over revenge, over un- forgiveness, over the flesh. Jesus’ sacrifice was the point in time when we could embrace it- sign on the dotted line for it and accept his sacrifice so that we could become the children of God.
Play Song: “I’m So Amazed” During Communion
