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BELOVED, YOU ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD
~I John 3:1-7~
In-person service at
Second Baptist Church
2412 Griffith Ave.
Los Angeles
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. I John 3:1-7 KJV
Introduction
Imagine that you are beloved, the children of God. You are not the children of bitterness and bigotry, not the children of chaos, confusion, conflict, contention, not the children of distress, despair, dissention and disillusionment NO! You are the children of God who are part of the family of God and therefore addressed as beloved.
The word beloved is used repeatedly throughout the New Testament. A notable use of the word is at the baptism of Jesus. In this scene, all three Persons of the Trinity are revealed. God the Father speaks to the Son from heaven: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).
God again calls Jesus “beloved” at the Mount of Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). We can learn a little about the loving relationship shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by God’s use of the word beloved. Jesus echoes that truth in John 10:17 when He says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.”
Many New Testament writers used the word beloved to address the recipients of their letters (e.g., Philippians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 2:11). Most of the time, the Greek word translated “beloved” is agapētoi, related to the word agape (unconditional love). In the inspired letters, beloved means “friends dearly loved by God.” In the New Testament, the use of the word beloved implies more than human affection. It suggests an esteem for others that comes from recognizing their worth as children of God.
Those addressed were more than friends; they were brothers and sisters in Christ and therefore highly valued.
Since Jesus is the One whom God loves, Beloved is also used as a title for Christ. Paul speaks of how believers are the beneficiaries of God’s “glorious grace, with which he has blessed as the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6, ESV). The Father loves the Son, and He loves and blesses us for the Son’s sake. The epistles of John1, 2, and 3 have been attributed to the apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John. The content, style, and vocabulary seem to warrant the conclusion that these three epistles were addressed to the same readers as the Gospel of John. Remember John’s gospel has the classic saying that expresses the essence of the Christian Faith, “God so love the world that the God gave an only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in him would not perish but become part of what is provided beyond this ephemeral reality.” (my paraphrase)
Remember that “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into the wonderful light.” I Peter 2:9
Consider what it means to behold the manner of the love God has
bestowed upon us to become part of the family of God.
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The Book of 1 John was likely written to address the errors of false beliefs and teaching and heresy (belief or opinion contrary to orthodox Christian understanding which led to false theories about the person of Jesus). 1 John set boundaries on the content of faith and gave believers assurance of their salvation.
False teachers were a big problem in the early church because there was not a complete New Testament that believers could refer to and many churches fell prey to pretenders who taught their own ideas and advanced themselves as leaders. John wrote this letter to set the record straight on some important issues, particularly concerning the identity of Jesus Christ. The unfortunate reality today is that we have the bible in its entirety and yet interpretations and application can and are misappropriated, misinterpreted, misapplied and utilized in erroneous ways.
John’s letter was about the basics of faith in Christ and helped readers to reflect honestly on their faith. It helped them answer the questions, Are we true believers?
And what does it mean to be the beloved of God? How do we as children of God
reflect the image of the One who claims us and the One we claim as Father? John told them that they could tell by looking at their actions and behavior and conduct toward one another. If they loved one another, that was evidence of God’s presence in their lives. But if they bickered and fought all the time or were selfish and did not look out for one another, they were betraying that they, in fact, did not know God and were not being the children of God.
That did not mean they had to be perfect. In fact, John recognized that believing involved admitting our shortcomings which necessitates recognizing one’s limitations which seek the forgiveness of God and others. Depending on God for cleansing from guilt, along with admitting our wrongs against others and making amends, were important aspects of getting to know God and being a child of the Lord.
The apostle John knew Christ well. He is telling us that we can all have that close, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We have the witness of persons who had direct and personal contact with Jesus. The Gospel writers present the testimony of their experience of Jesus. That applies to our lives also. We believe that Jesus came here as the Son of God to create a union with us based on God’s grace, forgiveness, mercy, and love. John is telling us that Jesus is right here with us in both the simple, mundane parts of our lives and in the complex, soul-wrenching parts as well. John testifies as a witness of his personal experiences that God became flesh and lived among people. That means Christ came here to live with us and still lives with us. As He walked the earth alongside John, so does He walk through each and every day of our lives with us as we are reminded with the words, “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20). I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
A composer put it in these words:
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses
...And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other, has ever, known!
He speaks and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that he gave to me,
Within my heart is ringing . . .
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other, has ever, known!
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other, has ever, known!
Imagine in the solemnity of quietude in a reflective and meditative state you sense the presence of the Lord through the Spirit of Christ bringing about a wonderful change, a change of attitude, a change of believing and a change of sensing the Lord’s present to you in all of the circumstances of life. Jesus reminds of what God is like and what we have the capacity to become like as God intended for those made in God’s image and fashion in God’s likeness. Jesus is the consummate expression of God and humanity
(a perfect blended combination of godliness and humanity that expresses itself in godly living).
Consider what it means to spend time getting to know and
experience the reality of the presence of the Lord in Christ
in your life by reflecting on the enormity and extent to which
God was willing to go to demonstrate how much God cares.
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Jesus died for us so that we might live for him. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14). “Jesus died on behalf of all of us so that we could live for him,” (2 Corinthians 5:15). “We are predestined for adoption as children through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:5).
Firstly, children of God depict the image of the One in whose likeness they are made and fashioned and represent.
”Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” John speaks in amazement about this manner of love that makes us children of God. He wants us to behold it – that is, look at it intentionally and intently.
It is important to understand what it means to be the children of God. God’s love is expressed to all in the giving of Jesus for the sins of the world (John 3:16). Here he speaks of those who have received the love of Jesus in a life of fellowship and trust with Him; But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name (John 1:12).
The greatness of this love is shown in that by it, we are called children of God.
Look at the love of God bestowed on us. “While we were yet sinners God loved us and gave himself for us to redeem us and restore us.” (Romans 5:8). Those who are converted, convicted and convinced that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto the Lord not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (II Corinthians 5:19). You are God’s children.
We can picture someone helping or saving someone, but not going so far as to make them a part of the family – but this is what God has done for us.
Consider what it means to live for Christ since Christ died for you.
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Wednesday, April 17, 2024 | |
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Secondly, children of God reflect the image of the Son of God, Jesus our elder sibling.
If we are truly children of God, then it should show in our likeness to our Father and in our love for our “siblings.”
The Lord gave us the example in Christ of what we are to be as children of God in the family of God in our relationship with one another. We love one another as God has loved us. The love that the Lord has bestowed on us is unfathomable because it is exceptionally marvelous. Image the Lord loving you despite your faults, failures, foibles, inadequacies, insecurities, incompetence, limitations and liabilities, mistakes and missteps. “God so love the world that God gave his only begotten Son”. John 3:16. God love us while we were basking in the aura of our wretchedness (Romans 5:8). God demonstrates love toward us while we were yet sinners when Christ died for us.
Jesus said “by this shall all people know that you are my disciples that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 13:35.
Therefore, the world does not know us: Because of our unique parentage from God, we are strangers to this world (or should be). This shows the great danger of a Christianity that works so hard to show the world just how much like the world they can be; we cannot be surprised or offended to find out that the world does not know us.
The world did not know Him and will not know you. Ultimately, we should expect the world to treat us as it treated Jesus – rejecting Jesus and crucifying Jesus. While it is true that Jesus loved sinners and they, recognizing that love, flocked to Him, we must also remember that it was the world that cried out crucify Him! There are those who, rather than accepting Jesus, want Him crucified because they want to kill what disappoints them, what does not fulfill their expectations, and what does not give them want they want.
Consider what it means that the world did not know Christ and will not
know you as they did not know and recognize Jesus; and the more
you resemble Christ the more you will not be recognized by the world.
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Thirdly, children of God live to please God by being godly.
I wonder how the Lord looks at us. Do you think that there is an approving look of admiration or a disturbing look of disappointment? Charles Poole in his book entitled, “Beyond The Broken Lights, Simple Words at Sacred Edges,” makes the bold assertion that there is a gap between the church’s Lord and the Lord’s church. This gap is not new. It is as old as the church itself. You cannot get through the book of Acts, Galatians, Corinthians and Philippians without encountering tales of fragmentation, manipulation, and the jealousy in the body of Christ. The church cannot make it through its infancy without stumbling off in strange directions that open up a gap of space between Jesus and the church. There is a gap between the absolute integrity and unfailing courage of Jesus and everyone who has ever lived. The gap between Jesus and the church is, to some degree, inevitable. After all, we don’t live in first-century Palestine. We cannot all be Jewish carpenters who live beneath the stars. A part of the gap between Jesus and the church is the gap between the first century and the twentieth century. (The Lord found his followers netting the surf; now he has followers surfing the net.) There is nothing bothersome about that gap; it is natural, inevitable, progressive gap of time. What is bothersome, troubling, and complex is the gap of spirit – the gap between the spirit of Jesus and the life of the church. The only way to face that gap and shrink that gap is for the church to measure what it does by the standard of the spirit of Jesus. (pp. 103-104, 108).
Jesus shows us how to stop the killing. We kill what we fear; we kill what we don’t like; we kill what is different; we kill what we cannot control. God gave us the formula in Christ how to stop the killing. We seek redemption rather than retaliation. We seek reconciliation rather than retribution. We seek restoration rather than revenge.
Consider what it means that Jesus shows us how to live a life that pleases God.
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Conclusion
What I Live For by George Linnaeus Banks
I live for those who love me,
Whose hearts are kind and true,
For heaven that smiles above me,
And waits my spirit, too;
For all the ties that bind me,
For all the tasks assigned me.
And bright hopes left behind me,
And good that I can do.
I live to learn their story
Who've suffered for my sake,
To emulate their glory,
And follow in their wake;
Bards, patriots, martyrs, sages,
The noble of all ages,
Whose deeds crown history's pages,
And Time's great volume make.
I live to hold communion / With all that is divine,
To feel there is a union
'Twixt Nature's heart and mine;
to profit by affliction,
Reap truths from fields of fiction,
And, wiser from conviction,
Fulfil each grand design.
I live to hail that season,
By gifted minds foretold, When men shall rule by reason,
And not alone by gold;
When man to man united,
And every wrong thing righted,
The whole world shall be lighted
As Eden was of old.
I live for those who love me,
Whose hearts are kind and true,
For heaven that smiles above me,
And waits my spirit too;
For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,
And the good that I can do.
Consider what it means to be clear about determining who you please.
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They will know we are Christians by our love because we love one another as we have been loved by the Lord with the kind of love that embraces us as children in a family that nurtures and nourishes the best in people.
They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
All praise to the Father From whom all things come
And all praise to Christ Jesus His only son
And all praise to the Spirit Who makes us one
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
Consider what it means to show your love of the Lord by the way
you love one another.
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