June 4, 2023
Morning Service

The Apostle John has written us this letter to for a purpose; that we may share the same fellowship with Jesus as he did.  He walked with Jesus, talked with Him, and saw many of the miracles the He performed including seeing Him after His resurrection.  He writes to us that we may know Him in that intimate manner and that relationship will cause our “joy to be full.”  Following Jesus is to be a life of joy! (I JN 1:4) There are many heartaches along our journey but we know in the end we win!  Our best life lies ahead of us, not in this world, not in these bodies, but in a place the He has gone ahead of us to prepare for us. (JN 14) Why do we all get caught up in the troubles of this world and lose our long range vision of where we will spend eternity?  It is so easy to be like the seed that gets caught up in the thorns and is choked out by the cares of this world as in the parable of the soils in Mark 4.  The world has its way of killing our joy and placing us into a state of “to do lists” that can lead us to total despair.  That is not the life God designed for us, Jesus explained it this way:

Joh 10:10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

            The “abundant life,” how is it we are able to embrace that in this crazy world?  I believe the first step to that is accepting Jesus as your personal Savior.  You hear the gospel message, receive that message (own it), repent of past sins, enter into the waters of baptism and begin your journey of following Jesus.  You totally surrender your life into His hands and allow Him to lead you on a glorious journey, with its hills and valleys.  An abundant life is one that is spent seeking His will to be done in your life; a life of servitude out of a spirit of gratitude not duty.  Peace, joy and contentment come as you willingly give yourself to God and follow Him fully trusting that He is guiding your path.  Seeking the abundant life anywhere else may be pleasurable for a season, but in the long run it is only the promises of God that last FOREVER!  A life of seeking pleasure only for yourself quickly loses its joy because we are not designed that way.  We are created to be fulfilled by our relationship with our Creator, and nothing else can substitute for that.  He is our abundant life; our promised land.  Walking with Him does not guarantee a life free of trouble, but it does guarantee that we never walk alone and we also know He uses our troubles to fulfill a purpose in our lives or the lives of others.

            In our study today John touches on another key point in being able to attain this “abundant life.”  We must know who we are.  We must have a vision of how God looks at us and become comfortable in our own skin.  God created you just as you are.  He loves you very much and has a plan for you in this life.  It may not be the plan you would choose, but again we are the ones following.  John now helps us to build our identity, not in what we do or what we have, but in who we are in God’s eyes.  We are a loved child of the King of kings and Lord of lords! The first three verses of I John 3, give us three important aspects of grasping our identity in Jesus.

 

1Jn 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

            Notice first the reason behind why we are called His children; He loves us.

Joh 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (17)  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

            What a wonderful revelation this is for us.  God loves us.  He chose us.  He gave His life for us.  He did not come to condemn us, but to rescue us from our sins.  Jesus tells us that there is no “greater love than to lay down one’s life for your friends.” (JN 15:13) In couple more verse He also says; “You did not choose Me, I chose you.” (16)  How does that make you feel about yourself?  You are loved and you are wanted by the God who placed the stars in the sky.  You have value to Him, enough so that He died for you!  A foundation of our identity is that God loves us with a love so great that we can’t even comprehend it.  He loves us so much that He does not hire us as His servants, but adopts us as His children!  Think about that!  Listen to this from the great 8^th chapter of Romans:

 

Romans 8:15-17 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."  (16)  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

            God did not purchase us as a slave, but adopted us as His children.  “Abba Father” is an intimate term, much like many call their fathers “Daddy.”  God is not our task master, but truly our loving Father!  We have a very good understanding of what this means as we have been through the adoption process and have experienced the love and commitment involved in that.  Just as my biological son is heir to all I have, so is my adopted son; there is no difference in inheritance or in the amount of love shown to them both.  So it is with our Heavenly Father.  He adopts us and names us an heirs to all that He has, joint heirs with Christ! I am a child of God and identifying myself that way allows me to take another step to the “abundant life.”  Notice also that to be “glorified together” I must also “suffer with Him.”  The journey we are called to with our new family is not a life of “health and wealth” but includes suffering with Jesus.  However, that suffering leads to an even greater reward.  John continues with our second point building on the first.

 

1Jn 3:2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

            As a loved, chosen and adopted child of God, “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!”  First off, I love it when anyone tells me I look or act like my earthly father.  He was a great man and if I am imitating him then I take that as a great compliment.  How much greater though is it when I am imitating Jesus?  To love others around me as Jesus loved me is one way I “shall be like Him.”  Every family has certain traits that everyone seems to have and it makes us to feel part of the family.  When we act like Jesus then we are displaying the traits of our Heavenly Father and know that we indeed are part of His family and belong to Him.  We are most like Jesus when we are loving one another.

            Secondly notice the promise we are given; “we shall see Him as He is!”  As His children we are promised to have a joyful reunion with our Lord and Savior one day and see Him face to face!  What a day that will be to look into His eyes of love and touch the nail scars in His hands as He welcomes us to our eternal home.  I would give up everything in this world to live that moment!   That is exactly the cost. I must surrender my selfish desires to become who He created me to be.   With this hope of seeing Him one day there is a change that occurs in your life.  John explains that in verse 3.

 

1Jn 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

            Once we embrace who we really are, a child of God, then that creates within us a desire to be like Him.  We have a desire to purify ourselves, removing sin and clothing ourselves with His righteousness so we may be like Him for He is pure.  We no longer are pursuing the things of this world as our ultimate goal, but we desire Him and a close relationship with Him; putting first things first.  There lies the abundant life Jesus is speaking of.  When we surrender ourselves to Him and begin to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” it is then that “all these things will be added to you” (the abundant life).  It all starts and ends with Jesus; He is our Alpha and Omega.  Our true identity is defined by Him, not by this world.  We are a child of God, loved, chosen and adopted into His family for eternity!  Let that fact ring in your mind at all times.  When things are going great, you are a child of God.  When the world seems to collapse around you in a sudden tragic storm, you are a child of God.  God’s love for you remains the same despite your changing circumstances and He asks us to live life with that knowledge. Live the abundant life of knowing Him intimately.

            This morning, if you are struggling knowing who you really are, come to Jesus and begin the journey to find out.  If you are already a child of God, but have lost your identity, come back to Jesus and be restored to live the abundant life.  A life where you know you are loved, you are valued, and God has a plan and purpose for you.  Let Him mold your pain into something beautiful.  Surrender to become who you have been created to be, the real you and you will never regret it.  You are a child of God.

 

Heavenly Father, what a privilege we have to call You that, thank You for loving us, caring for us, listening to us, walking with us, and adopting us as Your children.  Help us along our journey to imitate You and instill within us the identity of who You say we are; Your child.