Monday, February 27, 2017, 10:07 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Gracious Father.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read 1 John 3:1-10
(NASB).
Children of God
(vv. 1-3)
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us,
that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the
world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are
children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that
when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is
pure.
God, in his infinite wisdom,
before he even created the world, chose us to be holy and blameless in his
sight. He predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ,
according to his own purpose and grace (See: Ro. 8:29; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Eph. 1:3-4).
He knew when he created Lucifer (an angel) that he would rebel against him,
along with a third of the angels. He knew before he created humankind that
Lucifer (Satan, the devil) would tempt Adam and Eve in the garden, that they
would fall into sin, and that he would then put a curse on them and on the
earth from that moment on. He knew that all humankind would, thus, be born into
sin, and that they would need salvation from sin. So, even before he created the
world he already knew, i.e. he already had planned that God the Son would be
our sacrifice to take away the sins of the world (See: Gen. 3:15; cf. Gal.
3:16-19).
So, why did God do it that
way? I am not certain that I know the answer to that question. But, I believe
he had it all fall into place that way because he wanted followers, not puppets.
He could have made puppets if he wanted to, but what he wanted was people with
hearts, souls, minds and wills who would choose to accept his plan of salvation
for us via God-given faith in Jesus Christ. He allowed us to have an arch
enemy, Satan, who would tempt us to sin, and who would oppose us, I believe, in
order to drive us to our Father’s breast. And, he chose that his Son, God the
Son, would be our perfect (sinless) sacrificial Lamb, and our sympathetic and
compassionate high priest, to take away the sins of the world, and to give us
new lives in Christ Jesus, free from slavery to sin. This was his plan to make
us holy.
Yet, God didn’t have to do
this. He could have left us wandering in our sins or he could have just wiped
us all out at any time, if he wanted to. But, that was not in his divine plan
and will for our lives. His will for us is to be saved from our sins, and set
free from the control sin and Satan had over our lives, so that we could walk
(conduct our lives) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. He
did this because he loves us, and because of his great mercy, grace and
compassion towards those he created.
His plan was that the way in
which we would come to receive this salvation was that he would first draw us
to Christ, and then he would gift us with the faith to believe in Jesus, i.e.
he would persuade us as to his will for our lives. Once persuaded, we would
submit to his will and yield the control of our lives over to him. And, he
would cleanse us from sin, deliver us out of slavery to sin, and give us new
lives in him, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph.
4:24). This God-given faith would involve turning from our sins and turning to
God/Jesus, to follow him in obedience. Through faith in Christ, we would be
crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we would be resurrected with Christ
to this new life, to be lived to his righteousness. Via this new birth, we
would then become children of God.
Sin Practitioners (vv. 4-10)
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness;
and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins;
and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has
seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one
who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who
practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The
Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one
who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of
the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of
God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
God’s goal in saving us from
our sins was not merely to free us from condemnation and to promise us heaven
when we die. He chose us to be holy and blameless. He predestined us to be
conformed to the image of his Son, not to the image of man or of the world. Jesus
died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Paul’s commission in
preaching the gospel was to open blinded eyes, to turn them from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan to God, so they could receive forgiveness of
sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus
didn’t die just to save us, but to transform us, i.e. to make us his new
creation. As believers in Jesus Christ, we died to sin, so that sin would no
longer by our master, but so we would now be bondservants of Christ’s
righteousness.
Jesus said that if we hold on
to our lives (of living for sin and self), we will lose them (die in our sins),
but if we lose our lives (die with Christ to sin), we will gain eternal life
(with God) (Lu. 9:23-25). Paul reiterated this when he said that if we walk
(conduct our lives) according to the flesh, we will die (in our sins), but if
by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live
(with Christ for eternity) (Ro. 8:1-14). And, John said that if we say we have
fellowship with God, but we walk (in lifestyle) in darkness (sin, wickedness),
we lie, and we do not live by the truth (1 Jn. 1:6).
It isn’t as though we will
never sin again (See: 1 Jn. 2:1-2), but as followers of Christ we should not be
people who regularly practice sin, i.e. sin should not be our custom or our
habitual way of living. Once we believe in Jesus we should no longer continue
living in sin. Sin should not be normal procedure for us. It should not be the
manner in which we consistently live. If it is, then we are not in the light,
but we are still in the darkness, and we don’t have the hope of heaven when we
leave this earth. And, I didn’t say this. God said it! If we say we know God,
or that we love God, but we don’t walk in his ways and in his truth, but we
continue living for sin and self, then we don’t know or love God at all (See: Jn.
14:23-24; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).
Yet, if we have truly
believed in Jesus with God-given faith, through which God persuaded us as to His
will for our lives, so that we yielded control over our lives to God, and
submitted to his purposes, then we were set free from slavery to sin. So, we
should no longer walk in it and make a practice of it. Instead, we should now
be those who practice righteousness, because we now have the Spirit of God
living within us, and God and his Word remain and continue in us, not just in
thought, but in action. When this says that no one who abides (remains, continues)
in him sins, this is speaking of the continual practice of sinning, not of a
singular sin. Again, although we were freed that we may not sin, we still may
sin, on occasion, but that sin is still covered by the blood of Jesus (1 Jn.
2:1-2). Yet, if we continue practicing sin as the normal course for our lives,
then we have no part of God or of his salvation from sin. So, don’t let anyone
convince you otherwise.
Gracious Father / An
original work / April 6, 2011
How great are You Father;
how great are You, Lord.
My heart so adores You;
Your mercy outpour.
Your love and your kindness;
Your gracious reward
Are treasures from heaven
that we can’t afford.
So, freely they’re given
and humbly received
When we bow before You
on penitent knee.
O gracious Redeemer;
my Master and King,
To You I owe everything –
my offerings I bring
With whole heart devotion,
to honor and praise
My loving companion
and friend for always.
It’s You I serve only,
to walk in Your ways,
So I have your promise
for all of my days.
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