How Is Your Bow And Arrow?

Sermon Title: How is your bow and arrow?

Scripture Text: 1 John 3:1-7

Illustration:

-A story about a younger sister:

“Kerry, seven years old, was taken aside by her two older sisters. They said it’s time you knew our family secret.” “Mom isn’t really our mom,” they continued. “Our real mother was eaten by a lion while she and Dad were on safari. An agency sent this replacement lady. The good news is you don’t have to listen to her.”

She stared with huge eyes. “Does Dad know?”

“Yes,” “Just ask him.”

Kerry, the seven year old spent the day ignoring Fake Mom’s requests, and when Dad got home from work, she asked him to tell her if it was true. Dad, full of a funny story, sighed, “Why, yes, it is. Your mom was a lovely woman. You look like her.”

Finally, Fake Mom came with a photo of herself holding Kerry as a newborn. She added, “This real mom will deal with your sisters, and your father, later.”

It’s been 30 years since then, and Kerry is still charmingly gullible.

I think it’s about time we finally told her the truth about how babies are made.

Now hear the reading of God’s Word:

1 John 3:1-7 NLT

3 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 

-This is very important. We should live a Christian life. We should set a good example the best way that we can. We should lift up our God in conversation whenever possible. We help people in need. We should do all we can to be a Christian example. Yes we should.

-But you can see that people don't know us as Children of God or what a family of God is because of one thing. They don't know Jesus in a salvation covenant relationship. We should help people to understand who Jesus really is not just information about Him.

2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 

-Here the Apostle moves to the those that keep trying to live the life God ask us to live. He’s telling the family of God things that they must have had questions about. What will we look like in heaven is one question I get. There’s answers that other people have came up with but not worth talking about. Just Google it. John tell us that there are two things we wont know until Jesus comes back. We will be like him and we will really know who he is. It will be a perfect body in all aspects. I keep saying, in fun of course, that I want to look like Allen Jackson the Country singer.

3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

-I had Lecee, my dog, with me one day. A friend came over to my truck and stayed about a foot away from the window. He said she is a beautiful dog but I cant pet her. “My dog wont like it.” I chuckled. However, this is the way way we should be about sin. Stay away from sin in the window because our God wont like it.

4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.

-Sin is described as “Missing the mark”. It’s when an arrow is shot from a bow and it doesn't hit the bulls eye. God’s perfect will is the Bulls eye. The next circle could be seen as the permissible will of God. Some have described the third circle as the acceptable will of God. Many have described “missing the mark” in a few different ways. God isn't a tyrant waiting for us to do something wrong. He is a God that loves us. But we should stand back from that window.

5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 

-When we miss the mark, the bulls eye, because of what Jesus did and the filling of the Holy spirit that lives in us when we know Jesus as Savior will not accredit that sin to us. But most times He will let us suffer the consequences of our actions. Jesus’ death on the Cross wipes away all of our sin once and for all.

6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.