Sermons from 1st John 1st February 14, 2010
Sermon #06: WHEN WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM:
Scripture Ref: I John 3:1-3
‘Behold, WHAT MANNER of LOVE the FATHER has BESTOWED UPON US, that we should be CALLED the SONS of GOD, therefore the WORLD KNOWS US NOT, because IT KNEW HIM NOT. Beloved, NOW WE ARE the SONS of GOD & it does not yet APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE. For we KNOW that when HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for WE SHALL SEE HIM as HE is. & EVERY MAN that has this HOPE in HIM PURIFIES HIMSELF even as HE is PURE.’
Introduction:
I have GOOD NEWS to SHARE with us this morning. Are you READY?
GOD LOVES US. Let’s PERSONALIZE it; GOD LOVES ME.
There is NO GREATER SUBJECT in the entire WORLD than the LOVE of GOD.
OUR GOD is a LOVING GOD.
SIGN LANGUAGE is a BEAUTIFUL WAY to EXPRESS the BIBLE’S GOOD NEWS.
In SIGN LANGUAGE the SIGN for LOVE is like this. It is as if we were HUGGING OURSELVES.
& that is a WONDERFUL DESCRIPTION of GOD’S LOVE toward us. It is like GOD HUGGING US in a WARM & LOVING EMBRACE. There are TIMES when we can actually FEEL the ARMS of GOD EMBRACING US. Those are PRECIOUS TIMES!
GOD LOVES US!
& the GOOD NEWS of the BIBLE is that GOD has put HIS ARMS AROUND US & that HE has NOT ONLY TOUCHED US through WHAT HE has DONE in the PAST but HE CONTINUES to TOUCH US by WHAT HE DOES in the PRESENT & HE has SAVED the BEST for the FUTURE.
This is NOT NEWS that gets GOOD in the BEGINNING & then FADES AWAY as it PROGRESSES but this is GOOD NEWS that gets GOODER & GOODER & BETTER & BETTER as it GOES ALONG.
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& JOHN BEGINS in the 3rd CHAPTER VERSE #1 with GOD’S LOVE for us in the PAST.
This LOVE of GOD for us BEGAN LONG AGO BEFORE we were ever BORN.
1 John 3:1-2 a ‘Behold, what manner of love the FATHER has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of GOD. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know HIM. Beloved, now are we the sons of GOD
JOHN begins with an OUTBURST of ASTONISHMENT & AWE & WONDER:
‘Behold; what manner of LOVE.’
The PHRASE JOHN USES is so much MORE COLORFUL when we LOOK AT IT through the LANGUAGE of the NEW TESTAMENT.
What JOHN is saying is this:
This LOVE is SO UNUSUAL & SO UNHEARD OF & SO FOREIGN; WHERE does SUCH LOVE come from? From WHAT COUNTRY does THIS LOVE COME FROM?
It is an OUT of THIS WORLD LOVE that GOD has BESTOWED on us.
In other words, the LOVE of the FATHER is SO UNEARTHLY & SO FOREIGN to the WORLD in which THEY LIVED; he WONDERED WHAT WORLD does SUCH LOVE come from. JOHN had NEVER SEEN SUCH LOVE until he MET JESUS!
We could TRANSLATE 1 John 3:1 like this:
‘BEHOLD, WHAT PECULIAR, -- OUT of this WORLD KIND of LOVE that the FATHER has BESTOWED upon us.’
UNTIL JESUS CHRIST came to EARTH & DWELT & MINISTERED among MANKIND, the WORLD has NEVER HEARD of SUCH LOVE.
LOVE in the GREEK CULTURE of THAT DAY was WHAT LOVE is in SO MANY PLACES TODAY;
We DO SOMETHING NICE for SOMEONE & THEN they TURN AROUND & DO SOMETHING NICE for us in RETURN. We KEEP SCORE on ONE ANOTHER.
But the LOVE GOD HAS is DIFFERENT!
It is a LOVE that GIVES of ITSELF & DOESN’T EXPECT ANYTHING BACK in RETURN.
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#2: GOD’S PROVISION of LOVE for US in the PRESENT:
WE ARE GOD’S CHILDREN:
Now as JOHN begins to WRITE about this he says:
‘BELOVED, what OUT of this WORLD ----- KIND of LOVE ------ GOD has GIVEN to US --- that WE should be CALLED the SONS (CHILDREN) of GOD.
So OVERWHELMING is this LOVE that GOD actually CALLS us NOW HIS CHILDREN.
We CANNOT BE CALLED ANY GREATER than GOD’S CHILDREN.
& we ACTUALLY ARE HIS CHILDREN.
Now if THAT doesn’t cause us LIGHT OUR FIRE this morning then OUR WOOD is WET!
We have become SO UNITED & SO RELATED with OUR FATHER that the WORLD looks at the FATHER & at US in the SAME WAY. We’re GOD’S CHILDREN.
JOHN goes on to say to us: The WORLD DOESN’T LIKE US –
The WORLD DOESN’T LIKE US --- BECAUSE --- we are the CHILDREN of GOD.
But don’t be UPSET about that --- They DIDN’T LIKE JESUS EITHER!
LIKE FATHER ----- LIKE SON!
Luke 6:26 ‘Beware when all men speak well of you…’
The TEACHINGS of CHRIST aren’t VERY COMFORTING to the WORLD.
GOD ISN’T LOVED by the WORLD. GOD is HATED by the WORLD.
They took some NAILS & they NAILED HIS SON to a ROMAN CROSS until HE DIED. They THOUGHT by doing that they could SHUT GOD DOWN. But the WORLD FAILED! All they did was to MAKE the LOVE of GOD the GREATEST MESSAGE throughout all of HISTORY!
GOD LOVES US & WE ARE HIS CHILDREN!
John 3:2 “Beloved, NOW are we the SONS of GOD.’
CIRCLE that WORD: NOW
NOW are we the SONS of GOD.
It is the MOST IMPORTANT WORD in this PHRASE.
We are the CHILDREN of GOD NOW! It CONVEYS an IMPORTANT TRUTH.
Say that with me out loud:
“We are the CHILDREN of GOD NOW!”
In some of the OLDER CEMETERIES there are some TOMBSTONES that have the NAME of the PERSON & the DATE of their BIRTH & then these WORDS:
“ENTERED into ETERNAL LIFE February 14, 1932”
We KNOW WHAT they mean by that. They’re trying NOT to say DIE.
So, they have ENTERED into ETERNAL LIFE. However that is a VERY FALSE STATEMENT.
As CHRISTIANS we don’t ENTER into ETERNAL LIFE WHEN we DIE.
We ENTER into ETERNAL LIFE the MOMENT we PLACED OUR TRUST in JESUS CHRIST as OUR SAVIOR.
We become a CHILD of GOD the MOMENT we SAY “YES” to GOD & NOW are we the CHILDREN of GOD.
Give the LORD PRAISE!
We are GOING to an ETERNITY whether we are a CHILD of GOD of not. EVERYBODY is going to LIVE SOMEWHERE FOREVER.
But if we HOPE to SPEND ETERNITY with GOD it has to BEGIN NOW BEFORE we DIE because AFTER we DIE it is TOO LATE.
ETERNITY MUST BEGIN in THIS LIFE --- NOW!
When we DIE ALL of our CHANCES are OVER!
ETERNAL LIFE BEGINS in THIS LIFE or we have NO LIFE at all!
‘Beloved NOW are we the CHILDREN of GOD…’
BECAUSE of what GOD has DONE for us in the PAST we are NOW HIS CHILDREN!
JOHN was ONE of the GREAT TEACHERS of this TRUTH:
Look at 3 SCRIPTURES from JOHN:
John 3:36 ‘He who believes in the SON HAS EVERLASTING LIFE.’
It doesn’t say WILL HAVE or MIGHT HAVE or SHALL HAVE.
It says ‘He who believes in the SON HAS EVERLASTING LIFE’
If we have BELIEVED in JESUS CHRIST as OUR SAVIOR & we have been BORN AGAIN then we NOW HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
John 5:24 ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears MY WORD, & believes on HIM that sent ME, has EVERLASTING LIFE, & shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.’
JESUS did not say he WILL PASS from DEATH to LIFE but he IS PASSED from DEATH to LIFE.
If we are a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN this morning, then we HAVE ALREADY PASSED from DEATH into EVERLASTING LIFE.
It BEGAN the MOMENT GOD FORGAVE US of OUR SINS.
John 6:47 ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on ME has EVERLASTING LIFE.’
We ARE NOW HIS CHILDREN & we NOW HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE!
But it GETS BETTER than that!
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#3:
Not only did GOD have a PROVISION for us in the PAST --- HE also has ONE for us in the FUTURE.
GOD’S PROVISION FOR US IN THE FUTURE:
I John 3:2 ‘Beloved, now are we the children of GOD; & it does 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.’
One day we shall be just LIKE HIM! Just like JESUS CHRIST!
That is what the WORD of GOD TEACHES!
We are going to BE LIKE JESUS!
Let’s EXAMINE this VERSE:
A} ‘It does not yet appear; what we shall be.’
WHAT we are NOW does NOT APPEAR to the WORLD & WHAT we SHALL BE does NOT APPEAR to US.
We CANNOT KNOW WHAT we will BE LIKE when we are LIKE HIM.
Have we ever THOUGHT ABOUT THAT, WHAT will it BE LIKE to BE LIKE JESUS?
Romans 8: 18 -19 ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of GOD.’
PAUL is saying that if we really UNDERSTAND that we ARE the CHILDREN of GOD then we are going to be ANTICIPATING WHAT GOD is up to.
‘The CREATURE (us) WAITS in EXPECTATION
WAITS is a GREEK WORD that means: ‘To stand upon our tiptoe’
EXPECTATION: means: “To turn our neck with eagerness.’
When we really catch a HUNGER for this TRANSFORMATION we are STANDING on our TIPTOES & TURNING OUR NECKS with EAGERNESS trying to find out WHAT it is like.’
It is SO WONDERFUL we WISH we could LOOK OVER a WALL & SEE WHAT it will BE LIKE.
Would you LIKE to SEE what you would LOOK LIKE in your GLORIFIED BODY?
Did you LOOK in the MIRROR this morning?
So let me ASK that QUESTION AGAIN.
Oh the LIST of THINGS that WILL BE CHANGED:
2 GOOD LEGS – 2 GOOD KNEES- 2 GOOD HIPS –
A GOOD BACK – They won’t be NEEDED!
But we won’t have to WALK ANYWHERE with a GLORIFIED BODY. We just say OH & we’re there.
Remember when JESUS APPEARED in the ROOM with the DISCIPLES.
They were SHOOK UP because HE DIDN’T COME THROUGH the DOOR.
All of a SUDDEN HE is in their MIDST.
The BIBLE says that WHEN we get to HEAVEN we’ll BE JUST LIKE CHRIST. We’ll have a GLORIFIED BODY just like JESUS’ BODY.
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We have just a LITTLE BIT of TIME between the RESURRECTION & the ASCENSION of JESUS to see the LORD OPERATE in HIS NEW RESURRECTION BODY. But WHATEVER WE SEE going on THERE that is WHAT we can EXPECT in our OWN GLORIFIED BODY.
Yet even THEN we CANNOT COMPREHEND just HOW it will be!
So there is a LOT we CANNOT KNOW about BEING LIKE JESUS.
But we’re going to LOOK at THINGS that WE CAN KNOW.
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#1: WE KNOW HE WILL APPEAR:
1 John 3: 2 ‘….but we KNOW that when HE SHALL APPEAR we shall BE LIKE HIM.’
The BIBLE is FILLED with SCRIPTURES that SPEAK of the RETURNING of JESUS CHRIST.
There is WAY MORE SCRIPTURES that SPEAK of JESUS RETURNING than there are of THOSE that SPEAK of HIS 1st COMING.
Just as SURE as HE appeared the 1st TIME in BETHLEHEM HE is appearing the 2nd TIME in CLOUDS of GLORY.
Titus 2: 11-14 ‘For the grace of GOD that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness & worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously & godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, & the glorious appearing of our LORD & SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST; Who gave HIMSELF for us, that HE might redeem us from all iniquity, & purify unto HIMSELF a peculiar people, zealous of good works.’
#2: WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM:
1 John 1:2 ‘ we know that when HE shall appear, we shall be like HIM.’
THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.
We DON’T KNOW HOW it will HAPPEN.
A man in MICHIGAN named BRYAN KELLY back in 1994 DIED from complications from surgery. BEFORE his DEATH he had made an UNUSUAL REQUEST with what he wanted done with his ASHES. Thinking it the STRANGEST THING they had ever heard they still DECIDED to HONOR it.
KELLY’S BOSS owned a FIREWORKS SHOP & he rolled up KELLY’S ASHES into a 12 inch FIREWORKS SHELL & then SHOT the SHELL into the sky. It TRAILED 2 SILVERY COMET TAILS as it CLIMBED into the NIGHT’S SKY & then EXPLODED into RED & GREEN STARS.
Now you have to ADMIT that’s GOING OUT in a GLORIOUS DISPLAY.
But that is NOTHING COMPARED to WHAT GOD has in STORE for HIS CHILDREN.
The BODIES of HIS CHILDREN will RECEIVE a GLORIFIED BODY & it will SURPASS any FIREWORKS DISPLAY CREATED by MAN.
Instead of a CANNON EXPLOSION there will be the BLAST of the TRUMPET of GOD!
There will be the MAJESTIC VOICE of JESUS CALLING OUR BODIES out from their EARTHLY RESTING PLACES & in a MOMENT, in the TWINKLING of AN EYE, we’ll COME FORTH in a RESURRECTED BODY like that of JESUS CHRIST, HIMSELF & we will ASCEND into the CLOUDS & we will MEET the KING of KINGS whose BRIGHTNESS SHINING FROM HIM & FROM US will GLOW from the EAST to the WEST & FOREVER & FOREVER JESUS said we will SHINE LIKE the SUN.
So NO FIRECRACKER is going to OUTDO US on OUR WAY UP! AMEN?
The apostle PAUL spoke of this many times. It MEANT MUCH to the NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS & to the NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17 ‘But I would not have you ignorant brethern,concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. But if we believe that JESUS dies & rose again, even so them also which sleep in JESUS will GOD bring with HIM. For this we say unto you by the word of the LORD, that we which are alive & remain unto the coming of the LORD shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the LORD HIMSELF shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, & with the trump of GOD, & the dead in CHRIST shall rise 1st. Then we which are alive & remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air, & so shall we ever be with the LORD.’
WHAT WONDERFUL THINGS GOD has IN STORE for THOSE who LOVE HIM.
1 Corinthians 2: 9 ‘….. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which GOD has prepared for them that love HIM.’
It is PREPARED for WHO?
For THOSE who LOVE HIM.
JESUS said
John 14: 15 ‘If you love ME, keep MY commandments.’
1 John 2: 6 'He that said he abides in HIM ought also to walk even as HE walked.'
1 John 2:28 '& now little children, abide in HIM, that, when HE shall appear, we may have confidence & not be ashamed before HIM at HIS coming.'
