Celebrating the Father’s Gifts at Christmas: Incarnation and Regeneration
1 John 3: 4-10
1 John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
This is what we looked at last week: The Glorious Love of the Heavenly Father who has GIFTED people to be children of God. Call it, the Father’s Love to the Lawless. The possession of this Love of God is by God’s invitation, His calling… and when Jesus comes again, we WILL receive the fullness of what He has promised. In response to His Love, we are called to live Holy (Pure) Lives BECAUSE of the precious privilege of becoming children of God; we have been called into His family, and so we fix our eyes on Him by faith, trusting implicitly in His grace, every step of the way.
Lawlessness
(John works backwards here.) Under the power of the Holy Spirit, in verses 4-6, John explains the extent of God’s Love to us: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
What a switch from the lavish and luxurious Love of the Father, to “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness!”
No one ever born has been a law-keeper (Except Jesus!) The majority of people who walk the face of this earth consider themselves to be “law-abiding citizens”, but that in and of itself does not make you a citizen of the Kingdom of God: That does not entitle you to be a “child of God”, which we saw in verses 1-3. The Bible teaches that EVERYONE is a law-breaker.
When we talk of criminals, we consider them to be “lawless”, that they think they are above the law, and so-called, “Law-abiding citizens” want them to be punished to the full extent of the law. Yet when it comes to breaking God’s LAW, people either expect to receive mercy or they ignore God in the hopes that He will ignore them and their sinfulness.
Everyone has sinned against God because ONE Sin “misses the mark” of God’s Holiness and places us under eternal judgment by an absolutely Holy God. Listen to this quote by R.C. Sproul: “Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, ‘God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.”
Sin has drastic and eternal effects on individuals and in the world; All we need to do is look in the mirror and see that we grow old, get sick, and die. The world is decaying and we first notice it in our own bodies. We see the effect of sin on societies that war against each other. There is mayhem, killing, theft, adulteries, murders, lying, etc. The effects are within US and outside of us. Our jails are filled with those who are ruled by sin -- which is rebellion against God's truth, but it hits far closer than “over there” or “those people.” Emotional distress and depression, uncertainty, fear of ANYTHING and everything, prejudice, hurt, spiritual confusion, lack of faith and direction…the extent of the effects of sin are innumerable.
At the very root, sin is active rebellion against God’s Will and God’s Law for the men and women whom He created and so sin LEAVES you OUTSIDE of God’s Family. God’s standard is to be HOLY so you cannot LEGALLY be a child of God if you have ever sinned. The bottom line is that even one SIN is Fatal. In the Greek, sin means “to miss the mark” but ALSO “to be without a share in.” What is it that we miss then? What can we “NOT SHARE IN” because we have sinned? We cannot SHARE in knowing God and sin prevents a person from being a child of God.
Incarnation of the Son
But that’s not the end of the story; Listen to verses 5-8: “But you know that he appeared so that he might TAKE AWAY our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God APPEARED was to DESTROY the devil's work.”
Here are two reasons for celebrating Christmas, two reasons for Jesus’ appearance into the world, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ (Incarnation means “to make flesh”. God in the Flesh appeared to fulfill the law in order to save the “lawless” (John 1:14): In vs. 5: “(Jesus) APPEARED in order to TAKE AWAY SINS; and in Him there is no sin.” 1. Jesus APPEARED in the flesh to TAKE AWAY SINS. The words “take away” are extremely important in the Greek (airo); Listen to some of the definitions: “to take upon one's self and carry what has been raised up, to bear, to take off or away what is attached to anything.”
Sin and its effects and results are attached to us and in us. Jesus came to be our sin-bearer. He carried all our sins and paid the eternal debt on the cross which we owed to God the Father: HE TOOK AWAY our SINS. He died in our stead. He appeared from Heaven on our earth, lived a spotless, perfect life, died the perfect death, rose from the dead, and ascended back to Heaven, where He reigns today: Why? Not to take your fun away but to stop you from inevitable Death. To TAKE AWAY our sins! To enable citizenship in God’s Kingdom! So that we might become children of the Most High God!
The angel’s message to the shepherds was: "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) No wonder this is called the GOSPEL, GOODL NEWS; It the best news to ever come to the World!
2. Jesus also APPEARED to DESTROY (lyô) the devil’s work. That was God’s promise from the beginning of the Bible. (Gen. 3:15) The Greek word for “destroy” means “to loose any person (or thing) tied or fastened, release from bonds, set free, to loose what is compacted or built together, to break up, demolish.” The devil destroys; the Lord Jesus Christ saves. Jesus breaks the Bonds that destroy, by destroying the devil.
The devil’s works cause death and the grave, but with Jesus’ APPEARANCE, all things become new: Jesus broke the bonds of sin and gives power over the grave. (Heb. 2:14) 2. The devil causes oppressive fear in men’s lives: Jesus brings freedom to love others and God the way God intended. (Heb. 2:15) 3. The devil is an interdenominational religious leader who majors in division. Jesus unites. (2 Cor. 11:14-15) 4. The devil causes sickness and oppression: Jesus is the Healer. (Lk. 13:10-16, Acts 10:38) 5. The devil provokes men to sin; Jesus leads in righteousness and purity. (1 Chr. 21:1) 6. The devil destroys through adversities; Jesus builds up for God’s Glory and your eternal good. (2 Cor. 2:11) 7. The devil steals the Word out of the minds of men; Jesus is the Living Word. (Mt. 13:19) 8. The devil sets traps of ALL KINDS for men to fall into; Jesus is able to rescue from every trap and protect God’s Children. (1 Tim. 3:7, 2 Tim. 2:26)
Regeneration by the Holy Spirit
So the Incarnation was the appearance of the Lord Jesus, our Savior sent from God, to save sinners and destroy satan. How is that accomplished? Look at verse 9: “No one who is BORN OF God will continue to sin, because God's seed (sperma, God’s Life) remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been BORN OF GOD.”
Do you lose your sin by “living a good life” or following a good moral code? Is it by exercising more spiritual disciplines or somehow appear more “religious” to God and Man? Of course not! You may change your pattern of doing things and maybe learn to cope better, but those things cannot change you on the inside. If anything, you may become more frustrated and MORE LOST (if there could be such a category), thinking that YOU are DOING SOMETHING to make yourself right with God.
The Gift of God that you CANNOT live without is The Holy Spirit’s Work convicts us of the extreme need for a Savoir, God’s work of REGENERATION. His work alone forgives sin and empowers sinful and Lawless people to please God and live for Him! Spiritual Change must be accomplished from the inside….OUT, by a REBIRTH from God!
The Latin word, Regeneration”, means “to be born again, to be RE-BORN.” Our text tells us that we must be “BORN OF God”. How does that happen? God’s “SEED”, His life, must be planted in us so that we will not continue to be plagued by the fatal sin seed that we are born with.
Listen to John 3:6-7: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.” Every one of us had an earthly father; in order for God to be your Heavenly Father, and for you to be a Child of God, you must be BORN AGAIN by His Spirit. The Greek words used in John 3: “gennao anothen”, meaning to be born from above or to be born from heaven, born from “another”. Not only must you receive the physical seed of LIFE from an earthly father, but you must receive the SPIRITUAL SEED of the Holy Spirit of God if you are to be “BORN of God”.
Listen carefully to these verses in 1 John.
*1 John 2:1-2; “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate (Parakletos, a counsel or defense) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” Our righteousness will not EVER be efficient. Only Christ’s righteousness is enough and He makes the sacrifice for our sins. If EVERYONE would believe, His sacrifice would be sufficient to save the sins of the entire world.
* 1 John 2:25, 29: This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life…If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.” Those who practice HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS have been born of Him.
* 1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” A clear sign that you have been born of God is if you love the way He loves. Not every minute of every day, but your life if overflowing with His Love.
* 1 John 5:1: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ (that Jesus is God in the flesh, God Incarnate) is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.” You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you begin to LOVE God like you never did before, and you Love His Son, the Lord Jesus.
* 1 John 5:4: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -our faith.” The one who is born of God KNOWS that it is not in our works that we are saved but in the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ we are more than overcomers through the gift of faith!
* 1 John 5:18: We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
When you are born of the Spirit of the Almighty God, the Holy Spirit gives eternal life to your soul so that you are a FOREVER-from-this-time-forward Child of God. You are re-generated; You are given another life, a life from above: You are given eternal life from God. Religion does not SAVE YOU; only God in Christ by work of the Holy Spirit is able to save you!
Listen to 1 John 3:10: “This is how we KNOW who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does NOT do what is right (that is, righteous) is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” The mark of regeneration, of rebirth, is Christ’s righteousness living in and through you, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)
Have you received the Gift of God’s Love and NEW Life through Jesus Christ by the work of His Spirit? Luke 11:13: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" You know how to give good gifts. Tell your Heavenly Father how much you need the gift of His Love and His Spirit, and the gift of sins forgiven and a relationship with Him forever. Receive His Love, His Forgiveness, His New Life in Christ alone, by Faith and Grace alone.
1 John 3: 24:” Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
Outline: Intro: The Father’s Love to the Lawless (1 John 3:1-3)
I. Our Lawless Condition:
1. No one is a law-keeper; Everyone is a law-breaker. (Vs. 4-6)
2. You cannot LEGALLY be a child of God if you have ever sinned.
3. Sin is FATAL.
II. The Son’s Incarnation: Jesus Christ: God in the Flesh fulfills the law to save the “lawless”.(Vs.5-8)
1. Jesus APPEARED in the flesh to TAKE AWAY SINS: Jesus carried our sin burden AWAY.
2. Jesus APPEARED to DESTROY the devil’s work:
The devil destroys, the Lord Jesus Christ saves.
III. The Holy Spirit’s Work of Regeneration empowers the Lawless to please God. (9-10)
1. Spiritual Change must be accomplished from the inside OUT by a REBIRTH from God!
2. Religion does not SAVE YOU, only God in Christ by His Spirit saves!
John 3:6-7, 1 John 2:1-2, 25,29, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 5:1, 1 John 5:4, 1 John 5:18
3. The mark of regeneration is Christ’s righteousness living in you.
