Be Like Mike
1 John 3: 1-3 (NLT)
Intro: Play you tube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AGiq9j_Ak
. How many remember that commercial on TV?
. All the kids and half the adults wanted to be like Mike didn’t they?
. Michael Jordan was probably the first to be labeled a super star.
. They named drinks after him and Nike made a bazillion dollars selling Tennis Shoes that had his name on them.
We all want to be someone in life don’t we?
. I was listening to a couple talk last Sunday and they were talking about some friends who lived in Belize and jetted off to New York to shop and did this and that on their private jet and it seems that was what defined those people.
. They had made it, they had become the people that others dream about.
. While they may not have the athletic ability of Michael Jordan, they have achieved the monetary equivalent of him.
. We all want to be somebody.
. We all have a hope that one day we will win the lottery or become like the people we talk about.
. Our scripture this morning talks about who we are and what we will become in the future and it tells us what we should be doing to set ourselves apart from other people.
. We are back in 1 John this morning.
. If you will remember back, John was warning his readers and us about anti-Christ’s and apostate teaching.
. He was encouraging them to stay true to what they had been taught. Don’t let the winds of change blow your beliefs here and there.
They had been taught the truth and they were to hold on to that truth.
. He goes on in our scripture to tell them that they are different, they are set apart. They are special, just as many feel Michael Jordan was.
. While Michael Jordan’s athletic ability may be special, Christians have much more to boast about.
. Lets read our scripture this morning.
. 1 John 3: 1-3
. 1See 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.
2Dear 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.
3And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
. The first reason we are special is because:
. We Are Not The Same As The Rest Of The World
. Look at verse 1 again.
. 1See 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.
. God loves us so much that he calls us his children.
. He does this because He adopted us into his family when were saved.
. My best friend’s daughter and her husband adopted a little girl from China.
. The things they had to do and go through to adopt this little girl was astounding.
. It took three years and thousands of dollars to adopt this baby. I believe that she was six months old when they got her.
. When they first saw her and took her, she was like all the other babies there in China.
. But she is 5 now and other than her appearance, you could never tell that she was born in China.
. She is a different person now than she would have been if they had not adopted her.
. She has a brother and she is as much a sister to him as any that could have been born from his mother.
. She is the typical 5year old all American girl.
. All because she was adopted into this particular family.
. That’s what happens when we are adopted into the family of God.
. It doesn’t matter who we were or where we come from, we are now God’s children.
. My friends daughter made their adopted child part of their family by all she did to adopt her.
. God did the same. In order to adopt us, He came and died on a cross so that we could be forgiven our transgressions against our father and be adopted into the family.
. Look at Romans 8: 14- 17,a
. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
16For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
17And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory…
.We become children of God when we are led by the spirit to accept the free gift of salvation provided to all mankind through the death of Jesus Christ.
. God is now our father and we can call him “Abba”, Father.
. We have talked about this before. We are all God’s creation but only some are his children. Adopted into his family. The family of God.
. Verse 1 here again says that we are different.
. . 1See 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.
. The world will not recognize this because they are not part of the family. The people in this world do not recognize us as brothers or sisters because they have never been adopted into the family.
. John writes that we are not the same as the world.
. Next he writes that while we are not the same, one day:
. We Will Be The Same.
. Look at verse 2 again with me.
. 2Dear 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.
. When Christ appears, we will then be the same.
. We will be just like Christ. We will be transformed.
. An Amish boy and his father who went to the big city for the very first time. They were amazed by everything they saw. Having grown up and lived all their lives on a rural farm everything was completely new to them. The Father and son left Mom in the horse buggy and went into this huge skyscraper. As the boy and father entered the building two shinny doors that could move apart and back together again left them spellbound. They stood watching these doors until the son asked his father, “What is this, Father?” The father, never having seen an elevator before, responded, “Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don’t know what it is.”
While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving doors and pressed a button. The doors opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The doors closed and the boy and his father watched small circles with numbers in them light up above the doors. They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The doors opened up again and a beautiful 24-year-old woman stepped out. The father said to his son, “Boy, go get your mother!”
. That is not the kind of transformation that John is talking about.
. John writes that we don’t know exactly what we will look and be like in this family of God.
. God has not shown this to us but we know that we will be like Christ.
. No we will not be God or a god as some believe but we will be conformed to the image of Christ, transformed by God.
. Look at what the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 15: 48-53
. 48Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.
49Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
50What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!
52It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
53For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
. John MacArthur writes about this transformation in his commentary on 1 John. He writes:
. “That transformation will make the redeemed perfectly holy and righteous, with a pure capacity to worship God.”
. While we may not understand all that there is to know about what we will become, we do know that our bodies and our spirit will be the same as Jesus.
. We are not the same as everybody here on earth but one day, if we are part of God’s family we will be the same as Christ which leads us to John’s final point here.
. We Should All Strive To Be the Same
. Look at verse 3 with me.
. 3And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
. We should all try to keep ourselves pure, just as He is pure John says.
. This transformation that has already taken place upon salvation, the transformation that will take place when He returns, should drive us to live as pure a life as we can, striving to be like Jesus.
. This striving to lead a pure life should make a practical difference in the lifestyle and the behavior of Christians.
. Paul describes this lifestyle that should be in all Christians.
. Look with me at Galatians 2: 20-21a:
. 20My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless….
. What Paul is saying here is that once we are saved, we are changed. We should no longer look like people who are not saved. We are not the same person anymore.
. If there is no change in us, then God’s grace is meaningless to us.
. It had no effect on how we live our lives.
. We are not even attempting to live a pure life as Jesus did.
. Folks, how many of you know people who claim Christianity but you see no evidence of this in their life.
. They obviously do not have this eager expectation that Paul is talking about because they do not live any different than the rest of God’s creation.
. They do not live as adopted sons and daughters of God.
. Folks we are not the same.
. They want to be like Mike and the rest of the world and garner their rewards here on earth.
. Folks there has to be some evidence that you are different from the people who do not claim Christ.
. If not, you need to re-examine your relationship with Christ.
. It is very possible that you know about Jesus but you really don’t know him.
.We must be a different people folks.
. If you claim Christianity but still only long to be like Mike, you need to re-examine your faith.
. Have you really given your life to Christ or are you just pretending.
. Only you and God know that.
. If you are confused and are not sure, ask yourself this question.
. Does God make a difference in my life, can others tell the difference in my life.
. If you truly have that relationship with Jesus, rejoice this morning, one day you will:
. Be Like Jesus.
Invitation.
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1-3 John
