Series: Are You Real? [#6]
LOOK IN THE MIRROR
1 John 2:15-17
Introduction:
“When you look at your spiritual life, who do you resemble more, Satan or God”?
1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
When I get up in the mornings, at some point I do the same thing most of you do- I access the situation with my appearance and then I begin to take care of the problems. I shave, I comb all 15 of my hairs, I brush my teeth, etc… When you look at your life in the spiritual mirror of the Bible, what do you see?
Do you see…
1. The World?
We are told not to love the world or anything in it. In fact, our text says if we love the world, then the love of God is not in us. Now I realize we all have days when we just can’t get it right, but is that the norm?
We see 3 specific pictures of worldliness in our text.
The lust of the flesh.
The New Living Translation says, , “…a craving for physical pleasure”. What things do you crave? What are those things that you do that are not of God? I could spend months listing all of those specific sins out; but if I did you would just want to argue with me when I hit the sin that you struggle with. What I say is sin or what you say is sin doesn’t matter. It is what God says is sin. The devil wants us to just begin to question what God says about sin.
The lust of the eyes.
This is one of the devil’s greatest tricks. This is how he caught Adam and Eve off guard. Once we begin to question God’s commandments, then the devil tries to focus our eyes on the things of the world. Sin is fun for a while. Just as the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil looked better than any other fruit in the Garden of Eden; the devil makes things of the world look really good. We need to guard our eyes, because what we see goes into our minds.
The pride of life.
The pride of life is boasting about what you have or do. One of the great trappings of the world is for us to get focused on keeping up with everyone else. We want what they have and we will do whatever necessary to get it and when we get it, we brag about it. What good is the nice house or big bank account, etc… going to do you in eternity?
If these things of the world are a reflection of your life, then you look like the devil. If that is what your spiritual reflection looks like, are you going to walk away and not change it or are you going to make the necessary changes?
Do you see…
2. The Father?
All you have to do is look at my dad and you can see the resemblance. Could I deny that he is my dad? I resemble my dad, just like Tharon and Tyler resembles me. If we are Christians, shouldn’t we resemble our Father?
1 John 3:7-10 (NIV)
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one 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. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 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 is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
The characteristics of a child of God is…
You don’t continue sinning.
You may be thinking, “I’m saved but I still sin, so what does this mean”? God knows that we will continue to sin that is why Jesus died for every sin at one time; but God is talking to us about a pattern. If you continue to sin with no regard, concern, or conviction of that sin; then you ought to be very concerned.
You do what is right.
There are sins of omission. Not only is it a sin to do things that are against God’s commands; but it is also a sin not to do what God has said for you to do. If God says, “Tell your neighbor about Jesus” and you don’t do it- That’s as sinful as “blowing up your neighbor’s house”.
You love your brother and sister.
God keeps bringing up this love your neighbor stuff. That must mean it is pretty important. Without love for others, you will never resemble the Father.
Conclusion:
Life is tough and it is hard to finish one day looking like the Father.
