Title: A Paternity Test
Text: I John 3:1-7
Thesis: When we are Children of God our lives should be living proof that God is our Father.
Introduction
Paternity… Paternity is the legal or biological relationship between a child and his or her father. Paternity establishes the rights and obligations of the biological father and the child. Seems simple enough doesn’t it! However it isn’t always simple.
If someone has reason to question paternity, Colorado Services, Inc. and a bunch of other labs will, for between $69 and $99, gladly perform a DNA test quickly, accurately and confidentially… and they have offices nationwide
Perhaps America’s most famous paternity question is in regard to Thomas Jefferson, his children and the children he allegedly fathered with Sally Hemings... (James Brown. Eddie Murphy. Anna Nicole Smith…)
Paternity tests are usually performed when paternity is in question. Sometimes a father wants to claim the child as his own. I am always blessed when I hear someone say of his or her father, “He raised me as his own.” But generally a man is anxious to prove otherwise, absolving himself of any responsibilities for the child, i.e., child support. Of course there are those who are wrongfully accused but most are those who were happy to play but not at all interested in paternal relationships and responsibilities.
Interestingly… when it comes to matters of paternity, God does not try to duck any paternal responsibilities. In fact, God is happy to claim every single one of us as his very own children.
That’s the good word that sets the tenor of our text today.
I. Living as Children of God, I John 3:1-3
“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”
The NIV reads, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us!”
Our text begins, “See how very much…” The phrase suggests this love is an unusual kind of love. Some say it speaks of a love that is foreign to our experience and is in fact unearthly. It is a bewildering or amazing love that is uncommon to our understanding.
God has lavished his love on us, and so much so that he calls us his children.
A. Assurance…who we are, I John 3:1
“See how much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children… and we really are!” I John 3:1a
We are legitimate, certifiably, bonifide children of God. “See how much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children… and we really are!” I John 3:1a
In a seminary pastoral methods class our professor, who was a very kind and gentle and pastoral man… coached us on what we might say in an awkward situation. He warned us that among the many things we will encounter is parents with their newborn baby. When our son was born one of the ladies in our church looked at him and said, “Oh my! He looks like a little old man.”
Dr. Shepson suggested that when a proud mother pulls back the little coverlet to show off her baby and you see the baby has a face only a mother could love, do not gasp and recoil in horror and do not lie. Simply say, “Now that’s a baby. That’s quite the baby.”
We all know that parents love and cherish their children. I remember coming home from college one weekend. I happened to be with my Dad down at Don’s Mobil Station when someone came in that I did not know (everyone knows everyone in a small town). And my Dad introduced me to his friend, “This is my oldest son, Monty.”
It was not unusual or isolated occurrence, but for some reason I felt legitimized. I am my dad’s son… I really am!” It is that legitimization God wants us to feel today. God is saying, “You are my son!” “You are my daughter!” So we can say, “God claims me as his own child.”
This is not a new concept.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God… for his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:14-16
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus… There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-28 God is not selective in his choosing… race, ethnicity, gender and social status are not preconditions.
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to him through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:4
When Jesus returns we will be like him.
B. Expectation…what we will yet be, (An additional assurance… we will be like him.)
“Dear friends, you 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. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.” I John 3:2-3
The ideal of being like Jesus is not a new idea either.
Romans 8:29 informs us that “God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son.” Romans 8:29 The word to underline in this context is “become.”
In Philippians 1:6 the bible says, “And I am certain that God who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6
In II Corinthians 3:18 says, “The Lord, who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are [being] changed into his glorious image.” II Corinthians 3:18
“And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.” I John 2:28-29
So we have two words of assurance here in verses 1-3:
1. We are Children of God
2. We will be like Jesus when he returns.
In light of those two facts, that we are children of God and that we will be like Jesus, we live in the expectation of the return of Christ (between now and then), we keep ourselves pure.
Sometimes people have skeletons in their closet… things they’ve said or done that can potentially come back to haunt them. It can be true even of pastors. In the Covenant Church we have a term we call “full-disclosure.” We understand that people may fail and in some cases those failures can disqualify a person from ever being a pastor again. But in other cases those who have experienced a moral failure may go through an extended process of restoration after which they may be credentialed again for ministry. However, under the terms of full-disclosure that person must be upfront and honest about his or her failures when pursuing a pastoral call. It is never a good thing when someone digs up something we’ve tried to hide.
These days are not good days to be hiding skeletons in your closet… particularly if you are a politician. We have witnessed the feeding frenzy over politicians and their staff already in anticipation of the 2016 election. If a person has ever tweeted or blogged or posted thoughts on Facebook you can be sure that someone can find it and bring it back to haunt you…
Scott Walker’s digital strategist had to quit the campaign because tweets surfaced of her criticizing Iowa. Not a good idea. Ben Carson aide Jim Dornam was fired for making offensive tweets about President Obama and Mitch McConnell. Jeb Bush axed Ethan Czhaor for past tweets.
The idea is that as we live in the expectation of Christ’s return, we be diligent about what we think, say and do. Let’s be the best we can be for the glory of God.
Verses 4-6 give us a rationale for right living.
II. Living Consistently in God’s Will
“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law… anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him.” I John 3:4-6
This is an interesting test of Paternity. The proof of our relationship with God as Father… is evidenced by the way we live.
John tackled two subjects in verses 4-6. The first is sin.
A. Sin… 3:4
“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law for all sin is contrary to God’s law.” I John 3:4
I am kind of a news junkie and especially so if it’s weird news. You probably remember reading about the scandal coming out of Europe. Food standard agencies (like our FDA) found that meat being sold as beef was in fact horse meat. IKEA was even rapped when they discovered horsemeat in their frozen meatballs that packaged as beef and pork… I was relieved to learn that those found to contain horsemeat had only been distributed among 13 European countries. ( However if IKEA meatballs are in fact made of horsemeat… I could become a fan.)
Shortly thereafter, Icelandic food inspectors began their own investigation. They did not find any horsemeat in a locally produced the beef pot pie… but neither did they find any beef. The beef pot pie contained something meat like but it wasn’t beef. A beef pot pie really ought to contain some beef.
It may be something of a stretchy and earthy example but we as Christians we may be likened to a beef pot pie… there ought not be any horsemeat in us… but there had better be evidence of beef.
Sin is not the norm in a Christian’s life. Righteousness is the norm. Sin is contrary to God’s standard of excellence.
Verse 8 specifically states, “When people keep on sinning it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning.” I John 3:8
The solution to continuing to practice sin is sanctification.
B. Sanctification... Us and sin
“Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sin, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning because they are children of God.” I John 3:9
To be sanctified is to be set apart.
In our home we have a set of China Bonnie’s great grandmother bought for her when she was born. Mom and Dad Payne toted that box of China around for 21 years. It was set apart for Bonnie on her wedding day. For the last 45 years we have totted that China around and wherever we live it comes out of the box and occupies a place of honor in the antique China hutch, also a gift from a great grandmother.
Over the past 45 years that China has been used very rarely and only on special occasions. It is set apart for special occasion use. It has never been sullied by everyday use or stacked in the sink with common flat ware.
It’s like the guy who has a custom car. It sits in the garage under a tarp and is brought out for cruising only on sun shiny days. That car is never to be sullied by dust or mud or slush or road grime. It is set apart.
Both the China and the custom car fall short as perfect examples. The China and the custom car see very little use. They are pampered and protected and as such unlike you and me. We are neither special occasion China nor fair weather hotrods. We live in the thick of things fully aware that we are set apart for God. However as children of God we do not make being sullied and sinful a practice in our daily lives.
In I John 5:18… “We know that God’s children do not make a practice of living in sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely and the evil one cannot touch them…” I John 5:18
Just as a piece of China might say, “Hey, I won’t be used that way.” Or a hotrod might say, “Hey, I’ll not be driven today.” We say, “Hey, I won’t willfully practice sin in my life because I am a child of God.”
Conclusion
It is unfortunate that God does not tase us when we are about to sin. It would be helpful if we had a wireless invisible fence to keep us in the yard. It would helpful if we all had shock collars to stop us from thinking and saying bad things… but God doesn’t use a taser or a wireless fence or a shock collar to keep us on the straight and narrow.
That is not how it works. As I said earlier, God is at work in our lives but we each bear responsibility as children of God to live in a way that is becoming of that relationship.
Righteousness, godliness, holiness, Christ-likeness and perfection reflect who and what and how we wish to be as Children of God. However, our lives will not be marked by perfection until Jesus comes… yet by the grace of God we live toward that end.
My sense is that Paternity may be established, not by perfection but by progress. The child of God is not perfect but does make a willful effort to keep from sinning. The child of God breaks those patterns of thought, word and deed and makes progress toward righteousness in his or her life.
This week I found a website, DrugStore.com. I was amazed by the number of home tests available:
Pregnancy tests; OraQuick test for HIV; IntelliGender test to tell if you are having a boy or a girl; Instant Drug Test for marijuana; Pulse Fingertip Oximeter; Middle ear monitor to check your inner ear; Cholesterol Test Strips to measure your cholesterol levels; Hepatitis test; and even a DNA Paternity Test.
Using a continuum as an example we can do our own at home DNA paternity test. Write the word Depravity on one end of the line and Perfection at the other. Then place an X somewhere on that continuum… somewhere between the depravity and perfection. And then you place an arrow indicating which direction you are headed… backward to ward depravity or forward toward Perfection/
And then we examine ourselves asking, “Am I making progress? Is the arrow of my life pointed in the right direction? Am I moving forward toward Christ-likeness as a child of God?
Depravity……………………………………………………………………………>…………………………………………..…Perfection
Because God calls us his children we then live as living proof that we are children of God.
