Jesus says, ‘You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’ (v44)
I wonder how many of you, actually believe in a ‘personal’ devil? Many world religions and belief systems subscribe to the existence of such a being. But how many of you actually believe in the existence, of this entity that we call the devil or Satan?
There were two boys walking home from Sunday School one day where they had just had a lesson about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. And one boy turns to the other and says, “you know, I don’t really believe in any of this devil stuff’. The other said, “What do you mean you don’t believe in the devil? It talks about him all the way through the Bible!” the first replied, “well, I think it’s a bit like Santa Claus, in the end the devil just turns out to be your dad.”
After reading what Jesus says in John 8 v 44 – perhaps that little boy isn’t too far from the truth! ‘You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.’ What’s that old saying? – The apple never falls far from the tree!
Those of you who are dog lovers will know that the experts say whenever you go to buy a puppy – you should always get to meet mum and dad – because by seeing mum and dad you’ll get an idea of what your dog will turn out to be. How big it is, how strong it is, what colour it is, what temperament it’s going to have.
And the same is true of humans – boys - if you want to know what your new girlfriend is going to look like and be like in years to come, take a good look at her mother! Girls, if you want to know what your boyfriend will turn out like in years to come – take a good look at his dad!
You know, when I get up in the morning and look in the mirror to have a shave – I see my dad looking back at me. We look alike, we dress alike, we talk alike, we think alike. All those years that I said I would never be like him – and here I am turning into a clone image!
Whether we like it our not we are all products of the influences/genes of our parents and from the moment we are born people try to look for a resemblance. They say things like, “She has his mother’s eyes, or he’s got his father’s nose.” I always tell people that our son James has my temper – he must have my temper because Michelle still got all of hers! (I only say that because she not here)!
If you want an accurate picture of who someone is – if you really want to know what they’re like – you need to look at their heritage, you need to look at their ancestry. You need to look at where they have come from. From the people they have come from.
I’m sure many of you will have watched the series on BBC called ‘Who do you think you are?’ It’s a documentary where celebrities go on a journey to trace their family trees – and as they do they make some pretty amazing discoveries about the people in their past. And by finding out about these people, who they were, what they did, how they lived, what they got up to – they become far better placed to understand who they themselves are in the present.
If you ask adopted children why they find it so important to trace their real parents they will say – ‘because I need to know who I am, I need to know where I came from.’
We know who we are - and we get a sense of identity, from knowing where we’ve come from, and from whom we’ve come from.
And the whole conversation that Jesus has with the Jews in John ch 8 is to do with this question of heritage. What he is saying to them is ‘If you really want to know who you are – you need to understand your heritage. You need to know where you have come from – you need to know who you’ve come from. And if you want to know who I am, you need to understand my heritage. You need to know where I have come from – you need to know from who I have come from’.
Now the Jews had a very strong sense of who they were. They had a strong sense of their heritage. And the first thing they did, when challenged by Jesus, was to appeal to that heritage.
Going back a few verses to Verse 31, which I know you looked at last week, but its where this whole conversation begins - “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, - these weren’t the Pharisees or Saducees, these were believers - “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “But we are Abraham’s descendants – they said - and have never been slaves to anyone”.
These people must be the dumbest people I ever heard. Even if I know just a little bit of the bible, I know that the Jews were in slavery for 400 years in Egypt, the Exodus is all about that. The feast of Passover that they celebrate every year is about their release from Egyptian captivity.
But they’re not that stupid, that’s not what they saying. They’re not saying that they’ve never been physically enslaved – in fact they are currently enslaved to the Roman Empire – they actually understand that Jesus is speaking spiritually – and that’s what they disagree with him on.
Jesus is talking to people who had some kind of faith. People who had some kind of relationship with him. They knew that this guy was something special, they knew that this guy was something exciting, they knew that this guy was doing so pretty amazing things. And yet by verse 59 these same people are picking up stones to stone him.
And what happens between verse 31 and verse 59 is a powerful lesson on the difference between - what you might call cheap faith and the cost of real discipleship. These people had some kind of belief. But it was the kind of belief that when confronted with true discipleship led them to want to kill Jesus.
It’s what theologian Don Carson calls ‘fickle faith’. Faith that is built on miraculous signs, faith that is built on good feelings. But it has no substance, it has no roots, it has no depth. And as long as the miracles are happening, as long as our health is good, as long as there is money in the bank, as long as it doesn’t challenge us, or contradict us , as long it makes us feel good about ourselves and life is easy – then it’s ok.
But as soon as the conflict comes, as soon as the storm clouds gather, as soon as there is a teaching or a doctrine of Jesus that we don’t like – a teaching that doesn’t fit with the way WE think it should be - then we turn backs, and we walk away.
‘God loves everybody’ we say ‘and everyone we love will go to heaven’ – ‘For God so loved the whole world’ – we say, and it makes us feel good inside to believe that – but then Jesus says ‘on that day (talking about judgement day) I will separate the sheep from the goats, I will put the sheep on my right and the goats on my left. And the sheep will enter into eternal life, and the goats will go away to eternal damnation (or punishment)’ – and we say NO! that cannot be. I cannot accept, I will not accept, I will not believe that my family and friends, the people that I love will spend eternity in hell just because they don’t know Jesus. That’s not right, it’s not fair, I won’t believe it – and we turn away – doesn’t alter the truth – but we turn away , and we walk away, our we turn our backs on him.
‘God loves everybody’ we say and we should be more loving, more caring, more accepting, MORE LIBERAL in our faith. We should have a ‘come one come all’ type of attitude – and to a certain point you’d be absolutely right – we should – because everyone is welcome at the foot of the cross – but then we read:
‘Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.’
You see, whilst all are welcome at the foot of the cross, no-one can remain what they are, no-one can remain what they were, no-one can remain unchanged. And we say no! That cannot be. I cannot accept it, I will not accept it, I will not believe it. People should be free to live their lives as they choose. They should be free to do things that please them. It doesn’t fit with what I think SHOULD BE! And we turn away, and we walk away – but it doesn’t alter the truth.
And this is the problem that the Jews have. They like what Jesus has been doing. They like the miracles. But they don’t like what he saying. They find his words offensive. What he says doesn’t fit with what they want to believe. So they appeal to their heritage. ‘We are Abraham’s children’ they say, we are children of the promise, we are God’s Chosen People, we’re saved! We go through our traditions, we go through our rituals, we’re in the synagogue every Sabbath; our religion will save us!
You see, their belief was that Abraham – the founding father of the nation – was so godly... was so close to God... that he had stored up such a vast treasury of merit with God... that it covered all of his descendants. As far as they are concerned no descendant of Abraham could ever be lost! They were safe, they were secure, they were saved because of their heritage.
And there are people today who consider themselves safe, who consider themselves saved, who consider themselves to be Christian because they were born in a Christian country (!), or because their parents are Christians, or they were raised in church. Or they used to go to Sunday School as children. But Jesus says, 'I don't care about your earthly heritage - it's not important - it wont save you. I don't care if your mum or dad was a Christian - that's not going to save you. I don’t care if your great, great, grandfather was the Archbishop of Canterbury – that’s not going to save you'. I don’t care if you're descendants of Abraham that’s not going to save you.
Look at verse 39, “Abraham is our father,” they answered. “If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God.
And that brings us to a big question - Why would a people who don’t know God the Father, and who reject his son Jesus, why would they claim that God was their father? There’s some kind of disconnect here – Jesus comes from the father, the Jews have read the scriptures, they’ve been going to the temple all their lives, trying to obey God the Father, then He sends his Son and you would expect that if the people are really worshipping God the father, and that Jesus really comes from God the father, than the two of them are going to get along. But they don’t! Where’s the disconnect? If Jesus is really from God, why don’t the Jews accept him?
The answer is in verse 44, Jesus says – ‘You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’
The reason the people don’t accept Jesus is because their father is the devil and their will is to do his will. And Jesus says, ‘that’s why you’re trying to kill me, because your father was a murder from the beginning and he has nothing to do with the truth’ – and who is Jesus? Jesus is the truth - so that’s why they want nothing to do with him.
The people reject Jesus because they have believed the lies of their father devil – and like their father, they reject and want nothing to do with, the truth.
Now, if you were going to use the phrase, ‘child of the devil’ to describe someone – what images come to mind? Perhaps someone who is utterly selfish, a compulsive liar, criminal, thief, mass murderer, sex offender – someone who, if you gave them a bible would probably burn it. That’s what you think – a child of the devil – they want nothing to do with God. Nothing to do with his word or his people. That’s what you would think!
But that’s not how Jesus describes them. Jesus calls devout Jews who had dedicated their lives to obeying the law of God, ‘children of the devil’. Devout followers of Gods law who claimed him as their father, who prayed to him as their Father, who offered sacrifices to him as their Father, who worship him as their father, those are the ones he calls ‘children of the devil’.
And the reason that he calls them ‘children of the devil’, is because they have believed the devils lies and rejected his word. The way Jesus describes a ‘child of the devil’ is anyone who has believed lies and rejected the truth.
Even today Satan comes, and he tells the people the lies they want to hear. Satan comes, he tells them the lies they wish were true. That’s why they find it so easy to believe.
They want to be children of God, they want to be born children of God – so he tells them they are.
They want to be free – so he tells them they are.
They wished they were good – so he tells them they are.
He tells them the lies they want to hear.
And the reason he tells them that they’re free, is so that they won’t look to the Son to set them free.
The reason he tells them that they are good is so that they will not look for a Saviour.
The reason he tells them that they are Sons of God already is so that they will not look to the true Son of God for mercy and help.
You see, the whole purpose of every lie of Satan is to keep you away from Jesus. Every lie of the devil has one purpose – to keep you from believing in Jesus. He doesn’t care what you believe – he told the Jews that they knew God, that they were children of God. He told the Jews that it was great to go to the synagogue and to read the scriptures – he doesn’t care! As long as you don’t believe in Jesus he doesn’t care what else you believe.
He doesn’t care how religious you are, whether you do good things or bad things. Whether you kill people or whether you go to Africa to save people’s lives – he doesn’t care! If he keeps you away from Jesus then he’s happy. It’s all he wants. Satan didn’t care that the Jews went to the temple, he didn’t care that they offered sacrifices, he didn’t care that they prayed to God every day, he didn’t care that they went to the synagogue to study his word. As long as they didn’t believe in Jesus – he was happy. And to keep you away from Jesus he’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.
And the reason he wants to keep you from Jesus – is because, if he keeps you from Jesus, then he will keep you from ever truly knowing God the Father. He knows that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, there’s no way to get to God the Father except through Him. That’s what Jesus is talking about in verse 42 where he says, ‘If God were you’re Father, you would love me because I came from God and I am here’ – Satan kept the Jews from loving Jesus – so he’s kept them from knowing God – truly knowing God as their Father.
But Jesus has come to tell us the hard truth. He comes and says, ‘anyone who sins is a slave to sin.’ That’s you and me! That’s all of us. ‘but I have come to set you free’. He comes and tells us that, ‘what it means to be a child of the devil is to believe his lies’ – and in Ephesians Paul tells us that we are born believing his lies – listen to what he say, Ephesians 2:1-3, ‘And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.’
You see we weren’t born free, we were born dead in our sins and trespasses. We’re not born, ‘children of God’, we’re born following after the lying prince of the power of the air – our father, the devil. You see, you and I are born – ‘children of the devil’ – all of us. We’re born under a lie, we’re born believing that true freedom is for ourselves to do whatever we want. We’re born believing that we’re good in and of ourselves. We’re born deceived by an abusive father whose only goal is to keep us away from Jesus by promising us good things.
But Jesus comes to tell us the truth. And that’s why when Nicodimus comes to him (it says) ‘secretly at night’ – Jesus tells him ‘you must be born again’.
Our physical heritage is not important, but our spiritual heritage is. And just as we reflect the image and the character of our earthly fathers – so also we reflect the image and the character of our spiritual father. So if you want to know this morning whether you’re a child of God or a child of the devil – all you need do is take a long good look at your life in the mirror.
If you lie, if your greedy, if your selfish, if your full of hatred, if your sleeping with someone who is not your husband or wife, if you’re a lover of the flesh rather than a lover of God, if your mouth is full of blasphemy – then let me ask you – whose child do you think you are?
Jesus said ‘You belong to your father, the devil because you want to carry out your fathers desire’. Whose child are you this morning? Are you a ‘child of the devil’ or have you been ‘born again’ though Jesus Christ, into the marvellous kingdom of God the Father? Lets pray...
