The past, present and future of the children of God
1John 3.1-3
John wrote the gospel, the epistles and Revelation.
John Focus on fellowship in 1-2
He focus on sonship in 3-5
The term born of god used several times
We see three aspects of salvation in these verses.
Justification
Sanctification
Glorification
Verse1How 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.
What a great love!!!!!!!!!
Romans8.32
32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
I. How can we become a child of God? Justification
1. By the love of god
God’s love transforms us Romans5.8
God has loved us from the beginning
God invest in us by making us His children
2. By His word 1 Peter 1.23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
This is more than adoption. Paul talk about adoption in Ephesians 1 .
This is new birth .God moves in by His spirit, His seed the word of God and imparts something of Himself to us
So that we take family resemblance .1john 3.9
Acts 10 the story of Cornelius.
Peter preached the word, they accepted it.
3. By faith John1.12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
Salvation is by Christ alone
By faith alone
By grace alone
II. What are the duties of a child of god Sanctification
• The subject of sanctification and holiness is mentioned 1066 times in the Bible
• Sanctification is will of God for every believer ( IThess.4.3 )
• In Regeneration our nature is changed
• In Justification our standing is changed
• In Adoption our position is changed
• In Sanctification our character is changed
V.1b And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God,
Now we are the children of god . It is the present experience.
Since we are the children of God we have responsibility to resemble the nature of our heavenly Father .
Since we are the part of the family of God we think different, act different walk different.
The world will not understand this.
The value of the Kingdom and the value of the world are different.
When we read His word we read as it is the letter from the father
When we pray we pray as we talk to our father
When we witness, we witness as we share our father’s love
We do all these not to become a child of god.
Our duties should not become legalism.
We will make mistakes. But don’t be discouraged, we are work in progress.
Philippians 1.3-6
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
How can we purify ourselves?
a. Our relationship with the father will change what we are in the present.
b. When we fix our hope in Jesus V. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
III. What is future of the child of God? Glorification
v.2
2Dear 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,[a]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
We are going to be like Him .
In Revelation 1.12-16 John gives a vivid picture of Jesus .
We are going to be like Him . That is the future of a child of God.
1Cori.15 .52 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."[g]
55"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"[h] 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4.16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
