Who's Your Daddy?

WHO’S YOUR DADDY?

John 8:31-47

Introduction: According to Wikipedia, “Who's your daddy? is a slang expression that, in one use, takes the form of a rhetorical question. It is commonly used as a boastful claim of dominance over the intended listener.” We see it often in the sports arena when someone or a team beats their opponent. It’s equivalent to another slang term used in the same way, “I own you”. The slang term is fitting to use in a spiritual sense because to answer the question, who’s your Daddy, means to answer the question, who owns you, who’s control are you under. Let’s look at the text so we can answer this question too.

1) How do we know that God is our Father?

• We hold to Jesus’ teaching (vs. 31-32). These Jews claimed to believe in Jesus. However, Jesus knew their heart and he needed to test their sincerity. Many people claim to be Christians. However, a test of our sincerity (and authenticity for that matter) is whether or not we have concluded that Jesus’ words and commands are absolute truth. We can say we believe, we can say we are Christians but here Jesus is saying unless you have concluded that my teachings are truth you are not truly my follower. Unless you’ve made a commitment to hold to my teachings and continue in them then you are not a true Christian. A disciple means student; one who follows another’s teachings. A true believer is a disciple, a student, one who has committed to follow the teachings of Jesus. If we’ve done that then we will know what truth is and the truth will set us free.

• We are free (34-36). What are we set free from?

o We are set free from confusion.We are free from having to figure out what truth is. Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth”. There are some who think they’ve found it and they haven’t. And there are some who aren’t open to having their incorrect view of the truth exposed. Like the Jews Jesus was speaking to, they thought they knew the truth but were not open to having Jesus expose their incorrect understanding of truth. Some are confused by the idea that there is no absolute truth. ‘According to a survey done by Barna Research back in 2001 about 3/4 of all adults in America rejected the notion that there are absolute moral truths. Most Americans believe that all truth is relative to the situation and the individuals involved. Similarly, at least 80% of our teens embrace the same position regarding moral truths. 4 out of 5 claimed that nobody can know for certain whether or not they actually know what truth is.’ John 8:12. If we follow Jesus we are not blind anymore, we are no longer groping around in the darkness. We see the truth and we also see the contrast between light and darkness. We are not confused about what’s true and what’s false but rather we see clearly what’s going on around us. We have declared that Jesus and his word are truth and we measure everything else by this standard.

o We are set free from the penalty and the power of sin. Here Jesus is not only implicating them as slaves to sin but also the one they trusted in for their freedom-Abraham. For if everyone who sins (and this pertains to everyone but Jesus) is a slave to sin, then that includes Abraham as well. Abraham was declared righteous but by whom? Not himself but God. So, since everyone is a sinner except the Son then everyone needs to be set free by the Son because he is the only one who has a permanent place in the family. Jesus is the only begotten son of God. All others become part of the family through adoption. But these Jews believed they were not illegitimate children (children through adoption) but legitimate through Abraham. Jesus needed to highlight that their liberation could only come about through Jesus setting them free. We are free from the fear of the penalty of sin which is death. As a child of God we no longer have to fear death. We are free from the penalty of sin and we are free from the power of sin. We are no longer its slave. However, just because we are free from the power and penalty of sin it doesn’t mean we can sin as much as we want and get away with it. That’s not the mentality of one who’s truly free. Paul said in Gal. 5:13, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love.” Anyone who thinks Jesus paying the price for my sins gives me a clean slate to sin as much as I want is still in bondage. Paul was set free but he didn’t allow his freedom in Christ to cause him to allow sin to be his master again. This didn’t mean he never sinned again. In vs. 34 Jesus was talking about how everyone has sinned and is therefore a slave to that nature and is bound by it until he sets him free. Then he has the ability to choose to serve righteousness instead’. We still sin on occasion once we’ve been set free, but that doesn’t mean because we commit a sin we are once again its slave. Instead, we use our freedom to be more like Jesus. 2nd Cor. 3:16-18, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Before knowing Christ we didn’t have the freedom to be like him but now that we are children of God we have the Spirit of God living in us enabling us to be like our Father and reflect his glory.