Sermon for August 2, 2020
Text: 1 John 3:1-3
Dear friends in Christ, I know that folks have not enjoyed many vacations this year. However, think back to a previous year. Remember a time when you visited some amazing place. Perhaps it was a trip to the Grand Cannon. Or maybe you drive out to the Rocky Mountains. You may have even traveled to some foreign country.
Once you arrived at your destination, you no doubt stood there trying to take it all in. I am guessing you said something like, “Wow, this is amazing!” Then you went on to point out the beauty or grandeur of the place.
I am guessing the ancient travelers did the same thing when they visited one of the seven wonders of the world. They stood and marveled at the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or one of the other wonders. Then, sooner or later, someone said, “Wow, this is amazing!”
That’s how people respond when they see something extra special. That is how the apostle John responded when he penned the words before us today. Oh, we may not catch it when we first look at the reading. That is because our modern version has omitted a single word. If you grew up using the King James version of the Bible, you may remember that John began this paragraph with the word “behold.”
Today instead of saying, “behold” we might say, “Wow! Look at this!” John begins these verses with that sort of a “wow” statement. He wants to draw our attention to a wonderful discovery. Let’s invest some time thinking about what John noticed. We will do so using the theme: Wow! Look at this. God loves me. I have hope. I want to live for his glory. Three amazing things stand before us.
We will begin with God’s love. John writes, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.” God’s love is great. It was love that moved him to set aside his power and glory. It was love that prompted him take on a human nature. It was love that caused him to live and die in the place of people. No greater love than that can be found.
The apostle Paul commented on this amazing love in his message to the Romans. There Paul said, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:7). While people were sinners, even though they were his enemies, God died for them. That is amazing love.
In our reading for today John tells us that God did not keep this love to himself. No, instead he lavished it upon us. The word lavish is a rich word. It is probably not a word that we use all that often. When was the last time you said you lavished something upon someone?
The word communicates the idea of abundance. When God bestowed his love upon us, he did so in abundance. He was not stingy with his love. It was not as if there were a limited supply, and he had to ration it out. Perhaps we could picture God’s distribution of love this way. God did not take a dropper fill it with his love and then begin apportioning it, one drop here another drop there. No, his distribution of love is more like the Niagara Falls. Those who pass under or anywhere near it become soaked. That is how God distributes his love. He lavished it upon us. He soaked us in it.
Due to that love we are his children. In one amazing act of grace after another God brought us into his family. He lived and died in our place. He rose again. He sent the Spirit into our hearts. Because of all that we are now part of his family. This is the amazing thing that John wanted to point out to his readers.
Apparently not everyone could see this amazing truth. John says that the world does not know us. When the people of the world think about Christians, they do not conclude, “There goes a child of God.” No, they do not recognize the reality. Why is that?
One reason could be related to a Christian’s behavior. People of the world look at Christians and sometimes see impatience, greed, immorality, bad language and host of other non-Christian characteristics. People of the world might then say, “If that is what being part of God’s family is all about, no thank you.” Sad to say sometimes we are not seen as God’s children because of our own behavior.
In our reading John highlights another reason. He says it is because they did not know Jesus. John expanded on this very topic in the gospel he wrote. There in chapter one verse ten we hear John say, “Though the word was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” Imagine that, Jesus created the world. Jesus came to the people he created. Jesus came to the folks who were waiting for him. He came fulfilling the various prophecies written about him. However, his own people did not recognize him as the Messiah.
If people rejected Jesus, they will reject his followers. That is John’s point. Christians ought to expect that people will fail to recognize them as God’s children. To do so would be self-condemning wouldn’t it. If Christians are God’s children, and I am not a Christian, then I am not part of his family. The unbeliever will refuse to say that. Nevertheless, we are God children.
Unbelievers are not the only ones who fail to see this amazing truth. Sometimes we even lose sight of the truth. When we sin we might say to ourselves, “A true child of God would not behave like that. I must not be one of his children.” Guilt can obscure our spiritual vision.
Another thing that makes it hard for people to see that they are God’s children can be the circumstances of life. A person might reason, “If God is my loving Father, then why is life so difficult? Why do all these sad things keep happening to me?” Then people are tempted to answer themselves in this way, “It is because God does not love me. I am not his child.”
Do you ever find yourself wrestling with such thoughts? If so, please go back to the clear message of scripture. Look at the great love God has lavished upon you. You are God’s child! Contrary to what the ups and downs of life may say, in spite of a persistent condition of sin, you are his beloved child. This is what John wants us to see. This why he says, “Behold. Wow! Look at this amazing truth.”
John wants to point out a second amazing thing to us. We have hope. Hope is a precious commodity. If a person has no hope, they may truly feel discouraged or depressed. Why bother to go on? There is no hope. But ours is not a hopeless situation. We have some wonderful things we can look forward to. What are they? John tells us.
He says, “We shall be like him.” I can think of at least two ways in which we will be like Jesus. First, we will have the image of God completely restored. You recall that when God created Adam and Eve, he made them in his image. They were holy. Their desires were in perfect harmony with God’s desires. Oh, what a blessed state that was. Unfortunately, it did not last. When Adam and Eve sinned. They lost that image. No longer were they in harmony with the heavenly Father. All of Adam and Eve’s descendants were out of sync with God’s holiness.
Jesus is the answer to that problem. Scripture tells us that in Christ we are being renewed in God’s image (Colossians 3:10). Little by little God transforms Christians so that they become more and more in harmony with him. That process will be completed in heaven. When Jesus comes, we will be like him. Amazing! Don’t you look forward to that day! I know I do.
John says that we will be like Jesus. One way we will be like him is that we will be holy. Another way is that we will have bodies perfectly prepared for paradise. Exactly what these heavenly bodies will be like is a mystery. John admits, “What we will be has not yet been made known.” God has not told us all we would like to know. But he has told a bit.
In 1 Corinthians Paul writes, “We will all be changed – in 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. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (15:52-53). We will be changed, instantly. Our weak perishable bodies will be transformed into imperishable bodies.
It is hard to imagine a body that will go on working forever. Now, if someone reaches ninety or one hundred years old, we are amazed. In heaven centuries will pass and no one will give it a second thought. We will live forever. Amazing!
More than that scripture does not reveal. But this is our great hope for the future. We will have bodies perfectly prepared for paradise. Those bodies will go on forever.
As amazing as that hope is, there is another one in our reading. John says, “We will see him as he is.” How wonderful that will be. How absolutely foreign to our current condition. Right now we are not allowed to see God. Sin separates us from the Holy One. But since there will be no sin in heaven, there will be no separation.
Imagine being able to walk with Jesus. Envision yourself strolling down the streets of the New Jerusalem. You feel no tension. You are not uneasy being in his presence. You are not afraid that he will lash out in anger. You do not hang your head in shame. Friends that is not just wishful thinking. That will be the reality. The Bible promises that we will see him as he is. This is something to which we can look forward.
Look at this! We have hope. We will be like Jesus, and we will see him as he is. Sometimes it is hard to see the truth of a situation. What gets in our ways? What keeps us from seeing this amazing sight?
Our sin certainly gets in the way. It is hard to imagine ourselves never having a sinful thought or struggling with a guilty conscience. Since that is true, we find it hard to see ourselves walking with Jesus.
Another thing that impairs our spiritual vision is the intangible and distant nature of heaven. We have not yet experienced heaven. We can’t touch it or breath in the fresh air of paradise. We cannot hear the angelic choir. No one we know has come back from the dead to tell us about heaven.
Add to that the frailties of these mortal bodies. We have our aches and pains. We see others become ill and pass away. We know too that our lives will not last forever. Since that is the case, we might doubt the existence of a perfect body that lasts forever.
All of those things cloud our vision. So how do we address this problem? How do we see these things that John wants us to see? We go back to the word. Again, and again, and again we go back to sections of the Bible like the one before us today. Through the word God the Spirit will help us see the hope that lies before us.
When we see the amazing things God has planned for us, then we will be moved to live for his glory. John closes our reading with these words, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself.” How does a person purify themselves? I suppose the answer has three parts. First, we acknowledge our sin. We confess, “I have sinned.” Then we flee to Jesus. We go to him saying, “Forgive me Lord.” And, of course, he does. He says, “Your sin is forgiven. Go in peace.” Then, empowered by that forgiveness we struggle against sin. We strive to say “no” to it.
As God’s children, as people who have great things to which we look forward, let’s purify ourselves. Let’s struggle against the sinful desires which rise from within. Let’s say “no” to them. When we fail, let’s flee to Jesus yet again. Confess the sin. Receive the good news. Then motivated by grace, return to the battle. This is the amazing life of a child of God.
Dear friends, there are certain things in life that move us to cry out, “Wow, that is amazing.” Perhaps a visit to the Grand Cannon, or a trip to the Rocky Mountains does that for you. I am sure that the folks who visited the ancient wonders of the world said, “Wow” as well.
The apostle John beheld an amazing sight as well. He shared it with us today. John writes, “Wow! Look at this. This is amazing.” God calls us his children. He gives us a wonderful hope. He prompts us to purify our daily lives. I pray that when you ponder these truths you too respond with amazement, and with a desire to live for him. Amen.