SCRIPTURE: 1 John 3:1-10
OBSERVATION:
John reminds believers of their new identity: much loved children of God. This identity encourages us when persecuted, but also affects how we live.
John assures them that Jesus came to restore His followers and destroy the devil’s work. When Jesus is finished, we shall see Him as He is, we shall be perfected like Him, and Satan and his work will be destroyed!
John points out that those who know Jesus, who hope in Him, who have the Spirit (God’s seed) in them, will not keep on sinning as a lifestyle, i.e. willingly choose to live a selfish, loveless, immoral lifestyle. They can’t, it goes against the grain of their renewed heart. Those who willingly sin show that they do not really know Jesus!
APPLICATION:
My identity as a child of God is more important than I appreciate. The word ”lavished” shows what an extreme, amazing gift this is. Do people today even care about this, is it something we long for?
Imagine a world filled with people like Jesus, who live, love and serve like Him. From what I see, that would be a good world, a place I would want to be. This is what Jesus is working on, transforming the world by transforming us.
Do I hate sin (lack of love, selfish spirit, moral compromise)? Does the Spirit within me resist sin, strive to do what is right and good and fair. It seems that this attitude is what indicates who is a child of God, who knows Jesus. Do you want to know if I truly know Jesus, look at my attitude towards sin!
PRAYER:
Lord, I do long to be free from sinful, selfish attitudes and behaviours, to be like You! But sometimes my longing is weak compared to my sinful desires. Help me to hate sin more, and love You and Your way of life more. Amen.
Kids of the Kingdom is everyone who knows Christ Jesus. Those who know the Lord will not keep on sinning because He is a new creation, born of God, desiring to do the will of God. His children desire to do what is right, and good and true. It is summarized with one word, love – love the Lord God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourself.
This passage reminds me of the three H’s – with my head I need to know the Lord God. A great reason to start each day with personal devotions. With my heart – it needs renewal, rebirth, born again again so that I am right before God through the blood of the Lamb so that who I am is seen in my relationship to the Lord. With my hands I must do good to all mankind for they will know we are Christians by our love.
Lord, help me throughout this day to be a living letter (epistle), read by all who read me by what I do and say. I pray that they may see that I am a child of the King.
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love