Stark Contrasts

John, the author of 1 John, contrasts the children of God and the children of the devil. Today, we will explore what exactly this means and how a child of the devil can become a child of God.

Please turn with me to 1 John chapter 3 and follow along. The harmony in our worship sounds great, doesn't it? Praise the Lord! I keep waiting for Simba to come and stand on that platform.

Would you stand with me and take out your Bibles this morning? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Mark Sura, one of our elders, asked me as I was coming up if the tree fell over on me during the service. I assured him it didn't, but he mentioned they weren't sure about it. So, if timber happens, that's what it is!

Now, back to 1 John chapter 3. It's located near the end of your Bible. Open to the book of Revelation, then turn just a little bit to the left, and you'll find it. As you're turning there, if you have any questions while we study the Scriptures together, or if you have questions related to what we're learning or anything else about the Christian faith, please text them to the phone number 760-814-1223. Pastor Mark and I will record a podcast this week addressing those questions, which you can find at the Questions Podcast website.

Let's pick it up together at verse 10. John writes, "In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother."

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We know love because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Father, Your Word, as we see in the Scriptures, is alive. It's living, it's powerful, and it's sharper than any two-edged sword. It has a way of working in our lives where it divides between joint and marrow, soul and spirit. It's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of our heart.

When we come to Your Word, that King David, the psalmist, said is like a light unto our path, it shines light into our hearts. It shines light into the areas of our lives that maybe we've held back or kept in the closet somewhere. You expose those things so that You can bring them to the light, so that You can purify, so that You can transform us.

God, I pray that our time spent here today in Your Word would be just that: transformative. That You would continue the work of changing us, transforming us by the renewing of our mind. In our daily practice, as we're walking out our lives in this world, may You show forth Your will in us. So, God, do work, we pray. I pray that Your Word would be powerful, that Your Spirit would be working, and we pray this in Jesus' name. All those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

Perhaps you've noticed in our study thus far in First John that the author of this letter, written 2,000 years ago to Christians living in a place in the world called Asia Minor, seems to really like contrasts. Today, this area is modern western Turkey. As we've been going through this passage, the Apostle John uses words like light and darkness, life and death. In this passage, he uses the phrases "children of God" and "children of the devil."

As I was looking at this passage and thinking about it this week, I reflected on the previous sections we've examined and looked forward to the rest of First John as we preach through these passages.

This can be challenging because there's the temptation to hold back a little bit. However, it's very hard to do when you look at what the text is saying. It's not my favorite thing to be confrontational, but this text is confrontational. It presents some very stark contrasts: the children of God and the children of the devil. According to the author of this letter, the Apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that's how he saw the world in which we live. There are two groups of people, and in that stark contrast—the children of God and the children of the devil—it can be challenging for some, especially living in the culture that we live in here in the United States of America in 2019.

For some of you, you really like those kinds of contrasts because you don't like middle ground. You don't like what is sometimes termed the murky middle. You want there to be dark and light, black and white, good and evil. So, you appreciate when Jesus says things like he did in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 12, where he said, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad." That kind of clarity is something some of you love.

Now, the rest of you may feel a little discomfort with words like that, where there is a very clear, stark contrast. We live in a culture that has a hard time with that. When you read words like Jesus's words in the Gospel of Matthew, where he talks about the narrow gate and the wide gate, it can be unsettling. Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who will go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few that find it."

As I was rereading or skimming through John's letter this week, it became really clear just in the language that John uses that he, too, was unsettled in some ways by those stark contrasts. I don't think it was all that easy for John to write with these hard-line words in this passage. However, he had resolved many years before he wrote this letter. Based on the time in which this letter was written, John had been a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Christ, for probably about 60 years by the time he wrote this letter. The reason he was resolved to write with such clarity is significant.

Such conviction about these stark contrasts is because the guy who originally spoke like this predicted his death and predicted his resurrection. John saw this man die on a cross and rise from the dead, and he determined that this was the guy he should follow. When you see someone dying on a cross, buried in a tomb, and then rising from the dead just as he had predicted he would, you probably have a little bit of conviction that his words are truth.

I do think that John was at least somewhat unsettled by these stark contrasts, but he trusted that Jesus was the authoritative source for truth. Therefore, he speaks with this strong language.

We live in a culture today that is oriented toward relativism, a gray area where we have all these different worldviews competing against each other. In the words of the great 20th-century philosopher Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" We all want to coexist, and you've seen the bumper stickers. However, I don't think you'll find too many of those in our parking lot. This thought process is kind of the ruling philosophy of our day, and as a result, we have a hard time with stark contrasts.

Understand that the people to whom John was writing also had a hard time with this. The Roman world in which they lived was a pluralistic society. The worldview and mindset of the Greco-Roman world at the end of the first century, when John was writing, was effectively this: do whatever you want, worship whatever you want, but you also need to worship the Emperor. As long as you worship the Emperor of Rome as God, the political system of the day, you are going to be just fine.

I want you to recognize that 21st-century American culture is very similar to that. We are told to do what we want as long as we worship the political situation that exists in our nation today. However, Christ calls us to a different sort of allegiance, which is a challenge for us.

So, John's words in 1 John 3:13 become really important. Look at it; we just read it a moment ago: "Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you." Why is John writing this?

Because the Christians 2,000 years ago, living in a Greco-Roman world, were surprised that by merely becoming followers of Jesus, they found themselves set outside of the culture of the day. They found themselves walking a line that was countercultural, just as it is beginning to be more and more in our day.

I think it's true to say, although it may not be the ideal way to say it, that Christianity, properly understood and practiced, will always be countercultural. We haven't experienced that necessarily as the people in this nation for most of this nation's history. We just celebrated the birthday of our nation this last week, and for most of American history, the dominant influence upon culture has been a Judeo-Christian worldview. You still hear those words used by certain groups of people today, claiming that this is a nation that follows a Judeo-Christian worldview.

However, for the last 50 years, especially if you look back 50 years, some of you have lived through this entire period. If we go back to the summer of '69, that means something to some of you, though it may not mean anything to me. As you think about the last five decades, consider the transformation you have witnessed in this culture. This culture is no longer predominantly a Judeo-Christian mindset.

This shift means that if you live according to the worldview given in the Scriptures—a Christian worldview—some people argue whether or not that's a real thing. But if you view this world through the lens of the Bible and begin to walk in line with what you read in the Bible, you will increasingly feel at odds with the culture of this society. You already feel it, and it causes something that futurists like Alvin Toffler identified back in the 1970s as "future shock." You don't even need to read the book to know that when you hear the term "future shock," you can relate to it. It describes a destabilization as the culture around you changes.

We have seen that John has a command in 1 John 3:13: "Do not marvel." You shall not be surprised if...

The world doesn't like you, and why do we have a hard time with that? Because every one of us has a psychological and emotional desire to be liked deep down. Maslow, a great psychologist of the 20th century, identified this in what has been termed Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Every human being has a need to love and be loved. We want to be liked; we don't like to be on the outskirts. As our culture shifts and continues to do so, we will increasingly feel like we are on the outside.

One of the more intriguing visuals of this is what has happened in the last six months in our nation regarding what some people call a cultural war issue: the issue of abortion. There has been legislation in a number of states concerning abortion. At the end of last year, there was legislation in a couple of states related to pro-abortion areas that shocked the church and many in society who are not churchgoers.

Then, as we entered 2019, there has been other legislation in the pro-life direction. As a person who is ardently pro-life, I think that's good policy; that's my opinion, and I believe it's in line with the Scriptures too. However, if you look at the protests, it's interesting to see the visual of those who are protesting against the pro-life position. There have been images of a whole bunch of women silently protesting while wearing long red robes and white bonnets. This is identifying with a popular show on Hulu called "The Handmaid's Tale."

The plotline of this show, which I know because I read about it, not because I watched it, involves a new civil war in the United States. The winning side, if you will, is a religious fundamentalist group that has established a totalitarian dictatorship and theocracy, imposing a new regressive mindset upon the culture.

Here's the amazing thing about this: you have to understand that there are people, and a growing number of people in our country, who think you are that kind of person if you're a follower of the Bible. They believe that what you want to impose is this kind of regressive totalitarian theocracy. That's not what we desire.

Jesus taught that it's not how Christians are being viewed, but that's a growing sentiment being pushed by certain people in our culture. If none of this means anything to you, that's probably good; you are likely blessed to not know this. However, understand that you feel it because it's around you at all times. If you endeavor to live a life aligned with a Christian biblical worldview, you will experience increasing hostility in a culture that is moving away from the values presented in the Scriptures.

The church is at odds with the world, and this only proves the worldview that John presents in this passage. There are two different groups. Identifying these groups in the way that he does can upset people because it comes across as very offensive. What are the two different groups? They are the children of God and the children of the devil. That is a challenging contrast. As John sees it, based on what he received from the God who predicted His death and resurrection and then died and rose from the dead, those are the only two classifications. There are not three; there are not one. There are two: children of God and children of the devil.

We even have a hard time saying "children of the devil." If you're in a conversation with someone and you bring this up, you might try to soft-pedal that second classification. We are tempted to do that because we are afraid of offending people. But what does John say? He commands us not to be surprised if the world hates you. They hate your worldview.

What do they think of your worldview? They see it as repressive and regressive, while they consider themselves progressive. They believe you are just going to take us back 500 steps. So, we live in a culture that is not just resistant to this worldview but outright rejects it. This is the backward view of a backward people to many.

We have these two distinct groups that John says are clearly identifiable. In 1 John 3:10, he states, "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest." The word "manifest" means clearly identifiable or revealed. Therefore, we can know who they are: the children of God and the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Point number one: our descent, or you could say our lineage, is demonstrated in our conduct. We all know this is true in a very practical sense, especially if you spend time with children. If you know me and you know Andrea, and you spend any time with Ethan, Addison, Evangeline, or Elliot, you will begin to see things that make you think, "Oh my goodness, that's Myles." Every parent knows this, for good and for bad. There have been many times when you parents have experienced, as I have, moments where you see your child relate to their sibling or someone else, and you are shocked. Then you realize, "Oh my goodness, that's me."

We are able to see the nature of who a person is by the way they act. We act out what we believe. Our core values, our core ideas, and the philosophies that make up our lives are not just expressed in our words; they are more clearly articulated by our actions and the way we live. Our descent, our lineage, is demonstrated by our conduct.

Jesus said it like this in Matthew's Gospel, during the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 7: "You will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?" This is a rhetorical question. No. "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them."

What is Jesus identifying? A very clear contrast: good tree, good fruit; bad tree, bad fruit. Bad fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That's challenging. By their fruit, you will know them.

We will know them. It is not merely in the profession of our lips that our true nature is revealed; it is in our actions. We already saw this in First John, Chapter 1. Remember, John in this letter is confronting a false teaching coming from those he says are of darkness, of death, and are children of the devil. This teaching came from those who said one thing but did another.

In First John, Chapter 1, verses 6, 8, and 10, it states, "If we say we have fellowship with God but walk in darkness, we are liars and do not practice the truth." Our lives are a better demonstration of our true nature than our words. Jesus, again in Matthew, Chapter 7, during the Sermon on the Mount, said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven." It is not about profession; not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. That is the person who will enter heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." What is the practice of lawlessness? We learned in the previous section of First John that the practice of lawlessness is sin.

In First John, Chapter 3, verse 7, it says, "Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous; he who sins is of the devil." We saw previously that sin, as stated in verse 4 of First John 3, is lawlessness. What does Jesus say? The person will not enter the kingdom of heaven based on their profession but on their practice. There are people who practice lawlessness; they will not come into the kingdom.

Therefore, according to John, the children of God practice righteousness. They do not practice righteousness to become the children of God, but because they are the children of God. We will look at how they become the children of God in a moment. Because they are the children of God, they practice righteousness. My children start to manifest characteristics that are like me and like my wife because they are our children. Your children do not do that; my children do that, and they do not manifest those traits to earn my approval.

I will accept them as my kids. They are my kids, and therefore they do that most of the time to my chagrin. Jesus, inspired of God, says, "You are the children of God," not because you walk in righteousness, but because you are the children of God. You practice righteousness; it's a heredity thing, it's a nature thing. You have a new nature from God.

So, the children of God practice righteousness, and one of the chief ways that John identifies here in this passage in which righteousness is practiced and demonstrated is love. Conversely, the children of the devil do not practice righteousness and do not love.

At that point, there are those who say, "Okay, are you saying that only those who follow Jesus love?" Because there are people who don't follow Jesus who seem to love. Yes, but not in accordance with the expectation or command of God. That's the challenge. The standard at which our love is judged is not the standard by which the world defines love, but that by which God defines love. He gets to set the standard because He is the one who judges.

Now, people can have a hard time with that, but He made this; it's His world. He gets to do with His world as He pleases, so He gets to be the determiner of that. The children of the devil do not practice righteousness and do not love, at least not as God commands.

What is very striking to me, as I was thinking through this passage this week, is what John says here in this verse: "In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God." Notice he does not say, "Whoever practices unrighteousness is not of God." Now, that's true; whoever practices unrighteousness, wickedness, sin, lawlessness is not of God. That's fine; we believe that.

But John also says, "Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God." Now, you may think that's not really that big of a difference; it seems like semantics. But it's a much bigger difference than you realize because what it indicates is that there are plenty of people who don't do evil things, who are pretty good people. You and I know lots of them. They are our friends, our neighbors, our family members, our co-workers. They are people that we know who don't know God, but they do good things.

You talked with them about good and evil, and they would say, "I'm a pretty good person. I don't kill people; I don't do wicked things." And you know what? They're right. There are a lot of really good people. However, they also don't practice righteousness in line with the perfect standard that Christ requires.

What that means is you can be a pretty good moral person. There are a lot of moral atheists, and I would suggest to you that they are functioning outside of their atheistic worldview when they practice morality. The fact that they practice good things is proof that there is a moral law, which their atheism does not support. So, you can be a pretty good person, you can abstain from unrighteousness, and still not be a child of God, but rather a child of the devil.

John continues in 1 John 3:11, "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning." This kind of brings us back to what John had previously said when he opens with, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, which we have handled with our hands concerning the word of life, we delivered to you."

So, this is the message that you heard if you're a follower of Jesus from the beginning. What is the message? That we should love one another. Now, if you're a follower of the Bible, a follower of Jesus, what we might call a disciple of Christ, then when you read those words, "that we should love one another," it should instantly bring to mind the words of Jesus regarding loving one another, which are found in John's Gospel, chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. You don't have to turn there; you can just note it down.

I'll read it: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another." For the Jewish listeners of Jesus, when He spoke this to His disciples, they were all Jewish and had grown up under Judaism. That was not a new commandment, as the call to love one another goes all the way back to Deuteronomy and Leviticus. However, Jesus added something to it. He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you; that you also ought to love one another."

His standard for love is His own love, not the love of this world. The greatest expression of love in this world, Jesus identifies it in John.

Chapter 15 states, "Greater love has no one than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends." This might be the greatest expression of human love, and it is displayed on a regular basis by people who are not followers of God. We just celebrated the Fourth of July, and what is the Fourth of July but a celebration, as is Memorial Day and Veterans Day, of those who have laid down their lives for people they never knew? For people that they were not necessarily friends with, but they said, "They are my countrymen, so I lay down my life for my friends." This is a great expression of love, but God's love is greater.

Jesus says, "I have a new commandment for you: love one another as I have loved you." How has He loved us? He has loved us with a self-sacrificial love demonstrated towards us while we were yet sinners. Romans 5:8 states, "He demonstrates His love towards us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." For whom? For the ungodly, for the enemies of God. In the same way, the children of God begin to manifest and make clearly seen who they are by their love.

Point number two on your outline: our lineage is most clearly evidenced in our love for others. That we are God's children is most clearly seen in the way that we love. This is exactly what Jesus said in John 13:34-35: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you; that you also ought to love one another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another."

So, our true nature, our lineage, is most clearly evidenced by our love. The child of God practices the righteousness of love. Now, that sounds really good and kind of poetic. People write songs that have that "all we need is love" sort of theme. But what does that mean practically? What does that actually look like?

As we continue, we are at the midpoint of First John. Pretty much the rest of John's letter is going to unpack for us this statement that those who are children of God practice the righteousness of love. What does that look like daily? First John 4 states, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loves is born of God."

Not loving is not of God, for God is love. This is found in 1 John 4:7-8. If you don't know that song, you should, because I learned and memorized those verses when I was a little kid through a song in children's ministry. That's why those songs can be so helpful; they help us remember Scriptures. I mean, some of you still remember the entire Beatles catalog!

So, what does this love look like? Well, that's what we're going to see in the continuing studies in the coming weeks. The child of God practices the righteousness of love. First of all, not like Cain. What's that all about? John just introduced a whole new topic: not as Cain, who was wicked, who was of the wicked one, and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's were righteous.

To illustrate the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil, John jumps back to one of the oldest stories in all of history, found in the very first book of the Bible. By some accounts, this story is multiple thousands of years old. It was probably written down around 3,400 years ago, but it's quite a bit older than that. One of the oldest stories you can imagine is found in the book of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. You can turn there like you're an expert on Scripture.

So, turn to Genesis chapter 4. We're just going to read the first eight verses. This story comes immediately following the story of Adam and Eve. We know in Genesis chapter 3 that they disobeyed God, and as a result, sin and death entered the world. Consequently, they were expelled from God's paradise in the Garden of Eden.

Now, we read this in Genesis chapter 4, verse 1: "Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, intimately, and she conceived and bore Cain. She said, 'I have acquired a man from the Lord.' Then she bore again, and this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep; he was a shepherd, and Cain was a tiller of the ground; he was a farmer. In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat thereof as a sacrifice to God. Why? Because their parents raised them to do so and taught them the importance of sacrifice.

To God, they come and bring a sacrifice. Cain, who was a tiller of the ground, a farmer, brings fruits and vegetables. Abel, who is a shepherd of his flock, brings the fat of the sheep. What do we read about these two offerings? The Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

What's going on here? Clearly, the offering that Cain brought was not in line with what God would desire; it was not a right sacrifice. It was not righteous. Here is Cain walking not in righteousness, which identifies him as one of the children of the devil. That's startling. Abel, on the other hand, brings an offering that God accepts because it was a right sacrifice. It was righteous, and he is walking in righteousness, identifying who he is by nature.

Cain was very angry about this, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well," or you could read this as "if you do right," "will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you shall rule over it."

Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass that as they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel and killed him. Cain murdered his brother. You can turn back to 1 John 3. The word that John uses in 1 John 3, where he says that Cain murders his brother, is a word that means to slay, to slaughter, or to kill by cutting the throat. It's a sacrificial term. He hated his brother, jealous of his brother and his brother's acceptance before God. He effectively spits on the sacrifice of his brother and offers another sacrifice, a wicked sacrifice. He murders his brother, and why does he do this? Because of envy, because of anger.

Hatred rose up, and Cain slaughtered Abel. Now, why does John bring this into the whole mix of this story? What on earth does this have to do with anything? It is because one was wicked and one was righteous. In 1 John 3:12, the second half of the verse states, "Why did Cain murder Abel? Because his works were evil and his brother's were righteous." One was a child of the devil, as indicated by his unrighteousness, and one was a child of God, as evidenced by his righteousness. John brings us this ancient story, one of the oldest in history, for instruction and application. All these things are written for our admonition and instruction.

In 1 John 3:13, we find the application: "Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you." There are children of the devil and there are children of God. Those who practice righteousness indicate by their righteousness that they have been born again; they are the children of God. As the children of God, they are hated by the children of the devil. So, do not marvel. Just as Cain hated Abel because Abel's works were righteous and he was a child of God, Cain hated that and killed him. He tried to stomp it out and murder it.

Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, which is a stark contrast, because we love the brethren. We have the evidence of love. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Point three: the child of God will be despised by the children of the devil, and this should not surprise us, though it does, because we have this desire to be liked. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, said, "If the world hates you" (John 15:18), "know that it hated me before it hated you." If you were of the world, then the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. You are hated and will be hated by those in this world because God chose you to be His child. Knowing this truth, if you are a follower of Jesus, if you are a Christian,

We should stop trying to be loved or liked by those who hate God. What I see in American Christianity, and maybe you see it as well, is this temptation to try and lessen the challenging realities of the Christian faith so that they will like us. We just want them to like us. Please, they will not like you. Why? Because you are a child of God, and you walk in righteousness before God. That is in contrast and conflict with this world, which is under the sway of the wicked one.

Now, the fact that the world hates us does not give us a license to hate them back. Sometimes we feel like, "Hey, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You punched me, I punch you." That is the mindset of Cain. If you read about the descendants of Cain, one of his descendants, Lamech, says, "Cain killed one man; I've killed two because he struck me. I killed another guy too." It’s like life for an eye, not an eye for an eye.

Jesus spoke to this. He said to His disciples, "You've heard that it has been said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I have something different for you." He continued, "You've heard that it has been said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'" What’s interesting is that the teaching of the religious teachers of Jesus's day, the rabbis, was that you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies. Now, who does not like that? Yes, right? Absolutely. This is why people would ask questions like they asked of Jesus, "Well, who is my neighbor?" Because if I can determine who isn't my neighbor, then I can hate them. That appeals to my fallen nature.

Jesus said, "You have heard that it has been said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' but I say to you, love your enemies." Why did He have to say that? "Bless those who curse you." In Matthew chapter 5, verse 44, it says, "Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you." Why? Here’s the kicker: "That you may be sons of your Father in heaven." Sons and daughters, children—we're walking as our Father walked.

Manifesting His nature in a fallen world, John says in First John, chapter 3, "We know that we have passed from death to life." How do we know? Because we love the brethren. The born-again child of God experiences an astounding transformation at conversion. When you put your trust in Jesus, you become born again by the Spirit of God; you become a child of God. There is an astounding transformation. By the supernatural work of God in you, you become one who loves God, loves those within His family, the church, and even begins to love those who are unlovely, those who hate us. This is the perfection of God's love in us.

If you're in First John 3, turn one page over to First John 4, to the right, verse 12. In the middle of the verse, John says, "If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." This is God's work in us. If love has begun to be manifested in you, it is the evidence that the Spirit of God resides in you. How do we know that? Because Paul says in Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22, "The fruit of the Spirit," the evidence of God's Spirit being in you, is love. The fruit, singular, is love. From love, this kind of love produces joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. This is the outworking of love, God's love at work in you, that you'll be patient with people, self-controlled, kind, and gentle. That's not of this world; that's of God.

But John says, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer." Point number four: hatred in the heart is as murder before God. That might seem like an overblown connection, but that's exactly what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew, chapter 5, verse 22, He said, "You have heard that it has been said of old time, 'You shall not murder.' Whoever murders is in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says to his brother, 'You fool' or 'You worthless fellow' shall be in danger of hellfire." There is such great weight to this. John goes on in First John, chapter 3, and our passage, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Life abiding in Him is essential. If the eternal life of God is in you, by the grace and power of God, then you will begin to love God, love others, and love this world with the love of Christ. The eternal life of God in us brings a complete transformation of our essential nature. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; all the old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

One who does not have eternal life, the eternal life of God abiding in them, will not walk in this way, and they will not inherit eternal life. Paul talks about this in Galatians chapter 5. He says, "Now the works of the flesh are evident." Some of them include hatred, jealousy, wrath, envy, and murder. He then states that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

There is a stark contrast between the children of God and the children of the devil. The children of God walk in righteousness, manifesting His nature that has been given to them. They do not do righteousness to try and become the children of God; they are the children of God, and therefore, they walk in righteousness. The children of the devil walk in unrighteousness and do not practice righteousness. The children of God receive life, while the children of the devil receive death.

This ultimately begs the all-important question: How then do we become the children of God? As we have laid out this clear division between the children of God and the children of the devil, we must address a teaching that I believe is profoundly anti-God and contrary to His grace and mercy. This view has invaded the church in our day, and I would call it heresy. It is the belief that God predestined some to be His children and predetermined others to be children of wrath, apart from anything they can do, destined for hell as children of the devil because God ordained it so.

This belief is not in line with the nature of God. It is closer to the concept of Allah in Islam than it is to the God of the Bible. Unfortunately, it is a growing view among Christians. So, how do we become the children of God? We saw this a couple of weeks ago in 1 John 3:1: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should..."

We are called the children of God. How do we become the children of God? Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His grace, He saved us. Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, He loved us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This means that we are moved from death to life, from darkness to light.

How does that happen? It is noted in your notes, John chapter one, Gospel of John, chapter one, verse 12: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." You are born of God as you trust in Jesus, and you move from darkness to light.

How do we become aware of this? Through the preaching of the gospel, we who were dead in trespasses and sins can be moved to be the children of God according to His love and grace as we trust in Him for salvation. This is how we know love. First John 3:16 states, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us."

The result of this, which we will explore next week, is that we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Point number five: Christ's love led Him to sacrifice Himself to make us His children. This is the glorious news of the gospel. Because God loved us, He laid down His life so that we could be called His children.

We have these stark contrasts in Scripture, and they are heavy. I do not want to diminish the weight of this reality. There are children of God and there are children of the devil. I am not saying those on my left are the children of the devil. I know God's desire is that He would translate us from being under death to life. How does He do this? Through the work of Jesus on the cross and our trust in Him for salvation. This is the good news of the gospel that we carry to a world that is in such need.

We are in desperate need of this truth. I would to God that He would give us a passion to share it. In sharing it, you set yourself outside the cultural norms more and more as our culture shifts. So, God, give us boldness. Would you stand with me as we ask God for that very thing in prayer?

God, thank You for Your Word that is living and powerful. It is sharp, and it does cut deep. It reveals the areas of our weaknesses, fears, and anxieties so that You can purge out all of those things and replace them with Your power. By Your Spirit, You promised, Jesus, that we would receive power as Your Holy Spirit came upon us so that we could be witnesses of You in our fallen world.

So, Lord, if we have put our trust in You, You have made us Your people and filled us with Your Spirit. I pray that You would give us power and boldness to share the good news of the Gospel.

I think it would be wrong of me at this point not to say that if you realize today that you do not know the Lord or you are worried that you may not be a child of God, the Scriptures say that to as many as trusted in Him, He gave the right to be called the children of God. If you would like to trust in Christ, put your faith in Him today and become a child of God. I want to give you that chance right now.

If that's you, as we are in an attitude of prayer, just lift up your hand high. If you want to receive the grace of God and become a child of God by trusting in Him, lift up your hand. Is anyone here this morning? I see you there in the very back. God bless you. Anyone else? Praise the Lord.

I want to lead you in a very simple prayer of faith to put your trust in Christ and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to make you a child of God. If that's you, just pray with me where you're standing. You can pray it out loud if you'd like.

Dear Jesus, I know that I have sinned against You. I pray that You would come into my life, that You would forgive me of my sin, and that You would help me to follow You by faith and to trust You as my Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.

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