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[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn to 1 John. 1 John 2. We're going to read chapter 2, verse 28, through chapter 3, verse 10.

[0:15] ! And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

[0:33] How 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.

[0:47] Dear 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, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

[1:02] Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawlessness.

[1:13] But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins, and in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

[1:30] Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

[1:46] The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him.

[1:57] He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are, and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

[2:21] Oh, our magnificent God, we thank you for the opportunity to join together with your people, with your children, and to sing your praises. It is good and pleasant.

[2:32] It is fitting to sing praises to you. We find great joy in saying thank you for making us your children. We do say thank you that you see the emptiness of our hearts and our restless spirits, and you do not despise us.

[2:53] You don't despise our need and our brokenness, but you come to us and you fill us and satisfy us. Thank you that this week you've given us grace upon grace, that out of Jesus Christ you have not been stingy in the least, but you have blessed us with so much.

[3:13] Thank you for the spiritual blessings and revival that you give us, for rest and refreshment. Thank you that you give us your warnings and the Holy Spirit comes and convicts us when we stray.

[3:27] Thank you that we have your heart. No matter where our changeful lot is cast, no matter how our life changes, you are still the great I am.

[3:41] You remain the same yesterday, today, and forever. So we praise you. We would pray that you would be with those who are suffering, who are in fear, who are worried or anxious this morning.

[3:58] Think of Julie in Indianapolis at Riley, and baby Maya. I pray that you would stand beside her and comfort her and help her. Be with that little one and strengthen her body.

[4:14] Give Tom and Julie great faith to lay hold of you, to hold on to your promises, to not grow weary of believing in you. For the widows among us, those who are sorrowing, who are alone, thank you that in your word again and again and again, you tell us that you care for them, you love them, you see their need, and you're with them.

[4:45] So I pray that you would comfort them today. Pray for our own Pastor John, that you would give him strength in his weakness. We want to pray, especially this morning, for the Beijing Baptist Church, where Mark and Cheryl Hatfield are serving.

[5:03] And now, their last three or four weeks, that they're going to be there. I pray that you would put your seal of blessing upon these last three or four weeks, that you would make them sweet, that you would do them good, that you would help Mark and Cheryl to know how to use their time, what little time they have left, to do good to the people.

[5:27] Thank you for the years of service that Mark has had as a pastor there. And now they need a new pastor, Lord Jesus, Lord of the harvest, Lord of your people, Lord of the church.

[5:39] Raise up a man and men that can lead that congregation well, and lead them to your glory, and their good.

[5:51] Well, we've come to hear your word. Lord, we need it. We need to hear your word. We need to be revived. We need to be taught and instructed.

[6:02] We need that more than just intellectually. We need the Holy Spirit to come and put his seal upon that word and to make it effective, to take what is objectively true, that we know, and press it in upon our hearts to make it real and vital to us.

[6:23] So, take your word now. Bless our pastor. And bring glory to yourself as our love grows in hope and our faith grows in joy.

[6:37] We pray these things for Jesus' sake, that he might have a people that are pleasing to him, that serve him and love him. We ask this for Jesus' sake. Amen. Please be seated, and let's hear the word of God preached.

[6:57] We are 30 weeks into our study of the identity of the Christian, letting God tell us from his word who we are, what we are.

[7:12] Because according to God's word, remembering who we are is critical to living and being what we are. God says, this is what you are, now live like it. Be what you indeed are.

[7:25] I've long given up on my original design of spending just one week on each identity. I think we spent a month on the Christian as a soldier of Christ, and this next identity is so full of sweetness, I'm not sure I could preach it in one sermon.

[7:42] I know it would be a very long sermon. I'm referring to the fact that in Jesus Christ, I am a child of the Heavenly Father.

[7:55] That's our next identity. So if you are in Christ by faith, would you say with me, I'm a child of the Heavenly Father. I am a child of the Heavenly Father.

[8:06] If you haven't got your Bibles open to 1 John 3, I'd invite you to do so. Our treatment of this will overlap with our Father's Day next week.

[8:19] It will be Father's Month for us as we work our way through this great privilege of the Christian. And here, the Apostle John says to us in the first half of verse 1 of 1 John 3, how great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God, and that is what we are.

[8:47] Not only called that, but called that because we indeed are that. And I want us to see six great things in this passage about the Father and his children.

[9:01] The first is we see a great love. Now, I think that the NIV misses something of the emphasis of the original here. The very first word as it's found in the Greek and as it's found in most other versions is behold, behold, consider, look.

[9:18] Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God. Look, that's the word.

[9:30] It's a call of our attention to something that is astonishing. It's what we might say if we were on a walk and suddenly we saw a pileated woodpecker or a bald eagle or a 70-pound catfish.

[9:50] We'd say, behold, this is not something you see every day. Look at this. Consider it. Or like Moses when he saw that bush that was burning but wasn't consumed.

[10:04] He turned aside to look at it more carefully. Behold. Behold. And of course, what John is wanting to draw our attention to is this amazing love of the Father that we should be called the children of God.

[10:24] And that's what we are. Behold. It's not the Father's general love for all his creatures but his special redeeming love for his own children.

[10:37] Children. How great is the love of the Father that we should be called children of God. Now the NIV here says how great is the love.

[10:50] Again, more literally, it says what manner of love is this? What manner of love? It's the question that John and Peter and James and the others out on the boat in the Sea of Galilee asked when suddenly the squall blew up and the water came over the boat and it was sinking and they woke Jesus up and said, Lord, don't you care that we're drowning?

[11:13] And he just spoke. Peace. Be still. And the water immediately calmed down and the wind quit blowing. It was calm at once. And then they said it.

[11:25] What manner of man is this? That even the wind and waves obey him. What kind of man is he?

[11:37] He's like something we've never seen before. Someone that speaks with such authority that wind and waves obey him. And that's what John is saying to us here.

[11:48] He's using that same word. What kind of love is this? Where do you ever find love like this? Like the Father's love to call us and make us his children.

[12:02] It's amazing. It's astonishing. What wondrous love is this, oh my soul. That makes a bald eagle look like as common as a sparrow to consider this love.

[12:18] Now it's an astonishing wonder to behold that we and I'd like for us to think about that for a moment that we should be called.

[12:33] We, being who we are, should be called the children of God. We who were rebellious and did not want him.

[12:44] We didn't want him as our father. We didn't want his rules, his laws. We didn't want his gospel. And we showed that by our disobedience and our apathy towards it. We, that we who were so unlike God, he holy and we sinful, that we should be made his children.

[13:04] We who are not seeking him for none seek him. We who are by nature the children of the devil. Now there's a, there's a, there's a lie of liberalism that we're all children of God.

[13:19] Now only in the sense that we've all come from God in the sense of creation is that true, but not all mankind are God's children through Jesus Christ. Only those who have, who've turned from their sins and trusted in the Savior, only they are the children of God.

[13:35] No, by nature we are born children of the devil. And, and we see that right in this passage. You see how John refers to this in, in verse eight.

[13:47] He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. Verse 10, this is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are.

[13:59] There are such people, you know, John is telling us that. We're not all children of God. There are children of the devil and how do you know them? Well, anyone does not, who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

[14:15] And if you're not a child of God, there's only one category left. You're a child of the devil. Jesus said it. John recorded it in his gospel, chapter eight.

[14:28] He told those religious people listening to him, you're of your, you're of your father, the devil, because you desire to do the works of the father. He was a sinner from the beginning.

[14:41] And when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. It is astonishing that we, children of the devil, should be called the children of God.

[14:59] Who we are as sinners, so unworthy, so unlike this father in heaven. It's not a flattering thing, but it's true, and it's only understanding and embracing that that it becomes something we're turning aside to see, this astounding love of the father.

[15:19] You know, most people aren't surprised by it. Of course he loves us. Why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he? I'm such a good person. No, if we have any idea what we are, we'll say, what kind of love is this that we should be called the children of God?

[15:37] But then this love of the father is amazing not only because of what we are, but because of the end to which he went to make us his children. Oh, turn aside and consider, first of all, that he would give up his own eternal son, the son of his love, the son that is precious to him, that he would give him up to the hellish cross of Calvary as a sacrifice.

[16:00] To make us his children. Now, John speaks of this throughout his five-chapter letter. In the very next chapter, chapter 4 and verse 9 and 10, he says, this is how God showed his love among us.

[16:18] He sent his one and only son into the world that we, that we might live through him. This is love. Not that we love God, for we didn't. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, as a propitiation, somebody to pacify God's wrath that was rightfully upon us for our sins.

[16:43] That's amazing love when we think what he would give up, his own son, to make us his children. When George Yeager took his three sons and an elderly grandfather out on the Atlantic Ocean to do some deep sea fishing, he had no idea of the horror that would soon follow.

[17:03] For the boat stalled, engine stalled late in the afternoon, and the increased wind stirred up the waves that then filled the boat, and as it began to sink, the five Yeager men put on their life vests, tied themselves together with a rope, and slipped out into the water.

[17:20] The waves were crashing over them and caused the boys, the youngest first, to swallow too much water. And so he watched, the father watched, as one by one, and then his own father died.

[17:37] Eight hours later, George Yeager staggered onto the shore, still pulling the rope that bound the bodies of the four others to him. What a horrible thing for a father to have to watch his sons.

[17:53] And yes, even his father die in that manner. And I think sometimes we think of God the Father as a spectator, just watching his son die on the cross.

[18:07] Look what they're doing to him. Well, he was far more than an idle spectator. The scriptures tell us that he, God the Father, was the one actively punishing his son.

[18:25] Pouring out his wrath upon his son. That's Isaiah 53, isn't it? That the son was pierced for our transgressions. The son was crushed for our iniquities.

[18:37] He was punished that we might have peace with God. He was wounded so that by those wounds we might be healed. But it wasn't just God watching all this happen.

[18:50] Verse 10 of Isaiah 53 tells us it was the Lord's will to crush him. It was the Lord's will to crush him.

[19:05] He was crushing him and pouring out his wrath. He put him to grief. He caused him to suffer. In Zechariah 13, 7, it's the Lord God who says, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.

[19:23] It's Jehovah God, the Father, striking his own son, the shepherd, the good shepherd. No idle witness, but the crushing, punishing arm!

[19:35] arm that put his son to grief. Making him to be sin for us then pouring out his wrath for sin on the son of his love and why?

[19:47] Well, to make wretches like you and me his children. His children. It's only in this way that we could be saved. It's only in this way we could be reconciled to God and become children of the Heavenly Father.

[20:03] Our sins must be punished and what kind of love is this that he would punish his one and only son to make us sons?

[20:18] What wondrous love is this, O my soul? He not only gave up his son to the cross for us, but he gave us new birth and that's a repeated theme throughout this letter of 1 John 2 as well, isn't it?

[20:31] He's giving evidences of someone who's born of God. How do you know somebody who's been born of God? You see it there in verse 29 of chapter 2. If you know that he is righteous, well, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

[20:48] Doing right doesn't make them born of him. No, if they're doing right, you know that they have been born of him. And so it goes, no one who's born of God will continue on in sin.

[21:00] Chapter 3 and verse 9, we read it. You see, our natures were so anti-God, so against him, and so pro-sin and pro-wrong and pro-self that if ever we're to become the children of God, we've got to be born all over again.

[21:17] That's the end to which God is willing to go to make us his children. let's start all over with it. Let's have him be born again.

[21:30] And that's not something that's done by us. Nobody births themselves. They are born. And that's the way the Bible speaks of this new birth. It's not something we do. It's something that was done to us.

[21:41] It's being born of the Spirit. Being born from above. And he comes in his own sovereign way and gives us a new birth. And we have a new nature, a new heart, and we're new creatures.

[21:53] No longer is our most dominant characteristic that we love sin and we hate God. We love our way and we don't want to have anything to do with his way.

[22:04] No. He gives us a new birth and now our most dominant desire is to love God and to obey him and to hate our sin and to hate it when we fall and turn away from him.

[22:17] That's a new birth and nothing less than that. could enable us to ever be children of God. And that's what John says.

[22:27] It's interesting how John says things in his gospel and then reiterates them in his epistle. And back in his gospel, first chapter, it says, when Jesus came, he came to his own.

[22:39] They didn't receive him. But there's an exception. Yet, to all who received him, there are some who received him. To those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

[22:53] Children born not of natural descent nor of human decision nor of a husband's will but born of God. No one believes on Jesus. Nobody receives Jesus but those born of God.

[23:07] And to everyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and puts their faith in him, every single one have the right to become children of God.

[23:19] So he gave his own son for us. He gave us a new birth and then he gave us an adoption. He adopted us as his children. This is the legal side of becoming the children of God.

[23:32] We've seen something of the power side. We had to have a new power, a new beginning, a change of heart to become children of God. We also needed the proper legal decision made in heaven that is adoption.

[23:45] A few months ago we had a living picture of this, didn't we? In the adoption of Michael Heaney. He was not born a son of Josh and Ashton. But as they appeared before the court with all the proper paperwork and requirements completed, the judge made a legal declaration that Michael from this point on is the son of Josh and Ashton.

[24:10] He was born into a different family but he's now adopted into this family and so he receives all the rights and privileges of a son.

[24:21] He will inherit all of Josh's wealth. He will have all the rights of a son. Why? Because he's been adopted. He's his legal son.

[24:32] Ashton's legal son. So that's the picture. In the same way, we who were born into the devil's family have now been adopted into God's family and we receive all the rights and we'll get to the inheritance in the future of true sons.

[24:50] For when the time had fully come, God sent his son born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the adoption, the full rights of sonship.

[25:02] So though our adoption rests on Jesus' work of justifying us by his obedience and blood, God's decision to adopt you was made long before you were born.

[25:15] Ephesians chapter 1, verse 5, In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace.

[25:29] Why is God's grace alone to be praised for our adoption because he predestined us to be adopted? Long before you ever wanted God to be your father, he chose you to be his son.

[25:44] He predestined you to be his son and then sent his son to die for your sins and then sent his spirit to give you a new heart to want God as your father.

[25:56] And it's a decision that he made in love. In love he predestined you to be adopted as his son. So behold, what kind of love is this that from eternity past would set his love on us and say, I want that sinner to become my son.

[26:15] And I'm going to send my spirit to change him and make him new again. And I'm going to send my son to take the punishment that he deserved. what kind of love that we should be called the children of God.

[26:33] That's what we are. A great love. Now, we don't have as much time to spend on the other five. Secondly, a great honor. A great honor or privilege. Is there a greater honor than this identity for the Christian?

[26:47] Wonderful to be a soldier of the cross. Oh, but what is it to be a soldier of the cross who's a son of God? A daughter of God. Love, sons and daughters of the great king of heaven and earth.

[27:03] None higher in glory and honor than him. And what an honor is ours just to say in truth, he's my father. It's like a child bragging to his other kids on the playground, that's my dad.

[27:17] We have no higher honor than to be able to point heavenward and say, he's my father. He's my father. Think of the royal family in England. Think of the honor that is given to the royals just because of their near relation to the crown.

[27:33] They're fawned all over by the press. An engagement, a wedding, a baby. Makes international news, doesn't it?

[27:44] They're weighted on hand and foot by the world. Perks of honor galore. Presidents, and kings, visit them. Well, Christian, you too are royalty.

[27:56] You too are royals, aren't you? You're sons and daughters of the king of kings, the king of heaven and earth. That's who you are. Not a child of a mere figurehead of authority like the queen, but a child of the living God who powerfully rules and reigns over all.

[28:17] Who lifts up one king and puts down another and he brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground than he just blows on them and they wither and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

[28:34] So don't put your trust in princes. They're nothing. They're nothing. He reigns and rules over all kings. What an honor.

[28:46] What a dignity of this identity. It's ours right now, right here and now. For now we are God's children. An astonishing sight to behold is you, you, you, you who are sons, daughters, children of the king.

[29:03] And that great honor is yours simply because of the honor of him whose children you are. You are children of the most high God, of the high king of heaven. And yet I wonder if you've noticed that the world is not all that amazed at us.

[29:21] They're not turning aside and saying, wow, did you see her? Get your, get your photo out. Get your, your, your phone out and get a picture of her. She's, she's a daughter of the king.

[29:33] Nobody's doing that with you, are they? It's not the way the world treats us. Did the major networks come to your wedding?

[29:45] Did they broadcast your, your wedding and, and, and when you had a baby and, and, and all this attention, did they give that to you? No, not at all. But you are the, the, the, the king's sons, the king's daughters.

[29:59] And yet you are, though you are right now children of the king, they don't know who you are.

[30:11] They don't know who you are. Even if you tell them that you're a child of the living God, they are unimpressed. Far from honoring the, the children of the king of kings, the world even persecutes us.

[30:23] Why is that? What's wrong here? John tells us. It's due, thirdly, to a great ignorance. We see a great honor, now a great ignorance.

[30:34] The last part of verse one says, the reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. If it didn't know him, it won't know us. That's his reasoning.

[30:45] You see, our great honor as children of God is not due to who we are in ourselves. We aren't anything super wow, astonishing in and of ourselves. It's due to whose we are.

[30:56] We're children of a super amazing, astounding God. And that's what makes us so honorable. Our honor is completely derived from him.

[31:09] But if the world didn't know him, they won't know us either. So, what happened when God came into the world in the person of his son, Jesus of Nazareth?

[31:22] Well, the world did not know his identity. The world didn't know him. They had no appreciation for who he was, did they? They didn't give him the honor due him. They rather hung him up on a cross to die.

[31:33] The only honor for this king was what? A crown of thorns, a purple robe, to mock his claim of kingship. That's what you deserve, you phony king. A phony crown, a phony robe.

[31:46] And spit in your face and to be beaten with your staff, to be mocked, persecuted, hung up to die for the scum that you are.

[31:59] That's how the world treated him. When God came into the world, they did not know him. And so John says that's the reason the world doesn't know you, doesn't appreciate us as the exalted children of God that we are.

[32:19] Jesus tied these two together in John chapter 15. Remember, he says, if the world hates you, keep in mind what? It hated me first. And if they've persecuted me, what will they do to you?

[32:34] Persecute you. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. Why did, why do they persecute Christians, children of God?

[32:45] Because they don't know Jesus. And why did they persecute Jesus? Because they didn't know the one who sent him, God, the Father. And that's why children of the living God are not appreciated or known for who we really are.

[32:57] And so we're put on notice, we shouldn't expect to be treated like royalty. Rather, Paul would say, we're treated like the scum of the earth. So get used to being treated like scum.

[33:11] Yes, you, you royal. Can you imagine it? Can you imagine one of the royal family over there in England being treated like scum? It's hard to imagine. But we're talking about real honor and privilege, children of God that you are.

[33:26] And some of you are treated as scum in your own families and in your own workplace and your neighborhood. In some places they killed him.

[33:39] There's a certain legend about kings in England going among their people incognito and they dressed up like commoners. They took off the robe and crown and they moved among the people as a commoner to find out who their real loyal followers were.

[33:58] And so here you are and you're the blacksmith and here comes this guy meandering in and he wants his horseshoe fixed and he's asking you what do you think about the king's new law? And you're telling him you're giving the king the business not knowing that you're talking to the king himself because he's not known for who he is.

[34:16] That's how the king of heaven came into this world incognito. He came veiled in flesh in human flesh and they looked at him and they said he's just a commoner.

[34:27] There's nothing different about him. Even when he did his miracles and did all these things they still rejected him. That's how he came.

[34:38] The world did not know him and so they won't really know who we are either. What a surprise awakes this world when he takes off his common gown and he comes in the glory that is rightfully his and the glory of his heavenly father with angels attending him and he comes in power and glory.

[34:59] Oh what a surprise for this world then. And that leads us fourthly to a great unveiling. Revelation 1.8 says that there's this coming this great unveiling at his return the return of Jesus every eye will see him even those who pierced him and every knee will bow in recognition to who he is.

[35:22] You won't be able to miss it in that day. What your eyes will see is the glorious king of heaven coming in the clouds with all of his father's glory and every eye will see him and so every knee will bow and every tongue will confess who he is.

[35:41] He's God. He is the God who deserves all honor and glory and praise and blessing. and when it's then when they know who he is that they will know who we are the children of God.

[35:58] You see there's a double unveiling that's going to happen in that day. Right now you're nobodies in this world. Again we just said we're treated as nobodies but when Jesus is revealed we will be revealed.

[36:13] We are children of God. Notice how John says it in verse 2. Dear friends now we are children of God. This privilege is ours right now but and what we will be has not yet been made known.

[36:28] There's a future glory coming. It's not yet made known but we know that when he Christ appears when he is made known that's the same word as what we will be has not yet been made known but when he is made known then we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is as will everyone else as he comes in power and glory.

[36:58] So as John Stott says our sonship though real right now is not apparent to the world but when the world sees him for who he is and us with him and us like him then your true status and honor as children of God will be known by all.

[37:16] Paul says when Christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory. When Christ is made manifest you will be made manifest with him in glory.

[37:28] And then it will mean everything to be a child of this great king. And then you will be the envy of the world those who laughed at you and mocked you and despised and rejected you will wish that they were with you on the right hand of the king.

[37:48] When he says to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world. And then he'll say to those on his left depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels they will go away to everlasting life and they will go away to everlasting punishment.

[38:16] How different will things be in that day for the children of God when Jesus is revealed his children are revealed and then the last will be first and the first will be last there will be a whole overturning of the tables those that were held up as the royalty of this world but didn't know Christ were not children of God and the children of God that were treated so poorly then they will receive the honor and praise and glory that is theirs as sons and daughters of the king God will say as he says in revelation 3 9 he'll say those who despised you I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you I'll make them acknowledge that I have loved you here and now children of God nobody's there the highest honors given because we're sons and daughters of the highest king of kings so there's our great destiny children of

[39:28] God many privileges of being the loved children of God we'll treat some of these in the succeeding weeks but right now John takes us to that glorious destiny that's awaiting the children of God and that's our fifth point a great destiny a great destiny awaits the children of God there's a contrast in verse two between what we are now and what we will be then dear friends now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known it's not yet appeared it's not yet been made clear and become apparent that's not just something that the world is ignorant of that's something that even John professes ignorance of what we will be has not yet been made known it's one of the secret things that God has he's not revealed everything to us about what the children of God will be like in that day not fully revealed that to us things that eyes have never seen that's what you're going to see things that ears have never heard things that the imagination of man has never thought of is what he's preparing for those who love him a great destiny we don't know about all of that but we know

[40:47] John says we do know some things some things have been revealed we know this for sure that when he appears then we shall be made like him for we shall see him as he is we'll see him and will be made like him now that was his aim from the very beginning it was to this end children of God that he chose you and predestined you to be his children Romans 8 29 for those God foreknew he also predestined why to be conformed to the likeness of his son that his son might be the first born among many brothers that's God's great plan and purpose for his children to have the whole family of God conformed to the likeness of his eternal son who is himself the perfect image of the father you're going to bear the image of the son and of the father you're going to become like them not as to their deity you will always be a finite creature but you will become like them as to your moral holiness as holy as

[42:01] Jesus as holy as the father you will have no sin but seeing him will be made like him that's what he's predestined you for that's your destiny to be like that honored firstborn son Jesus Christ and then the family resemblance will be complete sometimes you look at somebody he's a lady she's a stuber he's a horse you see a family resemblance and there's already here family resemblance to our heavenly father but in that day the resemblance will be complete he's determined to see it accomplished he's predestined to conform you to the image of his son even now by his spirit he's in the process of transforming you as you see the glory of the Lord in the pages of scripture what happens he says well you are you see the glory of the

[43:05] Lord here are being changed from one stage of glory unto another into his likeness which comes from the Lord who is the spirit the spirit is transforming you right now into his likeness as you see him here in scripture with unveiled faces and when Christ appears you're going to behold his glory in a whole other manner as John Owen!

[43:33] in a manner I have not yet seen him I've seen him in scripture I'm going to see him face to face when you see him face to face the process that's been going on on earth as you see his glory here you're being made like him that's going to be finished in a moment you'll see him and you'll be made like him that's your destiny!

[44:03] to be like him that's your destiny children of God it's your predestiny to be with Christ and to be like Christ and John calls this destiny your hope that future good that you're confidently expecting and why are you so sure of this hope because he who promised is faithful he cannot lie and that leads us lastly to a great pursuit!

[44:28] Notice it in verse 3 everyone who has this hope this hope of seeing our savior and being made like him everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure children of the great king of heaven are going to be like him and wherever this hope is found it energizes and motivates to greater Christ like purity here and now everyone who has this hope it's all true children of God who are looking forward to that return of Christ and becoming like him at his coming they don't just sit around and say well you know if that's going to happen then then I don't care to be all that careful about purity in my life now why should I trouble myself with this business of keeping my eyes my ears my mouth my heart pure it's hard and by by the way when I get to heaven

[45:30] I'll see Jesus and in one moment I'll become like him I think I'll wait for that you know what that proves you are a child of God everyone who does what is right has been born of God you see it proves that you really of that group whose hope is not groundless but is a well grounded sure thing that one day will be made like our heavenly father because we'll be made like his son our savior who is the fullness of God's glory and so everyone who has this hope is not just sitting around content to live impure lives now passively waiting no hope is an active grace and it energizes and it invigorates and it stirs up action to do what to purify ourselves just as he is pure I want to be like him we see him we see his love and we we want to love like Jesus loves we see his patience and we want to be patient like

[46:32] Jesus and not sin with our mouths and when we become angry and impatient and we we we see his his love to obey his father and we want to obey like that you see we we're purifying ourselves because we have that certain hope and how do we do this well we fix our eyes on Jesus because it's as we behold him in the scriptures that we are being made like him we're being transformed by the renewing of our minds Romans 12 2 so we memorize and meditate on the word of God that our minds might be renewed that we no longer be conformed to this world but be transformed into his likeness by the renewing of our minds and we don't neglect the meetings of the church because it's there that our brothers and sisters and the

[47:33] Holy Spirit stirs us up to holiness and purity and to love and good deeds and we want to keep in step with the spirit and by keeping in step with the spirit we are purifying ourselves he doesn't lead us into sin he leads us into holiness he leads us to say no to ungodliness and worldly!

[48:01] temptation we bring our sins to Christ for the purifying of them that he would forgive them and purify us from all uncleanness so many ways that the Christian with this hope of seeing a savior and being made like him is here and now purifying himself just as he is pure is that you is that you do you have the sure hope of being with Christ and being made like him that scene in the fact that you don't like what impurity remains in your heart and in your life and you are seeking to purify yourself by bringing yourself to this purifying blood of Jesus pursuing his will for your life if not you're invited to become God's child today through faith in Jesus Christ to all who received him to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become the children of

[49:03] God the invitation is there for you today from God the father you're a child of the devil that's how you were born I invite you to jump ship turn your back on that family and come and receive Jesus Christ and you will have the right to become children of God now if this is you you are one of these who has this great hope then press on press on and in knowing this purifying process will be complete when we see Jesus face to face yes it is hard yes it is grueling yes it is repetitive yes we must keep doing it all our days but the end coming so be encouraged by this hope there's going to come a day you won't have to work at holiness anymore you won't have to say no to anything you won't have any down pull of sin no temptation there so press on in hope and keep turning aside to behold this astonishing wonderful thing that

[50:07] God has loved you with a kind of love that's made you his child the more you embrace your identity as God's beloved child the more you will live upon the goodness of your father's heart towards you and the more you will hate your sin and purify yourself from it the Puritan John Owen once asked if the love of a father will not make a child delight in him what will the father has loved you with an astonishing love and you see that's that's John the apostle's purpose here he knows how hard it is to keep our hearts hot after God he knows we we tend to cool I believe he knows that because of his own heart he is a man of like passions as we are and our love for Christ it knows waxing and waning it knows increase and decrease and and what's John after he's wanting to stir up the what does he do he says step aside and look at this amazing love of the father that has made you his child because that kind of love begets love that love of

[51:24] God the father will produce love to him in return we love him because he first loved us John will say in his this letter most high God and king of heaven we thank you that we can call you our father through the Lord Jesus Christ that he your perfect son has made us through the gospel his children thank you for this amazing love for another side of it would you win our hearts all over again captivate us hold us compel us in this vice grip of your love that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and rose again to make us your children thank you for sending him thank you for sending him to the cross for us for sending the spirit to our hearts to give us a new birth and thank you for adopting us into your family send us on our way in the joy of it and enable this world just knowing that our heavenly father loves us we pray in his in

[52:41]  Jesus name amen