1 John 3:1- 24
Saturday, 13 March 2021
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! -1 John 3:1 [NLT]
God’s love for us weren’t mere words but He expressed it by sending His only Son as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins that we would be forgiven and made right with Him! John 3:16 says “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Through Christ, we are adopted into God’s family and become His children— that’s a privilege like no other! “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26)
The Christian life is a process of becoming Christ-like every day. God desires that we become like His Son. When we have put our faith in Christ and allow ourselves to be purified, (1 John 3:3), we see the following traits in our life:
We have victory over sin. [Vs 4-10]
When people keep on sinning without any repentance, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. When we make mistakes occasionally is quite different from continuously practising a sin. Mistakes happen, for which we repent, confess and ask forgiveness but the latter is the work of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. They can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil giving us victory over sin.
We begin to love God and one another [Vs 10-18]
There is a difference between doing a work by love and doing a work by force. Where there is love there is motivation, where there is motivation it produces joy but a work achieved out of force produces no joy. When we realise the love of God the Father for us, we begin to love Him back and it is this love that generates fruitful works for Him. John 15:5 says “If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”
When we experience the love of God we start to love one another. We cannot be like Cain who hated his brother [v11] For it says in 1 John 4:8 – “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” So when we love one another it is the proof that God lives is us thus making his love complete in us.
We gain confidence before God [Vs 19-24]
Our conscience becomes clear allowing us to come to God without fear. For we may approach God in freedom and confidence through faith in Christ (Ephesians 3:12). Eventually we become confident that our requests will be heard. John reaffirms Jesus’ promise that whatever we ask for will be given to us (Mathew 7:7, John 9:31) because learn to ask according to His will.
The great love of God comes to people who are dead in trespasses and sins and who are His enemies, not His children, and makes them alive through Christ. Our self-worth is based on the fact that God loves us and calls us His children now. Knowing that we are His children should encourage us to live as Jesus did so that we may experience the victory, love and confidence. (Ref: NIV Study Bible)
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)