Oh, How He Loves You and Me

A Study of 1 John

“Oh How He Loves You & Me!

Chapter Three

 

From the last chapter, one of the points to remind ourselves of before we continue came from 1 John 2:27 where it tells us we have the Holy Spirit to guide us -- That unction is available to us in our daily walks

• That charisma
• That physical refreshment
• God's Oil of Joy
• God's Oil of Grace
• God's Oil of Gladness which brings us that JOY and undeserving GRACE  
   

1. WE ARE HIS
   1^st John 3:1-3
   Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God: Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and has not yet been revealed what we shall be: but we know that, when He is revealed, we shall be like Him for we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
    
   What a great promise to us: WE ARE HIS. If the time was ever right to review what's about to come for the Christian it's not only that we are His right now but also the promise of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for His church -- you and me.
    
   We can't even begin to fathom just exactly what that manner of God's love for us entails except that we can know without a shadow of doubt that we ARE His sons and daughters. We have become strangers to the world because even while we are here, the world is not our home. Our homes (our mansions) are being prepared for us right now.
    
   Again, what manner of love does HE have for us?

• Enough to call us his children (his sons and daughters -- part of his family -- HE is our father)  
• Because of His love for us we do not have to be part of the world; the world cannot claim us and pull us toward it if we don’t allow it; we can be separated from the things of the world
• Now that we are the children of God He is making us into something beautiful -- we are only beginning to see that beauty that is happening to us from inside out  

It encourages us that we are not only part of something beautiful, God has marvelous, special, and amazing blessings for us here and come eternity. (We remember He gives us Life and that more abundantly) It teaches us that God can be reflected through our lives and how our life in Christ is a process that is not complete until we meet Him face-to-face

 

• He is revealing to us that we, as believers, can see Him spiritually, we know Him, we do recognize Him. The world that cannot understand the things of the spirit does not see Him spiritually, know Him, or even recognize Him. (the Bible tells us the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit)  Sooner than we think the Lord shall appear in the clouds in the rapture and when he draws us up to meet Him in the clouds, and we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.

Philippians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Galatians 4:6-7, Romans 8:114-17, Galatians 3:26

 

What else is God asking us in these verses? to be content, to walk by faith, to become comfortable being a child of God while we wait for that day and hour. And as we read again in verse three of this chapter: And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

 

Question: Am I willing to purify myself for him: How shall I go about this?

 

One way is by always watching for his return. Choose to make yourself ready. He wants us to be ready. Keep our lamps lit at all times -- don't become as the bride whose oil ran out before her bridegroom came for her.

 

We know there is only one GOD, but the world has its own gods. In Psalm 115:1-8 we read this:

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles (the heathen) say about us, "So where is their God? 

We say otherwise: …our God is in the heaven: He does whatever He pleases.  The world shows us their ways: Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hand mutters. They have mouths, but they do not speak: eyes they have, but they do not see: They have ears, but they do not hear: noses they have, but they do not smell: They have hands, but they do not handle: feet they have, but they do not walk: nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them, so is every one who trusts in them.

 

We can see how the world is becoming

like the worldly gods they serve.

 

Question: Is the Lord God of heaven your guiding principle?  How do youdaily make the choice to become more like the God you serve?   

 

A.        Do we take the time to understand fully what a Privilege it is to make him the principle focus of our lives every day

1 Corinthians 1:9; Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 3:26-27; Galatians 4:6, 7

 

B.        Do we take pleasure in those awesome Fellowship moments we can have with our Heavenly Father at any time of the day or night. It is really up to us

 

1. Considering that Three-Letter Word
   1 John 3:4-8
   Whosoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness and you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifest that He might destroy the works of the devil.
    

Application Bible

There is a difference between committing a sin and continuing in that sin.

 

            A. What It Is

The meaning of sin is (Hamartia) NOT A WITNESS. So anytime we think or act in a way that is not being a good witness to or for God we are committing sin. We don’t always go out to do this, but we also know that while we are in this tent of flesh, there is not a 24 hour period where sin is not present in our lives? We need only read the first chapter of Genesis to understand when the fall of man came. We can thank Adam and Eve for that. God already knew they would fall but it was the fact that they made a choice to sin. God said "Do not"  Satan said "Do"

And they DID.

 

Question: Consider a particular time when God made it clear to you "Do not do this" and you felt on the other side of your mind "Go ahead do this"  How did you respond?

 

B.        What Sin Does

Sin takes us out of fellowship with God. Continuing in sin keeps us out of fellowship with God. Choosing to make a habit out of our sin makes it harder to go to the Lord to seek forgiveness, to even confess our sin -- to repent and turn around.  Definitely hard to conquer no matter how religious we think we are. In other words we find ourselves in opposition to our Lord

 

C.        How We Conquer It

Jesus already did.  He became our lamb ithout blemish. He offered his life as a sacrifice for our sins. When he dided on the cross he said it is finished. He lived a life perfectd. He said father forgive them they know not what they do.  And our part? Go to Him, confess our sin to Him, Ask Him for forgiveness. Turn around and go the other way.

 

James 4:8; I Timothy 5:22

 

Question: How do you deal with habits, temptations, and areas in your life that are hard to conquer?            

1. The Dominate Factor in Our Life
   1 John 3:9-12
   Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 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, that 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.
    
   To be born of God, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and gives us new life. Our rebirth gives us a fresh start. We start fresh, cleansed from that sin that was our life. His seed is in us. God justifies us (shows us how to stand strong) and he sanctifies us (sets us apart from the world
   for His use)
    
   Back in verses 7 and 8 it speaks about how He destroys the works of the devil. There is such a difference between Jesus Christ and the enemy. Light to Darkness, Night to Day.
    
   Christ

• No sin
• Omnipotent eternal
• Is God
• Is all powerful
• Is omnipresent
• Perfectly Obedient
• Came to overcome the evil one
• Victorious
• Incorruptible
   
  The Enemy

• Full of sin
• Not eternal will be destroyed in the end
• Is the root of Rebellion
• No power in him (he's a worm)
• Unlike God can only be in one place at a time
• Totally seditious
• Came to destroy the righteous
• Defeated
• Corrupt
   
  How does His seed remain in us? By choosing and living our lives in Christ. By choosing the Lord over the enemy.

1. That God given Love
   Verses 11- 12 speaks to the difference between the works of Christ which fills us with the message to love on another and the message of the enemy which tries to convince and connive us into taking way of Cain.
    
   Cain:

• selfish,
• prideful
• went the opposite way of doing a righteous deed
• disobedient
• brought God displeasure
   
  Abel:

• unselfish
• humble
• Chose the righteous path
• Obedient to God's request
• Brought God pleasure by his faithful deed 
   
  Other comparisons as are brought out by Warren Weirsbe in his book Be Real: The differences between the Old Nature and the New Nature
   
  Old Nature

• Our old man (Romans 6:6)
• The flesh (Galatians 5:24)
• Corruptible Seed (1 Peter 1:23)
   
  New Nature

• The new man (Colossians 3:10)
• The Spirit (Galatians 5:17
• God's Seed (1 John 3:9)
   
  IV. The Continued Outworking of the Love of God
  1 John 3:13-24
  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 murder, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this 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 this 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. And we shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemns us God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence toward God and whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment.
   
  A.        Love from Our Heart
  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.
   
  The Christian life filled with love teaches us about the joy of service, a bit of personal sacrifice for the sake of doing unto others, seeking to bless others, and to be a blessing, doing something from the issue of the heart over doing something simply because it is a duty or is expected, it is the opposite of indifference (we see that once again by looking at the contrast between Cain and Abel)
   

Our relationship with others is an outgrowth of our relationship with God

 

Ephesians 4:8, Luke 10:25-37 (Good Samaritan)

 

By this we know love, because He laid down his life for us.

 

Question: How can we lay down our lives for one another?

 

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And we shall assure our hearts before him

 

And this would be by serving one another without expecting ANYTHING in return. Without seeking recognition. Without going out of our way to have others see what we've done.

 

 

Ephesians 5:28 Having the desire to do a kind deed to those who are genuinely in need

Galatians 6:10 From our hearts doing good to those especially of the Christian faith

 

Much of this chapter really speaks for itself. We could go through it personally line  by line, and God would have a nugget that would minister just to us. I hope you will take the time to do a line by line reflection in your studies this week.

 

1. If you had a chance to read through this ahead of time, what scripture ministered to you already and how?

 

2. To think about this week: What are ways you can show others you do have confidence in the Lord today, and will tomorrow, and throughout the next several days?

 

A quick look back

 

1. God shows us in this chapter how He is our Father and we are His Children. How do we as Children of God overcome the desires of our OLD NATURE?

2. What does God mean by Justification and Sanctification?

3. We reviewed the contrasts between our Lord and the enemy -- about Cain and Abel -- about the Old Nature and the New Nature.

4. When you consider our Lord what is the first thing that comes to your mind and heart?

5. When you think of Abel and the kind of man he was, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

6. What do you hope to take away with you upon reading and studying this chapter today?

Some of my sources for this study were gleaned from

 Be Real  by Warren Weirsbe

and from The Application Bible

 

 

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