Prove It 3 // 1 John 3
A message by Pastor Mark Jordan
Last Week
We tend to set smokescreens and spring our own traps when we think we are immune to
sin.
God’s Law of Love calls us to put Him first and not our self-centered sinfulness
Who — and Whose — We Are
1 John 3:1 (NLT) | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children,
and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we
are God’s children because they don’t know him.
We are God’s children when we accept Jesus and commit to living for the Lord.
John 1:13 tells us that we are born again of God as opposed to human passion or
plan.
Last week we also looked at John 13:34, where Jesus gave us His commandment
to love
Today, I want to reflect on John 13:35 where Jesus said others will know who we
are — and whose we are — by how we love one another.
Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
11-14 (NLT) | 11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love
one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his
brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his
brother had been doing what was righteous. 13 So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and
sisters, if the world hates you. 14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers it
proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.
Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, but dead people live.
[Ezekiel 18:4 and 32, “Behold, all souls are mine…the soul who sins shall die. For
I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and
live.”]
Cain killed his brother Able, primarily out of pride and jealousy, because God
accepted Able’s sacrifice but not Cain’s. (Gen.4)
Genesis 4:6-7 (NLT) | 6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look
so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is
right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must
subdue it and be its master.”
God asked Cain where Abel was, and Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The correct answer was, YES!
For Him and Them
16, 19-20 (NLT) | 16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So
we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters….19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
John’s point here is that Jesus gave up His life for us, His brothers and sisters since
we are children of God.
Our identifier isn’t in genetics, but a willingness to obey God
This is true despite our feelings
CS Lewis, “The great thing is that though our feelings come and go, God’s love for
us does not.”
What Are We to Do?
v.23 (NLT) | And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
Believe
Love
Live
Reflection Questions
- How did you find yourself reflecting this past week on the idea of how we make
smokescreens and spring our own traps when trying to hide our sin? - One of John’s central themes from his gospel to the letters is how we can be children of
God. What is required? How does this happen? - God wants us to take some responsibility for our brothers and sisters in the faith. How is
this contrasted with the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4? What lesson(s) are we to
glean? - It’s been said before that Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good people, but to make
dead people what? What does that mean? - What is the commandment we read about in 1 John 3:23? What should that do in our
lives?