Family Portrait - 3
Introduction
1 John 3:1-2 "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. 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." (NIV)
We are the family of God - we are in the portrait. There are places one can go to have their portrait made that makes them look different or sometimes even better. There are those places that make pictures called “glamor shots’. There are places where you can dress up in western or twenties or 1800’s costumes. All of these places make you look different than you really are.
In God’s family portrait we are seen as we really are. God’s family portrait shows our behavior - what are we really like? It has been said that “you are what you are when no one else is around”. For sure we must be careful that our behavior reflects our beliefs. “Talking the walk is easy, it is walking the talk that is necessary.” This portrait tells all who sees that we are in the Family.
Birth - Belonging - Behavior:
Three parties are affected by our behavior in the family: God the father - Other family members - Our own lives.
A staff member at a world renown church -Arrested for 7 counts of sodomy with 6-9 year olds. God’s eye was blackened! His church maligned! His wife a champion - stood tall through it all. He made spiritual progress, but a little late! Our behavior is so important, The real person comes out in the picture.
“Candid Camera”
“Caught on Video”
“America’s Funniest Videos”
These programs were geared to reveal how we act in the most unusual circumstances. They really showed us what and who we really are. Our family portrait shows us who we really are in these three areas:
Sin - Saints - Sacrifice
John mentions in chapter three Our behavior reflects our family heritage by our
I. Association with Sin
1 John 3:2 NIV "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."
When we talk of our association with sin we are not speaking of being a good association but one to be avoided Our lives have contact with sin early in development. John explains the believers relationship to sin. Sin here is the performance of a transgression. There is the carrying of sins penalty
1 John 3:5 NIV "But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin."
John 1:29 NIV "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
A. What is sin’s penalty?
1. Wages of sin
(Rom 6:23 NIV) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The wages of sin have never been reduced -zingers, p.286
2. Wretchedness of sin:
Rom 6:19 NIV "I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness."
B. Wonderful work of the Savior:
2 Cor 5:21 NIV "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
At Calvary, Christ crossed out our sins. Zingers, p.288
1. Conversion from sin’s power
1 John 3:8 NIV "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."
1. Delivered from darkness
Col 1:13 NIV "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,..."
2. Destroy works of the devil
Rom 6:12 NIV "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."
3. Continuance in sins practiced
1 John 3:9 NIV "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."
Frequency is not the issue. John MaCarthur says this verse does not speak of frequency. A believer should never forget the value of grace.
Psa 130:3 KJV "If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?"
Besetting is not the issue. Each one has a particular sin.
A personal battle.
A private weakness.
Hebrews 12:2
Sorrow and desire are the issue.
Spurgeon said our attitude toward sin should be: A hatred for sin - A sense of shame - A longing to avoid.
If our association with sin is not on this order we better examine ourselves. Not only does our association with sin enter in but also our:
II. Attitude toward the Saints
1 John 3:10 NIV "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."
1 John 3:11 NIV "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another."
Since we are in the portrait we must all be related - we are all in the family.
A. Families love one another.
Family meaning: A family is warmth when the world seems cold. It is the core around which nations are built; the foundation of all great societies. It’s loving around the dinner table, pride in sharing the same church pew. A family is friendship under one roof; a mother cooking and baking with her girls at her elbows helping; a father in his barns or fields with his sons (and daughters and wife) helping get the work done. A family is a dog and cats, even rabbits, birds and goats, anything the family is able to love, share, and enjoy. A family is a cheering section when any one of them is a winner and a soother and encourager when the cause seems lost. A family shares hope and dreams, tears and smiles, frowns and gladness. A family allows each member to be his or her own individual self. No one who is a member of a family is alone. A family is a village in heaven right here on earth. Scrapbook, p. 70
B. Love is seen in our behavior in common things with one another
Acts 4:32 NIV "...all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had."
We have a common:
Faith - Bible - Savior - Enemy - Battle - Fears - Sorrows - Joys
The word “common” means “shared by all. We have committed ties with one another.
A friend is one who helps you bridge the gaps between loneliness and fellowship, frustration and confidence, despair and hope, setbacks and success. Zingers, p113
Our greatest wealth is not measured in terms of riches but relationships. Zingers, p 113
So we see that our behavior is in our:
Association with sin
Attitude toward the saints
III. Approach Toward Sacrifice
1 John 3:16 NIV "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us."
A. Time
When I have the time
When I have time so many things I’ll do
To make life happier and more fair
For those whose lives are crowded now with care’
I’ll help to lift them from their low despair
When I have time
When I have time the friend I love so well
Shall know no more these weary, toiling days,
I’ll lead her feet in pleasant paths always
And cheer her heart with words of sweetest praise,
When I have time
When you have time! The friend you hold so dear
May be beyond the reach of all your sweet intent;
May never know that you so kindly meant
To fill her life with sweet content
When you had time
Now is the time! Ah, friend, no longer wait
To scatter living smiles and words of cheer
To those around whose lives are now so drear;
They may not need you in the coming year,
Now is the time! Heart Blessing, p. 93
B. Treasure
1 John 3:17 NIV "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"
How are you doing in the family? The portrait shows who we really are. I have seen old photographs that have been torn. A person had lost their standing and was taken out. That will never happen in God’s family. Do not be a disgrace.