Family Resemblance
Genuine Christianity • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction:
Family resemblance is a powerful evidence of family relationships. Children almost always look like their parents, think like their parents, talk like their parents, and act like them. You see, it’s in the genes. It is simply who they are.
The children of God are no different. Those who know God as Father are destined to look like the Savior, think like the Savior, talk like the Savior, and act like the Savior. You see, it’s in the genes because, as 1 John 2:29 teaches, we have been born of Him, born again, born from above.
As children of God, we have been adopted into His family and called to be like Him. Our Father desires us to bear His image and reflect His character to the world. In this passage, the apostle John reminds us of what we are, what we shall be, and what we should be as children of God.
Point 1: What we are (v. 1)
John begins by reminding us of our identity as children of God. Many translators add a phrase to 1 John 3:1: “That we should be called the children of God, and we are.” “Children of God” is not simply a high-sounding name that we bear; it is a reality! We are God’s children! We do not expect the world to understand this thrilling relationship, because it does not even understand God. Only a person who knows God through Christ can fully appreciate what it means to be called a child of God.
And so, we are not just ordinary people, but we have been born again into God's family through faith in Jesus Christ. As children of God, we bear His image and reflect His character to the world.
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
In Romans 8 Paul uses adoption to illustrate the believer’s new relationship with God. When a child gets adopted by their new parents they will eventually begin to act and imitate their parents. An adopted child can gain all rights as a legitimate child in his new family. When we become a child of God we gain the same privileges of God’s family.
Whether we are born by blood or whether we are an adopted child we can still have the privileges of being in the family.
The visible proof of being a Christian is godly behavior. Many people do good deeds but don’t have faith in Jesus Christ. Others claim to have faith but rarely produce good deeds. A deficit in either faith or right behavior will be a cause for shame when Christ returns.
Faith always precedes behavior, but right behavior will always follow faith. Our lives, as children of God, will resemble the character of our Father. Our practice is proof of our parentage. The righteous Father produces righteous children. The righteous Savior produces righteous saints.
True faith will always results in good deeds, those who claim to have faith and who consistently do what is right are true believers. We know that good deeds cannot produce salvation (Eph. 2:8-9) but they are a necessary proof that true faith is actually present (James 2:14-17).
This means that we should strive to live in a way that honors God and brings glory to His name.
Point 2: What we shall be (v. 2)
First John 3:1 tells us what we are and 1 John 3:2 tells us what we shall be. The reference here, of course, is to the time of Christ’s coming for His church. This was mentioned in 1 John 2:28 as an incentive for holy living, and now it is repeated.
John is reminding us of our future hope as children of God. When Christ returns, we will see Him and become like Him. This means that we will be transformed into His likeness and given new, glorified bodies that are suited for eternity in heaven.
I want you to imagine a family reunion, the laughter, the catching up. I believe when we get to heaven it will be a huge family reunion with God’s family. When we all get to heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory!
We must not worry about what the world may think of us and how we live our lives as children of God. We must hold true to our convictions that our being God’s children is not a matter of opinion, dependent upon the world’s vote, but a matter of fact, flowing from the love we receive from the Father.
When Christ comes what will it be for you? Will you be: confident or cowardly excited or embarrassed thrilled or timid rejoicing or regretful? Hebrews 9:28 says, “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
Point 3: What we should be (v. 3)
But the apostle does not stop there at what we shall be! He has told us what we are and what we shall be. Now, in 1 John 3:3, he tells us what we should be. God saved us not just to take us to heaven. He saved us to make us like Jesus. John says it is a signed, sealed and settled issue in heaven. In view of the return of Jesus Christ, we should keep our lives clean.
We should purify ourselves, just as Christ is pure. This means that we should strive to live in a way that reflects His character and bears His image. We should put away sin and all of its effects, and we should pursue righteousness and godliness in all that we do. As we do this, we will begin to resemble our heavenly Father and reflect His love to the world around us.
I pray that we will be determined to make our claim as God’s children with such a demonstration with our oneness of nature with Christ our Savior to have the mind of Christ, to be humble, to be a servant like Christ so that by God’s blessing we will overcome some of the world’s unbelief and lead others to the love of Christ. May we invite them to come to taste and see how good the Lord is.
As believers, our self-worth is based on the fact that God loves us and calls us his children. We are his children now, not just sometime in the distant future. Knowing that we are his children should encourage us to live as Jesus did.
All this is to remind us of the Father’s love. Because the Father loved us and sent His Son to die for us, we are children of God. Because God loves us, He wants us to live with Him one day. Salvation, from start to finish, is an expression of the love of God. We are saved by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8–9; Titus 2:11–15), but the provision for our salvation was originated in the love of God. And since we have experienced the love of the Father, we should not desire to live in sin.
An unbeliever who sins is a creature sinning against his Creator. A Christian who sins is a child sinning against his Father. The unbeliever sins against law; the believer sins against love. Hope for the future will produce holiness in the present. Be heavenly minded. It is the only way to be of any earthly good.
Conclusion:
To become like Jesus is the best thing in the world worth pursuing, for every other passion and ambition pales in comparison and is pure folly. Nicholas Von Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravians said it well, “I have one passion only: It is He [Jesus]! “We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is!”
The Lord will return to gather those who have been born into the family of God. Do you have a family resemblance? Will you be prepared to face Him with assurance on that day?