Christ: Do You Know Him?

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then we'll start reading God's word together.

1 John 2, verses 1-6.

1 John 2:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 2-6.

1 John 3:2–6

1 John 3, verses 1-6.

1 John 3:1–6

1 John 3, verses 2-6.

1 John 3:2–6

1 John 3, verses 1-7.

1 John 3:1–7

1 John 3, verses 1-7.

1 John 3:1–7

Amen. This week, we kind of had a big week as a family. We welcomed a new baby into our family.

And yeah, yeah. And as we did, yep, not clapping for me. I did nothing.

I did drive to the hospital. So that was a big achievement, driving to the hospital.

But as I was welcoming this new baby into our family, I was reflecting on what I've done well

as a parent and what I've done poorly as a parent. And I'll let you choose which column this falls in.

I was reflecting on the fact that I taught my youngest or my oldest to drive before he was three.

Now, before anyone gets really nervous, I taught him to drive in Alabama, where the road in front

of our house wasn't paved, had very little traffic. And as I was teaching him to drive, sitting on my

lap, I told him two things. Just keep it out of the ditches. Don't fall into the ditch on the right.

Don't fall into the ditch on the left. You might have heard something very similar when you learned

how to drive, whether that was at two or 12 or 16. Keep it in between the lines is another famous phrase.

But as I was teaching him how to drive, I wanted him to focus on what was ahead

and not worry about what was on the left and what was on the right.

First John has that same singular focus.

But when you enter into the conversation, what do you do with this thing that is sin?

Oftentimes, Christians can deviate and fall and slide into the ditch on the right

or slide in the ditch on the left.

And John knows this. And he's saying to these Christians, hey, sin is a big deal.

But don't think that you have no sin. He talked about that in 1 John.

And don't think that as you slide into the ditch on the right, that sin doesn't matter at all.

So as a Christian, that message is still pertinent to us today.

We need to be concerned about sin.

But we can't slide into either of those ditches.

And as we look at the Christian life this morning, let's be mindful of those two ditches.

And as we do, John's going to tell us a couple things.

The first one is what Jesus does.

And the other is what we do.

That's not to make them equitable or even.

But we do something.

But Jesus does something.

So first, we're going to look at what Jesus does in this passage.

Let's look back at verse 1.

He starts out with this phrase, my little children.

Now, I'm sure nobody remembers this past summer, the last time you looked at 1 John.

But John has a very different tone to start out for the first chapter of 1 John.

He's kind of railing against them.

He's giving them the business.

And then he comes back and he says, my little children.

Imagine going from yelling to speaking tenderly.

Or whisper yelling is probably more accurate.

To speaking very tenderly and calling them my little children.

It represents a shift in his tone.

Because he's addressing, if you remember, all these bad ideas that are in the church,

are floating around in the day,

or even had invaded some of the hearts of some of the people he's writing to.

And it was this idea that sin doesn't matter.

If you're a Christian, you don't have any sin at all.

Now, let that sink in.

If you're a Christian, you don't have any sin at all.

And John says, no.

That's not the case at all.

I mean, can you imagine if we said that if you're a Christian,

you don't have sin anymore at all?

The wheels in your mind might start turning and saying,

uh-oh, I'm in trouble.

Because I realize, even though if I put my faith in Jesus,

I'm still struggling with sin myself.

So what do I do?

If they're saying I shouldn't have sin anymore at all,

what do I do?

And then the next step is, oh yeah, man.

If that's the case, I'm just so discouraged I'm going to give up.

John's saying something different.

He's saying this, that Jesus is not only an advocate before the Father because you do sin,

but Jesus has paid the penalty for your sin,

for the sin of anybody that's going to believe in him.

So we're going to look at that in kind of two headings.

Jesus as an advocate and Jesus as the atonement.

That second part of verse one, right after my little children,

he says, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

Now that's even more confusing if we're saying,

hey, if you're a Christian, you should flee from sin,

but you're still going to have it.

John's saying very clearly that Jesus is this advocate before the Father.

He says that, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father,

Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Jesus Christ, I think we all have a good idea of what an advocate is,

but let's just review that for a second.

It's a little bit more than being really, really interested in something.

I can be really, really interested in astronomy.

If I get out my telescope and look at the night sky,

I can be really, really interested at baseball.

If I follow all the baseball games in the playoffs,

I can be really, really interested in dogs or Legos or Pokemon or whatever.

But an advocate is somebody who has a big interest

and then takes action on behalf of that interest.

So Jesus is not just interested in us as people,

as an academic exercise or even compassion.

He takes steps for our good

because he's not just simply interested in our outcome.

That's why John calls him an advocate.

An advocate, not just generally, but before the Father.

That's not the only picture that we have of Jesus as an advocate before the Father.

Listen to this.

Paul describes Jesus as an advocate interceding for us in Romans 8.

He says this,

Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

God is the one who justifies and asks again,

Who shall condemn the Christian?

It is Christ Jesus.

It is he who died, yes, rather raised,

who is at the right hand of God the Father,

who also intercedes for us.

So here we have this picture of a courtroom,

interceding on behalf of the person that's the defendant.

The charge is coming against that person,

and he's interceding before someone who's an authority.

That's not the only picture we have of Jesus as an advocate.

Think of Hebrews.

It's Jesus who's interceding,

bringing the cares and concerns of his people before the Father.

That's who Jesus is,

and that's what he does on our behalf.

He's an advocate interceding for us.

But why does he do that?

How does he have standing to intercede before the Father for us?

It's because he is the atonement.

He is the one who's doing the atoning work on our behalf.

Now that's just a really fancy word,

and John uses an even fancier word, propitiation,

for canceling the debt of our sin.

Look in verse 2 with me.

He is the propitiation for our sins,

and not for ours only,

but also for the sins of the world.

He has canceled the debt for our sin.

He has paid it with his own blood

by giving up his life,

the righteous for us, the unrighteous.

And so that charge stands no more.

That's how Jesus can intercede.

That's how he can advocate before the Father for us.

There's a French theologian who described it this way.

It's kind of wordy, but he says this.

There's great force in this word, propitiation.

For in a manner which cannot be expressed,

God at the very time when he loved us

was hostile to us

until we were reconciled in Christ.

Now that word is so interconnected in all of the Bible,

atonement.

When we hear it,

it might not jog our memories.

It might not cause us to have flashbacks.

But for an audience like this,

for people that heard this,

read this,

it did.

And this is what it looked like.

It's kind of like in those Marvel movies

where you see those flashbacks,

and you see the whole timeline come to fruition.

And that timeline looks like this.

It looks like the temple.

It looks like sacrifices.

All of those things

are jogging the memories of these readers.

It's things that were once dirty,

made clean,

made right before God.

It's pictures of Abraham,

and at the last second,

not his son being sacrificed,

but a lamb.

It's sheep being led to the slaughter.

Not because the sheep are guilty,

but because of another.

All the way to Christ,

the one who is righteous,

dying for the unrighteous.

When we hear that word,

that's what we should think of,

because that's what the readers thought of.

It's a word with baggage.

It's coming in with all these other meanings,

but finding their fulfillment

in what Jesus has done.

That's what atonement means.

That's what the sacrifice,

or John uses the shorthand version,

of the blood,

to mean all of that.

Jesus.

Jesus' blood means all of that.

All right.

There's an interesting phrase in here, though,

that probably a lot of our minds

go straight to in verse two.

But also for the sins of the whole world.

Okay.

Let's buckle up.

Let's put our big boy pants on

as we kind of like try to figure out

what's going on here.

Because some people can come to this text

and say,

surely that means everyone at all time

forever is forgiven.

And it could mean that.

But if you look at the context

most specifically,

and then more broadly what John does,

we're going to try to see if that's right.

Now, some have come to that text

and said,

hey, based on that,

everyone is saved.

It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter whether you have faith in Christ.

It doesn't matter whether you believe the gospel.

That Christ has died for that.

And that is applied to you

whether you believe it or not.

Whether you trust in it or not.

If you look at the context of what John is saying,

remember, he's calling them his children.

He's talking to those who have faith in Christ.

He says something a little bit different than that.

He's saying,

even if you think,

you skip down a couple chapters

or even a couple verses,

he's really concerned with what?

Walking in holiness

and believing the gospel.

If he's so concerned with those things,

it surely cannot mean that.

John will even say later

that some will not have eternal life

because they do not have the Father

because they deny the Son.

Think about that immediate context.

That if we keep his word,

we walk in him,

we abide in him,

that wouldn't matter

if we took the former.

So what is John saying?

John is saying this,

that it matters if you have faith in Jesus,

but it doesn't matter what you look like,

where you come from.

It doesn't matter if you're a Jew or Gentile,

male, female, or a child.

All types of people can come to him.

All types of people.

Jew or Greek.

The blood of Christ is for you.

The blood of Christ is for Rahab and Abraham.

It's for the judges,

even the really bad judges.

The blood of Christ is for them.

There's power in the blood

for the mighty kings and peasant girls,

for fishermen,

for those that would walk with Jesus

and those of us that come after him.

The blood is there for all of them.

It means the whole world,

all kinds of people during all times

can come to Christ.

The gospel is not just for them

and it's not just for us.

It's for all kinds of people.

That's what he means.

That's a good reminder for us

that the gospel is not just for us

at Shine Mountain.

It's not for us just in the springs.

It's not just for those of us

that are Americans.

It's not even for those of us

who have good theology

and think all the right things.

The gospel is for all people.

The power is not in our right thinking,

in our right living.

The power is in what Christ has done

and it applies to all of us

at all times.

That's a good reminder to us,

especially as Presbyterians,

because we can sometimes think,

if I think this way,

even if it is biblical,

even if it is right,

that's what saves me.

No.

Christ is what saves you

because you don't bring anything

to the table

except your own sin.

That's what John is talking about.

We are pardoned

by blood that does not discriminate.

We are pardoned

by blood

that is bought.

We are bought

by Christ.

We must be reminded of that.

I've spent a lot of time

over the last couple months

in courtrooms,

which is an interesting comparison

because I'm not a lawyer.

I don't know if you are,

but I've seen

some TV shows about lawyers.

And the thing

that makes lawyers powerful

is not what they look like,

although that can be a factor,

but I've spent a lot of time

with some people

that I work with

in courtrooms.

And as I have,

I've gotten to watch

different lawyers

and their different tactics.

What happens

at different kind of hearing?

I'm not even going to act

like I know everything

that happens,

but it's fascinating nonetheless,

especially when you come

to this idea in Scripture

that Jesus is interceding

before a judge.

on our behalf.

And the most interesting one

was when a man

who was in an orange jumpsuit,

so clearly not a lawyer,

interceded on his own behalf.

And he was powerful,

not because he was wearing

the orange Crocs

and orange jumpsuit,

and not because he was wearing

a fine suit.

He was powerful

because of his argument.

It's the same thing

with Jesus here.

The argument that Jesus makes

is powerful

before the Father

because of what Jesus

has done on our behalf.

And we should rest in that.

Because all of us

face this question

of what to do

with our sin.

If we believe

the ideas

that are swirling around

in John's time

that says,

we don't sin at all,

we err.

If we believe

some of the lies

that we hear

in our modern day

that say,

yeah, it's okay.

It's okay if you sin.

We err in another way.

We all have to deal

with our own sin,

but the gospel

gives us good

and gracious news.

It gives us confidence

because we have

an advocate

before the Father

who pleads

on our behalf

because of what

he has done.

That's what John

is telling us.

So what do we do

in response to that?

One,

we should worship him.

We should be thankful

for what Christ has done.

We should go to him

again and again

with our cares

because our temptation

is to shrink back

and say,

Jesus surely

can't understand

what I'm thinking

or going through.

But the irony in that

is Christ has

and he's come out

the other side perfect,

but he's still

compassionate towards us.

So we must worship him

and go to him

so that he can intercede

and advocate

before the Father

on our behalf.

What else?

We should be prompted

to tell others about this.

If there is truly goodness

in what has happened,

what has been done

on our behalf,

we should be prompted

to tell others,

the people that we work with,

the people in our homes,

even small children,

those awkward

family relationships

where there's a cost

to be lost.

Something that's surely

not going to be gained

by me telling others

about Christ.

I have to use my words.

I have to point to him

and say,

my life is better

because of Christ.

Not simply that,

my life has been changed

that I have confidence

as I walk

because of what Christ has done.

That should be our response

to Jesus

and what he has done

in our lives.

But what do we do?

We talked about

what Jesus does,

but what do we do?

Look with me at the text.

Look at verse 3.

And by this,

we know that we have

come to know him

if we keep his commandments.

Knowing him

is not some secret formula

or secret handshake

or a secret knowledge,

but it's a relationship

with Christ.

A relationship,

and John talked about

this earlier,

that if we have fellowship

with him,

if we have fellowship

with God,

we know that if we have fellowship,

and he kind of circles back

to this idea.

Thankfully,

we've had some time off

from 1 John

because 1 John

has a couple themes,

and all he does

is just repeat them

over and over,

which kind of seems boring

if you think about it.

But then,

if you realize

that as humans,

how many times,

even in the Gospel of Mark,

have we seen the same thing

over and over again,

just packaged in a different way

with different people?

And one of those themes

is having fellowship

with God.

And John returns

to it again.

He says,

if we have fellowship

with God,

we can know that.

How?

If we know

that we keep

his commandments.

It's important

that we remind ourselves

when we talk about this

that it's not prescriptive,

but it's instead descriptive.

I don't know God

because I keep

his commandments.

I know God

and in response,

I keep his commandments.

Those might seem

very similar,

but they're very different.

And as we approach

Reformation Day,

that's something

that Luther reminds us of.

John's not saying

keep the commandments

and you'll have

a relationship with God.

He's saying,

if you have a heart

that's changed

by what God has done,

what Christ has done

on your behalf,

then we will live

out of that.

And joyful obedience

will keep his commandments.

Jesus says this

another way,

that a tree

is known

by its fruit

or even another.

John says that

obedience

or somebody

writing about,

paraphrasing what

John has said,

he said,

obedience contributes

to our assurance

that we know

that we are in Christ

because my heart

is changed

and I want to

follow after him.

I want to do

what he loves

and I want to do

what he's told me

to do.

I don't know

about you

but when I hear that,

when I see this

in this text,

I go,

uh oh.

What about me?

Because I don't

obey perfectly.

What am I to do now

when I see

that I don't

keep his commandments?

Not even

for a nanosecond.

Does that mean

I'm truly a Christian?

Let's revisit

something that

John's told us

in chapter one.

He said,

if you say

that you have no sin,

you deceive yourself.

Okay,

I got that part.

I got sin.

So,

how do I know

that I'm a Christian?

There's evidence

of knowing

and loving God

and desiring

and having

some success

year after year,

week after week,

maybe even

day after day

in growing

of my ability

to keep the commandments,

of my joyful obedience

to his word.

Yes,

there will be mountains

and valleys in that.

Yes,

there will be times

when I fail

and fail big.

But,

year after year,

that's what it looks like.

Remember,

John is writing

to this group

of Christians

that's interacting

with these ideas

that say,

there is no sin

or sin doesn't matter.

And those keep coming up.

They're kind of lies

from the first chapter.

And John

re-kind of packages

one of those lies

here in verse four.

He says,

whoever says,

I know him

but does not

keep his commandments

is a liar

and the truth

is not in him.

He says,

if you have no care

for bringing honor

to Christ,

you need to question

if you actually

have faith in Christ.

He goes

on to correct

this way of thinking

in verse five.

He says,

but whoever keeps

his word

in him,

truly,

the love of God

is perfected.

And by this,

we may know

that we are in him.

He's reframing

what we've already heard

in verse three.

He says,

what does a Christian do?

It looks like this.

He keeps his commandments

and in doing so

demonstrates the love

that we have for Christ.

The love that we have

for the gospel

and that God

is working in our hearts.

That he is at work

in our lives.

Jesus says this

another way.

What does he say

to his disciples?

If you love me,

keep my commandments.

John's re-addressing

some of these challenges

that this church

was facing

in a number of churches.

Instead of knowing God,

they were saying

they abided with him,

that they lived in him,

but they had no concern

for what God

has concern for.

Instead,

one who is a follower

of Christ

has a relationship

with him,

lives with him,

loves what he loves.

Today,

if you love

the good news of Jesus,

our lives

should look

like what God

has called us to.

A concern for his commandments,

a love for his word,

a love for what is holy.

Why?

Because it brings honor

to God

and it shows

that there's a transforming

power at work.

the only reason

that we would love

those things

that are lovely to him

is because we see

with new eyes

because of our faith

in Christ.

That that message

has changed our heart

from the inside out.

It's not a rote obedience,

but instead,

a love for God

that begins internally.

That's really hard

to see the difference

sometimes.

It might look

a little different.

My obedience

to God's word

because of a transformed life

might look the same

as somebody

who just follows

this list of rules.

In Colorado Springs,

every September,

we have this event,

the hot air balloon launch.

It's pretty magical.

I hate to use that word,

but it's really cool.

And when you see

all those balloons lift off,

especially at nighttime,

what makes that hot air balloon

different though

than if I put a turkey fryer

underneath a plastic bag.

It has heat,

has a little bit of fire

sometimes,

and it has something

that can provide

some amount of lift.

Now that seems ridiculous,

right?

When we approach God's word,

when we approach his call

to obey his commandments,

it can seem

like those

are the same thing.

But in fact,

the world's apart.

A transformed heart

that lives in obedience

to the commandments

because of the gospel

looks fundamentally different.

It feels fundamentally different

internally

than one that says,

I'm doing these things

because I'm earning

the Lord's favor.

We have to stay away.

We have to be on guard

against that.

But Christ,

but the Lord,

nonetheless,

has called us

to love him

and obey his commandments.

And that's the challenge

for us as Christians.

So we are called

to examine our own hearts

and to see

if we're following

after Christ

because of a transformed life?

Or do I think

in the deep recesses

of my mind

and heart

that in fact,

I am making myself

more lovely

to Christ

because brothers and sisters,

that can never happen.

You are altogether lovely

because of what Christ has done,

not because

of anything that you do

or fail to do.

We are lovely

because Christ

has seen us as lovely

because Christ

has given

of his own life.

So we are called

to look inwardly,

look in our own hearts

and see

if that has happened.

To see if we live

out of that

or do we live

out of just

a mere obedience

because we view

the Lord

as a taskmaster

instead of

a joyful father

who looks on us

as we are clothed

with Christ.

Look today

at your own heart.

Do I follow

after Christ?

Do I love him?

And do I love him

and do I share

that love with others?

Is my heart

overflowing

because of what

he has done?

Am I seeking

out opportunities

to advance

his kingdom?

Whether that's

in my own home,

my own neighborhood,

or where I work?

Sadly,

too often,

the answer is no.

But today,

look to Christ.

Look

to share

that love

with others

because of what

he has done

for you

and those around you.

No matter

what your life

looks like,

no matter

where you've

come from

or where you're

going,

Christ calls

you to himself

and calls

others to himself.

Let's pray.

Lord,

we're thankful

this day

of the good news

of Christ.

We're thankful

that if we walk

in the way

that you have

called us,

we pray

that you might

fit us

for the task

because without

your spirit,

without your

transforming power,

it's impossible.

We pray

that you would

allow us

to look

in our hearts

and confirm

that it's true.

And Father,

that we would

be assured

of your work

in our lives,

that we'd be

encouraged

by what Christ

has done.

And Father,

that we would

be prompted

to go out

and share that

with others.

Father,

we pray

that as we

follow Christ,

that we would

flee from sin

and that

we would

be reminded

that our sin

is remembered

no more.

We pray

this in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Let's stand

as we sing

our closing hymn

this morning.