Living in the Light of God's Love - A Study of 1 John. Lesson Four - Walking Secure as a Child of God 1. There are so many messages grabbing for our attention, what assurance can any of us have that we’ll make it through this life with our faith intact? John gives us powerful reason for confidence today. 1 John 2:28-29 28 So now, dear children, remain in him so that we may be confident when he appears and may be unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, then you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 2. When people we care about show up, we tend to care what they think of us to a certain extent. Ever have someone show up unexpectedly, and you were not doing what you were supposed to be doing? How did that feel? 3. How can we be confident and unashamed when Jesus appears? 4. Which is it - Have you been born of Jesus, or do you need to be born of Jesus? 1 John 3:1-3 See the kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! The world does not know us, because it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, we are children of God now, but what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed we will be like him, and we will see him as he really is. 3 Everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as Jesus is pure. 5. Identity is a funny thing. The question “who am I?” could be answered countless ways. How important is it to have a good answer to the question “Who am I?” 6. So, right now, how in the world do you answer this incredibly complex question: Who am I? 7. “We are called children of God.” Who is John talking to? Are all people everywhere children of God?
8. God’s love makes you a child of God. But if God hates what is evil, and you do evil things at times, how can you be sure you are a child of God? 9. Ever think you knew someone, then they said or did something to show you that your assumption about who they were was wrong? 10. In what ways does the world think it knows who you are, but actually gets it dead wrong? 11. “What we will be has not yet been revealed.” So, what will we be when Jesus is revealed? 12. Seeing Jesus as he is has the power to transform people. Which of the following options explains it best: a. When someone sees Jesus as he is, they pass the test that Jesus requires, and he finally lets them become like him. b. When someone sees Jesus as he is, they are so blown away by his beauty and power and strength that they cannot help but become beautiful, powerful, and strong. c. When someone sees Jesus as he is, they then gain a kind of knowledge which makes them super-smart and intelligent like Jesus is. d. When someone sees Jesus as he is, their personality gets absorbed in his like a drop of water being absorbed in the ocean. 13. But we can’t see Jesus as he is; not fully, not yet. Isn’t that a bummer? Not really, because John points out that even the hope of seeing Jesus already begins a purifying process. Can you share any examples of how seeing Jesus purified a certain attitude, motivation, or desire in you? 1 John 3:4-6 4 Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away our sins and in him there is no sin. 6 Anyone who remains in him does not sin. The person who keeps on sinning has not seen him or known him.
14. Sin is lawlessness. What does that mean? Pick your favorite of the following options: e. Sin only happens when people honestly don’t know God’s laws.
f.
Sin involves destroying God’s law. Eventually, with enough sin, God’s law will be broken beyond repair.
g. Sin is a lack of right understanding of how good God’s law truly is for humans; along with an active bias against God’s law in preference of one’s own opinions and desires. h. To sin a person has to first become a really bad, terrible, “lawless” kind of human. Most people don’t get to that point. 15. Ok, here’s one of those phrases, “Anyone who remains in him does not sin.” Have you sinned today? Does that mean that you do not remain in him and are not a child of God right now? 1 John 3:7-10 7 Dear children, do not let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what is right is righteous just as Jesus is righteous. 8 The one who continues to sin is of the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared: to destroy the works of the Devil. 9 Nobody who has been born of God continues to commit sin, because God’s seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how the children of God and the children of the Devil are obvious: Everyone who does not do what is right is not from God, along with everyone who does not love his brother. 16. List some people from whom you have learned how to do something useful: 17. List the person from whom you have learned how to do what is right: 18. I thought Jesus appeared to save people? Why does John say he appeared for a different reason in verse 8? 19. John really hammers on this point: If someone continues to sin; they are children of the devil. If someone continues to do what is right; they are children of God. Why place such emphasis on what we do? Aren’t we saved by what Jesus has done for us?