Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for
being with me today.
As we go through
the Easter Season, our Epistle lessons will all come from 1 John. We remember
that John was the only apostle to witness Jesus’ crucifixion, and he was one of
the two who ran to the tomb to investigate Jesus’ resurrection. He was also
part of Jesus’ inner circle of His three closest disciples. The Holy Spirit
gave John some pretty important things to say to us.
You should know
that we will not read all of 1 John in church, but I certainly encourage you to
take up this short letter and read it on your own.
Let’s read the
lesson appointed for the 3rd Sunday of Easter, it is …
The Reading: (1 Jn. 3:1-7
ESV)
See what kind of love the Father has
given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The
reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;
but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him
as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as
he is pure.
4
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is
lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins,
and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on
sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is
righteous, as he is righteous.
Comments
This
reading begins with a statement of amazement. “See what kind of love the Father
has given to us….” The starting place in our relationship with God is that He
loves us. He calls us his children, and that is a blessed relationship. My wife
and I have five children, but we also have a couple semi-adopted children.
These are friends of our children who are often at our home. They eat with us
regularly, spend the night here, and are a regular part of our lives. We love
them, even though they are not biologically our children. Well, God love us as
a parents love their children – better than parents love their children because
He isn’t sinful – and He welcomes us into His family as His children … children
that He created and redeemed. That is something worth being amazed at.
Our
identity is changed in Jesus. You see, unlike my kids’ friends whom we’ve
semi-adopted, God fully adopts us and brings us into His family. He lets us
know Him differently, more fully. He changes our future giving us promises of
resurrection and glory. “We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not
yet appeared; but we know that when Jesus appears we will be like him.” We will
be holy, alive forever, and like our Lord and God, Whom we will actually see –
something we cannot do now.
And
we should be clear, this adoption into God’s family changes us. It changes our
behaviors, our opinions, and our ideas. We begin to recognize that there is
such a thing as sin, an open lawlessness and rebellion against God … against
our Father who loves us. Sin is what we’ve been rescued from. Sin is what Jesus
has taken away and nailed to the cross for us. God does not sin, and neither
should His children.
Now,
we know that we sin. We should also know that the devil will use that fact to
make us doubt whether God loves us, and if we are truly His children. So don’t
let this passage get twisted to frighten you or make you doubt Jesus’ love for
you. Our righteousness is rooted in Jesus’ forgiveness. We are declared holy
because Jesus has taken our sins away. So as people who have become righteous
in Jesus we hope in Him and purify our lives because He is pure. We practice
righteousness because he is righteous.
I
have noticed in my life that it doesn’t take much for my house to get messy.
Even if no one enters the room, dust will settle on the furniture and it will
need to be cleaned eventually. House cleaning is a regular practice. The same
is true in our lives – it doesn’t take much for them to get messy. We purify
ourselves because we’re always becoming impure. This isn’t a one-and-done
situation. We can’t purify ourselves – our behaviors, our language, our
thoughts, and then never have to purify them again. We practice righteousness, because
we have not perfected righteous living. And this is all a response to the fact
that God loves us and adopts us.
Meditate
on this today: God loves you and has made you his child. How should we live in
response to that love? Let’s purify ourselves – seek to live according to God’s
will – and practice righteousness – living as forgiven children of God.
Prayers
Let’s pray.
O God, You have
loved us and adopted us, so now, in response to Your love, we want to live pure
and righteous lives. Thank You for loving us. Thank You for making us Your
children. Forgive us for not living like we are Your children, though. Forgive
us for behaving like lawless, disobedient, children. Shape us with Your love,
and help us to purify our lives because we love You. Help us to practice
righteousness – living as forgiven children, and extending Your forgiveness,
mercy, and love to others. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Memory Verse: 1 John 3:1 - See what kind of love the Father
has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The
reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 Jn. 3:1
ESV)
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
Would you do me a
favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
share it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you do social media? That would help
me get the word out, and hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to others.
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God bless you!
Comments