September 19
________________________________________ THE CHILDREN OF GOD & THE WORLD
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and 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 sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. – 1 John 3:1-10
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In this account, John focuses on the children of God and how the Father has shown so much love for them. John explains the reason why the world doesn’t recognize the people of God. They do not understand the hope that God’s people have because they do not belong to the Lord. Everyone who fixes their eyes on Jesus become cleansed. Because Jesus is pure, they themselves become clean. He came to free us from sin.
John, once again warns God’s people to ensure that they are not deceived. As long as they abide in Jesus, they will be righteous because He Himself is righteous. However, those who practice sin is of the devil for that is what he does from the start. The purpose of Jesus’ coming is to oppose the devil’s works. The children of God do not make a practice of sinning but the devil’s children do what their father does, they lie and sin habitually. The clear manifestation of God’s children is their holy lives. They don’t ever want to displease God by disobeying Him. Instead, they practice righteousness and follow Jesus. They love their brothers and they follow Jesus’ footsteps. The ones who sin continually do not have God’s righteousness in them
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REFLECTION
• How do you differentiate the world from God’s children? What makes them so different from one another