Sojourn New Albany Podcast

First, because of his past actions

Second, because of his present gift

Third, because of his motives

Explanation -- One of the most foundational teachings in the Scriptures is that there is a God and he is active in this world.  This is evident in that God has made the world.  Now contrary to the understanding of some, the God revealed in the Bible created the world and everything in it and he is still involved and active in this world.  

I have mentioned before that for the majority of my life my father was not a Christian.  When I was young, my dad considered himself a deist, which means that he would have acknowledged that there was a creator but he operated much like a watchmaker.  A watchmaker like the name suggests makes a watch and the watchmaker sets the time of the watch and then lets the watch do its thing.  But if you wear a watch or you know someone who wears a watch, the watchmaker is not directly involved in your life. The watchmaker makes the watch, sets the watch, and lets you deal with the watch afterwards but is not directly involved in your life as a watch wearer or whatever you would call that person.  So in the deist understanding of the world, the creator made the world, set the order and patterns in the world, and then let humanity get on with living life without any direct involvement from the creator.  Or sometimes depending on the person, the creator may become involved in the life of humans, oftentimes during times of great crisis.  

In the event that you didn’t already know this, that is not what is revealed in the Scriptures about the Triune God.  As revealed in Scripture, the God of the Scriptures made the world.  He has ordered the world so that gravity works in a certain manner, humanity uses oxygen, plants use carbon dioxide, the earth spins around the sun, and so on. But as revealed in the Bible, the Triune God is active in the world.  He doesn’t just create the world and move on to let you deal with the created order, but he is involved in the world in real time and real space.  There are times when God’s actions are behind the scenes and are not immediately evident.  But there are distinct times when his actions are visible, tangible, and evident.  

In fact, one of these actions, Christians believe and declare is the most significant action in history.  That is when God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, known as the Lord Jesus Christ, enters into human history with a purpose given to him by God the Father.  Look with me at verse 14, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. “

Here the apostle John states that he as an apostle has seen and testifies to this event, the sending of God the Son, the Lord Jesus, by God the Father, to be someone by doing something.  To be the Savior of the world.  The Lord Jesus does this by being born in Bethlehem, living in the land of Israel, dying on a cross, and being raised from the dead.  The Lord Jesus was a man that the apostle John knew personally, lived with him, followed him around, and witnessed his resurrection from the dead.  And John told others about this or as he says in verse 14, “And we have seen and testify.”  From his perspective and ours, these were past actions.  

Illustration -- None

Argument --  And these were past actions that our Triune God did for humanity in general but us in particular.  In this verse we see that God the Father in the past planned to save us.  In another place in Scripture the Father set us apart to be adopted as his children.  God planned in eternity past to send the Son into the world.  God in the past made many promises to send the Son.  And he made good on his promises.  God the Father is a promise-keeping God.  What he said he would do is what he did.  The Father sent the Son.  Our sins is a problem that God took upon himself to develop the plan and to execute that plan.  

Not only this, but God the Son implemented the plan of God the Father to save us.  He lives the life that we should have lived.  He dies the death we should have died.  And he lives in the presence of God as our Advocate and High Priest.  He was sent to be the Savior of the world and he is the Savior of the world.  Look what he did in the past and because of that, he is worthy of our trust.

Application -- Christian, believe in the Lord today because of what he did in the past.  A person shows themselves worthy of your trust when they follow through with what they say will do.  When a person’s words and deeds line up, they are worthy of your trust.  Our God is worthy of your trust because he always makes good on his promises.  And he promised to send the Son into the world and that is just what he did.

Another way we apply this is we accept this teaching, that our Triune God has saved us because it is revealed in Scripture.  There are 3 basic ways we know things.  You can know something by getting off of your couch and looking at it through a microscope, some experiment, or trial and error.  And you can know something by staying on your couch and figuring out the problem in your own head.  But whether you are on your couch or off your couch, you will only know that there is one God who exists in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the third way of knowing, and that is through revelation.  By what God says about himself in the Bible.  We accept this teaching not because of scientific experiment or rational deductions but because we are people who have heard God speaking to us in Scripture.  And we accept that when God speaks, what he says about himself is always both good and true.  And what God has said about himself in the past and it is still true today is that there is but one God and he exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Explanation -- The God of Scripture has not only acted in the past to save us but he is currently acting in the present.  Look with me at verse 13, “This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.” 

One of the most consistent promises of God in the Scriptures is that he will be with his people.  That he will not abandon his people.  The Lord Jesus promised that after he returned to heaven through his ascension, he would send the Holy Spirit to live in his people.  As the apostle John says here, the Spirit of God has been given to us by God himself.  

In the Gospel of John in John 14;26 and in John 15:26 the Lord Jesus makes clear that the Holy Spirit has been given by the Father and the Son to Christians.  The Holy Spirit living and abiding in Christians is evidence that God keeps his promises.  And this is how we know that we belong to God by the work of the Holy Spirit.  Or as John says in this verse this is how we know that we live in God and God lives in us by the Holy Spirit.  

The work of the Holy Spirit is to communicate to God’s people that they are indeed children of God.  That they belong to the Lord and the Lord belongs to them.  But the Spirit does other acts of service.  Immediately following verse 13 is verse 14 which states one of the most foundational truths that I mentioned in the first point and that is the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.  For a person to confess that this statement is good and true is again a work of the Holy Spirit.  The Lord Jesus will say about the Holy Spirit that his work in the life of Christians will be to lead us into all truth and to bring to our memory all the words of the Lord Jesus.  The Holy Spirit draws the heart of Christians to the teachings of Scripture and to this foundational and ultimate truth: the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.  

And the Holy Spirit also dwells in the hearts of Christians so that they are changed to love other people, particularly other Christians.  So John will say an evidence that we live in God is that we have the Holy Spirit and then in verse 16 he will say that an evidence that God lives in us is that we love other people and for John he particularly has in mind other Christians. 

Illustration -- So in May and June you have the parents’ day holidays: Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.  And what typically happens is the opposite parent, and sometimes one of the grandparents if the parents are struggling and need help, take the kids of the soon to be celebrated parent and they go shopping.  

Now for arguments sake we will say that a mom is taking her kids shopping for their dad because Father’s Day is coming up next week.  Let’s say that the kids are 3 and 5 so most likely they don’t have jobs of their own although we live in the Midwest where work and hard work is one of the few cultural values so maybe they do in fact have a job but regardless, mom is taking them shopping.  Now mom is the one who keeps track of the calendar to identify the day of shopping and the day of celebration.  Mom is the one who tells the kids we are shopping for dad.  Mom is the one who takes the kids shopping.  Mom is most likely the one who picks out the gift, let’s say that they buy dad a shirt and they are really going old school, a tie.  Mom is the one who pays for it, wraps it, and stores it until Father’s Day.  Mom probably also tells the kids when to draw a picture, sign a card, or do something that adds a personal touch to the gifts and then on Father’s Day, the kids present the gifts to their dad.  Now how is that different from what God the Holy Spirit does in our lives?

Argumentation -- It’s different in the identified activities but let’s consider what the Holy Spirit does.  The Holy Spirit moves our minds and hearts towards the Scriptures.  The Holy Spirit forms in us the belief and conviction that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord.  That he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He moves us to want to obey the commands of God.  He causes us to love other people, forgive them when they sin against us, and to ask for forgiveness when we sin against them.  He moves and energizes us to worship our Christ and Lord.  He leads us to present gifts to God but in all actuality the Spirit is like the parent who plans, purchases, and presents a gift to another parent for the sake of the kids.  

Application --  And for this reason, let us give God thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Christian, the fact that you believe that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world is by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Christian the fact that your heart is drawn to the teachings of Scripture is by the Holy Spirit.  Christian the fact that you love other believers in spite of their failures and yours, is again by the Holy Spirit.  By the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are who we are.  And for that reason, let us give God thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

Explanation -- Our passage then moves into this reality, look with me at verse 16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.’  Here John provides the reader the motivation that God has in the Father’s sending of the Son.  Of the Son’s saving of the world.  Of the Spirit’s indwelling into the lives of Christians.  The reason why the Father plans, the Son saves, and the Holy Spirit lives in the heart of Christians is because God loves his people.

Illustration -- TBA

Argumentation --    The Father plans to send the Son who comes before us and it is not based on us.  The Father didn’t wait on us to get ready, to get our life together, or to turn our lives around before sending the Son.  No, the Father sent the Son because he loves us.  Not only this, the Son didn’t wait on us to get ready, to get our life together, or to turn our lives around before coming into the world to save her.  No, the Son was sent because he loves us.  The Spirit doesn’t refuse to live inside of us until we are ready, until we get our life together, or turn our lives around.  No, the Spirit gives himself to us because he loves us.  

Application -- And because of this, as John says, we rely on this love.  To draw us to the Lord.  To keep us in his family.  And eventually, to carry us all the way home.  Into the presence of God.