Who Is Your Father?

Again, we've seen that there are two ways to live. There's living in the grace of Christ for God. There's living in our sin against God. There are only two basic ways to live. There are numerous ways to live against God. There are many ways in which we rebel against God, but those are the two most basic categories. This morning, we're actually going to look at those two categories, that division. You're either living in Christ for God or you're living in your sin against God. We're going to look at it from another angle. The message this morning from John 8, beginning in verse 39, we are either identified by being children of the devil or children of God. We are either identified as being children of the devil or children of God. Now, I'm looking out. I'm thinking no one here would have ever said I follow Satan. Very few people would intentionally go out of their way to make such a bold claim. However, by choosing not to follow God, we are by default choosing to follow the devil. By not repenting, by not believing in Christ, we are by nature children of wrath. And this morning, our passage makes this contrast, these two ways of being identified, these two ways of living very clear. Turn with me in chapter 8 of John, beginning in verse 39. Jesus has been, he's been at the temple, he's been confronting the Jewish crowd, he's been defending himself against the Pharisees, and he's made some very bold claims. Some have believed and he's challenged them. It's not just believing in me, it's believing in me enough to obey and to follow. And now they continue to discuss what it means to call God the Father. I'm actually going to begin in verse 27. They did not understand that you've been speaking to them about the Father that is God. So Jesus said to them, when you have lifted up the son of man, when you then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as a father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. As he was saying these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And they answered him, we are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free? Jesus answered them. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you'll be free indeed. I know that you're offspring of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father. The text we focusing on in verse 39, they answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me. A man who has told you the truth that I heard from God, this is not what Abraham did. You were doing the works your father did. They said to him, we were not born in sexual immorality. We have one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me, for I come from God and I am here. I came not on my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil. And your will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me, which one of you convicts me of sin. If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the word of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. Will you pray with me? Father, as we begin to think of these very challenging passages of a world we do not think of often, I pray that you would help us, Lord, to have understanding. I pray that you would convince us of your truth, that you would convict us of our sin. You would draw us near to your Son. who is our hope and our truth. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. To give somewhat of an overview here, Jesus has told the crowd he will die for them. The Son of Man must be lifted up. I will either die for your sins or you will die on your sins. And then it says some believed. And as we saw last week, this isn't saving faith. This is a fickle faith. Jesus calls those who believe, who profess a belief, that they need to hold fast to his word. Then they'll be set free. In verse 33, they ask him, what do you mean set free? We're children of Abraham. We've always been free. Then Jesus, in verses 34 to 36, he makes it very clear. He's speaking of a slavery to sin. He then accuses them of seeking to kill him. Then he makes a distinction between his father and their father, very vaguely at that point. They again assert Abraham is their father. In verse 39, Jesus gives them a test. A son does the work of his father. A son reflects his father with what he does. That's a very important background and principle axiom of this entire passage. He gives him a task. A son does the work of his father, but you seek to kill me, not like Abraham. When Abraham received messengers, he believed and he acted and he left his hometown to follow God. But when you hear the word of God, you seek to kill me. Now, the tension is growing. This has been a very awkward visit to Jerusalem from the very beginning. But here the tension continues to grow. First 41 introduces an odd declaration, we are not born of sexual immorality. How does this fit into the argument? It could be here they're actually pointing back to, they've been asking about the origins of Christ over and over again and it may be that they've now come to the realization that he was born to Mary and that he was conceived before the marriage to Joseph, not being aware of the the virgin birth, they may be accusing him of being born out of sexual immorality. We also see later he's accused of being a Samaritan, and that would have been another accusation. Possibly we're not born of sexual morality. Verse 42, Jesus gives another test. If God was your father, you would love me. You would hear me. He declares they cannot hear his word. Because their father is the devil. Here they are. Being faithful Israelites, being faithful Jews, they've traveled a great distance. They've been living in a tent for a week to celebrate their Jewishness, to celebrate Yahweh and his faithfulness to them. And here in the midst of this ceremony, the last day of it, they're now being told that their father is the devil. Your father is a murderer. Your father is a liar. You do not believe me. If your father was God, you would know me. This is a heavy text. These are heavy charges being laid out before the Jews. Jesus, again, making it very difficult, teaching us very challenging things. As we look at the passage, one of the things we need to be reminded of is that origins play a very important role in the Gospel of John. Think back to John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. Everything was created by this Word. The origin of Jesus Christ is everything. Either He is God, the Son sent from the Father, or He is not worth gathering and worshiping this morning. He is either God who came down and took upon flesh to die for sinners, Or we've come out in the snow and the ice and the rain for no reason. The origin of Jesus Christ is everything in this gospel. Now, more amazing, and the story, tension continues to build up. This isn't the most tension yet. He calls them children of the devil, but it's not until later in our next week's passage where he declares that he's greater than Abraham. Then they pick up stones. We see here the light continues to penetrate the darkness. The light continues to proclaim God's truth, God's light in the midst of the darkness. There's a few, there's a couple important truths we're going to gather. We're not going to walk through this story like we normally do because we're going to look at this next week as we're going to look at the big picture of Father. The first thing I want to look at this morning is the importance of our relationships. the importance of our relationships, and then we're going to end with a, not an extensive, but not a brief meditation on the devil. First, this story helps us understand our identity, how to think about ourselves. The number one thing it challenges us with this morning, regarding our identity, is that we are not individuals. We should not think of ourselves as islands. Individualism is a worldview that is foreign to scripture. Everyone in scripture is known by their relationship to someone. Typically, they're known by the relationship that is above them, the relationship under which they are under. You're known by your parents, you're known by your God, you're known by your nation. We're not self-reliant. We're never meant to be individuals. We're created to be in relation and to be under someone's authority. The Bible always knows you by your parents, your spouse, your God, your master, who is your head. How often do you ask yourself, who is my master? How often do you actually have that category? Who am I under? I believe as Westerners and especially as Americans, we we typically are thinking that we throw off authority, whereas what God has created, what God has intended is that we are always supposed to be under authority. We pretend to be our own person. We pretend that we have this authority, this this autonomy, this individualism that God created us to be in relationships. God created us to be submissive to someone, and ultimately, we have a master. We may just be ignorant of it. Christians must realize that the Bible has no category for individuals. There's your marriage relationship, your parent-child relationship, your church relationship, most of all, your relationship to God. So I ask you, to whom do you belong? Who has authority over you? Who do you submit to? There's two very important spiritual headships that we need to be aware of as we think about the fact that we are always known by God in relationship to someone. The first is that we are either in Adam or we are in Jesus Christ. These are the two heads of two different humanities. If you are in Adam, you are still in your sins. Adam, as we read in Genesis 3, he was the first man, he is the father of all children, the father of all humanity, and he has led us into sin, and we are all now culpable and guilty and corrupt in him. If you are in Adam, you are a sinner, and your sins are still held against you, you are still guilty. However, Jesus Christ has come as a new Adam to begin a new humanity, a whole new race that's free, that's forgiven. No longer children of wrath, the children of Adam, the sons of Adam, but now children of mercy. He gives us a new identity as he has begun a new race. In Jesus Christ, every nation, every tongue, Every kind of people has gathered to be a new kind of humanity adopted, redeemed and called. Our passage separates us in a different way. We're either children of the devil or children of God. Now, that should strike us because I don't talk like that often. I don't I don't think about the devil often enough. But here, Jesus is very clear. You're either a child of God or you're a child of the devil. How do you determine who your master is? How do you determine where you belong? Well, it's that principle. A son does the work of his father. And we go back and we can see, if you were a child of Abraham, you would hear, you would believe, you would obey. That's what the children of Abraham really do. The children of faith, those who are of God, they hear the word of God, they follow God, they obey God. Everyone else is a child of the devil. We are known by who we reflect. In scripture, this is the basic principle. You are known by who you reflect. A child, a son is supposed to reflect the father, his father, humanly speaking. You did what your father did. You're a chip off the old block. But here, when we look at this cosmic spiritual relation, a son of Satan reflects demonic work. Son of God reflects divine work. Jesus makes it very clear. Abraham responded with faith and work. And we see this in Luke 11. Blessed is the man who hears the word of God and obeys it. So if your work reflects who you belong to, let's think about this. A son of the devil hates God and rejects him. That's where we get the murder. Satan is a murderer. And murder is driven by hate. A child of the devil, they hate God. And maybe you're not angry at God this morning, but have you rejected his right rule to be your Lord. Have you rejected and resisted his righteous rule over you? That's hatred. Secondly, children of the devil, they do not tell God's truth. They don't see the value of God's Word. They don't meditate upon it. They don't know it. They are not proclaimers of it. Do you speak truth because your character is one that's been shaped and formed by God and you now value truth over the lie? Thirdly, a child of the devil does not hear God. A child of the devil does not hear God. This is one of those basic principles. If you heard me and you're of God, Jesus says. Then you would know my truth, but instead they reject it. When you read the Bible, when you come to church, are you being moved and stirred? Is the Holy Spirit using the word of God regardless of the effectiveness of the communicator? If the word of God is being read, if the gospel is being proclaimed, do you love it? Do you cling to it? Do you? Are you sturdy or do you desire it? Do you hear it or does it just go over your head? Does it fall on deaf ears that they hear it again and again and there's no move, there's no change. A child of the devil that is part of rejecting. Are you indifferent to God? If you are, That makes you a child of the devil. How do you become a child of God if you're a child of the devil? You believe in Jesus Christ. God, He knows you. He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows your cold, hard heart. He knows how you love the darkness rather than His light. And even while we were sinners, He sent His Son to die at the hand of sinners. That indifference, that hatred, that loving the lie that brings about God's judgment and wrath upon you. And you will either die under that judgment or you can believe in Jesus Christ and Jesus dies in your place. He takes the wrath you deserve and he puts upon himself. Now, God is righteous because his wrath has been satisfied and you are forgiven because your sin debt has been paid. That is how you become a child of God. It's through his true son who came to proclaim the truth and who came to die for those who rejected him. Well, this is what a son of God does. They love God. A child of God is different because they love God. In John 14, 15, Jesus will say, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. 1 John 5 3. This is the love of God to keep his commandments. We just saw this last week. If they believe in him, you are going to abide in his word and you're going to follow him. We are to make every effort to long for more of God's truth, to long to follow him and be more shaped and transformed in the spirit of our minds so that we reflect him more. So love of God isn't just some some abstract principle that It means we obey. It means there's a real change that takes place. Secondly, sons of God, they tell the truth. There's a commitment to using our words to speak the truth. Our words are so powerful and influential. They can be used to tear down. They can be used to to corrupt minds and hearts. It can be used to destroy. Our words are so powerful. And someone who's a son of God, they realize how powerful those words were because words are what you heard that brought the gospel of salvation. If you're a son of God, you are committed to telling the truth. Thirdly, if you're a son of God, you hear God's truth and you respond. You are a sheep and you know your shepherd's voice. When he calls, you know when he calls. When he is pointing out sin, you recognize that sin and you long for the Spirit to change that sin. The Son of God hears God's truth and responds out of love. You are not an individual just living a neutral life. You are either living against God or for God in Jesus Christ. As we will look at the fatherhood more next week, I felt it important to think more about the devil because we don't talk about him very often. And so there's three things I want us to conclude with regarding who the devil is. The first one, the devil is real. Satan is real. Now, I had to put this in here. The text just assumes it, but I don't know if anyone would have come in thinking, I'm really hoping we're going to hear about the devil this morning. I can't wait to hear more about Satan and how the spiritual warfare takes place. We're ignorant of him. We ignore this entire spiritual realm. If we think about angels at all, it's usually something cute. Whereas even the angels that do the work of the Lord, when they appeared, it brought fear and reverence. When an angel appeared in scripture, it brought about a humbling. It's not cute precious memories when we're thinking of angels. It's a powerful message from God they brought. We think about the spiritual battle with demons. It should terrify us slightly and only partially and temporarily. We realize that God created all things good. If we went back to Genesis 1 and 2, everything was created good, and we have a body. God created us with a body. He also created beings that do not have bodies. They're angels. All angels were created good. Some angels rebelled, and we call those demons. And though the particular demon that is in view here is the devil, who seems to be leading the charge against God. He is the one that is leading the charge against God in the spiritual realm and the physical realm. He represents the disorder and the chaos against God. He is the chief fighter against God. Now, why is he fighting against God? There are really two best options. I don't know which one. They're so similar, you could say both. One reason he may have rebelled is that it was pride against God. One reason he may have rebelled is that there was a pride that he had against God. He truly desired to be like God. He did not like being partially potent. He wanted to be omnipotent. He didn't like being partially knowledgeable. He wanted to be omniscient. He wanted to rule all things rather than the proper sphere God had given him. So that was pride against God. The other possibility is pride against man. Angels are higher than humans. Hebrews makes this very clear, the hierarchy of being is God, angels, humans. However, we have such a unique and special role. We're made in his image. It's not clear that angels are. And so some have thought maybe maybe the demons, maybe the devil, especially there was a pride against man. There was there was a recognizing, yes, he's made lower, but. But he's made in his image. And this is why he attacked man regarding if it's pride against God or pride against man. The main thing we have to realize is that the devil's attack against God has us as the target. The devil can do nothing against God specifically, so he has attacked us. Now, if we ignore the devil, if we do not think about him, if we're not on guard, we really fall right into his trap. I've been reading screw tape letters to try to get myself prepared somewhat about, to think about the devil well. And one of the things that screw tape writes to the devil in training, the demon in training, don't make yourself apparent. If they ever think of you, if they ever think of demons, make them think of those creatures wearing red tights with horns and a tail. Make them think of something that's comical. That way it looks silly. Rather, as Ben said, It's a wolf in sheep's clothing, an angel of darkness appearing as light. Make them think of you wrongly. It's a powerful strategy, the one we never see coming. As we think about the devil and his power, one application is we shouldn't make jokes about the devil. I hope we don't make jokes about AIDS and HIV. I hope we don't make jokes about cancer. I hope we don't make jokes about abortion. What these things all have in common is they take life away. They make things as they are not supposed to be. That's what the devil has done. The devil is destructive. He brings disorder and chaos. We should not make light of him. He brings about death. As we think about the fact that the devil is real, we should remember the words of 1 Peter 5. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him. firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to the eternal glory of Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. If you're walking in the light, there will be suffering and temptation. If you're walking in the light of Christ, in the light of God, as a child of God, there will be suffering and temptation. And here he's saying, be aware, be watchful. The first imperative, humble yourself before God. He must be your master. Trust God. Be watchful. If you question if the devil is real, Genesis 3, the story of redemption, it begins with him. Revelation, it ends with him. He's throughout the entire Bible. You cannot deny the reality of the devil and still say this has any authoritative truth for you. He's everywhere throughout it. We must be watchful, aware that he is seeming and cunning to tempt us and to enslave us. So, the first thing is that Satan is real. Secondly, he's a liar. The devil is a liar. Throughout the Gospel of John, God is truth. His truth is good for us. Jesus is full of grace and truth, John 1.18. His disciples must abide in his truth. His word is truth and it sets us free from Satan's lies. As Christians, We are called to think God's thoughts after him. That's one of the great callings as a Christian to think God's thoughts after him. And the whole point of that is that we do not think correctly to begin with. That is one of the grand declarations of what a Christian is. You are to think God's thoughts after him. Whatever he thinks, we are to reflect him in his thinking. Whatever he has said, we are to believe. Now here, the Jews in the story, they believe partially in Jesus. They haven't quite gotten over the entire lie, and well, that's the most dangerous kind of lie, isn't it? It's the partial lie. As we look back to how Satan was a liar, as Sam read, did he actually say, surely you will not die? He brings that little bit of doubt. He brings that little bit of partial truth. To cast darkness and doubt over all things. It is dangerous to approach scripture with doubt. Seeking to undermine it. Seeking not to say, this is the authoritative word of God. Whatever it says, I'll believe. Whatever it says, I should do, I will do. That's the whole point of Satan. To undermine God's authority. Because this is your relationship to God. You were created to be His servant. and his son, you were created to serve God and he is meant to be your master. You are created to be under him and yet to be loved by him as if you were his son in Christ. Why strike the heart of that relationship as we think about a relationship, just just horizontally? One of the great philosophers said true friendship cannot exist except for between two people of virtue. You have to be virtuous to be a friend, and the whole principle is you have to be trustworthy and reliable. You have to be one who tells truth. You have to be one who is trustworthy. Here Satan is trying to destroy our relationship with God by undermining his authority. His goal is to give us partial lies. The way To be watchful is to be committed to knowing his truth, to always be gathering with the body, to study God's word, to always be focusing on God's word, to meditate upon it, to memorize it, to know it, to make this, to allow this, to shape every thought we have. So that we think God's thoughts after him faithfully. The third thing we need to know about the devil, he's real, he's a liar. He's a murderer. He's a murderer. Who did he kill? All of us. There in the garden, through his plot, through his scheme, through his lie, he led man to die. He has caused the death of all men. Now, we are all responsible for our choices that lead to our death. Satan is responsible for the plan. The main plot is that he calls us to question God, and that led to our death. When we are living in the light after faith in Christ, his goal is still to kill that light. His goal is to extinguish it, to put darkness all around it, to kill the light that you are seeking to shine. Now, we have to remember, Jesus is the victor. He has come about to end his rule, Satan's rule. He has come about to bring about God's right rule. And when we walk in the kingdom of God, when we walk according to God's statutes, Satan is going to try to kill that. So, if you think about this application, we have to realize we're in a battle. There has been prey. There are a number of enemies. There's our own heart. There are our own desires. There's the world against us. But we have to remember there is this cunning creature. And he's seeking to overthrow us. He's seeking to trick us. He's seeking to always keep us in doubt. Are you aware that Satan is still active in the world today? Do you have awareness? that there is spiritual warfare taking place in the world today. Do you actually, do you experience the temptation and the lies that come directly from Satan? I ask you that because one of the great tricks is that Satan can put us on autopilot. When we get so entangled and ensnared with our own desires that are against God, he can leave us alone. That's the ultimate goal is to allow us to just be on autopilot. So I ask you, are you in any way aware of what Scripture makes clear? He's real, he's seeking to murder, he's seeking to lie. Are you aware of Satan? Do you know of the temptation? Do you know of his entanglements? Or are you just on autopilot for him? Has he quenched your lie? Have you believed in the lie? So you're no longer watchful. You're no longer clinging to God's truth. You're no longer longing for God. You're no longer hearing God. You may be a Christian, but you're practically a son of the devil because he's got you on autopilot. You're self-destructive. You're already defeating yourself. Jefferson Park, we think of this as a church. If we're being effective in the kingdom of God, he will seek to destroy us. It'll be between members. It'll be causing fights and quarrels, it'll be taking out the leadership, and that's why we pray for our elders and our deacons. If we are truly making an impact in this world, in the darkness, with light, he wants to extinguish that. We have to be aware. As we conclude, we have 1 Peter 5 that gives you very clear instruction on spiritual warfare. The other passage will be Ephesians 6 to think about. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm." He's calling us to battle. He's calling us to be on the defensive. He's calling us to be watchful. He's calling us to be aware that there is a great cosmic battle. We are not neutral. We're presently participating in the battle, either walking in darkness or walking in light. You are participating in the battle. You're either an agent of the darkness and the lies or an agent of God and his truth. Now, this passage can be discouraging. The truth that we have to always remember is that Jesus, he has final dominion. He has given us all authority to make, to fight in this battle. He has declared to us that he will win the battle. Romans 8. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am not sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, and that includes the devil. He was created. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. If you are in a self-defeat If you are a child of God and you are being conquered, if you are in the midst of a lie, know that nothing can separate the love of God. If you repent, you will once again experience the light. If you repent, you will once again be able to walk in the light. Do you long to be in that light, knowing the love of God? It is only through the death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection and the power He gives us through the Holy Spirit that we can know this truth, we can know this light, and we can know this love. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank You that we are not conquered. We thank You, Father, for sending Your Son to be our victor, to bring about a victory that we could not do with our own hands and our own effort. We thank you, Father, for freeing us from our own sin and from the deception that confuses us. We thank you, Father, for sending us your Holy Spirit that changes our hearts and illuminates our minds. Help us to be committed to being under your authority. Help us to know the joy of being under your authority. Help us to walk in your light, to know your love. If there is a brother or sister here, Lord, that has been entangled with the darkness, I pray that they would find freedom in your word and among the brothers and sisters. I pray that if someone is here that does not know you, I pray that you would convict them and convert them. Lord, we thank you for your truth. and that your truth sets us free. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.