1 John 3, if ever I feel helpless,
most helpless it is in dealing with the love of God. You know, this is supposed to
be a Bible study, and that's a mighty poor designation
for looking verses like this. I intended to go down through
verse 10, but there's no way we can just hurry through verses
1 and 2, so we're not going to get past this this morning. Verses
1 and 2. Behold. Verse John 3. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us Now this is talking to God's
people, his children, his little children, those born of God,
those adopted by God, chosen by God, adopted. That's what
adoption is. Adoption is always the choice
of the parent, not the child, but the parent. And we're going
to see what man, what children he chose. We're going to go to
Ezekiel 16. We're going to see what sons
that we are that he laid down his life for. I'll go to Genesis,
to Joseph and his sorry brethren. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, this is written to God's people,
not all people, but God's people, that we should be called the sons of
God. This is written to those who know something of wretchedness,
Miserable, poor, blind, naked, rebellious, sinful, unworthy,
vile, vile? Yeah. Job said, I'm vile. Paul said, no finer man on earth
than Paul, the apostle. He said, I'm a chief of staff.
I'm less than a leaf. I'm not fit to be called a disciple. See, this gospel of God's sovereign
electing love, adopting love, is only truly amazing, amazing
grace, like John Newton wrote, that saves a wretch. This is
only amazing to a wretch, to a Mary Magdalene, to a thief
on the cross, to a forlorn woman like Homer. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us sinners, that we should be called
sons of God. And he goes on to say, the world
knoweth us not, it knew him not. And beloved, now, right now,
are we the sons of God. Right now. Because right now,
sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high. is the Son
of God who loved us and washed us from our sin in his own blood,
sent by God for his great love wherewith he loved a people,
not the good, not the righteous, but sinners, the ungodly whom
Christ died for. And they are called sons, they
are called children of God, not because of anything in them,
but because of Christ. Right now, are we the sons of
God? And it doesn't appear. We look at ourselves in the mirror
of God's Word. We look within ourselves and
there doesn't seem to be any likeness, anything in us that
would make us think that I'm a child of God. But he says now, right now, are
we the sons of God? It does not yet appear what we
shall be. Shall be. Now, he said, I'm getting way
ahead of myself here, now we're the sons of God, and we shall
be like him. He says, when he shall appear,
he shall appear, and we shall be like him. We shall see him
as he is. Don't you love the shalls of
Scripture, the nows? Okay. Behold. This begins with
behold. This is something to behold.
This is something to wonder at. Something to be amazed by. We
sing that song, Amazing Love. How can it be? Behold. There's something to be, to stop
and wonder with amazement. Behold. What manner of love. The Father. have bestowed upon
us that we should be called the sons of God. God who is high
and lofty, God who is holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hope, God who
dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto, God who is
of pure eyes to look upon iniquity, God who hateth all workers of
iniquity, God who is angry with the wicked every day. Behold what manner of love that
God the Father would call us sons of God. Behold. Now, let's look into this. Now,
God has one only begotten well-beloved Son. Turn to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. God has one only begotten well-beloved
Son. And He is. He was, he is, and
ever shall be the only begotten well-beloved Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 2, it says here in Psalm
2, verse 6, God says, I have set my King upon my holy hill
of Zion. Now, this was long before David. This was long before Adam. This was long before the world
began. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 7, I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, Thou
art my son. This day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me, I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Oh my, this is the Christ description. Be wise now, therefore, ye kings.
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord. Who's
he talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. With fear, rejoice with tremor. Kiss the Son, the only begotten,
well-beloved Son. You see, he's not up for acceptance,
but he's to be bowed to. Kiss the son, lest he be angry,
and he perish from the way when his wrath is kindled, but of
the blessed are all they that put their trust in him. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Proverbs 8. This is talking about
the only begotten well-beloved Son of the Most High God, the
eternal Son of God. The only reason he is called
the Son, well, not the only reason, but the chief reason he's called
the Son of God, is not because he's less than God. He's equal with God. but because
he's only begotten, the only bodily image of God. And this is a mystery. I can't
explain it. It cannot be explained. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, but these three are one. Equal. Very God of very God. Father,
Son, Holy Spirit. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. The Father. So, and I can't explain
it, but Proverbs 8, he is referred to as the Son of God. Verse 22. Proverbs 8, 22. The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of His way. God's beloved Son. Before His
works of old, I was set up or declared to be Lord. All creation
was made by Him, for Him. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there was
no depths, I was brought forth. When there was no fountains,
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth. Go on down to verse 30. Then
I was by Him as one brought up with Him. I was daily His delight,
rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable parts
of the earth. My delights were with the sons
of men. Now, therefore, hearken unto
me, children, lest they that keep my ways." He goes on to
talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. God the Father has one son who
was ever with him before the world began and ever his delight,
his well-beloved son, and yet he is equal with the Father. He is God. In Hebrews chapter
1, look at this. This is great. I love this. God who at sundry times in divers
manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophet. He
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.
You know John 1, don't you? He loved John chapter 1, in the
beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God.
All things created by him, the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld his glory as of
the only begotten of the Father. God was manifest in the flesh.
Verse 3, he's being the brightness of his glory, the express image
of his person. Adam was created in the likeness
of God. Jesus Christ is God. The expressed image, the only
image of God, God through the Spirit, has an image, and is
Jesus Christ. Verse 3, "...upholds all things
by the word of his power." Is there any doubt that Jesus Christ
is God? Oh, why did he become a man?
Why did he become flesh? Verse 3, because of this great
love wherewith the Father loved his people, to purge us from
our sins. When he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,
being made or declared to be so much better than the angel,
as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than that.
Remember we just read. Ask me, I'll give you the heathen
for your inheritance. In fact, the whole world. At this end,
Christ both died and was buried and rose again, and he might
be Lord of the dead and the living. Verse 5. Now, under which of
the angels said God at any time, Thou art my Son? This day have
I begotten thee. Again, I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels
of God worship him. And the angels, he said, would
make of his angel spirits, his ministers, a flame of fire. But
unto the Son, he said, Thy throne, O God, is forever. God called
him God and said, let everybody worship him and call him God.
Because he is. All right? The only begotten
Son of God. Now go back to 1 John 3. 1 John
chapter 3. Jesus Christ is the only begotten
Son of God. But He's the firstborn among
many brethren. Many brethren. God, before the world began, in His
purpose of love and mercy and grace, like Brother Barnard used
to say, He loved His Son so much that he purposed to have a whole
race of beings just like him. And he made this thing of salvation,
this purpose of God, to have a race of beings created in the
image of his Son, predestined to be conformed to his image.
Sons, many sons of God. And all to the praise of the
glory of his grace. Look at 1 John chapter 5. And it says in verse 19, Now
we know that we are of God, chosen of God, born of God, adopted
by God. And we said earlier, it does
not yet appear what we shall be. We don't feel like it. We
don't look like it to us anyway. And he says we are of God, loved
of God, chosen of God, born of God, adopted by God, predestined
by God to be like His Son. And how we know that, verse 20,
we know that the Son of God has come. He's given us an understanding,
an understanding of the truth, an understanding of how we become
the sons of God through the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, through
the regeneration of the Spirit of God. He has come that we might
know Him that is true, and we're in Him that is true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life. God became a man. God became a man. And Jesus Christ
is the only God we will ever see. Only God will ever say. So he created Adam, the first
man. And it says he was created in
the image of God, male and female. Okay. How beautiful Adam must
have been. I try to imagine what Adam and
Eve must have looked like. I can't. How beautiful must Adam
and Eve have been. How glorious. How noble. How wise. Created in the image
of God. Male and female. How upright. How sinless. How holy. How pure. Did God love Adam? Oh yes, most assuredly. He loved
Adam. He's called his son. God called
Adam the son of God. Okay? Something happened. The mystery of iniquity is God.
And this was all in the purpose of God. It was all in the will
of God or it wouldn't have happened. Something happened. Another person
came along. He's called the Son of the Morning,
Lucifer. Satan came along. All of this
is the purpose of God. He was a created angel. A fallen angel. A rebellious
angel according to the purpose and will of God. allowed of God
to tempt, to allure, to deceive the woman. And all of this is
in the purpose of the gospel of God. He deceived the woman
to sin against God. But Adam willfully chose that
woman over God with his eyes wide open. He saw her. She was
deceived and she hadn't him to prove. And he saw, he knew, this
is wrong. But he did it anyway. And he rebelled against God.
This Son of God whom God loved. He rebelled against God. God
the Father. He rebelled against love. He rebelled against goodness.
Adam willfully rebelled against goodness, against love, against
God. Now he died. He died spiritually. His heart, his mind, his soul
became sinful until every part of his being, his will was depraved. And the longer his posterity,
the sons of Adam, they're not sons of God, they're sons of
Adam. Adam was called the son of God.
Not his posterity, they're called the sons of Adam. Until all his
The posterity became full of sin. Their will was depraved until they bore no image whatsoever,
no likeness whatsoever to God. But God, his Son, in a covenant before
the world began, covenant love, of mercy, of grace, which he
purposed to have sons of these fallen creatures, sons of Adam,
sent his only begotten well-beloved son called the second Adam. Second Adam from above, reinstate
us in thy love. Adam's likeness now he faced,
stamped thy own image in his It's a song we sing at Christmas
time when we think about the Son of God being born. God looked
down upon the children of men. Here's what it said of Him. The sons of Adam. Here's what
God sees in the sons of Adam. God looked down upon the children
of men, sons of Adam, to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. He said they're all going to
suffer. It's all together to become filthy, stinking, rotten,
corrupt, a mass of sinful. That's what God sees in His Word.
And all men and women by nature. There's none that do it good.
No, not one. None righteous. No, not one.
That's what God says about all in mankind. There's nothing lovely
about man. But God. See, behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed on us, son of these fallen creatures,
that we should be called the sons of God. Ephesians 1, go
over there. You can't tell this story without
Ephesians 1, because this is where it began. This is how God saved his people. Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians 1 says in verse 3,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, and he's going to talk about this purpose of God
in verse 9, the will of God, the counsel of God, the covenant
of God, which he ordered in all things and sure in Christ, verse
4, and this is where it started, according as he has chosen us
in Christ. elect, according to the four
knowledges of God, in Christ the elect, the chosen one. Accordingly, as he has chosen
us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. God did this in
love to his people, his Son, his glory, his honor. and his
people. Verse 5, predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to be just like him. According to the good pleasure
of God's will, to the praise of the glorious of his grace,
they're accepted in the Beloved. They're redeemed, verse 7, in
the Beloved through his blood. They're even forgiven because
Christ was held guilty according to the riches of his grace. Behold,
what manner of love, go back to the text, 1 John chapter 3,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we
should be called the sons of God. What manner. God so loved. John 3. John 3, 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so, so in this way. must the Son of
God be lifted up, that all who behold Him, like those who were
bitten by the serpent, should live. For God so, in this way,
Christ crucified, loved the world of people out of every tribe,
nation, tongue, kindred, and under heaven. God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son that we should not parry. Believe in Him. God so loved. Look at Ezekiel 16. I told you
we were going to. Go over to Ezekiel chapter 16. What manner? How? How were we
loved by God? How are we loved by God? Who does God love? Oh, not the
righteous. Not the good. Sinful, fallen, the wicked, the
rebellious. Some of these sons of Adam. Ezekiel
16, verse 1. The word of the Lord came unto
me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abomination. See, the gospel is called good
news. And it's only good news to those that know their abomination. Thus saith the Lord God unto
Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity. You were naturally
born this way. Your father was an Amorite. Your
mother was a Hittite. No thoughts of God. They were
not God's people. They were heathens. And there's a sense in which
all of God's people were sons of Satan, held captive by the
God of this world. Children of disobedience. children
of wrath even as others. Read on. It says verse 4, your
nativity, your birth, you were not washed in water, none to
supple you, you were not salted on or swaddled. None, I pitied
thee to do thee any of these unto thee, to have compassion
upon thee. You were cast in the open field
to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou was born. Now, when I passed by thee, I
saw thee polluted in thy own blood, and I said unto thee,
Live, yea, I said unto thee." This wasn't an offer, it was
an act, wasn't it? I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, in thy pollution, in thy sin, live. He went on
to say what all he did. Verse 8, Now when I passed by
thee, and looked upon thee, behold, Behold, behold what manner of
love. It was a time of love. I spread
my skirt over thee. Christ, he who knew no sin, was
made sin, stripped of his righteousness, that we might be made the righteousness
of God. I covered thee in thy nakedness.
Yea, I swear unto thee, entered into a coven unto thee. saith
the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. I washed thee with water. Yeah, I thoroughly washed thee,
waved thy blood from thee. I anointed thee with oil. That's
the Spirit of God. Regenerate. Clothed thee with
broidered work. Shod thee with badger skin. Girded
thee with finesse. Covered thee. Down in verse 14,
your beauty You were made perfect through
my comeliness, which I have put upon thee, saith the Lord God."
How are God's people adopted of God? Born of God, by Christ
in Him crucified. They were chosen of God in Christ. He's the elect. And God said,
I'm going to have a whole race of people just like Christ. They
were born of God. Christ prevailed on the cross
and out of His ribbed inside because of sin, blood and water,
water and blood poured out, and his bride came out of that death. That death. We were born of God,
and by the Spirit of God coming and taking that gospel, preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified, it
creates a new person, a new creature in Christ. It does not yet appear,
but he's there. He's there. Turn with me to Genesis. I told you I was going to go
there. I'm running out of time. But even much more than a dead center
lying in the field like in the story of Ezekiel. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called the sons of God. Because we're the sons of Jacob. Genesis 37. We're the sons of
Jacob. We're not just a poor, pitiful
little child lying in a field. We grew up like that child in
the field and became rebellious, like the sons of Jacob, like
the sorry brethren of Joseph. Look at verse 3. I've got to
hurry through this. Now Israel loved Joseph. Joseph
is a picture Christ. God the Father loved His Son,
daily His delights, more than all His children. And because
He was the Son of His old age, the eternal Son of God, He made
Him a coat of many colors. He had this robe of perfect righteousness. Verse 4, His brethren saw that
their Father loved Him more than all His brethren, and they hated
Him. Why? What iniquity have your fathers
found in me? There's no iniquity in Him. No
sin in Him. They saw no beauty in Him. Why?
Because there's no beauty in them. Because there's no love
for God in them. Because there's no goodness in
them. And they hated Him. And holiness came. Christ came.
Holiness came. And man said, go back. We hate
you. Leave us. Son of God came. We
don't want you. And that we, He was despised
and rejected of men. We have seen him smitten of God,
stricken and afflicted, but by his stripes. And these sorry
sons of Jacob took this beloved son of Joseph, the well-beloved
son of Joseph, stripped him of his coat of many colors, and
threw him in a pit, and sold him for twenty pieces of silver.
They hated him. Why? Because the Father loved
him. Because he was different from them. Holy harm was separate
from them. Right? That's Christ. And all
we, all of us, did that. The time when I gave no thought
to the Son of God. Didn't care for him. But God. Alright? In this story in Genesis,
look at verse 23. It came to pass that
Joseph was come to his brethren. The Father sent him to his brethren. They stripped him of his coat.
They took him, verse 24, and cast him into a pit. And they sold him for 20 pieces
of silver. Now go over to chapter 45. And
do you know what all transpired after that? Do you know how these
sorry sons of Job and Jacob became? Do you know what they became? We looked at it, the whole story.
They went down to Fadan and Ram and they were all sorry sons,
every one of them. But Benjamin, that's a picture
of Christ there. He was home with the Father.
Son of the silver cup. That's another story. All right? In the end, in the end, God the Father had these sons
come to where Joseph was. Come to the Son. Look at verse
1. Joachim Genesis 45 verse 1. They were brought to see the
Son. And Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that
stood by him. And he cried, cause every man
to go out from me. And there stood no man with him,
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren, these sorry
sons of Jacob, who hated him, who rejected him, who despised
him, who sold him, who would have killed him. And here's what
Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph, I am. Doth my Father
yet fail?" And his brethren could not answer him. They were troubled.
They were convicted because of their hatred of him. Because
of their rejection of him. And now because they had fear
of him. And they were troubled at his
presence. And here's what Joseph said of
his brethren. Come near. I know he's smiling now. Come
near unto me, I pray you. And they came near and he said,
I am Joseph, your brother. whom you sold unto Egypt. Don't be grieved, weep not, fear
not, nor angry with yourself. You sold me hither, but God did
send me before you to preserve your life. And he went on to
say, he said in verse 10, you shall dwell with me in the land
of Goshen. Thou shalt be near unto me. Thou
and thy children, thy children, And Pharaoh said that the brethren
of Joseph are here, and all of Egypt heard it. He was not ashamed
to call them brethren, though they did that to him. That's
all a picture of Christ crucified. Behold, what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should become the sons of
God. What manner of love? down here
to redeem, to rescue fallen, worthless, no good, sinful sons
of Adam like we are.