We spent the last 10 weeks in an intensive expositional sermon series walking verse by verse through the Apostle John's First Epistle to the house churches in Ephesus (1 John). How was your life transformed? What did you learn? How did you grow? How were you challenged? Where were you convicted? Did you pay attention, confess, and repent? When did your toes get stepped on? Are you falling more and more in love with God?
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT?
Through the Holy Spirit's inspiration, John wrote a letter to not only a specific audience in the late first century, but to the Church throughout all time in all locations. That includes you and me today at First Baptist Church in New Castle, Indiana! The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of this letter with you and me in mind; we are in a very specific way the intended recipient of God's love and grace. Why did John write this letter? He declared, "I write things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).
ARE YOU EXPERIENCING ETERNAL LIFE TODAY?
To emphasize that we have this eternal life John's letter focuses on teaching these believers to stand firm in their faith (to not be swept away by the teachings of false prophets who are animated by the spirit of the Antichrist!) and to manifest the true marks of a Child of God. Namely that we are to keep the faith in God through Jesus Christ, the Son of God; we are to daily live in the newness of the Holy Spirit who allows us to reject the spirit of falsehood; we are to renounce sin and live in the divine reality of God's forgiveness of our sin through the final atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the propitiation of sin; and we are to intentionally live in obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ, with overarching emphasis on the primary mandate to love one another as Jesus taught us to love. These are the characteristics that are to define our lives. NO EXCEPTIONS! It is no longer the world that defines us; rather, it is the manifestation of God's Perfect Fellowship (the triune God) living in us.
DO YOU GET IT?
We have passed from death to life! We have born again through the Holy Spirit! We were bought at a price and we are now the vessels of the Holy Spirit! How much do we owe to God for choosing us with the gift of eternal life through His grace? We are forever indebted to God for sending His Son Jesus Christ to reconcile us back to the Father so that we may be called children of God. John proclaims, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). We have forever been changed in the eyes of God! Do we look any different to the world? Does our fellowship as a church community manifest the love and grace of God's divine romance? Do our lives reflect the life of God demonstrated to us in Jesus Christ and through us in the Holy Spirit to the world? Do we offer the same forgiveness to others that God offers to us? Are we, as individual and as a community, ready to move forward and answer God's call to love one another and reach out to our community (and beyond!) which is in such desperate need for love, forgiveness, and reconciliation?
ARE YOU READY TO BE THE HANDS AND FEET OF CHRIST'S LOVE?
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