The Children of God

… God and Father, where art thou? Lord, in thee have I come. On this land cannot rest my spirit. For thy spirit drives us on. All thy life may not be vain, As the land of God be praised. For thine we are, and fulfilling thee, Ever on our earth's face. Till the spirit is free, Eyes of glory doth appear, And our eyes by faith are seeing Christ, the Father, the King. There's no man, if not the Son, Ever subject to thy will. As the Lamb of God I come to you, To you the earth will fill. When our hearts disdain for him, When at our worship he hath come, Christ alone, safe from the cruel, Has the Lord at home with you. When our hearts bow down before him, This earth's glory watcheth him, Then he is transcend not perish, For we shall be come to him. God of fathers, lead me, worship, Praise ye evermore like now. Lead yet us in triumph telling, All thy wonders crowning now. May we evermore still be learning, In thy word, thy counsels praise, Till the day that thou display'st All the glory of thy grace. Please, read the verses. Verses 9 to 13. John chapter 1, verses 9 to 13. That was the true light, Which lighted every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, And the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power To become the sons of God, Even to them that believed in his name, Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, Nor of the will of man, but of God. And from the first epistle of John, Chapter 3, verses 1 to 3. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, That we should be called the sons of God? Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, how are we the sons of God? And it doth not yet appear what we should be, But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, And we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him Shall purify himself, even as he is pure. When considering the believers of the Old Testament, We see outstanding personalities. We think of a David, the man according to the heart of God. Or Moses, who was faithful in all his household. Or Cheob, the righteous, God-fearing, and the evil-avoiding. Or Job, who was just, and fearing God, and avoiding the evil. And one that is particularly raised out, this is Abraham. Who also received an outstanding title of God. He was named God's friend. Which we hear three times in the Holy Scriptures. Once in general terms. And once it is said, by a man towards God, and I think it was Joseph who did so. Abraham, thy friend. And once God says it of Abraham. He says, Abraham, my friend. And yet, we may possess something that Abraham would not possess. We may be called children of God. I would like to try this evening to present three things to you. First, how a man becomes a child of God. Secondly, what does that mean to his life here upon earth? And what is the future of the children of God? When our life here upon earth ends up. What may we expect then? It was necessary that the Son of God came down here upon earth, so that it was possible at all that we could become children of God. He came of the home of eternal life. He himself is life. But when his life down here upon earth is revealed, it is manifested as light. This is what we find in verse 4. That is John 1, verse 4. In him was life. And the life was the light of men. And why was the life light? When manifested here on earth, this is because here upon earth is darkness. And in verse 9 we have read, that he, as the true light coming into the world, enlightens every man. Like the sun is putting his rays upon everyone. Even so the Son of God placed every human being in his light. And this is what he does tonight as well, that he places every man into his light. But then we read a very sad thing. That is that the world would not know him. We see from this verse that most human beings were not ready to accept this light. We think of a word of our Lord Jesus when he was here upon earth. And I am convinced that his heart was bleeding when he said this. That large is the way which leads to perdition. And many are who walk upon it. But then we read a second thing. That he came to his own. To the people of his earthly people, that is Israel. This people which outwardly was the most proximate to God. We could say that it is the religious men. And even they would not accept him. This is surprising to some. That even high religious people are not ready to receive the Lord Jesus. When my father was converted from an unbelievers family. He had an uncle who was a preacher, a pastor in a church. And after his conversion my father went quickly to this man. Telling of his conversion. And this uncle says to him. Das ist interessant, das habe ich selbst nie erlebt. Mein Vater war ganz durcheinander. Und er sagt, du predigst doch jeden Sonntag. Nun das war er in gewisser Weise ein aufrichtiger Mann. Er sagte, ich bekomme jedes Mal 10 Franken. And each time I received 10 Swiss francs, that is about 3 pounds. His own would not receive him. But now we come to a very beautiful verse. That is verse 12. Verse 12 places before us the conversion of a man. But those who received him. There are those who received him. And I hope that each and everyone here present in this room have received the Lord Jesus. We find here the two great elements of conversion. Erstens, dass wir den Herrn Jesus aufnehmen aus das Licht. Das Licht, das in unser Inneres leuchtet. Und es bringt an den Tag, dass wir Sünder sind. Und dass wir gesündigt haben. Das ist die erste Seite der Bekehrung. Dass man Ja sagt zu dieser Tatsache. Wenn man im Lichte Gottes steht. Aber diese Tatsache muss uns erschrecken. But this fact is also to make us tremble. Because we understand that we deserve judgment. But then the second element comes in. Which is the escape that God shows us. We now may believe on the name of the Lord Jesus. On Calvary's cross he died for us. And in faith we may find our support in him. And we may know that Golgotha, that Calvary is plainly sufficient. In Bezug auf das Problem der in uns wohnenden Sünde. Und auch auf das Problem der sündigen Taten. Und dann kommen wir zu Vers 13. Da wird von der Neugeburt gesprochen. Von Menschen die aus Gott geboren sind. Es ist nicht so einfach etwas zu sagen über die Neugeburt. Es ist das was Gott tut in einem Menschen. Es ist was Gott tut in einem Menschen. Und es ist ein Wunder. Ich habe gehört, dass in Amerika Menschen ausgebildet werden zu Neugebärern. Es ist manchmal erstaunlich was man in Amerika hört. Aber natürlich ist das ein Unsinn. Menschen können nicht andere Menschen von Neuem gebären. Wenn wir von Neugeburt sprechen, dann ist es etwas was Gott tut. Einmal kam ein ganz gescheiter Mensch zum Herrn Jesus. Er kam bei Nacht. Es ist Nikodemus. Und es ist immer wieder bemerkenswert zu lesen was er zu Herrn Jesus sagt. Und es ist bemerkenswert zu lesen was er zu Herrn Jesus sagt. Und noch viel wichtiger ist was der Herr Jesus zu ihm sagt. Wenn so hochgestellte Menschen sich begegnen, dann machen sie gerne Komplimente. Und so auch Nikodemus sein wenig, wie ich meine. Er sagt, Lehrer, du bist von Gott gekommen. Und keiner kann die Zeichen tun, die du tust. Und er hat natürlich gewartet, dass der Herr Jesus zu ihm sagt, du bist der große Lehrer von Israel. Aber das sagt er nicht. Er sagt, wenn du nicht von Neuem geboren wirst, dann kannst du das Reich Gottes nicht sehen. Dann fragt Nikodemus ihn etwas. Es ist manchmal erstaunlich, was so gescheite Menschen fragen können. Kann ich noch einmal in den Leib meiner Mutter zurückkehren? Kann ich noch einmal in den Leib meiner Mutter zurückkehren? Und er sagt, erklärt der Herr Jesus ihm die Neugeburt. Es ist in der Schrift etwas bemerkenswertes, dass wir oft zuerst die irdischen Dinge verstehen müssen, und dann verstehen wir auch die geistlichen Dinge. Wir finden diesen 1. Korinther 15. Das irdische war zuerst. Und dann kam das geistliche. Damit wir Neugeburt verstehen, müssen wir zuerst etwas über natürliche Geburt sagen. Natürliche Geburt hat zwei große Elemente. Ich weiß, dass ich bei sieben Geburten dabei gewesen bin. Und ich habe das jedes Mal gesehen. Erstens sieht man den Geburtsvorgang. Und zweitens hört man den Schrei des neuen Lebens. Und der Herr Jesus erklärt die Neugeburt mit dem Wind. Ich habe jahrelang darüber nachgedacht, warum er das tut. Und vor Jahren kam eine meiner Töchter, acht Jahre alt, von der Schule nach Hause. Und sie sagte mir, Vater, ich will dich ein Rätsel fragen. Und sie sagte, was sieht man in der Natur und hört es nicht. Und sie fragte mich, was man in der Natur sieht, ohne es zu hören. Ich versuchte es herauszufinden. Und alles war falsch. Sie gibt die Antwort und sagt, es ist der Nebel. Und dann sagt sie, ich will dich ein zweites Rätsel fragen. Was hört man in der Natur und sieht es nicht? Dann war ich sehr schnell. Dann habe ich gesagt, der Wind. Und ich glaube, das ist der Grund, warum der Herr Jesus hier spricht vom Wind. Bei der Neugeburt kann man keinen Geburtsvorgang sehen. Aber man hört den Schrei des neuen Lebens. Seht, ihr Leben macht sich bemerkbar. Im Natürlichen. Und auch im Geistlichen. Vor einiger Zeit hat mir aber eine Hebamme gesagt, dass sie neue Erkenntnisse haben in Bezug auf die Geburt, und dass dieser erste Schrei des Kindes, eines neugeborenen Kindes, kein Freudenschrei ist. Sondern es ist ein Schrei der Angst. Und sie erklärte mir, dieses Kind kommt aus der Finsternis zum Licht und kann sich zunächst nicht zurechtfinden. Und ich dachte darüber nach. Und ich sagte ihr, ich glaube, sie haben recht. Und auch im Geistlichen ist das so. Der Schrei des neuen Lebens ist oft kein Freudenschrei. Manchmal kommen junge Leute zu mir. Und sie sagen, jetzt habe ich mich bekehrt. Und ich habe jetzt so große Schwierigkeiten. Ich glaube, ich habe mich nicht recht bekehrt. Ich habe oft gesagt zu ihnen, dass du diese Schwierigkeiten hast, ist der Beweis, dass du Leben hast. Du musst jetzt lernen, dich im Licht zurechtzufinden. Und jetzt musst du lernen, dich mit deiner Situation im Licht zu befassen. Denn jeder, der aus Gott geboren ist, ist immer im Licht. Solche, die also sich bekehren, und denen Gott das Recht gibt, Kinder Gottes zu sein, Ich will noch ein Wort sagen zu der Reihenfolge. Wenn ich von der Schweiz nach Norden fahre, dann treffe ich Brüder, die die Bibel sehr gut kennen, und sie sagen mir, zuerst muss ein Mensch sich bekehren, und dann wird er von neuem geboren. Wenn ich von der Schweiz nach Westen reise, dann treffe ich Brüder, die ebenso gut die Bibel kennen, und sie sagen mir, zuerst muss jemand von neuem geboren sein, sonst kann er sich nicht bekehren. Ich weiß nicht, was die Brüder in England hier denken, aber ich möchte vorschlagen, dass beide Recht haben. Ich glaube, dass es gleichzeitig ist. Wir Menschen müssen immer eine Reihenfolge haben. Aber in den Dingen Gottes kann etwas gleichzeitig geschehen. Die Bekehrung ist die Seite des Menschen. Und die Neugeburt ist die Seite Gottes. Und im Bruchteil der Sekunde, wo ein Mensch sich bekehrt, ist er von neuem geboren. Und im Bruchteil der Neugeburt bekehrt er sich. Und im Bruchteil der Sekunde, wo ein Mensch sich bekehrt, ist er von neuem geboren. Und zu diesen, gibt Gott das Recht oder die Macht, Kinder Gottes zu sein. Darf ich noch einmal fragen, ob hier alle, die hier sind, mit ihren Sünden zu Gott gekommen sind, ob hier alle, die hier sind, mit ihren Sünden zu Gott gekommen sind, und sie Gott bekannt haben, und geglaubt haben an den Namen und das Werk des Herrn Jesus, dann bist du ein Kind Gottes. Jetzt möchten wir zum Zweiten kommen. Und wir gehen zum ersten Johannesbrief. Und da finden wir in Vers 1 und 2a, was es bedeutet, hier auf Erden ein Kind Gottes zu sein. Seht, welche Liebe uns der Vater gegeben hat. Behold, what a love God the Father bestowed upon us. They may now experience and know the love of the Father. And when it is said here, what a love, it is not so much the scope of this love, but rather its quality. When thinking about the love of God, we see various situations. We see that God loves his creatures, that is man, and this is what we also see in creation itself. It has always impressed me to read in the beginning of the Bible, that God himself planted trees in the Garden of Eden for men, so that men would have something for his eyes, but also for his mouth. And then we see God's love to an earthly people, and further on we come to the New Testament, where we can see love in its highest form, that is the love of the Father. There is nothing higher possible. The love of the Father is there in eternities. He loves the Son in eternities. And now even the children of God may experience this love. When speaking of God as the Father, and also during our studies we were occupied with that, we have to discern three things. When God is called Father in the Old Testament in general, then the thought is origin. And we find also three passages in the New Testament pointing to this fact. When God is called the Father of Mercies, this means that if there are ever mercies, they have their origin in God. And when God is called Father of Lights, this means that light has its origin in God. And when he is called Father of Glory, this means that whenever there is glory, its origin is in God. And the second is to discern. Or the capacity of discerning. Since the Son of God has come upon earth, we know the truth of the three union of God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Existing in eternity. Or rather from eternity, but manifest through the coming of the Son upon earth. And when in connection with baptism we read that we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this shows us that we have knowledge of the three persons of God, and that we can make a difference between them. But what John presents us when speaking of the Father is a relationship, or fellowship, communion. Well, I have the same name as my father has. We have the same first name and the same surname. And my father is also my origin. And we have lived in the same village. And sometimes it was for the postman really difficult. Because we had the same name. Sometimes he brought a bill which was directed to my father to me. And I brought it quickly to him. So what the postman should have known would have been to discern between us two. But then I worked together with my father for 20 years. And then a relationship came into existence. Something which the people in the village would not know so much. This relationship was found in the secrecy of our living together. And this is the great thought of John. And in this fellowship we have been brought fellowship with the Father. Behold what a life God the Father bestowed on us. That we may be called sons or children of God. We now belong to God's family. We are his children. This means two things. First of all we have fellowship, communion with the Father. And secondly we have fellowship amongst each other. This is why the world does not recognize us. Unbelieving men cannot understand us. This is what we have to know. They cannot understand that people have been sitting in such a room for three days. They cannot understand people sitting three days in such a hall like here. Or go and visit three times the meetings in a week. I live in a village. And there are people watching us coming together. Sometimes I would like to hear what they say. They think that there must be a tremendous pressure upon us that we really do that. And I can understand why they think so. Because they don't know what Lord Jesus does mean to us. Now, you know, unbelieving people can do many beautiful things. They can be gentle. Helpful. They can have compassion. But one thing they cannot do. They cannot rejoice in the Lord Jesus. And this is why they don't understand us. And we have to understand that they can't understand us. But it is not that simple if we are not understood by the surrounding men. In our actions, in our life. In our life. But there is great comfort here. Neither will they recognize him. This may comfort us when not being understood by men. But there is a second side to the question that the world doesn't recognize us. Children of God are no longer useful for the purposes of unbelieving men. In politics. In religious affairs. And also in the beautiful spiritual things. In cultural things. And if we are useful for them in this respect. We no longer comply with the character that we have as children of God. Beloved. This is what we may experience day by day. That the sun of love shines every day upon us, his children. Sometimes we say today sun is shining, yesterday it was not shining. But this is not true at all. In Switzerland I was told that in England rarely you could see the sun. And when coming for the first time to England yesterday, the sun shone brightly down here. But also in England the sun is shining every day. Have you ever thought of the fact that earth itself cannot bring forth light and warmth? It only can bring forth something that hinders light and warmth. This is fog or clouds. And this is true also for our lives. The sun of God's love shines every day upon us. This is what we never want to forget. Maybe somebody sitting here who thinks nobody loves me. But if you are a child of God, God loves you every day. Although it may be that something has come in between. Things that are not pleasing to God, then they have to confess and to be done away with. Then we sense again the love, the warmth and light of the sun of God. Beloved, we are now God's children. Even upon earth. This is a present, well-known and secure part for us. Sometimes there are believers very modest. And so they say, well, I would just have a little place to stand in heaven. Well, I myself am not so modest. I say, I am even now a child of God. And this is no presumption. But this is what God says in his word. And this is what I am pointing to and what I am leaning upon. It is a great thing to wander here through this life as children of God to have fellowship with the Father and to be able to experience day by day the love of God. And yet we have to say, the most beautiful is still ahead of us. When our life here upon earth finds its end, when the Lord Jesus comes this is what the second part of this second verse involves. In these short words we find the two great sides of our future. Ich bin immer wieder erstaunt wie Gott große Wahrheiten in großer Kürze vor unsere Herzen stellt. Erstens, wir werden ihm gleich sein. Zweitens, wir werden ihn sehen wie er ist. Das ist unsere wunderbare Zukunft. Das erste hat zu tun damit, dass wir mit ihm in Herrlichkeit erscheinen werden. Das zweite hat zu tun damit, dass wir eingehen werden in das Haus des Vaters. Das eine ist die öffentliche Seite und das andere ist die verborgene Seite des Hauses des Vaters. Ich möchte jetzt drei Schriftstellen vorstellen um das deutlich zu machen. Die erste ist in Johannes 17. Die erste finden wir in Johannes 17. Da finden wir in Versen 22 und 23 dass wir ihm gleich sein werden. Das wir gleich sein werden. Dann wird die Welt erkennen dass wir geliebt werden wie der Vater den Sohn geliebt hat. Aber dann kommt Vers 24 und da spricht Jesus vom Haus des Vaters und dann sagt er, ich will dass sie meine Herrlichkeit schauen im Haus des Vaters sagt er nicht wir werden ihm gleich sein. In the father's house he doesn't say that we will be like him but we will see him. Eine zweite Stelle in Römer 8. Wir werden dem Bilde seines Sohnes gleichförmig gemacht wenn wir mit ihm erscheinen in Herrlichkeit when we will appear with him in glory and when we shall go into the father's house then he will turn out as the firstborn of many brethren. A third passage in Luke chapter 9. Here we see the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appearing with him in glory this is an image of our public situation and then we find something very astonishing the Lord Jesus enters together with these holy men into the cloud the cloud which is a picture of the dwelling of God and when entering into this cloud this symbolizes the Lord Jesus coming back again and taking us to himself we shall see him as he is it is not said that we shall see him as he was neither is it said that we shall see him as he has become but we shall see him as he is this means that the glory he asks for in John 17 which he had before the world was he requires this glory now as man so that we might see it in this miraculous wonderful man who is in the house of the Father so that they might see my glory and then he explains this glory for thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world in the house of the Father we may see the eternal flow of love flowing forth out of the heart of the Father to the Son beloved, this is our future and everyone having this hope towards him purifies himself as he is pure this is no exhortation and yet it has to do with the practice of our life what we find however in verse 3 is more a statement whenever we have this hope towards him whenever it is alive in our hearts then we purify ourselves we cleanse ourselves I would like to point to the fact how precise scripture expresses itself in this verse it does not say that we are pure as he is pure this would not be true Jacobus says we all stumble often and we need to cleanse ourselves and it is always necessary for us to clean ourselves, to purify ourselves that is to be exposed to the cleansing effect of the word of God but neither is it said here that he purifies himself as he has cleansed himself no our Lord Jesus never had a necessity of cleansing himself he has been pure forever we know the three apostles speaking of this fact Peter, the man of walk who says of the Lord Jesus that he would not do sin in all his walk from the manger to the cross he did no sin Paul, the man of principles he said that the Lord Jesus knew no sin in his teachings there was not even one principle of sin this is what I consider as the significance of this sentence and John, the man of fellowship fellowship is something in ourselves, within ourselves he says sin is not in him never, not even for one second was the fellowship of the Lord Jesus to his God dimmed our Lord Jesus is holy and pure and we bow down in worship before his holy name Amen God, I follow the way of glory for the Christ I live and cry Hail, O God my holy nation Lord of all soft and tight Thou didst send me as a witness of the life free of compel by Thy Spirit we receive it now in Christ our entry hour fellowship with thee O Father and with Jesus Christ thy Son such thy comfort gracious giving by thy Spirit to each one for in Christ comes life eternal once in heaven earth below and in heaven all the goodness for all in Christ is true for all for all in heaven all and Father share us all thy love for me love for me with our Saviour his unceasing grace in thee grace divine with grace transcending all the earth the Father Christ is the Son of the Father making us to give up their own joys …