Skip to main content

198. Children Of The Devil?


John 8:42-47
Key Verse: "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but He sent Me."
John 8:42

When you stop to think about it, this is an amazing statement from our Lord. We are used to calling ourselves "sinners," and acknowledging that we, "sin," but do we really understand what that means if we are apart from Christ?

We've done such a good job of white washing sin. We've almost become Laissez-faire about it. Yah, we do stuff we shouldn't, but then, we can just ask God for forgiveness and it's all good again. No harm done and even if harm was done, well, it's good that we have the cross to cling to right?

What if, when you sinned, however, you were called a "child of the devil?" How would you like that? Would that help you to think a little more seriously about your "sin?"

Jesus makes it very clear just how different we are from Him in our natural state. We do not speak His language. We do not understand Him. We cannot even hear Him. We are not tuned into His message. It's not just that our sin causes us to see Him through fun house mirrors, but everything about us distorts how we see and hear and experience Him. We are warped and defective receivers. We cannot function as we were intended until we allow Christ to do the needed repairs, fixing our brokenness so that we can be useful, through obedience, to Him.

Jesus calls the devil the "father of lies." (John 8:45), but his lies are attractive to sinners. The devil began by being jealous of God and convincing himself that he could defeat Him. That was the original lie and we fall prey to it when we refuse to let go of our way and let God guide us into His.

Jesus calls the devil a "murderer, from the beginning" (John 8:44) Satan plotted to get God out of the way so that he could receive all that praise for himself. When he failed in his attempt, he set out to ruin as much of what God had created as possible. When we see others as obstacles, or Jesus as the obstacle to having our way, we do no better. Remember what Jesus said back in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matt. 5:21-22) "I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." Who isn't guilty of acting like the devil at one time or another?

"If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe Me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (John 8:46b-47) This should help us consider our sin more soberly. The apple truly doesn't fall far from the tree. Only Jesus can pick it up and plant it in a new and better soil that will bear fruit for Him. We resist this truth, constantly hoping for a way around it so that we can fulfill our sinful desires and still have Jesus as our "get out of jail free card," when we need Him. It doesn't work that way though in God's kingdom. We are either for Him or against Him. There is no middle ground. We are either Children of God or children of the devil. There is no third parent to appeal too. It's just as simple as that.

Children of God

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faithful Through the Ages

Luke 2:22-38 Listen Link:  http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw Forgive the buzz on this one. I had a cold and my voice was way down. One of the odd little quirky things that Kathy and I like to do from time to time is walk through old cemeteries and read the tombstones. Sometimes there are interesting little tidbits of information or a verse of Scripture that give a hint to what kind of person lies beneath our feet. Often, however, there is just the name, the date born and the date of death with just a dash between. The dash represents the whole life lived between the two dates, so it would contain most of the interesting information, but it is hidden from us. All we can do is pick up little clues that can be gleaned from the names, dates and from the other tombstones around the one we are looking at. If there are a cluster of stones all containing the same last name, then we may be able to figure out the family relationships; who was the parent, wh
Post a Comment
Read more

312. Burial Plot!

Matthew 27:62-66 Key Verse: So, they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Matthew 27:66 "The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming." Psalm 37:12-13 You have to wonder if, by now, Pilate is beginning to question the sanity of the Jewish leaders themselves. It wasn't enough that they were jealous of this quiet dreamer, Jesus, now they were afraid of His disciples. From Pilate's perspective, this last must have been almost ludicrous.  After all, only one of Jesus' followers had stuck around for the trials and crucifixion. For the most part, as soon as Jesus had been taken, they had all scattered and were probably in hiding. The idea of this rag tag group of unlearned fishermen sticking their necks out now to steal a body and then start a rumor that no one would believe anyway, was ridiculous.
Post a Comment
Read more

46. Tempted By Fame

Deuteronomy 6:16 , Psalm 91 , Matthew 4:5-7 , Luke 4:9-12 Key Verse: Jesus answered: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7 & Luke 4:12 Is satan daring Jesus to prove Himself here?  It sure looks like it.  It would appear that satan finds it hard to believe that all powerful Jesus wouldn’t want to resist show off His power just a little.  Could this have been a vulnerability for Jesus?  Is this really a temptation to prove Himself? It would appear here that Satan is offering Jesus a different entrance into ministry.  Jesus wouldn't have to mingle with the rabble.  He could show off for the teachers of the law, the rabbis and the Pharisees.  They would be impressed and he would have their allegiance no matter how the crowd would treat Him.  Instead of compassionate ministry, he could use his power to show off the way the Pharisees like to do, be one of them.  It looks like an easy way to gain acceptance from the people i
Post a Comment
Read more