Authentic Christianity #4: Knowing God

In this message from 1 John 2:3–8, we explore how authentic Christianity is never meant to become dull or routine. Though God’s truth is ancient and unchanging, it becomes fresh and alive as we obey Christ and apply His love in everyday life. This sermon challenges us to rediscover the wonder of knowing Jesus, walking in obedience, and becoming more like Him through lives marked by love and selflessness.

Transcript

Good morning. Morning. Praise God I enjoyed worship this morning. Hey, What what makes life interesting? What makes life? Like, not boring. What what creates, vitality in life. And, as I was thinking about that this week, there was a story told in the preschool where, earlier in the week, they they made these little binoculars for the kids out of toilet paper rolls. You know, the empty toilet paper rolls and all the kids had their empty little toilet paper rolls. And one of the cute little girls, was so enamored with their toilet paper roll, she brought it to school the very next day, and she was wearing it around her neck and out at the playground. She she started looking and she got so excited because inside of her, you know, little binocular toilet paper rolls, she saw a crow and she she exclaims with great excitement, look, look, a bird! I can see a bird! And the teachers, of course, were just delighted in her delight and that the other kids seemed to get enthusiastic about her enthusiasm and, it just reminds you of the kind of wonder and the delight and discovery that a child has. And, the question I want to ask us this morning is, how can we keep that sense of wonder, that sense of discovery in our life? You know, sometimes people get to a place where their lives, seem like nothing is new and things are kind of old, and we're in a rut, and, we wonder, you know, where did that enthusiasm go? Where did my, sense of discovery and excitement and and, and, and interest go, when my life gets kind of dull and old and familiar, is it possible to live with that childlike sense of of awe and wonder and discovery? Even as we continue to grow old and become adults? Why? Why do different people experience the very same thing? So completely differently? Why does one person, you know, open up a book of Shakespeare, read a couple lines and say, oh, this is so boring and another person would, start, understanding and and seeing and putting themselves to the wisdom of, of some of his plays and spend a whole life becoming, scholar of the works of William Shakespeare. Why would people, experience the very same things, so differently? Why would one be, you know, so intrigued by something and another person would be so bored by the very same thing? You know that sometimes the way we approach the Bible been that, been there, done that, read Leviticus. I've had enough of it. There's no more in there for me. Or, Wow. Can you believe what I just I've read this thing ten times, and I just saw today something completely new that turned on the the lights. I have a greater understanding of myself and reality as a result of this obscure verse or passage that I had just looked over. So today, as we continue in our series, Authentic Christianity reflecting the love of Christ, we're doing a study in, and in the book of First John, we're going to be looking at what makes, the ancient so new, what makes our experience with the old new. And we're going to be looking at what appears to be a contradiction in what John is saying. And, you know, John's book is full of what appears to be contradictory. You know, the idea that, you know, if you're, we've already dealt with one of the contradictions. If you say you're without sin, you're a liar. If you say that you're with God and you sin, you know you're a liar. Now, how do those two work together? We've dealt with that already. But today we're going to see another, you know, apparent contradiction that that day we'll ask, how can both of those things be true at the same time? How can the old be new is the contradiction will be asking about. And, the first thing I'd like to challenge us with as we think about and look about our experience with the ancient and have such a sense of newness and wonder, is, can we really know Christ and be bored? Can you really know Christ? And can you really be with Christ and be bored? Is that even possible when our relationship with Christ seems old and stale? Are we really with him? Can we be with Christ without experiencing the enthusiasm of discovery, of the sense of things always being new? So obviously, you know my answer to that question, but why is, being bored incompatible with authentic Christianity? Today we're going to be looking at the, our lesson will be entitled Knowing Christ. And we'll be looking at First John chapter three, verses three. Excuse me, first John chapter two, verse three through eight. Heavenly father, Lord, as we look at these verses today, father, there's so much in them that I'll be skipping over. But the stuff that I am focusing in on today, I really ask God that you would, make alive our taste for, newness and discovery and the desire to, be vital and alive in Christ. We come before you this morning, and we ask God that you would bless the reading your word this morning. And, and may it be, edifying and encouraging to us. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. First John chapter two, beginning at verse three. It says this. We know that we have come to know him. If we obey his commands. The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him. Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new commandment, but an old one which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command. Its truth is seen in him and in you. Because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Well, you know, you may already have the confusion I had when I read this passage, where you see, in verse seven and verse eight, it seems to be saying two different things. In verse seven it says, I'm giving you an old command which you have known since the beginning. It is not a new command. It's an old command. It's an ancient command. And then, it goes on and says in verse eight, no, it's a new command, it's a new command, and it's a fresh command. Now, either there's two different commands with different content or there's some confusion here. And the truth is, is there's nothing new about what he's commanding us. The command new command is the old command to love your brothers. And so how is it that this old and ancient command that's not new can be new? It's not new, but yet it is fresh and new. At the same time, you know, look at this, verse seven here. I'm not writing you a new commandment, but an old one. You have had since the beginning. This old commandment is a message you have heard. And then verse eight, yet I am writing you a new command. Its truth is seen in him and in you. It's old. It's an old commandment. It's been since the beginning. It's been since the beginning of, a man revealing himself to God. And it's a command related to how we are to relate to God and relate to one another, how we are to function in a moral way. We are seen. We see from the beginning that we were created in his image, and God has prescribed for us to treat each other in accordance to his nature, the way he is to be a reflection of his love and his goodness. We have been prescribed since the beginning to reflect his character, which is, applied in the idea of loving your brothers. Yet this being an old and ancient command, it also says here it's a new command. It's an old command from the beginning, yet it is new. How can it be both not new and new at the same time? The theme this morning is this. The ancient Christ never gets old. The ancient Christ never gets old. Let's take a look at verse eight. Yet I am writing you a new command. Its truth is seen in him, and its truth is seen in him. The way God has designed us and therefore prescribed for us to live. And, it is a command that remains true and always has been true. It becomes new and its application, it becomes brand new. In the incarnation of Christ. This truth of God's command became true as it was lived out in the life of our Messiah. It became visible in, the life of Christ, the way it was supposed to be visible in us from the beginning. Before we we fell, it became new. And it is new as it's applied in as it's applied in each and every new circumstances. The newness of the old is the application of the old in each new circumstance, when the ancient truth is applied to our present condition, it becomes new. It is both old and new at the same time. Let me try to explain it to you this way. There are two Greek words for God's word. One of those words is logos, and logos means a truth that has always been and always will be. It's timeless and old and unchangeable and ancient. Another word that's translated into God's Word is the word rhema. And it's not different from logo, but it is God's eternal truth applied in a present time, in a present circumstance. So it is new. It's always new. Rhema is always new. It's always a new application to an old principle. It's taking an idea and it's applying it to a brand new circumstance. And so. So it makes the old new. And now let me try to illustrate that to you, in different ways. When I was a kid, my parents bought to me a brand new house. The house was built, then built in 1919, but when my brothers and sisters and I hit that house, it was all brand new. And we literally, crawled in every area of all the attics and access places. We crawled over all that old, post and tube wiring who's amazing. We didn't get electrocuted, but there all these little secret passageways through all of the attic spaces in that house, and we were all over that thing. To us, it was a brand new experience. Old house became new to us. We were experiencing it for the first time. And, in that sense, it seemed new. It was a new, application to an old thing. Now, these two words, logos and rhema, you know, one is old and the other is a fresh application of the ancient. To know him is to both know someone who's old and eternal, but always new and refreshing. It is in this sense that the newness that we have, with each day, when the truth gets applied in each hour, it's old, but it's new at the same time. If we are bored in our Christianity, we haven't been with Christ. We're not applying the principles of Christ in our new circumstances and our new situations. When we know Christ each day, then each day is a new adventure. It's applying and the ancient truth to a brand new application. There is no day like today. There is no moment like the moment. There is no challenges like we have before us today. We've never experienced today before. And we it's new as we bring in the ancient but true principles of God's Word and His will into our brand new circumstances. Think about it this way what does an athlete and a musician who both love what they do have in common? Don't they go over and over and over again old principles, and all things that they've learned and applying principles that they've developed over and over again. Each time a musician comes to a brand new concert, they do, they, they apply old principles to a brand new circumstance. And, and a musician who loves music. It doesn't say, oh, this concert is boring because I'm applying the same notes and the same principles. Or a songwriter doesn't say, oh, this new song is going to be boring because I'm stuck with the same old, scale that I've always had to work with. And so my new song is going to be boring because I don't have any new new notes to work with. Or the athlete says, my, this game is going to be boring because it's the same darn rules that I've been following since I started playing basketball or football or baseball. And, this new game is going to be boring because I have to do the same thing I've always done before. No, they see each new game or each new concert, or each new musical expression is as new and exciting and fresh because they love it. Even though they're applying the old they're they're experiencing it in a new way, in each new, expression in the moment of, of its application, the old becomes new. Now, if, piano that only has so many notes on it, and those notes never change, can have an endless possibility of what the sound it could make in the newness of its new application. Just think about how, the infinite nature of Christ could be new in the application of our everyday experience, what is possible and knowing the infinite one in terms of his always being saying the same yesterday, today, and forever. But he isn't like a piano keyboard that's finite. He's the same, but he's infinite. Wow. Think of the endless possibilities in eternity for things to always be new. However, our experience with him, you know, oftentimes seems to get stale. We lose that wonder in that sense of discovery. But we don't have to if, if a musician or a ball player gets stale in their game, it's because they're not developing anymore. It's it's because they stop trying to improve. They stop trying to, you know, change and make new application for other. They're either they're, sport or they're art. You know, the car, there is no nothing in Christ that would cause us not to have all and wonder and praise in him. You know, as we know him all of the time. You know, Disneyland is called the most wonderful place on earth. And when kids go there, they they really enjoy it because of the wonder of seeing new things. And, but after a while, you run out of things to see, and they have to buy, you know, build California Adventure because, you know, there's nothing new to see. But, it's exciting and new as long as there's something new to discover in Christ, there's no end to the newness of, of our experience in him. He's ancient, but he never gets old. The ancient Christ never gets old. So how can we get to know this ancient Christ that never gets old? How can we have this sense of newness, this sense of of new life and and, and new discovery and wonder every day? Well, it's clear here in this passage that we get to know Christ through obedience. Verses three through six. We get to know Christ through obedience. We know him. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says I know him, but does not do what he commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is made, is truly made complete in him. This is how we know that we are in him. Whoever claims to live in him must walk as he did. Now, this idea is a universal idea. It applies not just to Christianity. It applies to anything. It applies to any knowledge, both personal and impersonal. You can't, get to know anything, whether personal knowledge or impersonal knowledge, without conforming to or obeying its concepts. What do I mean by that? You know, we can't gain knowledge of anybody or anything without, you know, following the principles of that thing or that person. It's, for example, impersonal knowledge will go back to, sports. A basketball player cannot, get to know the game of basketball without learning and applying the rules of the game of basketball to impossible to get to know the game without conforming to its rules. A musician can't learn, and gain knowledge of music outside of the principles and rules within the context of music. Although sometimes I hear things that I think they don't know music, but, and sometimes you see somebody play that thing, know they don't know the game, but the same is true of personal knowledge with when we have knowledge of a person, we can't know another person without in some way conforming to the personality that we're getting to know. Here's a picture, for example, of an undercover cop. This is an undercover cop that wanted to infiltrate an eco terrorist group. You can see that he had to, in order to get to know the people that he was infiltrating, had to have a certain, confirmation to a certain look and to he had to carry certain attitudes and certain style and certain ways of behaving in order to get to know the people he was infiltrating. He couldn't have gone in dressed like this and, gotten to know the people that he was trying to, infiltrate. Undercover cops don't wear uniforms, and they don't look like cops, and they can't look like cops, because if they looked like cops, they couldn't get to know the people they're trying to get to know. We have that struggle is missionaries. You know, it's hard to get to know a people, when we're so completely different than they are. Missionaries have the struggle of taking. They need to take on as much of the culture as they can without violating their own principles. In order to get to know the people that they seek to bring the gospel to. And, you know, in some cases, you know, it would be hard for this guy to end up looking like this guy. And so, you know, that's the struggle he's going to have in trying to get to know the people, but he'll have to, you know, take on some of the conform himself to the ways and some of the cultural norms of the people to get to know them. Well, that that principle is the same with us in Christ. We can't get to know Christ without conforming to his person, his personality, his ways, his, his, his commands, his design, his prescription for how to live. But it's so amazing what happens when we do transform ourselves, or when the spirit transforms into the likeness of Christ. Look at Romans chapter one, verses one and two says, therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, the only thing worthy to do in view of how of the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, is to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, to give yourself back to God. Offer your life to God as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind as Christ's ideas and thoughts and truths, we give them ourselves to them. It renews our mind. But what I want you to see is what happens when our mind gets renewed, when we're transformed, what are we able to do that we weren't able to do before? When our minds get transformed, when we become like Christ, when we conformed to his will. Check out what happens to us. Then we will be able to test and approve, God's will. And we're going to see how good it is. We're going to see how pleasing it is, and we're going to see how perfect his will is for us. We're going to be delighted in what we're now able to do. And see. We're going to be able to test it. When we change, we can test and see how good God's designed for us is. At this point, we we're able to enjoy it. We're going to see the wonder of it. We're going to be able to be pleased by it. We're going to be able to really enter in and see how good his, prescription for us is. Obedience to Christ is not some boring journey into a lifeless, legalistic, reduction of of delight. But it's a journey into the wonders of everything that is beautiful, perfect, good, and works well. We're going to be able to test drive the will of God and see how good it is. Everything that is enjoyable and we are glad to be involved in the next day. Now let me back up a little bit and just to have you think about this for a second. Everything that we have enjoyed in life that we are glad we did the day after, now there are things we've enjoyed, but we haven't been glad about them the next day. But everything that we, have enjoyed and continue not to regret having done has to do with the application of certain principles of what is true. It comes out of conformity to right principles, enjoyment that does not lead to regret. For example, a lot of people really enjoy playing tennis, and people that enjoy playing tennis are really enjoy playing golf or really enjoy doing that kind of activity. Don't go home going, man, I really regret having played that tennis today. But to get to the point where they could enjoy the tennis, they don't just go out on the court. And the first time they swing at the ball, they're having a great time. I know with golf where I swing a club once, put a hole in the ground and said, I'm not sure this is fun enough for me to spend the amount of time and energy it is to get to where I would be fun, but I did get to where it would be fun enough to play tennis. And I know that you, you know, the better you get, the more you enjoy it. But to get better, you have to practice. You have to apply principles. You have to correct wrong strokes. You have to you have to correct what's wrong, and you have to apply what's right. And as you do, you get better and you enjoy it more and you don't go home and regret it. Things I've done in my life that I regret the next day. Don't take any practice. I never had to practice getting drunk. And, I many times regretted it the next day when I had to go to work. The things that I regret the next day, I can't think of any of them that required any, application of right principles. I mean, maybe you can. I don't know, even the development of enjoying the esthetic requires, you know, a discipline. To to block out all of the voices in the world and and notice a beautiful, landscape requires discipline. Anything that is good that you don't regret requires being given the right principles. There is nothing higher and nothing more enjoyable. And nothing that leaves no regret. Like getting to know Christ. Tennis is a good thing, but learning to play tennis comes far short of learning and knowing Christ. It is an application of the principles of Christ and the truth of Christ, particularly loving God and loving our neighbor. The applications of the idea of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, that as we apply those principles, we actually get to know Christ, the author of those principles, the very manifestation of those principles. We gain knowledge of him as a result of obedience to him. We gain knowledge of Christ, and we get to delight in the discovery of Christ. Each time we look at a biblical principle and apply it, You know, we resist love as it's defined in the Bible, because the biblical definition of love is sacrificing for the benefit of another. But when we do, we not only follow our ultimate example in Christ, but we do something that blesses us that we never regret. Have you ever regretted an act of heroism or an act of self-sacrifice that has been beneficial to another person? And have you ever not felt the joy of being used by God to do good? The ultimate example of sacrificial love, of course, is the cross will never match that the giving of himself and his life as an atonement for our sins. You know why Christ went through all that suffering so that his joy might be made complete when we come to him and imitate him. The ancient Christ never gets old. We get to know Christ through obedience. And point number two is to know Christ is to become like Christ again. In verse eight, I want you to see something here. Not only does this new command become new as it's seen in, in him, in him, it becomes new when it becomes incarnate in Christ, when the word becomes, living in human flesh, in Christ, it also becomes true when it is seen in you. The old command becomes new when it becomes evident in you, in us. Because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining, we become part of the light that shines in the darkness. As this new. The old command becomes applied in our lives as it becomes true in us. As love becomes evident in and through us, it becomes new. The newness of the ancient, timeless truth, the prescriptions of God for us can be seen not only in the life of Christ, but it can be seen in the life of his followers. It can be seen in the life of authentic Christianity and authentic Christians. And of course, there's always the charge of our hypocrisy. And yes, our hypocrisy is true. We are hypocrites. We oftentimes do not, act. And according to our profession, we act in accordance with our own selfish natures. But just because we're hypocrites doesn't mean the commands and the designs and the prescriptions of God are wrong for us. It just means we're not applying them at the moment. But when we do apply them, it's new and there's vitality and there's life. When we apply the old commands, they become new and they renew and restore both us and those we're influencing. Whatever else, an authentic Christ. Excuse me, whatever else the authentic Christian life is, is that it is certainly not boring. It is a life of renewal. It is a life of newness. We have a choice between two different old ways. Both of the ways that we can follow are old and ancient. We can follow the old way of sin and death, or we can follow the old way of blessings and life, obedience and life. We will follow an old way and we will follow a design. But the, old way of disobedience and death is boring. That's where death comes in, and that's where no change comes in. There's no change in death. That dead branch on my tree is not going to change. It's pretty boring. There's no there's not going to be another generation of fruit on that, on that dead branch. The only thing that has vitality is that which is following the ancient principles of our creator, embodied in Jesus Christ and made new in us as we obey them. Our ancient adversary and deceiver, is one in whom all things do decay. And when we become and when we are obeying Christ, we, become like Christ. And we we have the vitality of Christ. Let me just ask you this question. These next pictures I'm going to show, I have no knowledge that any of these guys know each other. But I want to ask you, this guy right here, who do you think it's likely that he more likely that he knows the next two guys? I'm going to show you are the two guys after that, do you think it's more likely that this guy here knows and, is friends with these two guys or these two guys? I don't know who they who he knows, but I think the answer is obvious. Why would it be obvious that it would be more likely that he would be friends with these two guys? Than these two guys? When we serve, he the Lord who is good, we become better when we serve the one who is holy. And we get to know the one who is holy. It changes us. It's more we become more like him and goodness is its own reward. Freedom is in goodness. Total freedom is in holiness. Think about it this way. When my heart only wants what is right, guess what I get to do? I can do whatever I want and it will be. Have a good result. There is complete freedom in holiness. If I am ever completely so pure that I have no evil desire left in me, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and it will be good. And I become more like Christ. The more I get to know Christ and I get to know Christ, the more I apply, volition to apply. And by the power of his spirit, apply, the principles of being a benefit to others. It is far better to be good in any and all circumstances than to have the most fortunate of all circumstances and not be good. The way to become good is to get to know the one who is ultimately good. The way to become good is to get to know Christ. The ancient Christ never gets old is our theme. Point number one is we get to know Christ through obedience. And point number two is to know Christ is to become like Christ. I'd like to conclude this morning by reading from Philippians chapter two, verses one through four. Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing, and in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests, but to but interest, but each of you to the interests of the other. Let's pray. Father, every morning when I wake up in the morning, it is a battle between me and you. It is a battle between my selfish self-interests and, allowing my sin to be crucified with you. That I might become alive to the heroic. To actually look beyond myself to the interest of other people. Father, you know, that I fail as much as I succeed. But I've never enjoyed, myself. When I'm focused on myself. And I always enjoy both myself and you when I'm focused on you and others, you'd think I'd learn the lesson. Father, that it is boring being self-absorbed. And it is a world of wonder. Entering into your love, being loved by you, and being a vehicle of your love to others. Lord, we pray this week that we would each, gain the excitement and the wonder of being beneficial to somebody else. In Christ name we pray. Amen.