1 John 3:11-15 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
From the beginning of time, since Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God’s commandment of not eating of the Tree of Knowledge, we have seen murder enter into the hearts of men. Choosing man’s authority over God’s authority introduced the devil’s nature and inclination into the world. Now man was not only competitive with God, he was competitive with others. We see this played out with Cain and Abel. They both brought an offering to God. God pronounced Abel’s better than Cain’s. Because the father of degradation, of separation, was crouching at Cain’s heart, Cain decided to kill his brother, to do away with his competition for God’s favor. Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:8-9) Because the devil is also the father of lying; Cain obeyed him by lying to God. Of course, Cain knew where his brother had fallen, so did God; but God allowed Cain to go all the way, acting and expressing only evil, exposing the true nature of wickedness in his heart. God judged him by not allowing the land to be productive; consequently, he became a wanderer, no longer in the continuous presence of God. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence. (Genesis 4:14) This judgment of exclusion from the presence of God was so harsh that later we see Moses saying to God, if your presence does not go with us to the Promised Land, then let us die in the wilderness. Moses coveted the presence of God for he knew the presence of God identified the Israelites from the rest of the people on Earth. We see that Cain knew he required the nearness of God to survive successfully in this world. His succumbing to the devil’s spirit and words brought him judgment, but his punishment did not change his heart. Jesus in disputing with the priests and the elite of his day claimed the devil had infiltrated men’s hearts, even the Jewish hearts. Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! (John 8:42-45) As with Cain, the devil is always crouching at the hearts of men, turning them from a brother one day to a murderer the next day. The image of Satan crouching at the door merely means the voice of the devil is speaking, whispering lies. Who will people obey, the voice of the wicked one or the voice of the Creator, the one who made them in and of his image? As we see in the account of Noah and the great flood, God destroyed mankind because of their violent nature; their willingness to kill, rape, and destroy. This nature is still present in every person, even the 80-year-old woman who kindly invites you into her house and gifts you with cookies. As we have said in previous breakfasts, the history of mankind clearly displays this waywardness from God’s nature of love and care, for millions have been killed, raped and destroyed because of the evil within men. This contamination of self-will, lustful desires, and violence remains a part of our innate selves, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
The beautiful story of Jesus is that He came to do away with the innate sinful nature in the soul of man. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Jesus came to create new creatures, those who are described by him as being born again. We were not reborn with Cain’s disposition, but with Christ’s disposition as joint-heirs with him, called to be sons and daughters of the Father God. Of course, this is a transformation of our souls, what God sees when He looks upon us. For the blood of the Lamb has taken away our sins, by covering us with the works of Jesus, and not our works. John understood this when he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Yes, at times we are still sinful in our flesh. We are not absolutely perfect as God is, but IN CHRIST we are completely perfect, for He is completely perfect and pleasing to God. In the worldly domain, we walk with the spirit of helping others around us because the Holy Spirit lives in us. We love others as we love ourselves; we serve one another, preferring others above our own needs and desires. The world hates this spirit of irrevocable love. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. The contrast between living a life of goodness by helping and loving others with the way the world lives is dramatic. The Bible says they are living lives of death while we who are IN CHRIST are living eternal lives. The world hates those who are totally committed to Christ. Over the millenniums of time, countless believers have sacrificed their lives for the truth of the gospel. After telling about all the great people of faith, the writer of Hebrews speaks of those who were persecuted, tortured, and killed for their faith, saying, the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:38-40)
How should we live as Christians? When John says, Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him, we agree with him. We surely do not want to hate anyone, and obviously we do not want to murder anyone, for God is love. But how should we live? How do we have a victorious life filled with love and not governed by self-interest? Paul says, we must commit to Jesus Christ, to his wisdom and knowledge, for IN CHRIST is the essence of all truth. I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:1-3) Knowing Christ and living in and for Christ means we are experiencing the mystery God designed for human beings. God makes sons and daughters out of us who are but flesh, created by his hands from dust. But to know the mystery of God, to accept the reality of what God is doing in us through Christ, we must remain passionately faithful to the message of Christ and his redemptive work. We must be sold out! In Revelation, the Lord talks about the Laodicean church. He tells the church that they are lukewarm, neither hot or cold. They are double-minded, sometimes existing in fervor about God and then at times existing in doubt about God’s favor and goodness towards them. They are playing the odds: maybe there is a God, maybe there is not, not landing on one side or the other. Of course lukewarmness can be swayed one way or the other, but hot or cold cannot. The state of a person’s faith is clear when it is hot or cold. The Laodicean church believed their way of living was validated by God, for they were rich and satisfied with life. The Lord tells them, But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17) He infers they have been running on the octane of fleshly ways, knowledge, and wisdom. The Lord advises them to build their lives on the purity of gold: Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They are advised to buy white garments, completely perfect; garments washed in the blood of the Lamb. He says, when your nakedness is covered, when your eyes have received healing ointment, then you can claim the richness of the Lord, but until then you are under judgement. Hear my knock at the door of your hearts, He says. Hear my voice, open up the door to my presence. If you will open your hearts to my words, I will sup with you; we will share our friendship. You will sit with me on my throne forever. For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. If we love Christ passionately, we love God the Father. We will sit with the Father God forever. We cannot love others as we should unless we sup with Jesus. To be his friend, his servant, his companion is to be the friend, servant and companion to the world. We cannot say, we love God and we are God’s friend, and then live with hatred in our hearts. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8) Today, go forth in love!
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