John 8:37-47 - Cameron Jungels - Sun AM June 8, 2014

“Who Is Your Father?” (John 8:37-47)

^{Cameron Jungels/Eastside Baptist/Sun AM/June 8, 2014}

 

³⁰ Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

⁴² 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. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ 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. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” (John 8:30–47, niv)

 

Whether or not you are a child of God cannot be determined by your physical parents or ancestry.

 

They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" (John 8:33, NIV)

 

I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. (John 8:37, NIV)

 

I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father. “(John 8:38, NIV)

 

"Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do what Abraham did. (John 8:39, NIV)

As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. (John 8:40, NIV)

 

It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. (Romans 9:6, NIV)

 

Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." (Romans 9:7, NIV)

 

In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. (Romans 9:8, NIV)

 

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:14-15, NIV)

 

It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. (Romans 9:16, NIV)

 

A child of God is supernaturally, spiritually fathered by God by means of the new birth.

 

Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (John 8:47, NIV)

 

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– (John 1:12, NIV)

 

children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:13, NIV)

 

Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5, NIV)

 

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:6-7, NIV)

 

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John 3:8, NIV)

 

A child of God hears and believes the Word of God.

 

I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. (John 8:37, NIV)

 

Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. (John 8:43, NIV)

 

Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (John 8:47, NIV)

 

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. (1 John 4:15, NIV)

 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1, NIV)

 

We accept human testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. (1 John 5:9, NIV)

 

Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. (1 John 5:10, NIV)

 

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.  (1 John 5:11-12, NIV)

 

A child of God recognizes and loves the members of his own family.

 

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. (John 8:42, NIV)

 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (1 John 5:1, NIV)

 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, NIV)

 

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:11-12, NIV)

 

A child of God bears the family resemblance with a life that is increasingly conforming to the will of the Heavenly Father.

 

 

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."(John 8:31-32, NIV)

 

"Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do what Abraham did. (John 8:39, NIV)

 

As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. (John 8:40, NIV)

 

You are doing the works of your own father." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." (John 8:41, NIV)

 

But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (1 John 3:5, NIV)

 

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6, NIV)

 

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. (1 John 3:7, NIV)

 

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (1 John 3:8, NIV)

 

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. (1 John 3:9, NIV)

 

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. (1 John 3:10, NIV)

 

Main Idea: A child of God is known not by any claim to physical ancestry; a child of God is known by their hearing the Word of God, believing in Jesus Christ, loving the family of God, and growing in Christlike behavior.