Who Is Your Father?

(John 8:37-47)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Last time, we were looking
At what Jesus said to the Jews
At the Feast of Booths
The last great feast
Before the final one
That last Passover,
Where He would be betrayed and crucified.

On the last day,

As the water was being poured out
At the base of the altar
As a reminder of Gods provision
For His people in the wilderness
Jesus cried out, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being will flow rivers
of living water (John 7:37-38).

This was to remind them

Of the rock that followed the Jews in the wilderness.
That rock was put there by God
To teach them about Jesus

2
To teach us.
If youve trusted Jesus this morning,
As the rock was struck by Moses
So Jesus was struck for you,
For your sins,
That He might free you from Gods judgment
That you might have life forever.

The water that came from the rock

Was a picture of the Spirit He would give you
Who would not only give you
The ability to believe in Him,
But to walk with Him,
To love and serve Him.
Its a reminder
That you did not save yourself
God saved you by His grace.

Jesus made another claim

Likely on that same day
I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but
will have the Light of life (8:12).
The Jews also lit a lamp
During the feast in the treasury

3
The very place Jesus was standing as He said this (v. 20)
To remind them of the pillar of fire
The Lord gave to lead them
Safely through the wilderness
To the land of Promise.

Jesus tells us that this lamp

Was also a picture of Him.
The Father has given you His Son
Not only to be your Savior,
But to be your Guide
One to lead you
By His example,
By His Word and Spirit,
So that you might make it through this world,
And arrive safely in heaven.

B. Preview.
In our passage, its still the same day.
Jesus is speaking now to those Jews
That were willing to listen
To those who believed His Word.
Hes telling them how they could know
They really had believed and had eternal life:

4
He says, If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and
you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (vv. 31-32).
He said this because it was clear
At least to Him
That they really didnt believe.
They needed to trust Him.
They needed to follow Him.
If they did,
Then they would know what He was saying was true
Through their own experience:
They would know they were set free from death,
Because of the evidence
That they were free from their slavery to sin.

But how did they respond to what Jesus said?

Their response was denial:
We are Abrahams descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how
is it that You say, You will become free? (v. 33).

One of the greatest obstacles to salvation is pride:

We dont want to admit
That theres anything wrong with us;
That we need a Savior.

What should you do

5
When you share the Gospel with someone
And they deny what God says is true about them?
You should do what Jesus does:
Tell them the truth.

Jesus first tells them

Their true condition:
That they were slaves
The slaves of sin
Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin (v. 34).
They were still in that condition
In which they entered this world.
How can you know that you are in this condition?
When sin has the power to command you,
You know youre still its slave.

Jesus doesnt mean if you sin at all.

Every believer sins every day;
You and I sin every day.
The difference is you fight against it;
You resist it,
Because part of you
The real you

6
Doesnt want to sin.
God has made you a new creature in Christ.
You are free by His grace
By the work of His Spirit in your soul
You want to obey,
You want to honor Him,
And so you fight to do so.

But what about the first part of their claim

That they were Abrahams children?
Jesus now directs His arguments against this.
How could they know
How can you know
Whether youre a child of Abraham
Whether youre a child of God?
Its when you live like Abraham,
The one who truly believed God.

Lets consider three things:

1. How you can know that God is your Father.
2. If He is, how you became His child.
3. And finally, if He is not, how you can become His child.
II. Sermon.
A. First, how can you know that God is your Father?

7
How can you know
That you have been adopted into the family of God,
As Abraham was?
You can only know
If you live as Abraham.
Gods grace
As you well know by now
Changes your life.

As over against their claim,

Jesus first acknowledges
They are Abrahams children,
But only according to the flesh
Only physically.
He says, I know that you are Abrahams descendants (v. 37).

They were bone of his bone,

And flesh of his flesh,
But thats where the similarity ended.
They clearly didnt share his faith,
His nature,
Or his relationship with God.

How did Jesus know this?

8
Was it through divine revelation?
No. It was really because of one thing He saw in them:
Their unwillingness to listen and obey.
Jesus says in verse 37, I know that you are Abrahams descendants; yet you seek
to kill Me, because My word has no place in you (v. 37).

Jesus was telling them

The things He had learned from His Father:
He was giving them the truth
He had heard from His Father (v. 40).
But they didnt understand;
They couldnt hear Him (v. 43);
They did not believe Him (v. 45).
Instead of loving Him,
And listening to Him because He was sent from God
Which they would have done
If they were born of God
They hated Him
And wanted to kill Him (v. 40).

Is this what Abraham would have done?

No.
But who would? The devil.
He hates God, His Son,

9
His ways and His kingdom.
He wont listen to Gods Word.
They were acting like him,
Because this was their true father.
Jesus says in verse 44, You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the
desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not
stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he
speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (v. 44).

What is the difference

Between a child of God/Abraham
And a child of the devil?
A child of God listens to God,
But a child of the devil does not.
Jesus concludes, He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do
not hear them, because you are not of God (v. 47).

You can know

That you are born again,
That you have Gods Spirit in your heart,
And that you will see heaven,
Because you listen to Jesus,
And do what He says,
Because you love Him.
Its as simple as that.

10
Gods grace changes your life
From the inside out.
You will not be the same person you were before.
You will be growing into the image of Christ,
Because thats what youll want to do.
You will put on those characteristics
That He particularly loves
As weve seen in the evening services
Because you love Him.

Is that what you see going on in your life this morning?

Not perfectly, but at least in some measure?

B. If it is,
Then you are a child of God.
If it is,
Then lets consider, secondly,
How this happened:
How you came into this world a child of the devil
And ended up a child of Abraham.

It wasnt because of you

It wasnt because of anything you did
You dont love God and listen to Him now

11
Because thats what you chose to do on your own,
But because God had mercy on you.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:1, You were dead in your trespasses and sins.
That was your condition
When you came into this world,
Because of Adams sin.
And because of this,
You were just like these Jews:
You also didnt love Him,
Refused to listen to Him,
And went your own way,
Paul continues: You formerly walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working
in the sons of disobedience (v. 2).
The same was true of Paul and his companions,
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even
as the rest (v. 3).
And we all would have justly ended up in hell.

What changed all of that?

It was God.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us
with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He

12
might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus (vv. 4-7).

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Loved you from all eternity
Because that is what they chose to do
And conspired together for your salvation.
The Father sent His Son for you
Out of His love;
The Son came and laid down His life for you,
Because He loved you;
And they sent the Spirit
To unite you to Christ,
To change your heart
To raise you to life
And the Spirit came and did so,
Because of His love for you.

Because you are united to Jesus,

You are already seated with Him in heaven
You are where He is
And because you are
You will be with Him forever
As century after century

13
God reveals the riches of His love
Grace and mercy to you
In His Son, Jesus Christ.
All of this was purely by His grace,
From beginning to end.

When you know

The Lord has had mercy on you
When you see the evidence
Of His love in your heart
Towards Him,
His Word,
And His people,
Then you know He has loved you
With this love from all eternity.

C. But what if you dont see it?

What if you conclude youre not a child of Abraham That youre not a child of God What can you do?
How can you become His child?

The only thing God has given you to do is believe.

Jesus said, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,

14
That whoever believes in Him shall not perish,
But have eternal life (John 3:16).
Paul and Silas said to the Philippian jailer,
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:23).

He doesnt say, First, you need to know that I have chosen you.
If you believe in Him,
He will have;
But you dont have to know
Before you do.
All you need is a desire for Jesus,
All you need is to want to be with Him,
All you need is the desire to be free from sin,
And all you need to do is look to Him,
Reach out to Him,
Trust Him to save you,
And He will.

Who is your father?

Are you a child of God?
Do you know that you are
Because you love Jesus,
Because you listen to and obey His Word?
Or is your father still the devil?

15
If youve never trusted Jesus,
I invite you to do so this morning.
Reach out to Him in faith.
Receive the mercy He offers to you.
No one who has looked to Him in faith
Has ever been disappointed.

http://www.gcmodesto.org