{"id":1486,"date":"2021-04-25T19:07:05","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T02:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1486"},"modified":"2021-04-25T19:09:11","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T02:09:11","slug":"the-fourth-sunday-of-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/25\/the-fourth-sunday-of-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fourth Sunday of Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Easter-4-04-25-21.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>1 John 3:1, 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Live Who You Are!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!&nbsp; And that is what we are!&nbsp; The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.&nbsp; Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.&nbsp; But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is risen!&nbsp; He is risen indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About twenty years ago the congregation where I was serving hosted a Leadership Seminar.&nbsp; The seminar focused on our leadership \u201cstyle\u201d and how that \u201cstyle\u201d is impacted by our personality type.&nbsp; Everyone at the seminar was required to fill out \u201cThe Keirsey Temperament Sorter II.\u201d&nbsp; This questionnaire helped you to discover your personality type.&nbsp; According to this questionnaire there are four main personality \u201ctypes\u201d with each \u201ctype\u201d having four \u201csub-types.\u201d&nbsp; The four main personality types are:&nbsp; Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational.&nbsp; Knowing your personality type helps you to understand yourself better\u2014 what you do and why you do it.&nbsp; If we know someone else\u2019s personality type, we can also have a better understanding of what they do and why they do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I thoroughly enjoyed this seminar for two reasons.&nbsp; First, it gave me an even deeper appreciation for the words of great King David recorded in Palm 139:14, <em>\u201cI praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Our Almighty Creator has designed us human beings with incredible depth and detail\u2014 not only physically, but also intellectually, psychologically and emotionally.&nbsp; Second, as a result of this seminar I discovered that certain occupations \u201cfit\u201d better with certain personality types.&nbsp; To help me grow in my understanding of how that works, I purchased this book, \u201cDO WHAT YOU ARE.\u201d&nbsp; This book takes each of the four basic personality types (along with their four sub-types) and shows how someone with a particular personality type does well in certain occupations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fact that the God of heaven has designed us in ways that amaze us over and over again, helps us to understand what God the Holy Spirit is proclaiming to us here in our text for today.&nbsp; Using the title of this book as a springboard, let\u2019s study these words of our God under the theme:&nbsp; <strong><em>Live Who You Are!<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp; Who are we?&nbsp; There are two answers to that question.&nbsp; First let\u2019s see how the apostle John assures us of who we <strong>are <\/strong>now. Then let\u2019s see how the apostle John assures us of who we <strong>will be <\/strong>in eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John opens our text by proclaiming to us a truth, a reality, a status that is nothing short of miraculous.&nbsp; He says, <em>\u201cHow great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!&nbsp; And that is what we are!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; A more literal translation of this verse would go like this, <em>\u201cBehold what wonderful agape love the Father has granted to us that we should be called\/named the children of God!&nbsp; And we are!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These words are overflowing &nbsp;with joy and with amazement and we might even say surprise!&nbsp; Why is John filled with so much joy and so much amazement and so much surprise? &nbsp;Because John understood that by nature we were <strong>not <\/strong>born <em>\u201cchildren of God.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; By nature we were born enemies of the Almighty.&nbsp; (See Romans 8:7)&nbsp; By nature we were born slaves of sin, death and the devil.&nbsp; (See Romans 6:15-18; Hebrews 2:14, 15)&nbsp; By nature we were born \u201coutside\u201d the family of God.&nbsp; (See 1 Peter 2:9, 10)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why John was overflowing with joy and amazement and yes, surprise!&nbsp; God did not \u201chave to\u201d adopt us to be His own dearly beloved children.&nbsp; He did not \u201cscan\u201d eternity to see who still had a little bit of \u201cgood deep down inside of them,\u201d or who would be faithful and obedient to Him.&nbsp; We <strong>are <\/strong><em>\u201cchildren of God\u201d<\/em> purely because of the heavenly Father\u2019s <em>\u201cagape love\u201d<\/em> for us!&nbsp; This is the unconditional love of John 3:16.&nbsp; This is the sacrificial love of the cross on Calvary\u2019s hill!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the heavenly Father has so freely <em>\u201clavished\u201d<\/em> His <em>\u201cwonderful agape love\u201d<\/em> on us, since through the power of the Holy Spirit working through either the Sacrament of Holy Baptism or through the power of God\u2019s holy Word the heavenly Father has adopted us to be His very own, we now need to live who we <strong>are<\/strong>! &nbsp;What does this mean?&nbsp; John helps us understand what this means for us on a practical level when he says to us, <em>\u201cThe reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; As Christians, as the <em>\u201cchildren of God,\u201d<\/em> we need to recognize that since the unbelieving world is a stranger to God\u2019s <em>\u201cwonderful agape love,\u201d<\/em> the world does not <em>\u201cknow\u201d<\/em> us.&nbsp; The world does not understand us.&nbsp; Since the unbelieving world is still enslaved by sin, death and the devil it has no room for God and therefore it has no room for us, the <em>\u201cchildren of God.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Our status in the eyes of God, our faith in God, our trust in God, our love for God\u2014 all of this is both a mystery and a threat to this world and to its \u201cstatus quo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christ warned His disciples about the hostility they would face from the world when He said to them, <em>\u201cIf the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.&nbsp; If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. &nbsp;As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.&nbsp; That is why the world hates you\u2026If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also\u201d<\/em> (John 15:18-20).&nbsp; As we saw in our reading from the book of Acts this morning (Acts 4:23-33) it did not take long for Jesus\u2019 disciples to experience this truth firsthand.&nbsp; Since the religious leaders of God\u2019s Chosen People could not figure out a way to punish Peter and John after they had healed the man who had been <em>\u201ccrippled from birth,\u201d<\/em> they released them with a warning.&nbsp; Luke writes, <em>\u201cThen they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp; Do you remember how the Lord\u2019s disciples responded?&nbsp; They said, <em>\u201cJudge for yourselves whether it is right in God\u2019s sight to obey you rather than God.&nbsp; For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard\u201d<\/em> Acts 4:18-20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though the world does not <em>\u201cknow\u201d<\/em> us, my friends, even though the world may hate us and reject us, ridicule us and demean us because of our faith in Him (Pointing to the cross), we consciously strive to live who we <strong>are<\/strong>\u2014 the <em>\u201cchildren of God\u201d<\/em>!&nbsp; Living who we <strong>are <\/strong>will guide and direct what activities we are willing to engage in and what activities we refuse to participate in.&nbsp; Living who we <strong>are <\/strong>will filter what we watch on television, what music we listen to and even the jokes that we laugh at.&nbsp; (See Ephesians 5:1-7)&nbsp; Living who we <strong>are <\/strong>edits the priorities that we have in our life, the attitudes that we have in our heart, and the words that we allow to come out of our mouth.&nbsp; Living who we <strong>are <\/strong>means that whether they like it or not everyone around us will be able to see and to hear that we <strong>are <\/strong>the <em>\u201cchildren of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we turn to the second verse of our text, we see how God the Holy Spirit leads the apostle John to widen our focus from who we <strong>are <\/strong>now because of the <em>\u201cwonderful agape love\u201d<\/em> the heavenly Father has <em>\u201clavished\u201d<\/em> on us, to who we <strong>will be<\/strong> in eternity.&nbsp; Look once again at what John assures us, <em>\u201cDear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.&nbsp; But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The blessings that the heavenly Father\u2019s <em>\u201cwonderful agape love\u201d<\/em> has <em>\u201clavished\u201d<\/em> upon us are phenomenal!&nbsp; Where will it end?&nbsp; What is the limit of what God will do for us?&nbsp; We don\u2019t know!&nbsp; God\u2019s <em>\u201cwonderful agape love\u201d<\/em> for us goes far beyond our wildest imagination!&nbsp; As the apostle Paul told God\u2019s people in Corinth, <em>\u201c\u2019No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him\u2019\u2014 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit\u201d<\/em> (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10).&nbsp; Here in our text the Holy Spirit reveals a \u201csliver\u201d of what God\u2019s love has waiting for us: &nbsp;<em>\u201cWhen he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These words transport us to Judgment Day.&nbsp; When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth, we will behold and experience an even more glorious sight than what John saw and what John experienced on the Mount of Transfiguration!&nbsp; Not only will we be able to gaze upon our Lord in all of His power, majesty and glory\u2014 without fear!\u2014 but we will be <em>\u201cchanged\u2014 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye\u201d<\/em> (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52).&nbsp; Try to imagine that in your minds, my friends.&nbsp; Now we <strong>are <\/strong>the <em>\u201cchildren of God\u201d<\/em>\u2014 lovingly adopted by the heavenly Father, completely forgiven of all of our sins, redeemed by His blood (Pointing to the cross) for all of eternity!&nbsp; On Judgment Day we will <em>\u201cbe like him\u201d<\/em> (Pointing to the cross)\u2014 glorious, perfect, holy, filled with more joy and more happiness, and more peace and more contentment than human words can express!&nbsp; Since we know who we <strong>are<\/strong> and since we know a little bit about who we <strong>will be <\/strong>because of what our Brother Jesus has done <strong>for <\/strong>us, we need to live as brothers and sisters of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does this mean?&nbsp; It means that as brothers and sisters of Jesus we journey through this world with the confidence of knowing that our Brother Jesus is our Good Shepherd.&nbsp; It means that as brothers and sisters of Jesus we trust that our Good Shepherd will freely provide us with all that we <strong>need<\/strong> for both our body and our soul.&nbsp; It means that as brothers and sisters of Jesus we depend on our Good Shepherd to protect us from all of our spiritual enemies.&nbsp; It means that as brothers and sisters of Jesus we humbly listen to our Good Shepherd\u2019s voice as He speaks to us through His holy Word.&nbsp; It means that as brothers and sisters of Jesus when we hear our Good Shepherd say to us, <em>\u201cI have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.&nbsp; I must bring them also\u201d<\/em> (John 10:10), these words motivate us to do everything we can to tell others about the Good Shepherd who was willing to <em>\u201clay down\u201d<\/em> His life for them so that through faith in Him they too can enjoy the <em>\u201cwonderful agape love\u201d<\/em> of the heavenly Father\u2014 both now and in eternity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we stop to consider how our loving Creator designed us\u2014 physically, intellectually, psychologically and emotionally\u2014 we gladly join with great King David in saying, <em>\u201cI praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Because of God\u2019s design we appreciate how books like this (holding up the book \u201cDO WHAT YOU ARE\u201d) can be very helpful to us.&nbsp; But, when we stop to consider what the God of heaven has done <strong>for <\/strong>us (Pointing to the cross) and given <strong>to<\/strong> us, we gladly join with the apostle John in saying, <em>\u201cHow great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!&nbsp; And this is what we are!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; My prayer this morning, my friends, is that you will always stay focused on the cross so that with His help you can daily strive to <strong><em>Live Who You Are!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 John 3:1, 2 Live Who You Are! How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!&nbsp; And that is what we are!&nbsp; The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.&nbsp; Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1489,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486\/revisions\/1489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}