The Birthmarks of the Children of God

(Ps 119:16)

Your decrees are my delight and my counselors. (Ps 119:24)

Help me stay on the path of Your commands, for I take pleasure in it. (Ps 119:35)

I delight in Your commands, which I love. (Ps 119:47)

Their hearts are hard and insensitive, but I delight in Your instruction. (Ps 119:70)

May Your compassion come to me so that I may live, for Your instruction is my delight. (Ps 119:77)

Trouble and distress have overtaken me, but Your commands are my delight. (Ps 119:143)

I long for Your salvation, Lord, and Your instruction is my delight. (Ps 119:174)

Jerry Bridges says it quite well: "Love provides the motive for obeying the commands of the law, but the law provides specific direction for exercising love" (Transforming Grace, 111). Loving God rightly, therefore, is not just external behavior and outward obedience. It is a longing to do His will from the heart, out of gospel gratitude for who He is and what He has done for us in Jesus. It is not an "I have to" obedience. It is an "I want to" obedience. I love to obey this King!

We Have Overcome the World

1 John 5:4

The theme of verse 4 is made clear by the repetition of the word "conquer" (also in v. 5). Both "conquer" and "victory" come from the same Greek word, nike, which is also the name of the Greek goddess of victory, speed, and strength. Nike's Roman name was "Victoria," and she unsurprisingly has wings in most paintings and statutes.

The one (HCSB translates as the substantive adjective as "whatever") who has been born of God conquers—is continually victorious—over the world. This is a fifth authenticating mark of the children of God. John provided a description of "the world" (three times in vv. 4-5) in 1 John 2:16. It is characterized by the trio of "the lust of the flesh, the 126lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle." Here, in addition to love, he points to another spiritual weapon that grants us victory over the weapons of the world in our spiritual battles: "our faith."

I love the beautiful balance we see as John weds the new birth (God's sovereign work) with our faith (human responsibility). Let's try and put all this together. By means of the new birth (vv. 1, 4), which is wedded to our faith in Jesus as the Messiah (v. 1) and the Son of God (v. 5), the power of the world's desires and aspirations is broken and we gain victory over them. The world is no longer my passion; God is! Sinful desires and attractions are no longer beautiful; God and His will are.

Overcomers, via the new birth and faith in Christ, are no longer consumed by what they don't have (lust of the flesh and of the eyes) or what they do have (pride in lifestyle; 2:16). That spell has been broken. The shackles have come loose. The blinders have been removed. We no longer pine after and love stuff. Rather, with new holy affections, we pine after and love God. The new birth makes all of this possible and faith gives us the eyes to see it! Again, John Piper says it so well:

Faith sees that Jesus is better. That is why faith conquers the world. The world held us in bondage by the power of its desires. But now our eyes have been opened by the new birth to see the superior desirability of Jesus. Jesus is better than the desires of the flesh, and better then the desires of the eyes, and better than the riches that strangle us with greed and pride (Mark 4:19) ("Regeneration, Faith, Love").

Jesus is indeed superior, and faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith was at the beginning, it is with us today, and it will be with us to the end. It is a distinguishing birthmark that says I am a child of God.

We Believe Jesus Is the Son of God

1 John 5:5

Adrian Rogers said, "Faith in faith is just positive thinking, but faith in Jesus is salvation" (Adrianisms, 173). John brings us full circle and back to Jesus. In verse 1, those who confess Him as the Messiah give evidence that they have "been born of God." Now in verse 5 those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God understand that this faith commitment is the means whereby they gain victory and overcome the world.

127"Son of God" is an important title for Jesus in the Bible. It informs us that He is more than a man. He is also God. He is the God-man. His name "Jesus" identifies Him as a man. "Son of God" identifies Him as God. He has both the nature of humanity as Jesus and the nature of God as the Son of God. He came from God, and He is God. He is the eternal Son who always has existed and always will exist as the Second Person of the triune God.

The birthmark of a child of God is that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God and that only Jesus is the Son of God. This believing, this faith, is both particular and persevering. Jesus and only Jesus is the object of this faith confession. And this confession is continuous and ongoing. "Believe" is a present tense verb noting continuous action. This is not a one-time belief. It is a lifetime belief! And it is a personal and individual belief. No one else can believe for me. No one else can believe for you. You must believe the good news of the gospel for yourself. You must trust Jesus Christ the Son of God for yourself.

John 3:36 says, "The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him." I would urge you, plead with you, even beg you: choose Jesus. Choose life. It will not just be your best life now. It will be your best life forever and ever!

Conclusion

The Lübeck Cathedral is a Lutheran church building that was begun in 1173 and completed around 1230. A famous inscription is written on one of the walls:

Ye call Me Master and obey Me not,

Ye call Me Light and see Me not,

Ye call Me Way and walk Me not,

Ye call Me Life and desire Me not,

Ye call Me Wise and follow Me not,

Ye call Me Fair and love Me not,

Ye call Me Rich and ask Me not,

Ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not,

Ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not,

Ye call Me Noble and serve Me not,

Ye call Me Mighty and honor Me not,

Ye call Me Just and fear Me not,

128If I condemn you, blame Me not.

I have good news: Jesus is indeed all these things and more. And He does not want to condemn you. The fact is, He already experienced your condemnation for you when He died as an atoning sacrifice for your sins (2:2; 4:10). He has something so much better for you than condemnation. He wants you to believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and He wants you to experience spiritual new birth. He wants to change your heart so that you might delight in loving the Father and the family of God. He wants to inflame you with passion for His glory so that you desire to keep His commands. He wants to fill you with faith so that you overcome the obstacles and temptations the world throws at you. This is what the Son of God wants for you. He wants you to bear in your life and in your soul the birthmarks that you are a child of God.

Reflect and Discuss