It would have been great if I could have held this message back for another week, to coincide with Father’s Day, since this message has a lot to say about fathers. That’s one of my favorite holidays by the way. My wife and kids always get me some sort of gift for Father’s Day. My second favorite holiday is my birthday, but she doesn’t get me anything for my birthday. Coming the day after Christmas, it kind of is like an afterthought. So Father’s Day is my day. I am really looking forward to it, in case you didn’t notice.
But anyhow, shameless plug aside, it would have been nice to preach this next week, because this message is really about fathers. But not so much your immediate father, as it is talking about ancestral fathers. Who you descended from. I have noticed that some people really value their ancestry. Their heritage means a lot to them. They have done all sorts of research into their family tree. And perhaps it should be meaningful. But then again some people put way too much emphasis on some great thing they can claim their great great grand daddy did, and they feel that somehow validates them in some unique way.
By the way, I’m always amused by these people that believe in reincarnation. Whenever you hear someone claim to have been reincarnated, it’s interesting that they always claim to have discovered that they were somebody great in their past life. There are a lot of people that claim to be the reincarnation of Napoleon or Cleopatra, for instance. I read about one guy who believed he was the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe. He didn’t look anything like her though. Phil Collins, the rock singer, believes that he is the reincarnation of a survivor of the Alamo. Amazing. And looking around on the internet I even came across a couple of people who claim to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. I guess these poor confused people want to find some way to add importance to their lives.
But I guess everyone would like to know if they are related to anyone famous. I found out something interesting about my own ancestry the other day, which in light of those previously mentioned people is going to sound like I too am trying to add importance to my life. But my nephew supposedly traced our lineage back to Scotland, and found that our line came from one of the daughters of Robert the Bruce, a Scottish king that was featured in the movie Braveheart. I have to admit, I found that a little bit exciting for a while as I thought about it. But the truth is, someone in my ancestry that lived over 700 years ago has very little to do with my life today.
But for the Jews, their ancestry meant a lot. Being descended from the line of Abraham they could rightly claim the benefits of God’s covenantal people. Their property, their ancestral lands, were divided according to their tribe, according to the sons of Jacob, the son of Isaac, who was the Son of Abraham. So for a Jew living in the first century, being a descendant of Abraham was a matter not only of religion, but nationality, property and even to some degree determined their livelihood.
Now this week as we look at these claims by the Jews to be children of Abraham, we need to remember that we are jumping into the middle a teaching session that Jesus was having with the Jews, which occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles, which has been going on for several days. We have looked at various elements of this for the last several weeks. All of it was occurring in the temple during this feast in which tens of thousands of people are attending. And last week, we saw that Jesus delivered this great statement at one point in the discussion, saying, that if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Jesus wasn’t talking about freedom from slavery, or freedom from Roman oppression, but He was speaking of spiritual freedom, freedom from the enslavement of sin. And three times in the previous section Jesus said they were still enslaved to their sin, and as such they would die in their sins. The Jews, who had already hated Him enough to want to put Him to death, were enraged by that charge. So they argue that they couldn't go to hell as sinners, because they were descendants of Abraham.
You see, the rabbis taught that no son of Abraham would enter into hell. They believed that their father Abraham was actually posted at the door to Hades to make sure that no circumcised person would enter there. Justin Martyr, in the Dialogue of Trypho in the second century, argued with a Jewish man who said this about the Jews; “They who are the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh, shall in any case, even if they be sinners and unbelieving and disobedient toward God, share in the eternal kingdom.” So this was their belief, that due to the covenant of God with Abraham, they inherited eternal life with God, and escaped hell, simply due to their being a descendent of Abraham.
So in vs.33, the Jews in response to Christ say, “we are Abraham’s descendants.” They said that as a defense of their freedom, possibly referring to their religious freedom. And three times in this passage before us today, the Jews are going to claim their heritage as a defense against what Christ was teaching. They have three claims they make, and as we look at them you will notice that they are progressive in their claims. First, they claim to be the physical seed or physical descendants of Abraham, which Jesus says is true in vs.37. Secondly, they claim to be the spiritual seed of Abraham, which Jesus says is not true. And thirdly, they claim to be the children of God, which Jesus again demonstrates is not true. So Jesus agrees with the first claim, and then just debunks the second two, exposing the falseness of their claims.
And I would just like to make a parallel to us in our culture today. Most people in America today claim to be Christian. The Pew research study showed that 70% of Americans claim to be Christians. At the very least that means that they believe in God, they believe in Christ, and they believe in an afterlife in heaven. But I’m afraid that for the majority of those claiming Christianity, they are not unlike those Jews. When we examine the basis for their claims, we find that the number one reason is that they were raised to be Christians. They were raised in a home where Christianity was taught, or at least accepted by parents who believed in God. So most people I believe would claim their heritage as a basis for their Christianity.
Secondly, their claim to Christianity is based on their church affiliation. You could equate the nation of Israel with the church in many respects. And so spiritually, many in our culture claim their Christianity based on their church association. They not only were raised to believe in God, but to belong to a particular denomination; whether it be Catholic, or Episcopal, or Presbyterian or Baptist or whatever, and they find their identification in the rituals and ceremonies and community of their church. And as the Jews were required to be circumcised in order to belong to their church, many denominations require people to be baptized as a mark of belonging to their church.
And then thirdly, as a result of the first two, most people in that 70% would believe that they were children of God. And as such they believe they would escape any judgment that might fall on the world. Rather than Abraham standing at the gate of heaven, they might expect Saint Peter. But I’m afraid that in light of what Jesus is teaching today, we will discover that what Jesus is talking about is not being made a child of God through physical means, but by being born as a child of God by spiritual means. And so the requirements which were true for the Jews are true for us as well.
Now let’s look briefly at each of those claims of the Jews. So number one, they claim to be Abraham’s descendants in vs.33. That’s their defense against Christ’s charge that they would die in their sins. So Jesus’ response is in vs. 37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” Jesus agrees that they are the physical descendants of Abraham, through Isaac and then Jacob, and then the 12 sons of Jacob, constituting the nation of Israel.
But though Jesus acknowledges their physical relationship, He says that there is something amiss. What is wrong about their claim is that they were seeking to kill Him, because they did not believe His word. This is a very important principle by the way. You cannot say you believe in Christ, but not believe His word. Christ’s word is inseparable from His entity. It’s like the old adage, “a man’s word is his bond.” Or like my Dad used to say, “you may not have much in this world, but the most valuable thing you possess is your name. Don’t dishonor your family name.” The principle that he was trying to teach was that if you gave your word, you better keep it. Your word was who you were. It was your character, your reputation, your nature.
There is an effort by liberal theologians today to try to redefine who Jesus was, irrespective of His word. They want to claim to believe in Jesus, but deny the authority or reliability of God’s word. And what Jesus is teaching here is that HIs reliability, even His deity, is authenticated by His word. So we either have to believe what Christ taught, or dismiss Him altogether. Jesus Christ was the Word, He was in the beginning with God, and He was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and His word is truth. That is why Jesus said in vs. 31, “if you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of mine.”
So Jesus says, though you might be physical descendants of Abraham, yet your deeds are witness that you are not the spiritual children of Abraham, and further evidence is that you do not accept Christ’s word. So spiritually speaking, your lineage is worthless because it hasn’t affected your spiritual condition. Literally, He is saying is, “my word makes no progress in you.” It’s the same idea as what He said was the evidence of a true disciple; you will continue in His word. A characteristic of a true Christian then is that you have an appetite for His word. I would hope that is the reason that you are here this morning. I hope it’s not to see the dolphins, or to enjoy the beach. I hope it is to drink and eat of God’s word.
And not only to accept the word, but that the word is a sanctifying agent in your life. It changes you. It is the means by which God speaks to you and the Holy Spirit guides you. It is making progress in you. The word of God is progressively doing the work of sanctification in you, changing you into the image of Jesus Christ.
But that isn’t the evidence in these Jews lives, according to Christ. So He says in vs. 38, “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." In other words, you have no interest in things which come from My Father, you are only interested in things that come from your father. So Jesus is saying that their lineage says one thing, but their actions say another. Listen, our actions speak louder than our words. I had a young man come up after the service last week who talked to me about his conversion. He related how as a teenager, a self righteous man acting in hypocrisy in the church had really turned him off on the church. But later in his college years, he came across some believers who really practiced what they preached, and that testimony was the catalyst for him coming to the Lord. When he saw the reality of what they were saying in their life lived out, then it made an impact on him.
So the Jews respond to Jesus again in vs.39, claiming once again to be the children of Abraham, and I think they are claiming not only physical descendancy, but now they are also claiming spiritually to be sons of Abraham. They say in vs.39, “Abraham is our father.” See, I think they realized that Jesus was saying they had another father, and so they are refuting that, asserting once again that Abraham was their father spiritually as well as physically.
Jesus answers, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.” What are the deeds of Abraham? Well, 3 times in the New Testament, in Romans 4, Galatians 3, and James 2, it says “Abraham believed God, and He counted it to Him as righteousness.” When God spoke to Abraham, he believed God. Jesus says I am speaking to you the words of God, but you don’t believe them. Therefore you are not children of Abraham, because Abraham believed God. Jesus said, "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.”
You know what else were the deeds of Abraham? Abraham obeyed God. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Listen, we are saved by faith. But faith is more than just lip service. It takes little to no faith to say you believe God, but it takes faith to act on that belief. It takes faith to leave all and to follow Him, as the disciples did. God wants more than lip service. That’s what’s wrong with some of the modern praise and worship movement. We are projecting this image of this narcissistic God that just wants to hear us tell Him how great He is all the time. That’s not the image of God we see in the Bible. But Jesus said “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” To obey is better than sacrifice, it’s better than praise. To obey is the proof of your faith.
So in vs.41, Jesus said, “You are doing the deeds of your father.” See, to whom you obey, you belong. Not whom you claim to be, but to whom you act like determines who you belong to. That’s what Paul said in Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” That’s the same thing Jesus said in vs.34, “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”
So twice now Jesus has alluded to another father whom they are obedient to. And it is not God the Father but another father. Their response is very interesting. They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication.” And here’s where they make the final claim: “We have one Father: God.” Not only are we the physical children of Abraham, the spiritual children of Abraham, but we are the spiritual children of God. Because we’re not born of fornication.
Now some commentators say that the Jews are claiming by this statement that they have not worshipped idols. Idol worship was associated with fornication, which produced illegitimate children. So many feel that fornication was closely associated with idolatry and that was the meaning of what the Jews had to say. But I think it was because they had researched Jesus’ pedigree, and had ascertained incorrectly that He had been born out of wedlock, because He was not Joseph’s true son. So I think that this is more than likely a slam on Him and on HIs sinlessness. Because as we see in vs.46, Jesus asks, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” Well, they couldn’t prove it, of course. But they would have loved to believe that He was born in sin, and thus eliminated from any consideration that He could be God in the flesh.
And that highlights the significance of Jesus being born of the Holy Spirit who came upon Mary. That the sin nature of Adam did not pass on to Him. But He was born of the Spirit. So Jesus was born sinless, and He remained sinless. And therefore He was able to be the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
So Jesus says if you were the spiritual children of God, you would love Me. Vs.42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.”
To love God then is to love Christ, because He is the physical manifestation of God in the flesh. Hebrews 1:3 says that He is the exact representation of God. So it’s impossible to love God and not love Christ. And how is that love for God expressed? Well, we just said it earlier, we believe His word, and we are obedient to His word. And I would add to that you do not love the world. The world being synonymous with the realm of Satan.Jesus continually refers to Satan as the ruler of this world. So in 1John 2:15 it says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
That love for the world, the love of the things of Satan is the characteristic of those that are not of the Father, but are children of the devil. That’s the next point that Jesus makes, the clarification of who their real father is. Vs.43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 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.”
Listen, physically we exhibit the characteristics of our father, don’t we? That’s natural. You pass on your physical characteristics to your children. I would even say that we pass on more than just physical characteristics, we pass on some of our personality, some of our intelligence, and then as our children grow up, we pass on many of our habits, our personal tastes for certain things, the way we talk. All those things are greatly influenced by our parents. Most of us are horrified to find out as we get older how much like our parents we are. We thought we would be so different. And yet it turns out that we end up very much like our parents.
Well, Jesus is saying, if you love God and are a child of God, then you will take on the characteristics of your Father. But if you love the world, and the things of the world, then you will take on the characteristics of the ruler of this world, that is the devil. And it’s interesting to note the characteristics of Satan which Jesus points out. He was a liar, He says, and the father of lies. There is no truth in Him. What a contrast to Christ who is the truth, and who speaks the truth of God. Satan is a liar and entraps mankind by his lies. But Christ is the truth, and His truth sets men free.
You remember the first time we see Satan in Genesis, he comes to Eve with a lie. And she believed it, and then obeyed it, and was entrapped by it. And as a result of her and Adam’s sin, the entire human race is trapped in the bondage of sin. So Jesus adds that he is a murderer. What that means is that in that first deception, Satan brought about the murder of the entire human race. Because sin brings forth death. From Adam’s sin, came about the murder of all men, of which Satan bears much responsibility. Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
So Jesus expresses that contrast again by saying in vs. 45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.” You could simplify that statement by saying, here’s the way to diagnose a child of the devil: he doesn’t believe the truth, doesn’t love Christ. Here’s a way to diagnose a child of God: he loves the truth, he loves Christ.
The summary of this principle Christ is teaching is found starting in vs.46, Jesus says, ”Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
Jesus could ask that question, “which of you convicts Me of sin”, because it was apparent to all that He was guilty of no sin. And that fact alone was validation that He was the Son of God. There is no prophet of any religion that can honestly say that he is not guilty of any sin. No one on earth can honestly claim to be sinless. And even if we did have the audacity to claim sinlessness, you better believe someone could convict you of sin, because your life reveals evidence of your sin. Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And Romans 3:10 says that there is none righteous, not even one. No one can claim sinlessness. So for Christ to be able to say that, and for them to be silent in response to that claim, is evidence that He was the Son of God.
And yet irregardless of that fact, they choose not to believe Him. They reject His words as the word of God, and Jesus said that is because they are not of God. They are not the children of God. They may have been descendants of Abraham, they may have been members of the nation of Israel, but their sinful deeds were evidence that they were of their father the devil.
Listen, do I even need to make the application here to this present body of people or is Jesus’ teaching self evident? To what evidence is your claim to Christianity? Is it to your heritage? Is it to your church membership? Is it to your nationality? Is it to some religious ceremony? I would submit to you today, that as Jesus said in Matthew 7, by their fruits you shall know them. If you are of your Father in heaven, then you will do the works of the Father. You will love Christ, and love His body, the church, and you will obey His word. And your life will be evidence of your faith.
But if you love the world, and the things of the world, and you do not love the word of God, nor the things of God, then it is evident that you are of a another father. The good news is that there is a way to be adopted into the family of God. Gal. 3:26, 29 says, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” And then in vs. 29 ‘And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.”
Today adoption as a child of God is offered to you. Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins by HIs blood on the cross. That those who believe in Him might receive His righteousness, and our sins would be transferred to Him, the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And having been made righteous by faith in Christ, we are made the children of God by redemption. The offer is open today to all who will call upon Him in faith and repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. I pray that today is the day of your salvation. Don’t trust in anything else, but in Christ’s righteousness alone.
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