Why Jesus Came (1 John 3:4-10)

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MPS: Jesus came to defeat sin, Satan, and separate God’s children from Satan’s.

Jesus came to defeat sin. (4-6)

 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Sin is the rejection and rebellion against God’s Law. (4) It began at the Garden when Adam trusted the serpent. It continued as man sought to build a tower to Heaven. Then many years later God brings His people out of Egypt and for hundreds of years they would rebel, repent, rebel, and repent. At the very heart of man is the desire to be God and rebel against Him. We are the rebellious teenager who sneaks out in the middle of the night in order to party with their friends.

Though sin is at the heart of man’s action, that’s not so with Jesus. Christ is sinless and the only one who can take away sin. (5) How did Jesus take away sin? “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) By the supernatural work of God, He placed all of our sin unto Christ and in Him received all our punishment. Our sin was destroyed at His destruction. John the Baptist said of Jesus when he saw Him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

In taking away our sin, Jesus also unites us to Himself. He is in us and we are in Him. Those in Christ abide in Him and not sin. (6) The world abides in sin by rebelling against God. They rebel by their unbelief. They rebel by their rejection of His law. Those who are outside of Christ abide in lawlessness. For those united to Christ they abide in Him. Their thoughts, affections, directions and ways are all guided and shaped by Christ. How effective and efficient is the work of Christ? So much so that sin is scattered and flees from the lives of those who have been saved by Him.

App: If Jesus defeated sin and you are united to Him then He has defeated sin on your behalf. You are now free to resist the temptations of this world. You are able to do this through the work of the Spirit and your time spent seeking Christ in your lives.

Jesus came to defeat Satan. (7-8)

 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Satan has been deceiving God’s people since the Garden of Eden. (7-8a) His work is to seek and destroy what God is doing in this world. In everything that he does he tries to lure the people of God away from their Savior by enticing them to licentiousness. But those who do what is righteous have no shame and no doubt as to who they belong to. 

The same types of tricks that Satan seeks to use on us he attempted with Christ. But he was unable to deceive Christ. (8b; Luke 4:1-13) For forty days Jesus was tempted by Satan and at every turn his attempts were rebuffed by our Lord. And what exactly was Christ’s response to the temptations of Satan? He responded confidently with the Word of God. He recited Scripture at every turn. It is God’s Word that is our greatest weapon against his attempts to deceive us.

God’s people aren’t only free from sin’s punishment, but they are also free from Satan’s grip. (Heb. 2:14-15)  says, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Through Christ we have victory over sin, death, and Satan.

App: When you stumble you must ask “why?”. Is your stumbling into sin a result of spiritual warfare? Could it be that you’ve abided not in Christ but in the flesh? When your heart is led astray for a time you must look to Christ. He has saved and forgiven you. Run to Him as quickly as you can. Don’t stop along the way. Run as if your life depends on it.

Jesus came to claim His people. (9-10)

 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 

The term “seed” speaks specifically to the seed that comes from a father. John has in mind that those who have been adopted into God’s family are uniquely His. God’s children have experienced the new birth and given a new nature. (9; John 3:3) This new nature overtakes our old one. It frees us so that our will’s are no longer bound by a fallen nature. Instead our will’s are made free so that they are bound to a new nature. It is why God’s people find joy in doing what commands. It’s why God’s people find joy in Him. It’s why our hope rests in Him and not the world. This new birth is described in John 3:3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus says in Matthew 7:17-20, “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” The fruit of Satan’s children is sin and rebellion. (10a)

The fruit of God’s children is righteousness and love for their brother. (10b) What is righteousness but doing the will of God? And it is the will of God for His people to love one another, to love their brother. The fruit of our lives that comes from abiding in Christ is love for Him and a love for one another. John Calvin writes, “let us know that our own hearts are so ruled by God’s Spirit, that they constantly cleave to righteousness.”

App: Jesus has laid claim to your life, now bear fruit in accordance with that claim. Treasure Him above all else. Learn from, love, and share Him with the world.