I think it was Brother White who said this week: “When you see the words ‘wherefore’ or ‘therefore,’ check to see what it is there for.” I don’t know where I first heard that little ditty; it may have been Bible school. But it may have been as far back as elementary school, because it is a pretty elemental thought. In studying our text that word has played upon my mind again and again, because there it is.
I John 3:1-3 are a bunch of words I have repeated publicly and private many times. I think I’m familiar with their meaning. I hope they are familiar to you as well. Sadly, I tend to fly over these well-known scriptures, not considering all of the thoughts they contain. In the back of my mind there lays the idea: you’ve studied this before; you know what this says. So I am prone to jump to the next thought, or to quickly apply it and move on. But it is always a mistake to minimize God’s Words, no matter how we might justify it.
Here, after considering God’s marvelous love, I hurry on to what we shall become through that love. And having enjoyed that love, shouldn’t I want to honor Him by godly living? Okay, what’s next? But is there anything I have missed? Is there anything I should meditate upon? Is there anything I haven’t been applying to my life. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: THEREFORE the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
In this verse, what is the word “therefore” there for? What is it meant to do? How does it relate to the rest? “Therefore” is technically an adverb, but it is used as a conjunction, tying two thoughts together. In this case: that we are called sons of God is TIED to the world’s inability to know us. “I am a child of God and AS SUCH, the world doesn’t know me.” “I am a son of God WHEREFORE the people of the world don’t know me.” Why doesn’t the world know me? This afternoon, I’d like to share a few of my cogitations.
First, WHO is it that doesn’t know us?
“Therefore the WORLD knoweth us not.” This is the same “world” to which John referred in chapter 2. This is not the physical world of forests, deer, bears and wildfires. This is referring to the world-system which is governed by Satan – he who is its defacto “god.” But it is not just a system which doesn’t know us. It is the people of that system; the citizens of Satan’s world.
A couple weeks ago I reminded you that there are two kinds of people in the world. I wanted to say; there are those who say there are two kinds of people and those who do not. But I’ve said that so often it isn’t funny any more. There ARE two kinds of people: there are God’s people and there are Satan’s people; the saved and lost. There are people whose citizenship is in Heaven and there are those who have only earthly citizenship. There are those have been elected to salvation, and those who have not been so chosen. There are people who will spend eternity in Heaven, and there are those will be in Hell forever. YOU are either a child of God or a child of the world and Satan. And John tells us that the world’s people do not know God’s people.
But we were ALL children of the world and people of the god of the world before our new birth and adoption. Another often quoted scripture around here comes from Ephesians 2: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” Even though we have all been children of the world, today we are unrecognizable by those who are still of the world. In fact, God’s saints have been so radically changed, that often our former worldly friends may become so fearful of us, perhaps jealous of us, that they begin to hate us. The Lord Jesus said in John 15: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you. If the world hate you, ye know that I hated me before it hated you.” Not only are we unknown and misunderstood by our former friends in the world, we shouldn’t be surprised that we are no longer loved. We shouldn’t be surprised even if we are hated. We need to learn to be satisfied with the Lord’s approval; we don’t need the world’s affection.
Having said that, and having repeated what John said, be assured that SATAN knows exactly who we are. He knows that you used to be a citizen of his kingdom, but now you are not. He knows that he used to push you around like the wind pushes a cloud, but today you are more resistant. I don’t know if he fully understands our sonship in Christ, but he probably understands it better than we do. But his own people, the people of the world, “knoweth us not, because they know not Christ.”
Okay then, of WHAT are they incapable of knowing?
Is there anything specific that they don’t know, or are there ways in which they don’t know us? “Therefore the world KNOWETH us not.” When we looked at the last verse in chapter 2, I pointed out that there are two kinds of knowledge. “If you know with an innate, imbedded, unassailable knowledge that Christ is righteous, then you will learn and come to know that everyone who does righteous things is a child of God.” There is knowledge which is planted in us, and there is knowledge which we learn. Both of them are found in I John 2:29. The knowledge to which John refers in our verse is the kind which is learned by observation. The world cannot perceive that we are the sons of God. They can’t understand what has happened to us. Don’t be angry with them. Don’t accuse them of deliberate neglect of what is obvious. They are blind; they can’t see or understand any spiritual. “The natural man perceiveth not the children of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
As an example, Brother Austin has told us that after the Lord quickened him, giving him spiritual life, that his brother, with whom he had often sinned, even committing criminal acts worthy of jail time… Cameron refused to believe that Austin, a former professional hypocrite, could actually be a child of God. For months, and even years, Cameron didn’t believe that his brother was saved; he couldn’t perceive it. But today, Cameron can see Austin as a son of God, because he, too, has been born again. His spiritual blindness has been cured, and he sees many things which were hidden to him before.
Repeating myself, WHY don’t the people of the world know us?
In II Corinthians 4 Paul was talking about the gospel ministry, but what he said has a wider application. “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Without digging too deeply into the wonderful theology, when a sinner is saved, he is saved “IN CHRIST.” Paul says to the Christians in Colosse: “For ye are dead, and your life is HID WITH CHRIST in God.” At the end of the Book of Romans, he speaks about several Christians who were “in Christ.” And they were all Christians, because “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are IN CHRIST Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” – Romans 8:1. And “if any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” There are several scriptures which explain that the people to whom John was writing were “in Christ.” They were wrapped up in the righteousness of the eternal Son of God. WE are enrobed in the righteousness of Christ. WE have been immersed in the eternal will of God.
What Paul told the Corinthians in regard to the gospel, applies to what the lost can’t see in the saint. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Just as the lost can’t see Christ, they do not know those who in Christ. They are hidden in the glorious light of the Son of God.
WHAT can we do about it?
Is there anything we can do to correct the world’s lack of knowledge about our spiritual citizenship and life? In one sense, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Not only has SATAN blinded the minds of the unsaved to the spiritual realities around them. And that blindness cannot be removed, no matter how skilled in Ophthamology you and I might become. But that blindness is not entirely satanic in origin. It is a part of the curse which God Himself has laid over the eyes of sinners. And in both cases, only the Lord can remove the scales from those sinfully blinded eyes.
But, if I can use a human illustration, isn’t there a way in which the blind can, or at the very least, read? People without eyesight can learn to read by using Braille. During the Napoleonic Wars the French military developed a system by which they could pass orders among the troops without having to speak or to light torches in order to read the messages. It involved twelve raised dots which trained men could read with their fingers. In 1824 a blind teenager named Louis Braille simplified that military code into six raised dots in different configurations to represent the letters of the alphabet. Now people without sight can touch those dots and read the intended message. In other words, blind people can see some things, while not seeing many other things. They can see the words of a book published in Braille, but they can’t see a sunset or the aurora borealis.
Should you and I care that the world doesn’t know that we are the sons of God? Yes, we should care. Like a wife who is no longer recognized by a spouse suffering from Alzheimers, we should be grieved. It should sadden us that we are not known for who we truly are. It should especially grieve us if worldlings look at us and see no difference between ourselves and them. We should yearn that the world learn what the Lord has done for us in giving us eternal life in Christ.
What can we do about it? We can become the best possible ambassadors for Christ that we can be. We can become the raised letters of God’s Braille system of communication. And we must start with purifying ourselves, even as He is pure. Brethren, “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin” – verse 9. “In this the children of God are manifest (verse 10); whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God.” I John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” I John 2:3: “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” And hereby should others know that we know the Lord, because we keep his commandments. If we would like the world to know that we are sons of God, then we need to behave like sons of God. Even though the world, in its blindness, might hate us for it, we must hate the sin of the world. Will that be enough to convince the wicked? No, not in itself. But it might be a tool the Lord will use.
Not only must we “love NOT the world, neither the things that are in the world,” but on the positive side, we must love righteousness. “If ye know that (Christ) is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” Can you be more specific John? How about, verse 18: “My little children, let us love, not in word and tongue, but in truth.” “Let us walk in the light, as He is in the light.” Even beyond that there are instructions like I John 2:28: “And now, little children, abide in Him.” Christians should be as GENEROUS and as HOSPITABLE as possible, remembering the grace the Lord has bestowed on us. We don’t have to be as FEARFUL as the people of the world. God “hath not given to His children the spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind.” We can be JOYFUL in the midst of the problems and even the poverty of this world. We can be HOPEFUL. While so many in this world are considering taking their own lives, we can show to them what the family of God is like, filled with spiritual siblings who love each other and strive to uphold one another.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Conclusion
“The world knoweth us not” as the sons of God. Don’t be surprised that you are not recognized for who you are. They didn’t recognize the Lord Jesus. Don’t fret and worry about it, because you have been warned to expect it. Don’t be surprised when even other professing Christians despise your attempts at holy living. There is a sense in which even our own flesh doesn’t understand our spiritual nature. Nevertheless, be the spiritual person God intends for you to be.
And be COMFORTED by the fact that we SHALL be made known some day. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God… and when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as He is.” Paul says in Romans 8: “ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
Don’t fret or grieve excessively that the world doesn’t understand or know you. Because the only thing that is really important is that “the Lord knoweth them that are His.” Praise the Lord, “the Lord knoweth them that are His.” But please keep in mind: that quote is part of a larger context in II Timothy 2:19: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Make sure that when the world looks at you, it won’t recognize any of the old iniquity you once had. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not…”