Are You a Child of the Devil or of God?

To know God as Father -

that's just incredible.

In 1 John, it says that there are

only two type of sons -

the sons of the devil

and the sons of God.

And to know that I was a son of the devil,

that I was an enemy of God.

It's amazing how being lost,

being without the knowledge

of the true God of the Bible,

everybody talks about God,

and everybody says,

"yeah, we're all children of God."

But how can you be children of God

if you're doing exactly what
He says you shouldn't do

and you're happy and enjoying it

and rejoicing and actually
looking forward,

planning to do it.

He said that for those who do that

are His enemy.

They're not His sons and daughters.

They're His enemies.

And that's what I was.

I was His enemy.

I rejoiced in the things I hated.

I actually found pleasure and joy

and happiness on doing the things I hated.

And no desire at all in obeying Him,

in honoring Him.

See, He commands us to honor

our father and our mother,

because it's a picture of how His children

need to honor Him.

And I never honored Him before.

I always did everything

that He actually commanded me not to do.

And the good that I did
was for my own self.

It was to absolve me.

So knowing that,

in the light of Scripture,

I realized I was His enemy.

I realized I was condemned

by God the Judge.

Many people say God is a loving God.

He's not a judge.

Well, I'm afraid to tell you

that you need to read your Bible,

because that is incorrect.

He will judge everyone.

Okay, as you live your life,

His judgment is accumulating on your life

over your head.

That's why He calls
all of us to repentance.

Yes, Christ is love,

but the first words that
came out of His mouth

in ministry when you read the Gospel

is He's calling everyone to repent

and to come to Him.

It's in the Bible. Read it.

Yes, He is love, but that's not all.

He came not to condemn.

He came to save.

He came to perform and die on the cross,

but He's coming back,

and this time He's coming back as a judge.

And He's going to condemn all those

who are His enemies - I was that.

I was His enemy.

I really enjoyed doing what He hated.

I really enjoyed doing everything

He commanded me not to do.

And now, by His grace,

He moved me from being His enemy,

from being a son of the devil

into being a child of God.

Through Christ.

By Him dying on the cross, taking my place

taking God's wrath for me.

Giving me new life like 1 Peter says.

Being born again like Christ
telling Nicodemus in John 3,

be born again.

Unless you're born again,

you will not be able to
see the Kingdom of God.

That's what He did in my life.

I'm not claiming to be better than anyone.

To the contrary, I'm claiming to know

who I am without Christ

and who I am in Christ.

Actually, who I am in Christ I'm learning

every day more

the wonders of being
a son of God in Christ.

So, there is great joy.

There is an amazing hope

in knowing God as your Father

through Scripture,

and being convinced through His Word,

through His revelation:

This is who I am.

This is who I am - holy,

and I will judge every soul.

It is appointed to man to die

and then to face God,

to face judgment.

The difference is how are
you going to face Him?

Are you going to face Him as His enemy?

Or are you going to face Him as His son?

And that's the difference.

I am growing.

I have many shortcomings. Yes.

But I'm growing and He's teaching me

because I am His son,

because I believe in Him.

When He says that Christ
dying on the cross

is sufficient for me salvation;

when He says that I am wicked;

when He says that I deserve to go to hell,

I believe that.

And that's why I cry out
for Him to save me

because I have no hope.

I knew I needed to live
according to the standard,

and I wasn't able to. I tried.

And I wasn't able to.

And today, I try, and I'm not able to,

but guess what?

It's not about me trying.

It's about me trusting Christ

and trusting my Father in Heaven

when He says that my
faith in Christ is sufficient.

And as safe as I am in
this chair right now,

and I'm able to rest,

that's what He calls me to do.

To rest in His promise.

And to rest in Christ.