SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 5/25/25
Our hope of being like Christ tomorrow compels us to live like Him today! Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Sanctification: Being Conformed to Christ
TEXT: 1 John 3:2
TITLE: No Higher Destiny
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Our hope of being like Christ tomorrow compels us to live like Him today!
POINTS:
I. Our Reality Today
II. Our Promise for Tomorrow
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
ILLUSTRATION: Sabbatical as fuel to work hard
“The principle is central to our daily sanctification. John is writing this letter to give assurance—5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
“In this section, he builds their assurance around their current sanctification and God’s future promise of their glorification. If I had to sum the message up in one sentence, it would be this: Our hope of being like Christ tomorrow compels us to live like Him today!”
“What sustains and compels us to abide in Christ with faith, joy, and obedience as our cooperation with the Spirit’s sanctifying work? Far more powerful than a temporary sabbatical, the answer is—Our hope of eternally being like Christ.”
“Our text begins with an identity statement—We belong to God. By faith in Jesus, we are the adopted children of God. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t achieve it. God was under no obligation to make us His. He would have been perfectly just to leave us in our sins and under His eternal judgment. Instead, He mercifully gave us the privilege of spiritual adoption, sonship, and heavenly inheritance. His activity toward us is summed up with one word in 1—See what kind of LOVE the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
“God’s amazing love is the basis of our sanctification. Through the gospel, we are living expressions of the OT promise to Abraham progressively revealed through the patriarchs, kings, and prophets of Israel and ultimately focused and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Loved by God as His very own children, we are called to live as members of the holy and heavenly family of God. We live as God calls us because we belong to God as His beloved children.”
“We’ve had some great application in this series. Tim’s questions last week were beneficial. But when we humbly apply from the heart what we’ve been taught, we aren’t just applying principles; we are reflecting our true nature in Christ.”
“Before we had hope in Christ, we only loved sin. But a fruit and effect of our union with Christ is that we are learning to hate our sin and love righteousness because it’s in our new nature. As it says in 2:29—there’s only one explanation for those who love and pursue righteous living—they must be born (nature) of God. So, we say progressive sanctification is simply becoming who we already are.”
“I want to care for those who have sat through this sanctification series yet you are discouraged by your current progression in holiness. There are sins you doubt you will ever overcome. Instead of conviction, condemnation fills your heart. TAKE HEART! If your hope is in Jesus, you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit is at work in you, and you are becoming more like Jesus.”
“If that’s you, pray, thanking God for forgiving you when you fall into sin. Ask God to restore your delight in His ways and your hope in the Spirit’s preserving power so that it fuels your perseverance.”
“As beloved children of God, the Holy Spirit is progressively making us more like Jesus Christ through our daily trials, suffering, and obedience. But like a good infomercial, John says—Wait, there’s more!”
“John says there are things we don’t know about Christ’s appearing. But this we know: At his return, something amazing beyond amazing will happen—We will see Jesus and become like him. It’s the remarkable promise of glorification for all who have been justified (Rom 8:30).”
“We already belong to God. We are already being made in the likeness of Jesus. That’s our reality NOW, and it’s an inexplicably wonderful reality. But the future—the NOT YET—holds something infinitely better for us. We will see Jesus, and in the twinkling of an eye, we will become like him. In the words of Anthony Hoekema—perfect and total likeness to Christ, and therefore to God.”
ILLUSTRATION: Xander excited to show me artwork
“What gets you excited in life? If not this, then the gospel is not functioning as it should in your life. Jesus became like us so we could become like him. Nothing can compare to what awaits every Christian when Jesus finally appears in glory. We will see him, and in seeing him, we will become like him in every way.”
“Think about the promises and implications of those passages:
No more sin (desire/ability)
Sickness and suffering, weakness and weariness, disease, and death—gone (imperishable)
Our knowledge of God, which will be continual but never complete—free from error
Our worship of God—unhindered with undiminished joy”
“On the day Jesus returns and our faith becomes sight—we will become like Him. We will never become him. Our personal identity will remain forever. Jesus will always be the God-man; we will always simply be man. Jesus will always be the Saving One; we will always be the saved ones. Jesus will always be the worshipped one; we will always be the worshipping ones. Jesus will always be the Lamb who was slain; we will always be the ones for whom the Lamb was slain. But, we will share in his glory, reflect his glory, and proclaim his glory perfectly in every way.”
“I tried to think how I could explain or illustrate the link between seeing Jesus and immediately becoming like him. But I can’t, except to say such is the power of seeing our glorified Savior in his true majesty. We will see Jesus, and the effect of seeing the One who is, according to Hebrews 1:3, the radiance of God’s glory and exact imprint of His nature will be an immediate and complete transformation into who we were created to be.”
“This is our ultimate and eternal destiny, and there is no higher destiny in the universe. What did you want to be when you grow up? Who do you want to be like? I went through phases. First, it was Fonzie then John Elway, and now I just want to be like Tim. God has so much better for His people!”
“God has made us His, justifying us by faith in Jesus. Now, His Spirit is sanctifying us, transforming us into the image of Jesus. His target is the heart, His instrument is His Word, and His means is the church. All this with one great goal—Our glorification to the eternal praise of His glory.”
QUOTES:
Wayne Grudem- “Glorification is the final step in the application of redemption. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like his own.”
John Piper - Jesus’ presence is what makes heaven, heaven
Anthony Hoekema - “When our sanctification will have been completed, we shall be wholly like Christ in his glorification. Then we shall not only see him face to face, but shall totally and undividedly live to the praise of the glory of his grace without end.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 15:49-52
Colossians 3:4
Philippians 3:20-21
Revelation 21:4
APPLICATION:
Christian, there is no higher destiny and no greater promise! How often do you think about it? If you’re like me, the answer is not nearly enough. There is so much to think about and do every day. Life is full of temporary and ultimately insignificant distractions. Here’s our application:
Distract yourself daily with the promise of heaven
Spend time in the texts we visited today
Don’t be afraid to imagine heaven with your sanctified imagination
Read Randy Alcorn’s In Light of Eternity
Take care lest there be an unbelieving heart in you by filling it with the promise of heaven
Encourage others with heaven
SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
All Creatures Of Our God And King
How Great (Psalm 145)
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing
Help Us See Christ
When We See Your Face
God Is For Us
NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Ephesians 5:18-21 - Why Another Summer in the Psalms Matters
THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:
