1 John 3:1–3 • You are already a son of God — not someday, not if you behave well enough, not after you prove yourself. Right now. But what does that mean, and what does it demand?

⛪ Preached at Pilgrim Baptist Church • Cookeville, TN • April 9, 2026.

Most Christians know they're saved. Fewer know what they're saved into. John opens chapter 3 with a command, not an invitation — BEHOLD — because what he's about to say about your identity will change how you live. This sermon works through 1 John 3:1–3 and connects it to over ten other passages to build a complete biblical picture: the title "sons of God," the hidden life you carry right now, the glorified body that's coming, and the purifying power of that hope. The sermon lands hard on one of the most neglected one-verse applications in all of John's writing — verse 3 — and why saved people tend to skip right past it.

This message walks through 1 John 3:1–3 and connects:

• Why "sons of God" means something specific in Scripture — angels, Adam, and Christ

• How you became a son of God through new birth, not earned status

• Why the world's hostility toward you is confirmation, not a problem to fix

• What your hidden life looks like now vs. what's coming (Colossians 3, Philippians 3)

• Jesus's glorified body — walking through doors, eating fish, nail prints still visible

• The twinkling of an eye and what changes in that moment (1 Corinthians 15:52)

• The Fanny Crosby illustration: why she never mourned her blindness

• The gravitational pull of verse 2 that keeps saved people from obeying verse 3

• "Every man" — not just the zealous ones — is called to purify himself now

• Identity before behavior: you ARE a son, therefore go live holy

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