In our text today, John appears to group all people into one of two families. There are those who are "of the devil," and those who are "of God." This is not a description of actual genetic family linkage; John is not saying that there are actual spawn of Satan out there. Membership in these families is dependent on whether one has believed and received the Spirit of Christ or not. This is the same John who wrote in his gospel (John 1:12) - 'to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.') In a sense, the last name of every believer becomes, 'Christian.'
Did you ever live in a neighborhood where a particular family had such specific attributes that you knew the minute you saw one of them that they were members of THAT family? There is a family resemblance that is unmistakable. John says you can pretty much do that with 'the Christians', too. "Oh yeah, she's one of the Christians. She stands for doing the right thing." "Yup, he 's one of the Christians. He has that special love for people." "I see compassion in him. I see generosity in her. I know what family THEY belong to." Do you demonstrate the same values and character qualities as God? Your relationship to Jesus is showing.The 'other' family is known by its values and character as well. The FitzDevils are known for living with moral standards that fall short of what God prescribes. They exhibit hatred. They have murder in their hearts, but no pity. Their love shows up as lip service; it doesn't follow through and proves false. John says, "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are."
If you call yourself by the name of Christian, then you must uphold the reputation of your family name by living with a noble and godly character. One of my favorite old world words is 'besmirch.' It means to soil or tarnish, and also to defame or dishonor one's name. May we never besmirch the name of Christ with FitzDevilian behavior.
Pray: Jesus, you died to grant me the opportunity to live as a member of your family. You've given me your Spirit to enable me to live up to my new name - Your name. Help me when I start leaning toward and living like the child of another. Help me to remember whose I am.
