02/15/2025 - Prologue – It all begins and ends in faith. The belief of God’s love, the gift of His Son and the assurance of our salvation. But as John explains it is the gift of forgiveness/salvation, plus, it is Jesus standing between us and the evil one.
[1 John 5:1-12] – Faith Wins the Victory – By now we may have discovered that John presents variations and variations on variations. Do not struggle with this. I wondered if that style was not the result of John’s unusually close relationship with Jesus – ‘John, the one that Jesus loved.’ Did John write the way that Jesus spoke? Jesus repeatedly talked about love, and probably never with the same words. John repeats, but he introduces us to a new element in [v. 4]: “everything fathered by God conquers the world.” What!? Why not just resist the temptations of the world? I may be able to resist, but I am not certain if I am able to conquer. It was Jesus who said, “I have overcome the world”. Why does he say ‘everything’? John is referring not only to human beings ‘fathered’ by God, [v. 1] but that also includes their life and their work – the people and the things they do.
What is this conquest? In John’s Gospel [12:31] Jesus speaks of ‘the world’s ruler’ being thrown out. Jesus says, ‘the ruler of this world has nothing to do with me.’ [14:30] Then in [16:33] Jesus warns the disciples they will face persecution in the world, concluding, ‘Cheer up, I have conquered the world!’ In John’s Gospel [18 – 19] we find Jesus, Pontius Pilate and the chief priests. Jesus and Pilate argue about the themes of the kingdom: truth and power. The chief priests manipulate Pilate to crucify Jesus. At Jesus’ death as, ‘king of the Jews’, it is the very moment when and the means by which Jesus conquered ‘the world’. Those watching thought ‘the world’ had conquered Jesus. Imagine this: as death came as the Centurion’s spear pierced Jesus, water and blood came forth. [19:34] John was a personal witness. Link [19:34] and [1 John 5:4-9] The victory that conquers the world is the saving death of Jesus. We, by faith, cling to the God who is made known in Jesus, He died on the cross – share that victory, the conquest of ‘the world’.
‘The world’ is not just a source of distraction and temptation. It holds ‘positive’ power for evil, and resents the arrival of ‘the world’s own creator to claim His rightful lordship. (“He was in the world,’ said John in his gospel, ‘and ‘the world’ was made through him, and ‘the world’ did not know Him’.) Evil, AKA ‘the world’, will fight back. This fight came to a head when Jesus (God’s kingdom) faced Pilate (Caesar’s kingdom) the supreme power in the world. N.B. God’s kingdom is one, ‘the world’ has many! The death of Jesus, with the water and the blood already separated, shows that death was real: confirming who He said He was; He truly died; and He was fully human, in the flesh. Blood signifies death, suffering and forgiveness of sin, [Heb. 9:22] representing the eucharist. Water signifies life, atonement, cleansing, new life and represents baptism.
John returns to the issue of the ‘Anti-messianic’ teachers who deny Jesus had come in the ‘flesh’. They agree with John the Baptist/Baptism, but do not accept Jesus’ death. John is credible and the Holy Spirit bears witness through John’s narrative. No other god, no other power, no other being loves like this, gives like this and dies like this. None! All others win by fighting, Jesus by suffering. All others exercise power by killing, Jesus by dying. The last two verses [v. 11-12] are clear: Anyone who has the Son has life. Anyone who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Stark, unambiguous plain speaking – there are times when that form verily matters – this is one of them.
[1 John 5:13-21] – The True God – We have arrived at the end of 1 John, the final nine verses. Ironically, the very last verse in a sense defines all those preceding it. In Jesus’ time there were idols all over the known world and veneration of those idols flourished. But, was John talking about them? John is drawing us toward God’s love: loving one another and loving Jesus, the Messiah, who came in the flesh. These are two truths among many and anchor our Christian faith. Thus, John wants us to focus on worshiping the true God, not some man-made idol. Thus, the idol would not be someone carved to be placed in a temple. John means the many false teachers, faux ‘Christians’. The true God sent His son to earth fully human to die a genuine human death. To deny that is not to simply deny Jesus it is also to deny God. And the life we have in God we are guaranteed ‘the life of the age to come’. The Creator has brought the future into the present. That is why there was such sharp conflict between those who represent this new life and those who wish to keep new wine in old containers. Billions of people on earth represent the latter.
If we are caught in the overlap of the two ages read [v. 13-15] John simplified this in [3:22] and he relies on Jesus’ promises in [John 14:13-15:7] Those who abide in Jesus may pray with boldness and confidence. They stand at the point where heaven and earth meet and together, we are encouraged to draw heaven’s blessings to earth. Our requests will be granted, but in ways we do not anticipate. Pray heartily for specific things and pray for God’s promises. [4:10] One prayer we all should have is for those who have wandered away. It is here that we are able to discern John’s meaning of deadly and non-deadly sin. First, we conclude that John means those who deny that Jesus came in the flesh which places them beyond redemption. This is true because they have cut off the branch from which the fresh roots of rescue-promises are growing.
Another verse that startles us is [v. 18]. The phrase, “does not go on sinning” I think John here is getting at the habits of life. These habits settle in us at various times and require work. I also think age is very helpful in this process. John’s preference would be that we did not sin at all. Really. Then the reality is most sin is a blip in life. Prayed for, confessed and forgiven. But then there is hard-hearted sin, an entirely different circumstance, We commit it and carry on regardless and as it says in [Rom. 1:32] we no longer view the action as sinful. Huge problem, huge challenge!
Notice [v. 18] how you and I are linked to Jesus and how Jesus will keep those who believe in Him are under His protection. That means the ‘evil one’, who for the time being retains power over the world, can do no harm. Things may not always feel that way, but John reminds us in [v. 5:4] that the victory consists in faith. Believing that Jesus had in fact defeated all the powers that might endanger us. Pray we are ‘in Him’ and thus, ‘in the truth’ as opposed to being ‘in the lie,’ the lie that the world continually does all it can to lead us in that direction.
The true God. The one Jesus. The life of the age to come. Love given - love passed on. This is where we stand. This is the witness of John. AMEN
Love, hank
Cell: 541-973-5442
No comments:
Post a Comment