FAITH THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD

I John: 5:1-21

Key Verse: 5: 4, 5

“For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

In the previous chapters 1 through 4, Apostle John encouraged all believers to love one another because God is love. Now, John refers to faith as the foundation of love in this chapter 5. He focuses on the relationship of the three fundamental elements of our spiritual life: faith, love, and obedience. John asked in verse 5, “Who is it that overcomes the world?” John testifies that only he who believes in Jesus Christ can overcome the world. There are two kinds of people in this world. They are those who overcome the world and those who do not overcome the world. Those who overcome the world will have a victorious life. Let’s have the victory by believing in Jesus as the Son of God.  I pray that God may give us faith in Jesus so that we may have eternal life in the Son. May God bless us to experience the power of intercessory prayer in the name of the Son in the fall semester!

PART I LOVE FOR THE FATHER AND FAITH IN THE SON (1-12)

Look at verse 1. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.” When we believe in Jesus as Christ, we are spiritually born again, and our eyes will be open to see the spiritual world. Then we will know about God, and then eventually we will come to love God as well as his children. As we love our physical family, so we love our spiritual family. Prayer house brothers and sisters are a spiritual family which God brought together. They have strong bonds in Christ. They should love one another because they belong to the same family of God. I met a Mennonite elder Dr. Rosenberg and Lutheran pastor Dave McCarty at the Penn State church dedication ceremony and, without really knowing them, I have a special love for them because they are born of God. I love Elijah, Luke, Moses more than my human brothers because they are my brothers in God’s family who will inherit the kingdom of God.  

Verses 2 and 3 tell us that love for our brothers comes when we obey God’s command. Let’s read verses 2 and 3. How are love and obedience related?  When we love God, and, due to this love, we keep the commands of God, then we will know that we love our brothers. In that sense, without love, we cannot obey, and without obedience, we cannot love. There is one common misunderstanding among us about love. People might think that love comes first from emotion or feeling. Therefore, we think that without the feeling of love, we can’t love others. Many young people believe that they need the feeling of love before they get married. Then, they never get married because feelings do not come easily. Also feelings change like the weather. However, we can obey God’s command if we love God. Obedience is no problem if we love someone. M. James Park’s youngest son David loves to obey his father’s command because he loves his dad. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Jesus gave his disciples a new command. It was for them to love one another (John 13:34). By our strength, we cannot love our brothers. However, if we obey his commands first, he gives us the heart to love our brothers. True love (agape) is not just about emotional feelings but it requires action. Obedience is a key to express our love to God. 1 Samuel 15:22b says, “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” Adam doubted God’s love and disobeyed God and lost the paradise. Abraham in Genesis obeyed God’s command to offer his son Isaac because he loved God. Jesus showed example of true love by obeying the will of God though it meant his death on the cross. If we truly love God, we should obey his command even though we may not understand the reason. Through obedience we can demonstrate our love for God and his children.

In verse 3b, Apostle John tells us that his commands are not burdensome. In what sense is it so? It’s because that Jesus’ words gives us salvation, true freedom, and rest (Matthew 11:28-30). If we do something for others without love, we will feel burdened; but when we love them, we will not feel too burdened. When Jacob saw Rachel, it was love at first sight. Jacob worked seven years for his uncle to marry Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because he loved Rachel so much (Gen 29:20). The Psalmist expressed his delight in the word of the Lord in Psalm 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” When we love God, obedience is no longer burdensome but it is a great joy. When we obey God’s command as our expression of love, God gives us faith that overcomes the world. Look at verses 4 and 5. “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God!” We learn two things which are very important from this passage.

First, our Christian life is a spiritual battle. There are two kinds of people in the battle, victors and losers. “Born again” Christians overcome the world but physical men without spiritual rebirth cannot overcome the world. For example, a man named Nicodemus, who appears in John chapter 3, was a symbol of success, economically, religiously, politically, intellectually, and academically. He was a role model and envy of all young people. People wanted to become a little Nicodemus. However, he himself lost peace and joy. He was not sure of eternal life and was tormented by the power of death. Jesus spoke to him, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). If we really want to overcome the world, then we have to be born again spiritually. The world without God is materialistic, individualistic, pleasure-seeking, greedy, and lustful, which invites the wrath of God. The world is ruled by Satan and the people who belong to the world cannot overcome the world because they are enslaved by their sinful desires. Eventually, they lose everything at the end of their lives because to them death is the end of everything. In the competitive world everybody is a loser. Money, fame, or power cannot save them. But Christians are victors because Jesus won the victory on the cross by saying, “It is finished.” (John 19:30b) Jesus defeated our enemy death and Satan and ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God. Paul shouted in Romans 8:37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors.”  The world is controlled by the law of the jungle; the stronger prey on the weaker. During the Safari, I saw lions hunting zebras. Lions are the king of the jungle. But they are lonely sleeping during the day. No animals want to play with them. Also they are the targets of warriors in African tribes. To survive this world, people cannot help but become selfish and greedy. Then, how can we overcome such a tough world? By faith in Jesus Christ we can be victors. In the sinful world there are only losers but in Jesus we all are victors.  

Second, only faith that Jesus is the Son of God will bring us victory. Many tennis players work hard to win the US Open trophy and make a lot of money. Though Nadal has tendonitis, he still plays tennis match with hope beating Roger Federer. But his victory is not guaranteed. The defending champion Maria Sharapova lost to an 18 year-old player in her third round and she despaired and there will be no power shot for a while. Looking over the course of human history, many heroes who conquered the world used to triumph in numerous wars. Julius Caesar shouted proudly, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” However, he was murdered by his right-hand man, Brutus. Mark Twain seemed to live a happy life because he had great wealth with a very attractive wife and his daughters. Nonetheless, when he died, he left one of the saddest words, “It might have been.” These words are very regretful to hear concerning his life. We need faith that Jesus is the Son of God in order to live a life without regret and experience a victorious life. Apostle John was confident that, only by faith, this world could be overcome, claiming, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God! ” We alone cannot overcome this world. But we can win the victory through depending on Jesus and living by faith because Jesus won the victory over this world through the cross and resurrection. Jesus told his disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16: 33). It is natural for us to face oppositions when we serve God because the world does not know God. At that time we should not be discouraged but have peace of Jesus because we have overcome the world.

In verses 6 and 8, Apostle John testifies to evidence that Jesus is the Son of God and confirms it in verses 9 and 10, and then reminds us of the results of faith in verses 11 and 12. John gives three points that proves that Jesus is the Son of God. It is the Spirit, the water and the blood. The water indicates the baptism of Jesus and the blood indicates the death of Jesus. Gnostics claim that historical Jesus was not the Christ, but a human, in that the Christ came down on Jesus when he got baptized, and later the Christ left Jesus right before his crucifixion. But Apostle John demonstrates that the historical Jesus is the Christ himself. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the God placed his seal on Jesus as his Son, proclaiming, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt 3: 17). Also when Jesus was nailed and died on the cross, there were many miraculous signs like the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. These things indicate that the death of Jesus is not that of ordinary people, but the death of the Son of God. Watching over these, the centurion who was in charge of the executing Jesus on the cross could not help but confess, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt 27: 50-54). In John 15:26, Jesus says, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” The water and the blood are objective testimony and the Spirit is subjective testimony. Together, these three pieces of evidence provide a complete testimony.

PART II EPILOGUE (13-21)

Verses 13-21 are the epilogue of 1 John. Verses 13 and 21 are written about the confidence we have in Jesus. This confidence has an extreme effect on our life and personality. We have the confidence of eternal life (13). Look at verse 13. The reason why Apostle John writes it to the believers is to plant confidence that there is eternal life. Eternal life is not simply to live endlessly. This is the life from God. He who believes in God has to believe that he has already had eternal life. Why is it so important that you have the confidence of eternal life? It’s because only when you have the confidence of eternal life, you will not be deceived by the heresy and you can keep your faith firm. Also, you can live a sacrificial and devoted life; overcoming selfishness in your heart. In addition to that, you can also live a peaceful life releasing yourself from the worries of this life. Overcoming emptiness and despair, you can live a meaningful and hopeful life!

We have the confidence of prayer (14-17) Look at verses 14, 15. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.” Till now, John claims that only by faith in Jesus, we can overcome the world. And then he assures that we can sustain our victorious life of faith through prayer life. It’s because prayer is a concrete expression of faith. Without faith, we cannot pray. When we pray, our faith becomes more consolidated and we can grow up. During Transformation America conference in July, many American pastors asked, “What is the secret of Korean church revival?” The answer was that the Korean churches maintained their spiritual power which comes from their early morning prayers. Most Korean church members come to the church in the early morning and kneel down and prayer before God. Spiritual power comes from unceasing prayer. Spiritual power means prayer power. Faith is like the engine of the car and prayer is like fuel to run the engine. Believing that you have faith, if you do not pray, actually, it means that you do not have faith. The confidence of prayer is to believe that, whatever we ask according to his will, he answers our prayers. It means that prayer is the power station to help you to live a victorious life.

Nowadays, we live in a world in which everything is uncertain. Wherever you go, the competition is very high; nothing can guarantee your life in this world because the future is always uncertain. In this vague world, how can we live with confidence? There is one way; which is to learn how to pray. Prayer is one of the strongest weapons to live a victorious life. Prayer has wonderful power to be able to transform failure into success, impossibility into possibility, and despair into hope. Edgar Hoover, a former FBI director, talks about prayer like this, “The power of praying persons and nations is stronger than explosion of the nuclear bomb. The power of prayer is greater than any other bonds of power that human being can make. It’s because prayer is the greatest means of humans to be connected to the infinite power of God. Through earnest prayer, we can protect our lives in the best way from the evil power that we cannot resist and the evildoers who harass us. Prayer is also the strongest way to bring us peace through connecting God’s grace with his power.” Satan is mostly scared when he sees a praying Christian. Therefore, Satan tries to bother Christians not to pray by any means and make them to become busybodies. So, to live a victorious life, we need to learn how to kneel down before God. Anyone, who kneels down before God, has never shown a case of a failed life. To live a victorious life, we need many things such as wisdom, courage, and so on. Through prayer, all those treasures can be given lavishly to us from God when we kneel down before Him. When Paul L. prayed to have a car to carry JBF members, God gave him a big SUV.  The most valuable secret of our living a powerful life is in the prayer in that we can overcome weakness, sense of despair, sense of failure, sense of helplessness. Prayer builds confidence. How grateful we are to have the privilege of praying to God as his children. Even though God gives this great privilege to His children, if you don’t use it, then how foolish are you?

God requires only one condition to answer your prayer; whatever you ask, you have to do “according to his will.” God may not answer your prayer to win a million dollar lottery ticket. But God may answer your prayer to find 5 sheep in this semester. Verse 16-17 John encourages all believers to have intercessory prayers for others with the exception of sins that lead to death. We do not know exactly what sin leads to death. But the emphasis is on prayer. John lists six things we know as his conclusion. Please repeat after me. We know that he hears us-whatever we ask. We know that we have what we asked for. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin. We know that we are children of God. We know also that the Son of God has come. We…know him who is true. Amen. I pray that we all may love God as he first loved us and gave us his One and Only Son. Let’s confess in our heart that Jesus is our Savior and King and let’s us offer our lives as a living sacrifice acceptable to him. Let’s obey God’s command to feed his flocks in this semester.