Love that Overcomes the World.

As Abbie mentioned, today is my last time preaching as associate pastor at New Culture. I wanted you to hear that from me directly.

Abbie showed you a picture from the first sermon I preached here, which was onto a camera. Abbie went and hid in her bedroom so it wouldn't be awkward with her standing in front of me while I preached. But my first sermon in person here in our space was maybe around our fourth week here. I stood up and started messing with my computer and it glitched. It just stayed frozen and I couldn't see my sermon notes. So I preached completely off the cuff that first time. I just went with exactly what I had in my head of what I had written down. I was like, hope this works. I turned around to read the scriptures to everybody. That was my first one here. So I'm not going to do that today. We're not doing that.

But join me in our scripture reading. We've been doing a sermon series called Letters from John on the letters 1 John through 3 John. Today we're wrapping up 1 John. We're going to be in 1 John chapter 5, verses 1 through 12.

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his son. Whoever believes in the son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his son. And this is the testimony God has given: us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:4-12

Our "so what" and our "now what" for today, I'll give it to you right up front. Our "so what" is love overcomes. Our "now what" today is obey, have faith, and rest in his completed work.

Love Overcomes Through Obedience

1 John 5 starts with what sounds like a bit of a review of the themes of the previous chapters. If you've been following along or if you've read just about any book that John has written, he says love about 156 times. He says faith and obedience, and he talks about God as the Father and us as his children. He says it over and over again. Faith in Jesus, love for others, and obeying God's commandments. Since scripture is inspired by God, I would venture to say that he knew we needed to hear this a lot. It isn't just random repetition.

I think about a parent with their kid who they've told not to touch the thing about 100 times. And the last time they're finally like, I'm not going to say it again. Don't make me repeat myself. How gracious a God that he keeps saying it until we get it.

The first three verses of chapter 5 say:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

1 John 5:1-3

We've put the word obedience in the negative list. The word obedience doesn't always strike joy in your heart. To be honest, the first word that pops in my head when I think of obedience is actually like a dog. You take them to obedience school, so obviously not the most great connotation. However, I think parents like the word obedience. I think teachers like the word obedience. But what we often fail to realize is that there is liberty in obeying the right people and the right things.

How great should our desire be to walk in obedience to God and his son, the perfect teacher, the perfect coach and mentor, our creator and our redeemer? Following and obeying someone who is perfect when you are imperfect guarantees a better outcome.

Put simply, John is advocating that faith and love are inseparable and produce obedience. This is one aspect of what it means to fully live out being in love with God. To fully express faith in God is to be obedient to him. It's not enough to merely assent intellectually to who God is. There must be an ethical dimension to our faith. We can't just feel love for God. We have to live out love for God, and that demands obedience.

Commentator Daniel Aiken writes: "Those who have faith are born of God. So faith can be taken as a sign of sonship. The very fact that we have faith and express it through love helps prove that we are the sons and daughters of God."

This faith and love expressed through not only individuals but through the body of Christ signifies to everyone around us who he is and who sent him. We see this in Christ's prayer in John chapter 17, verses 20 through 21:

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

John 17:20-21

By our faith, by our love, by our obedience, the world would believe who Jesus is. Being born of God, as mentioned in verse 1, is the very thing that leads us to right behavior. It keeps us from habitually sinning, and it causes us to love others. All of our faith boils down to what we do with the Son.

John isn't trying so much to demonstrate how a person experiences new birth. That's not his focus. It's not how you feel or what your experience with coming into relationship with Jesus is. He's working to indicate that there should be evidence that it's taken place. Simply put: being obedient to the Father and the Son through faith and love leads to right living, and that is the evidence of your faith and love.

Verse one clarifies that believers in Christ have been born of God and that the outworking of that birth is that we believers also love everyone else. Verse two shows how we more deeply demonstrate this love in our lives. It points out that the proof of our love for the children of God is fueled by our love for God and our obedience to his commandments. To love God, you must obey. To obey, you must love others. To love others, you must believe in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross. You must have all three.

John Stott writes: "Love for God is not merely an emotional experience. It is also a moral commitment." If you've ever been in any meaningful relationship, you understand this concept. Apply this to your parents, your children, your spouse, your siblings, or anyone else. If we're honest, just because you love someone doesn't mean you always defer to honoring them. It doesn't mean we always want to be with them. It doesn't mean we don't occasionally drive each other crazy. It does mean that because we love them, we've made a moral commitment to see our relationship through. We've made a commitment. We've disciplined ourselves to stick together.

God is so much more worthy of this kind of commitment. But how often do we talk about spousal relationships as being more worthy of covenant love, honor, and commitment than our relationship with God himself?

Finally, in verse 3, John states that the commandments of God are not burdensome. Then how do we come to questions like: Why does God give me more than I can handle? Or if his commandments are easy, why do I struggle to do what is right?

The answer is that as scripture tells us, his power is made evident in our weakness. His perfection shines in our brokenness. They are not burdensome because his yoke is light. These commands are not just meaningless laws that God expects us to obey by our own power. They're designed to show us the heart of God while drawing others to him. By the power of the Holy Spirit, obedience to God is not an unrealistic expectation. Rather, it's an opportunity to experience a love that hands us victory freely.

Love Overcomes Through Faith

Love also overcomes through faith. In 1 John 5, verses 4 through 5:

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:4-5

First, this verse answers the question: Who is an overcomer? It says everyone who has been born of God. So before we can go further, we have to wrestle with the reality that the answer to "Am I an overcomer? Do I have victories?" depends on whatever your answer to "Have I been born again?" is.

The answer to this is important because the outworking of this verse for you is either you need to be born of God through faith in his son, or you need to walk in victory as an overcomer because you are born of God. This isn't merely a statement. It's a promise. This overcoming promise is not made to everyone but only to those who are rooted in Christ.

These verses also go on to delineate what it is that we overcome. It simply states that we are victorious over the world. So what is the world that we overcome according to John? It's twofold.

The first thing is we will overcome the broken systems of the world. I feel quite strongly that you don't have to be a believer to see that the systems of our world are broken. There is a lack of justice. There is a lack of mercy. There is a lack of love. There is greed. There is poverty. There is division. There is racism. There is a broken medical system and there are under-resourced and unsupported education systems. There's a brutally broken justice system.

Our hope in Jesus is not just for today. The victory he offers us extends to what Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 through 7 tells us:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new.' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.'"

Revelation 21:1-7

This is part of the victory that Jesus offers us. What it means to be victorious in Christ is to know that at the end of the day, the Alpha and the Omega is making everything right, and that is your inheritance.

However, I want to point out that while this type of overcoming does mean it will not be full and complete until Jesus returns in the end, I often hear verses like this preached in a way to say, "Well, guess we just have to pray for Jesus to hurry up and come back so that we can experience victory." As if when Jesus was on earth, he didn't teach us to pray for heaven to come to earth here now and today and give us a mission to go out and bring his kingdom to earth.

We have victory over the world systems for the future and we have victory in the ability to act and be active in obedience and love and faith for our communities and the systems around us today.

We also overcome individual trials and tribulations. We read this earlier in John chapter 16, verse 33. He said, "In this world you will have tribulation." James tells us more about the plan for tribulation in our lives in his letter. In James chapter 1, verses 4 and 12:

And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

James 1:4, 12

James echoes John's teaching here. For those who love God, he has made a promise to them, and that promise is to give them the strength to conquer sin in the world. When we do that, when we remain steadfast under trials, the promise is the crown of life. Further, remaining steadfast in his perfect strength makes us mature and complete and fulfilled, according to James 1:4. We are promised tribulation, which is less than encouraging, but we are also promised the power to overcome and the presence of God who remains with us throughout.

We overcome temptations. People often confuse tribulation and temptation and use them kind of interchangeably. When it comes to tribulation, you often hear people say, trying to be really encouraging: "Well, God will never give you more than you can handle." But that's not actually what scripture says whatsoever. The plan is actually that we are consistently carrying more than we can handle. We are consistently in need of leaning on and trusting in the God who can handle it for us. He says, "Give me your cares. Lay your cares on me, for my burden is light."

With temptation, however, his promise is to work through tribulation to grow your faith in it, and the promise of life for those who love him and obey his commands, even when it's hard. With temptation though, scripture tells us that God gives you an out. You can't say no to tribulations, but you can say no and choose something different when it comes to temptation.

Sometimes I think when we talk about how God always gives you an out to temptation, at least for me, I visualize temptation is coming and then all of a sudden there's a glowing door that says escape and you get to run for your life. The escape is the ability and the self-will and the will that God has given you to say no. It's the Holy Spirit in you giving you the power to say no.

1 Corinthians 10, verse 13 says:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure.

1 Corinthians 10:13

The theme of verses 4 through 5 is that it is through our faith that we have the strength to overcome.

Love Overcomes Through God's Completed Work

Love also overcomes through God's completed work. The last section of verses 6 through 12 is:

This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God, that he has borne concerning his son. Whoever believes in the son has believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his son. And this is the testimony that God gave: us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever is the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life.

1 John 5:6-12

This shift in the text is kind of confusing. He starts talking about the water, the blood, the spirit, the witnesses. These three agree. The word witness appears nine times here. John is the most repetitive author ever. We see this word witness nine times.

The theme of verses 6 through 12 is tied together by the idea of testimony and witness. Here, John is reinforcing the validity of the one we are called to believe in. This is John's argument in almost every book he writes. In the Gospel of John, he calls back to Jesus' genealogy at creation to point out that it is valid to believe that Jesus is not just a good teacher but is God. In all of 1 John, he argues: you must believe that Jesus is God. And here again he's reinforcing the validity of Jesus. He demonstrates here that there is overwhelming evidence to support that Jesus is the Son of God.

The first three verses speak of the three that testify. He talks about the spirit, the water, and the blood. He talks about this because if you look earlier on in scripture all the way back to Deuteronomy, the first five books of the Bible. A law is introduced to the Jewish people, the Israelites, in Deuteronomy 19:15. In that law, what's basically laid out is that a matter is settled when there are two to three witnesses. If there are two to three witnesses that can testify the same account, then that settles the matter.

But there has to be two or three. If one person testifies, that's not enough. There has to be two to three witnesses to resolve the matter and make it legitimate. Commentator Daniel Aiken writes: "Thus he argues that the spirit, water, and blood all converge on the same point and establish the truth that Christ is the Messiah. John wants us to understand that if the witness of two or three people is enough to establish a matter, then by the most basic of Israelite law standards, and the majority of John's audience were Jewish converts to Christianity. Well then, how much more valuable and valid is the testimony of God's supplied witnesses?"

There are numerous thoughts in the water and the blood, but I'd like to sum those up with a quote from Dr. Stephen Smalley:

"The inward witness of God's spirit shows the Christian that he was right to believe in Jesus. And this internal testimony of the Spirit balances and complements the external and historical witness of the water, the baptism of Jesus, and the blood, which marked the limits of his earthly ministry through his death."

The challenge of this statement, bringing forward the witnesses, is that to deny the truth of these witnesses leaves you with one option: to call God a liar. We see here his deliberate acts and their clarity. If we disregard them, then we reject God. And there is no room for indifference to the witness.

It is either accepted or rejected. John feels very strongly there is no middle ground. You either believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the beginning and the end, the Messiah, or you don't believe in him at all. This is the second time John points out that our actions can make God a liar.

You have to remember that he's combating heretical teachings. There are other teachers coming in and teaching that Jesus was a good teacher or that he was a man that lived a holy life that was promoted to a status of little-g god. He's fighting against teachings that challenge the divinity of Jesus. And he's reminding people: this is not a space for middle ground. There are things we can argue. If Jesus is God is not one of them.

In the words of C.S. Lewis:

"You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else he was madman or something worse. You can shut him up as a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon. Or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us, and he did not intend to."

The testimony points to God's completed work in Christ Jesus. Faith is the victory. He's not calling us to do the work of salvation. That's a victory that you earn, and it is not eternal. He has done the work of salvation, and he's calling us to believe and accept that the work has been completed in Christ.

Remember John 16:33 stated: "I have overcome the world." The question isn't regarding God's power to overcome the world. The question is our faith in him that he has done it and will continue to do it in and through us as well.

When Does This Overcoming Take Place

So when does this overcoming take place? When do we get to experience victory? Maybe you've been following Jesus for a while and you're like, "Really? Because I keep losing. Like, this whole 'no weapon formed against me shall prosper.' They're prospering."

The victory, some of which we get to experience here, but ultimately the victory is eternal life, which begins when you accept the testimony and give control of your life to Christ. John 10:10 records Jesus saying:

I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

He says this right after he speaks of our enemy, a thief coming to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy destroys, but I have overcome the enemy. Believe in me and you too will overcome. Abundant life is a now and forever promise of God. Regardless of our life circumstances, if we belong to him, then we will forever be his. John also says that we have been placed in the palm of Jesus' hand, and no one can remove us from his hand.

Does this mean you win every battle you fight during your lifetime on earth? No. We overcome some battles in the natural realm, but we overcome all battles in the supernatural realm. We win some battles today, but we conquer all battles when Christ returns. We overcome some battles in how we feel, but we overcome all battles through obedience, faith, and God's completed work.

A Personal Word

Our "so what" today is that love overcomes, and our "now what" is to obey, have faith, and to rest in his completed work.

When I think about resting in Christ's completed work, and when I really look at John as an author, I can't help but think about the consistency of God. I think that's part of the design of how John writes his books, why he's so repetitive. He's trying to point something out: God never changes. His consistency.

I think about how all throughout scripture we witness a changing world. From Genesis to the time Jesus shows up, literally so many different things change in the world. From Jesus to Revelation, everything has changed. What we're living today in our everyday lives, we witness a changing world. I think about how through all of that, God has not changed.

Almost three years ago exactly, I realized recently that it was actually very close to almost exactly three years ago. I sat on the phone with Abbie for the first time on FaceTime and felt something that I can only describe as supernatural. Then I heard God say: "Go to Wisconsin." That was an unexpected call. And I gave God my yes. And my whole world changed.

But God did not. Then they asked me to stay. And I gave God my yes. And again, everything changed. And again, God stayed the same. And then last April, I felt the Holy Spirit begin to tell me that things were going to change again. I said yes to whatever was coming, not knowing then that the shift I was sensing was God telling me to move on from my role as associate pastor at New Culture.

It was a very hard yes. But I made a decision a long time ago that he has my obedience and he has my faith. And I believed then and I believe now that he will not change, even if everything else does.

Regardless of where you are or what you do, regardless of what changes, you can rest in an unchanging God's completed work. Obedience is easy when you're only asked to do what is in your comfort zone. What you like, when and where you like it, that's an easy yes. Faith is easy when you know what is next. Rest is easy when there's nothing lurking around the corner.

Obedience, faith, and rest in God's completed work is hard when the ground around you is like shifting sand. Like shifting sand.

Next week I get to sit with you as your friend and peer. But today I have one last encouragement for you as your pastor: God stays the same. May you find holy rest in that.

Benediction

I want to extend my hands out in a posture to receive, and I'm going to read some scriptures over you today as a benediction, which means as a blessing. I want to invite all of you to extend your hands out in front of you as well.

Holy Spirit, I pray that these words that are yours, that are straight from you, from your word, from your scripture, Lord, that you would write them in our hearts. That when everything moves and shifts and we're tempted to disobey, we're tempted to lose heart and lose faith, and we stay up as if the word of God doesn't tell us that you neither faint nor grow weary. Lord, that these words would come to our forefront. That you would bring them to us. Write these words on our hearts here today, Lord.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

I the Lord do not change, so you are not destroyed.

Malachi 3:6

God is not human that he should lie, not a human being that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Numbers 23:19

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God endures forever.

Isaiah 48

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will wear out like a garment, like clothing. You will change them and they will be discarded, but you remain the same and your years will never end.

Psalm 102:25-27

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Matthew 24:35

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:28

Before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

Psalm 92

This is what the Lord says: Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first and I am the last. Apart from me there is no God.

Isaiah 44:6

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Revelation 22:13