Our Exalted and Ascended Christ; Ephesians 4:7-13, Westminster Larger Catechism Question 53

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World Conquerors; I John 5:1-12

Caesar Augustus, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Constantine, Napoleon, the Ottomans, the British Empire…Who comes to mind when you think of world conquerors? Our passage today says that “whatever is born of God conquers the world.” Overcomes can rightly be read as conquers. Verse 1 says “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, is born of God.” If we are born of God, we are world conquerors. We aren’t world conquerors in the way the emperors were, but we can overcome the world. John tells us that it is our faith which enables us to be world conquerors. This morning we will see what it means to be a world conqueror and the faith it takes to be a world conqueror. You might not think you have much faith, and you might not be feeling very victorious today, but lets look at what John defines as victorious faith by reviewing what he has already said in this letter. Basically there are just three things that we are called to believe. 1. John has said that to believe in Jesus is to declare that Christ has come in the flesh. In other words, it is to believe that Jesus is fully human . 2. He has also said that to believe is to say that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came from heaven. In other words, it is to believe that Jesus is fully God. 3. and it is to know and believe that Jesus has laid down His life for us. In other words, it is to accept the redeeming work that Jesus has done on our behalf. So the faith that overcomes the world says Jesus is fully human, fully God, and has redeemed me by dying for me. The first two statements make the third possible. Only one who is fully human and fully God could fulfill the law and atone for our sins. To believe this is to be born of God, and we are world conquerors because the One who has overcome the world, Jesus Christ, lives in us. Our faith brings us victory, because Jesus is Victor. Are you still having a hard time believing? Paul says that even this faith is given to us by God. And John says that there are witnesses that testify to the truth of these 3 foundational beliefs. These witnesses are the water, the blood, and the Spirit. There is a lot of discussion about what these witnesses mean, but the point is that the water, the blood, and the Spirit testify to who Jesus is in regard to those 3 point of faith just mentioned. Let’s look at the options: 1. The water and the blood of Jesus’s birth testify to Jesus being fully human. This was true incarnation, not just a spiritual birth as some tried to say. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus is fully God and fully human. 2. Jesus was baptized in water and His blood was shed at the cross—these testify to Jesus’s redeeming work. He was set apart at baptism to be Messiah and accomplished His work on the cross. The Holy Spirit rested upon Him at baptism, and just as He died, Jesus cried, “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit.” God spoke at Jesus’s baptism saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” The centurion testified at Jesus’s death saying, “Surely this was the Son of God.” 3. When he was speared, blood and water flowed out of His side—again this is testimony to Jesus’s humanity—He really died, and His Redeeming work. Finally, we have the sacraments, which are a testimony to us. In the OT people who wanted to worship had to be sanctified in order to enter the tabernacle. They had to be ceremonially washed with from the bronze laver that contained water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer. These washings took away ceremonial uncleanness—not their sin, but from anything that made the worshippers ritually impure. It made them holy. Next the worshippers brought sacrificial animals, which the priests would kill and offer the blood for the cleansing of the sin of the people. It was through the blood that their sins were taken away. This is justification. In Jesus, we have both sanctification and justification. We have sacraments of water and blood. The waters of baptism reminds us of Jesus’s baptism and are a sign of our sanctification. We don’t need to undergo more than just this one washing to be purified, because Christ has made us pure once and for all. Baptism reminds us that we have been cleansed and made holy by Christ, set aside for His purposes. We remember the blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins when we participate in the Lord’s Supper. The sacraments remind us of the times that water and blood testified to the person and work of Jesus Christ and they testify to us that we are children of God. Finally, Christ has given us the Holy Spirit, who reassures our hearts that we are God’s. In a couple of weeks we will be celebrating Pentecost Sunday, remembering when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and birthed the Church. The Spirit is truth and will guide us into all truth. The water cleanses us, the blood atones for us, and the Spirit gives us life. This is the ongoing work of Christ. More than human testimony, God testifies to the person and work of Jesus Christ both externally by proving the words written in Scripture to be true and within our own hearts. Our eternal life testifies that we have the Son of God. With all of these witnesses, it is foolish not to believe. In fact, to deny that Jesus’s humanity, divinity, and redemptive work is to make God a liar and to forego eternal life. What does it mean that we have victory that conquers the world? We have the ability through faith to successfully endure whatever the world throws our way. We can stand against sin. We can overcome temptation. We can live differently that worldly systems tempt us to follow. We can overcome evil with love. Last week we heard just how powerful love is. It has the power to radically change lives because it is God at work. Love is the most powerful thing in the universe for it is outside the universe. Love is not something that is created; Love is God Himself. As overcomers, we have Love in us. We have Christ in us. In Christ we have that which is superior to the world. In Christ, we have the One who has defeated the world. Remember that John starts this whole thing off by saying that God’s commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. John has repeatedly told us in this letter that God’s commands are to love God and to love each other. To love God is based in faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, apart from whom it is impossible to keep God’s commandment of loving each other. Love is the Victor for God is love. Love is never in vain, even when it may seem to be based on the circumstances around us. That is why faith is the victory. Faith keeps us going when our senses tell us that we are losers, not conquerors, and the Holy Spirit inside us reassures us in truth that we know that we know that we know that Jesus Christ has redeemed us and that we are God’s children and that we have eternal life. Nothing in this world can take away our eternal life. If you do not have Jesus, you do not have eternal life. Put your faith in Jesus and be a world conqueror.

God is Love; I John 4:7-21

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