November 30 | Love Lives| Text: 1 John 5:1-12

I. Introduction: The Exhaustion of "The Life Hack"

Good morning, Church. Glad you are here. We are continuing our series "Love Does," and today we are tackling the single greatest pursuit of the human experience: The Search for "The Good Life."

If you look at our culture—whether you are living in a high-rise or out on a farmhouse somewhere—everyone is asking the same question: How do I really live? Not just survive, not just pay the bills, but how do I thrive? How do I stop worrying and live?

Great question, but here’s the problem: We are all desperately looking for the secret. We’re hunting for a life hack that is going to unlock peace and security, the secret or secrets that are going to help us truly live!

We look to the experts for help unlocking these secrets, but in John’s day the ancient “know-it-alls” went by a different name: the Gnostics. They thought they were the spiritual experts of their day and they looked at the world—with its sickness, its decay, its brokenness—and they said, "The physical world is bad. Your body is flawed. The earth is messy. But... if you find the secret, hidden knowledge (the gnosis, gnosis is the Greek word that means knowledge), if you found the hidden secret knowledge, you could escape the mess of this life and elevate yourself to a plane of higher living! They promised a "high life” in the purely spiritual that was free from the troubles of the body.

Now, that sounds kind of weird to us, doesn't it? Ancient mystics trying to escape their bodies?

But pause for a second. Does it really sound that strange?

In our century, we have the exact same impulse, don't we? Most of us don't call it Gnosticism; no, we call it "Life Hacking." We call it "Optimization." We call it "Wellness."

Think about it. There is a new religion in our world today. There’s a fifty-dollar word for it. Sociologists call it Techno-Gnosticism or transhumanism.

And you can think of it like this: If the ancient Gnostic said: "The body is flawed; escape it through spiritual secrets."

A lot of modern folks today say: "The body is flawed; fix it or rise above it through data, science, and technology, which unlocks all the secrets to life!"

Now, I realize that not everyone here is keeping up with Elon Musk trying to merge human brains with the internet like something out of The Matrix—some of you still think "The Cloud" is just where rain comes from, and that is totally okay!

Whether we are on the bleeding edge of tech or just trying to figure out our smartphones, we all feel this pull of self-salvation through technology! All of us are trying to hack our lives in some way or another!

We doom-scroll looking for the secret to fixing our health. We listen to the "TikTok doctors" and buy the supplements because we are terrified of aging. We obsess over financial forecasts, thinking if we just know enough, we can predict the future and be safe.

And let's be real: Some of us are glued to Fox News, CNN or our news feeds, obsessing over every political poll and headline, thinking if we just stay informed enough, we can control where the country is going and keep our families safe. We think if we just get the right news, we'll find the secret to security.

We search for the right expert or podcaster who’s going to give us the secret to being a better parent, or the secret to dating or being single.

Come on now, tell me you don't feel this pull. Something is wrong with you—your body, your abilities, your knowledge—and if you could just get the secret, get the data, find the hack, you could manage all the things and not be so stressed and anxious all the time!

And this endless pursuit to follow the data, the science, and the trends to hack your life; it is exhausting, isn't it? Sure it is. It puts the crushing weight of finding and maintaining "life" squarely on your shoulders. You have to do the research. You can't trust your doctor or your institutions or anyone! You have to get informed! You have to optimize your diet. You have to get and stay in the know. You have to earn and protect your existence, because no one else is going to do it for you!

And the Apostle John walks into this exhausted room and says, "To those being crushed under the weight of the world, I have the answer. I know where the Good Life is found."

And his answer is shocking and clear. He says the Good Life isn't a secret you learn online, a financial plan, a procedure or a prescription that only treats the symptoms. The Good Life is a Person you possess. Knowing Jesus isn't just the pathway to the good life…. Knowing Jesus IS the good life!

Now, I want to be clear. This doesn't mean following Jesus guarantees you an easy life, free of sorrow or struggle. That is a false gospel. John isn't selling a fantasy. Instead, John clarifies the true nature of God's grace: While Jesus doesn't take away the work (the yoke); He does take away the crushing heaviness of it.

Remember the words of Christ: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me... For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

You see? Jesus offers a life where obedience is light and joyous and victory is certain.

And so in that vein, here’s our Big Idea for today: Love lives in joyful loyalty to the Son, because His victory frees us from the crushing weight of the world.

We are going to move through 1 John 5:1-12 in five parts, looking at: I. Love's Life Source: New Birth (v. 1) II. Love's New Nature: Joyful Loyalty (v. 2-3) III. Love's New Power: Faith to Fight (v. 4-5) IV. Love's New Evidence: Fact and Certainty (v. 6-10) V. Love's New Possession: Knowing Jesus (v. 11-12).

Please open your Bibles with me to 1 John 5:1-12 and let’s dig in shall we?

II. Love's Life Source: New Birth (v. 1)

John begins by defining what it means to be truly alive. It starts not with a new habit, but with a new birth that gives us a nature.

Look at verse 1:

1 John 5:1 ESV

1 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.

Now, the world tells you that you find "The Good Life" by improving your old self. You pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You get smarter. You get fitter. You work harder. It is a project of self-reformation.

But Johns says, actually, no! You don't need a better version of you. You need a new you. You need to be "born of God."

This phrase, "born of God," appears repeatedly in John's writings. It signals a radical break from the past. Just as you didn't cause your own physical birth, you don't cause your spiritual birth either. It is a miracle of grace.

You see, real life isn't achieved by your effort; it is received by God's grace.

It is a moment where the God of the Universe reaches down and changes your very DNA, spiritually speaking and He gives you His nature.

And because you have His nature, you love what He loves.

Notice the logic in verse 1: "everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him."

This is simple biology. If you love a father, you naturally love his children. If you are born into a family, you have a bond with your siblings.

John is saying that the first evidence of the "Good Life" isn't that you are suddenly wealthy or healthy; it is that you are connected. You are part of a family.

And this is where John and Jesus’ idea of the good life starts to diverge sharply from what the ancient spiritual know-it-alls and us modern tech-obsessed folks are seeking. The world’s system offers a private, individual salvation where "I want to fix my life." "I want my peace." It is isolating and lonely where we retreat further and further into screens, but the gospel offers us something better!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ creates a community. When we are born again, we are born into a new family. God becomes Father, his children become our brothers and sisters, and we love them because we share "blood"—the blood of Jesus.

So, the source of this new life is a miracle of identity, new birth where you become a child of the King!

III. Love's New Nature: Joyful Loyalty (v. 2-3)

And this new identity leads us directly to a new way of living. And this is where John confronts our exhaustion head-on.

Look at verses 2 and 3.

1 John 5:2–3 ESV

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

John gives us a diagnostic test, here.

How do you know you have this new life, that you’ve been born again?

Well, he says, You keep God’s commands. Now, I can hear the groans internally. "Commands? Rules? That sounds like the heavy stuff we were trying to escape!"

But look closely at the end of verse 3. This is the key that unlocks the whole passage: "And his commands are not burdensome."

"Not burdensome." Can you honestly say that about your spiritual life? Or does your faith feel like a heavy backpack you have to lug around? Does it feel like a list of chores you never quite finish?

If following Jesus feels heavy, John is saying you are running on the wrong fuel.

You see, there are two ways to obey:

Imagine driving down the highway. You see a police car behind you. What do you do? You sit up straight. You check your speed. You signal perfectly. You obey every law. Why? Because you are afraid. You are afraid of the punishment. You are afraid of the cost and fines!

This obedience is burdensome. It’s stressful. You are constantly checking the rearview mirror. You resent the cop for being there. You just want him to turn so you can relax.

This is how many of us treat God. We obey because we are afraid He will smite us, or stop blessing us, or send us to hell. That is the crushing weight of a performance-based system.

Now imagine a different scenario. Imagine a little girl walking with her dad near a busy highway. The dad reaches down and says, "Take my hand, tight."

She grabs it instantly. Why? Not because she understands traffic laws. And not because she’s afraid he’ll write her a ticket if she doesn't.

She obeys because she trusts him. She knows he is bigger, he sees what she can’t see, and he loves her. She knows his command isn't to restrict her, but to protect her.

This obedience is Loyalty. And loyalty is superior to fear. Fear gets the minimum requirement from us, while loyalty gets the whole heart. John is telling us: Love lives joyfully loyal.

You see, when John says the commands are not burdensome, he doesn't mean they are easy. Jesus asks us to do hard things—to forgive enemies, to give generously, to die to ourselves. And Church, those are hard things that do not come naturally to us!

But they aren't heavy. Why? Because the weight of earning life is gone.

You aren't obeying to get saved. You are obeying because you are saved. You aren't working for approval; you are working from approval.

Here’s the distinction: We still have sorrow, but it doesn't crush us. We still work hard, but it doesn't burn us out. The weight of earning life is gone, even if the task of living remains.

Jesus doesn't take away the work (the yoke); He takes away the crushing heaviness of it.

He says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matt 11:30). Why? Because He carries the heavy end.

So, the new nature of the believer is Joyful Loyalty. We want to obey, because we love the One who has saved us.

IV. Love's New Power: Faith to Fight (v. 4-5)

Now, if we have this new nature and this joyful loyalty, what’s the result? What happens when this "light" obedience collides with a dark and heavy world? Victory.

Look at verses 4 and 5.

1 John 5:4–5 ESV

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

A. The World System

John says we "overcome the world." I think it’s only fair to ask here, what is "the world"?

Well, in John's theology, "the world" isn't the trees and the mountains. It’s the Pressure Cooker. It is the organized system of rebellion against God.

It is the system of Materialism and Self-Salvation that says:

You are what you achieve.

You are what you own.

You are only as good as your last success.

You are only as valuable as your health or smarts or beauty.

This system creates a "death spiral" of anxiety. It promises life—"Just one more hack! Just one more purchase! Just one more promotion!"—but it delivers exhaustion. It is a treadmill that goes faster and faster until you fall off.

And John says the person who is "born of God" overcomes this system.

How? By Faith in the Son of God (v. 5).

We need to be careful here. We aren't talking about "Christian Nationalism" where we try to dominate the culture by political force. And we aren't talking about a "Health and Wealth" gospel that says Christians never suffer or get sick as long as they have enough faith!

To "overcome the world" doesn't mean you will never have a health scare or get sick. It doesn't mean you will never lose a job. And it doesn’t mean if we vote for the right candidate the world will miraculously be healed!

It means those things lose the power to crush you.

It means you can look at a bad medical report, or a job loss, or a culture in chaos, and say, "This is hard. This hurts. But this does not own me. My life is hidden in Christ."

When you place your faith in Jesus, you realize: I don't have to secure my eternity; because Jesus already has.

You are free. You get to step off the treadmill. You unplug from the Matrix.

We are free from the fight for victory because we know and are assured that the victory has already been won in Christ! The war is over. The outcome is decided.

We’re just occupying the ground Christ has already won.

We can rejoice in suffering because our joy is not contingent upon circumstances. We have Jesus, and He is enough. This is true power, Church!

V. Love's New Evidence: Fact and Certainty (v. 6-10)

Now, the skeptic in us—and the skeptic in our culture—asks a hard question: "Is this real? Or is this just another mental trick? Is this just a religious coping mechanism to make me feel better about dying?"

John knows we need more than just "positive vibes." We need proof. We need facts.

And so he gives them to us. Look at verses 6 through 10. 1 John 5:6-10

1 John 5:6–10 ESV

6 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. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 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. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

John is using shorthand here for the life of Jesus.

The Water is likely referring to Jesus' Baptism. This marked the beginning of His public ministry. It proves He was a real man who entered human history. He got wet in the Jordan river. He was affirmed by the Father's voice. The crowds saw the Spirit descend like a dove. Jesus truly walked among us.

And the Blood refers to His Crucifixion. Jesus died a real, bloody, physical death.

Why does John emphasize this? Because he is countering the Gnostics who said Jesus was just a "spirit" or a ghost who didn't really suffer. But he is also answering the modern materialist who says faith is just a fairy tale.

John points to Physical, Historical Reality.

Why does this matter? Because a philosophy can't pay for your sins. A "life hack" can't fix your guilt. Only a real Man, shedding real blood, who was also the real God, can atone for real sin.

Christianity is the most rigorously physical religion in the world. It isn't based on "feelings"; it is based on events. The Incarnation. The Crucifixion. The Resurrection. These things happened. They are facts.

But John adds a third witness: The Spirit (v. 6).

Why three? In the Jewish law (Deut. 19:15), a charge could only be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. John is taking us into a courtroom. He is saying, "I have the witnesses to prove this case is closed."

We have the External Testimony of History—the Water and the Blood—documented in Scripture and attested by historians like the Apostles and Josephus. But we also have the Internal Testimony of The Spirit.

The Spirit is the bridge. He takes the historical facts of what Jesus did then and applies them to your heart now. The Spirit doesn't just tell you Jesus died; He whispers to your soul that Jesus died for you.

This is where faith gets its fighting power. History gives you the facts, but the Spirit gives you the conviction. Your faith is strong when it can look back to the finished work—the Blood of the cross—and then look inward to the Spirit’s assurance. This combination—Objective Truth plus Subjective and Personal Assurance—gives you an unshakable confidence that God is able.

This is what gives us the courage to stand firm against the anxiety of this world!

Folks, we trust "experts" all day long, who’ve never done a thing for us. John says Trust God's testimony, who died for you! The Water, the Blood, and the Spirit agree: Jesus is who He said He is. He has done what He said He did and if you know Him as He is, you are safe.

VI. Love's New Possession: Knowing Jesus (v. 11-12)

This brings us to the climax. What’s the bottom line? What’s the result of this New Birth, this Joyful Loyalty, this Overcoming Power, and this Certain Testimony? It’s The Good Life.

Look at verses 11 and 12. 1 John 5:11-12

1 John 5:11–12 ESV

11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Levi’s paraphrase: if you don’t know Jesus, if you don’t have Jesus. You ain’t living. Not really, not in any sense that matters for eternity! You can have all the health hacks, all the success, all the things but without Jesus, you’re just a walking corpse! Without Jesus, sure you can exist, but you can’t truly live!

You see, John wants us all know that life isn't a standard we achieve. Life is a Person we receive.

Eternal life isn't just "living forever" after you die. The Good Life is knowing Jesus personally. It is a relationship that shapes the quality of your life the moment you trust Him, and it lasts forever.

B. The Ultimate Fulfillment

I want to speak to the folks here who know what I’m talking about. You know the difference between just keeping busy and actually living for a purpose.

We spend so much time chasing the shallow stuff—trying to get rich, acquiring more toys, traveling the world. And don't get me wrong, those things are nice, but they don't fill the soul. They are like eating cotton candy when you are starving—sweet for a second, but it disappears.

But some of you have tasted the real thing. You’ve helped a neighbor who couldn't pay you back. You’ve swallowed your pride to forgive someone because Jesus asked you to. You’ve shared your faith even when your voice was shaking.

And in that moment, you didn't feel like a tool or a pawn being used. You felt alive. You felt the electric hum of being exactly where you were designed to be.

The old catechisms used to say that the "chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Which simply means: there is no better feeling in the world than putting your head on the pillow at night knowing you made your Father in Heaven proud.

To know that the God of the Universe is working through you—at your job site, in your kitchen, in this town—to bring light to a dark corner... That is the Good Life. There is no drug, no purchase, no promotion that compares to the peace of a life that actually counts for something. And the best part is that in Jesus this is the promise! It’s free. It’s a gift. "God has given us eternal life."

Conclusion: Love Lives

So, Church, as we close, I want to put a choice before you. You have a choice between two yokes. Two ways of living.

You can choose the World's Yoke: The treadmill of self-salvation. The exhaustion of trying to be your own god, trying to control your reality through the next purchase, the next political vote, the next diet, the next expert opinion. That road leads to a crushing weight. It leads to burnout, and ultimately it leads to death.

Or, you can choose The Son.

"Love Lives." Real love—God's love—brings you from death to life.

Friends, we need to repent of our pride this morning that tries to earn what God wants to give. Let’s lay down our resumes. We need to repent of the fear that makes God's commands feel like a burden. God's not a cosmic police officer! He’s a loving and good Father!

And how do we know that? The Water and the Blood! Jesus finished the work and His Spirit speaks a better word to our hearts this morning! Trust the facts and the testimony of God!

If you have the Son, you have Life. You have victory. You have joy. The weight is gone. The Good Life is here. Love Lives!

Love lives in joyful loyalty to the Son, because His victory frees us from the crushing weight of the world.

Let's pray.