933 1 Jn.5.1-13 Confirmation of Eternal Life
Notes
Transcript
A Japanese soldier by the name of Yokoi was stationed in Guam, a Pacific Island, during WW2
When US troops arrived there in 1944, he fled into the deep jungle with some other Japanese troops
He was found there, believing the war was still going on, by two hunters on 24th January, 1972 - 28 yrs after the end of WW2
But he refused to believe that in 1945, Japan had lost the war
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To survive in the Jungle, Yokoi made a trap from wild reeds for catching fish; dug himself an underground shelter.
His basic diet consisted of nuts, berries, frogs, snails and rats, and he wove materials from tree bark
His memoirs reveal that after his last two surviving companions died in 1964, he remained desperate to survive and clung to the hope of a rescue. "I cannot die here. I cannot expose my corpse to the enemy," Yokoi wrote.
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Here is a man totally in the dark to the reality that lay beside him
He stayed in the dark and he refused to accept a reality other than the one he wanted to believe in - that Japan could not lose the war
It took him sometime before he could adjust to the new modernised Japan after he had returned home
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Q. If Yokoi had gained true knowledge of what had happened & accepted it as such, what difference would it have made in his life?
The message of John from chapter 5 vs. 1-13 means accepting the truth of God over & against the lies of the world, notably, in the cults that have separated themselves from the churches of Asia Minor
1. Faith That Overcomes the World
1. Faith That Overcomes the World
Q. Who are you listening to?
Q. What becomes the authority in your life for what you think & do?
This is an important issue to resolve in your mind because people operate on what they accept as an authority
This field of thought is called Epistemology
Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics Epistemology
Epistemology is the discipline that deals with theory of knowledge. The term can be broken down into epistem-ology (Gk. episteme, “to know; logos, “study”). It is the study of how we know.
Everything we do or say is based on our knowledge
Because of our knowledge of God, of Christ, we believe & act in a certain way
If you know that God is true & every man a liar, then you are more inclined to believe God & not man
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
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But not everyone accepts this knowledge of God as authoritative & superior to everything else
For some, they believe the knowledge that man has gained is more superior than the knowledge we have of God
Of course, they are not mutually exclusive & there is knowledge outside of the Bible & is useful to us - e.g. the Bible is not an instruction manual of how to build jet planes - but planes don’t contradict belief in God or the truth - they exist side by side with God, but never trumps the revelation we have of God
Our knowledge of God comes via 2 sources
1. Through Nature
We perceive in ourselves that God exists - perception, intuition
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Here, the apostle Paul assumes that we have an innate knowledge of God through perceiving the world that God created
However, especially over the last 150 yrs, men & women have desperately tried to deny this truth & cover it over with the notion that we merely evolved
But the very sense of something advancing on its own is totally outside of our experience of the world
Things advance by being worked upon by intelligent people
Bridges are built, buildings, machines, cars, phones - they don’t evolve from lego blocks or playdough - they are given input by intelligent beings
Besides, the theory of evolution is based, largely, upon speculation - yet, the whole world goes after it, celebrates it & propagates it
Q. Why? Because many men & women of the world hate God & are looking for anything that will comfort them from a reality they’d rather not face
This is why the apostle John warns the church to not go after the world - because the world is opposed to God
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
Let me give a shout out to this new book that is now breaking new ground against evolutionary theory
“The Return of the God Hypothesis” uses the latest scientific discoveries to show that the best explanation for the universe & our world is that God created it & gave us life
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Our knowledge of God comes through that which He created
Secondly, our knowledge of God comes...
2. Through His Word
That is, through the witness of those who saw what Jesus said & did; what they have seen & touched & then proclaimed to the world
1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—
This is called special or specific revelation - but let me clarify - the Scriptures, the word of God, is not the revelation
Also, we are not talking about the book of Revelation
Revelation means “unveiling” like drawing back curtains for the light to come in
Special revelation is where God enters the world He has created to make Himself known in direct ways
The Exodus of Israel from Egypt and how God brought the Israelites through the Red Sea was a special revelation of God
The supreme special revelation of God is in the coming of the Son of God into the world
Jesus revealed God in all He said & did - His resurrection from the dead along with the miracles were demonstration of God revealing Himself to the world
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The Scriptures, rightly understood, are not, in themselves, the revelation - they are records of God’s revelation
God’s revelation is what He specifically did as He revealed Himself to the world
The Scriptures record for us this revelation
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One of my projects for 2022 is to capitalise on Gospel opportunities that have come as a result of Covid shock upon the nation & the mass formation psychosis & fear that has sweep the world
This is a window of opportunity so don’t be surprised if I call on you for help
The idea involves creating online material for people to view - Gospel material & Christian content that people can use
Here’s the logo I have established to help encapsulates the single most important issue that people must come to terms with - does the witness of the apostles and many others to the resurrection of Jesus give us true knowledge of reality?
The single verse I’ll be using to encapsulate this is from Peter’s speech on the day of Pentecost
“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”
I hope that this project will help people get rid of doubts and inspire faith towards Jesus Christ whom John emphasises’ in his Epistle as the Son of God
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Q. What are you accepting then as true knowledge?
For the Christian, they accept the knowledge of God & through faith, overcome disbelief
Indeed, believers are set in contrast with the disobedience of the world
Those who are born of God, believe Him & keep His commandments
His commandment to love; His commandment to live a righteous life; His commandment to pursue the will of God
Especially, in this letter, His commandment to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God - That Jesus has come in the flesh from God
The question I would leave with you in respect to these first 5 verses of our passage today is this...
Q. Who are you listening to?
2. Accepting the Evidence
2. Accepting the Evidence
As I have just mentioned, the knowledge that we accept will determine who we’ve been listening to
If you believe what the world says, then abortion simply means “my body, my choice”, but if you believe God, then abortion is akin to murder
Either a person takes Jesus/God’s position, or the worlds - simply put here by Jesus...
9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”
This is just for illustrative purposes, but Jesus cut through their heinous views on what was right or wrong on the Sabbath, good or bad, to put it simply - which option should you go for? - to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it? He stripped them bare!
Of course, they said nothing in reply
10 After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 11 But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Here is a perfect example of the world - the Jews were part of the world system that stood against Christ
Filled with rage & discussed together how they might “cancel” Him - which is what cancel culture is all about
The truth of God drove them insane with hatred & rage - they had no answer to what was a blatantly obvious answer to His question - to save a life or to destroy it - to save it, of course! Any descent human being would answer that without hesitation
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The cults, that have broken away from the churches of Asia Minor, are listening to the world, since the world could not conceive of the divine becoming human & suffering
So they started to believe the world’s thinking over God
However, Jesus did come from God - He is the Son of God & not the son of Joseph
Luke 3:23 (NASB95)
23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, …
Lk 3:38 —38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
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The testimony of Scripture is that Jesus is the Son of God
In this section, John gives 3 witnesses to this truth
7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
Q. Who are these 3 that testify to the truth that Jesus is the Christ & the One who has come in the flesh from God?
1. The Water
a. Some have taken this to be when the waters break with a pregnant woman meaning that Jesus was a real human being
But there are reasons for not accepting this take on it
That Jesus was born of Mary & that He was flesh was not questioned - what was questioned is whether Jesus the man & the heavenly Christ were one & the same
b. A better explanation would be that it refers to His baptism
Jesus entered His ministry at His baptism
It was at His baptism that Cerinthus (the false teacher) believed that the Christ Spirit came upon Him at His baptism but, of course, he also believed that the Christ Spirit left Jesus before He suffered & was crucified
It is true, that at Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit of God came upon Him in the form of a dove
It was also at that time, that a voice from heaven was heard by everyone & it was God the Father testifying that Jesus was His Son
17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
For these reasons, it is best to see Him “coming” with water, as Jesus’ baptism
2. The Blood
2. The Blood
The false teacher, Cerinthus, taught that THE Christ came by water, but not, by blood
In other words, Jesus, the man suffered but not the Christ, who he said left the man Jesus before He suffered & was crucified
The water & the blood can be said to spell out the beginning & end of Christ’s mission
They become symbols of redemption & eternal life
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Q. How do we explain the blood, then?
Remember blood was a figure of speech that meant death & points to the passion of the Christ
Cerinthus would not accept that the Christ of God would or could suffer & that thinking not only undermined God’s work of salvation, but destroyed it
Blood really speaks of death
26 “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
Innocent of the death & even the eternal death of all those who heard him… because he proclaimed to them the whole counsel of God - the responsibility passes from Paul to his listeners because now they know what God has said & expects
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So the blood testifies that Jesus, the Christ of God, died - the very One who is God in the flesh or God incarnate
Blood also speaks of savage death - death of the kind that carries suffering with it
Therefore, Jesus Christ has come from God, truly in the flesh, truly suffering, truly dying
3. The Spirit
3. The Spirit
The Spirit also testifies that Jesus is from God
When Jesus was baptised, the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove
At that same time, God confirmed Jesus as His Son with the words everyone around Jesus heard…
Matthew 3:16–17 (NAS)
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
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So putting this together, what do we have?
Those 3 are in agreement - water of baptism (start of His mission), with the word of the Father about His Son; with the alighting of the Spirit upon Him & His blood (death & suffering on a cross - the end of His mission of salvation)
The fact that there are three in agreement means that we are to accept this as true
A principle from the OT secures this as true
6 “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
This is the basis used to determine the validity or confirmation of a truth or falsehood
So we have confirmation of the testimony that Jesus has come from God & suffered & died for you & me
God the Son truly suffered for us - God suffered
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But this was so obnoxious to the world, they rejected it - but the acceptance of this truth is a must for salvation
10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
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Now just a quick note about the KJV translation of verse 7-8 of this passage
You will find it different from the modern Bibles
1 John 5:7 (KJV 1900)
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:7–8 (ESV)
7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
We have a much greater number of early manuscripts nowadays than they had in the days when the KJV translation was put together in 1611 AD
Since then, there have been no substantial changes that have affected what we believe
But the reason for the difference here has been traced to the early trinitarian controversies in the church
Some scribes wanted to spell out the trinity - Father, Son & Holy Spirit - more explicitly & so modified the text in some manuscripts which ended up making their way into the KJV
But those have been identified & corrected in all Bibles now
Even the New King James Version Bible has followed the best manuscripts & corrected those scribal errors
3. God’s Testimony of Eternal Life in His Son
3. God’s Testimony of Eternal Life in His Son
We come full circle back to this theme of accepting the true knowledge of God as opposed to the world’s, either distortion of it, or direct contradiction to it
These breakaway cults from the churches of Asia Minor are challenging the church by saying that what they have/we have is not good enough to attain eternal life
John’s churches need to have this special form of knowledge which becomes a key that connects you with the divine
God does not associate with the material world, they say; He does not suffer, nor is He interested in physical life - only spiritual elements are important
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This group or groups, were denying eternal life to those who refused to join with them
They were so worldly minded & oriented toward the world’s thinking that they disregarded the, perhaps, shocking reality that the world had totally messed up on what the character & reality of God is like
Remember what Paul says in Romans
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Here’s what happened - God made us in His image, in His likeness
However, man turned that around & decided to make God into our image & likeness
How else, could the world’s people imagine the Creator God of the world & universe to be “an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures”?
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The root cause goes back to Eden when Man fell into sin
The big sin was man wanting to become like God - to be His equal
This was the temptation Eve fell for
Satan, in or through the serpent, blatantly contradicts God by saying, “you shall surely not die”
But then, he casts aspirations on God’s character & tries to overturn God’s good intentions for His image bearers - “for God knows in the day you eat of it (tree in the middle of the garden), you will be LIKE God, knowing good & evil”
In other words, he tries to get Eve to see that God has selfish intentions of wanting to keep God-hood all to Himself & to keep her in a humble position
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The bait was the allurement of god-hood - of having equality with God
Let us be reminded of the 2nd Adam - the One who triumphed over Satan
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or stretched out for to obtain
He would keep to His status - “existed in the form of God” - and taking the form of a bond-servant; even though becoming man - He submitted Himself to human limitations
He faithfully carried out His mission God sent Him to achieve & fully trusted the Father to restore to Him His former glory - in other words, He would wait for the Father to elevate Him at His pleasure & will - letting God be all in all & submitting to & trusting in the Father’s good intentions
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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So in closing, & in contrast with those who say you must get hip & join the worldly understandings of God, John says...
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
Believing the true testimony of God is vital for salvation
These early gnosticising cults have denied the work of God in salvation & eternal life
John writes to assure them & us that, by maintaining belief in the truth of what God has done in His Son Jesus Christ, will he grant eternal life
Only by accepting what God has done in Jesus in what we have heard from the beginning can a person have the life that God offers through our Lord Jesus Christ
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.