9. Overcoming the World

1 John 5: 1-5

1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
3For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
4For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.
5Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

I need not relate how wayward and wicked the world is. Everyone knows this, except those who are too blind to see and too dead to feel. I choose rather to ask you to reflect on the blindness and indifference you see about you and ask that you examine your heart and life and your relationship with Christ. If there is anything between you and your Lord that hinders your full enjoyment of life, now is the time to realize it and get it off of your mind and shoulders. John tells us how to do this; he calls it “overcoming the world.”

If you are a true believer in Christ, you have experienced the new birth and are a child of God. If you love God the Father for His goodness and grace, you are sure to love His Son also. And with this divine love in your heart, you will love your brothers and sisters in God’s family. In this love it is easy to obey the Father’s commands because they are not burdensome. Observe how others struggle with the commands of God. Many spend their entire lives in guilt and fear.

If God’s commandments become burdensome to you, this is a strong indication that there is something lacking on your part of the relationship. How vain and pretentious it is for one to talk about his love for God and show a lack of love for his brothers and sisters. If you love God you will surely love your brothers and sisters in His family. We have the best Father ever; don’t you think we should love Him and love one another as He loves us? If you have a problem loving and showing it, others will see that you have not yet overcome the world. Look around you and observe what people say and do; this will indicate whether they are children of God or people of the world. Others will judge you by the same standard.

The Old Testament Law commanded those under it to “Love the Lord your God;” the New Testament is full of assurance that God loves us, and that “We love because He first loved us.” We love not just God but our spiritual siblings and everyone because God showed us the meaning of love by loving us.

Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. “Everybody who's talkin' ‘bout heaven ain’t a goin’ there.” Are you a true believer? Do you truly believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that His death satisfied the condemnation of God upon your sins? And that His resurrection is your assurance that you will also be raised to meet Him when He comes? “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Observe the following truisms in this reading.
1. If one believes in Jesus Christ, he is born of God.
2. Whoever loves the Father loves His children also.
3. We know that we love one another when we obey our Father command to do.
4. Our Father’s commandments are not burdensome to those who love Him and His other children.
5. Just as God’s commandments are not burdensome, neither is the world – once it has been overcome.
6. How will others know that we as brothers and sisters are the children of God if we don’t show then by the way we live? Perhaps our love for them will be their invitation into the family.