Who is the one who conquers the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? That is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ, not in water alone but in water and blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three that are testifying, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are one. If we accepted the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. This is the testimony of God that he testified concerning his son. The one who believes in the son of God has the testimony in him self, the one who does not believe in God has made Him to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God testified about concerning his son. The one who has the son has life. The one who does not have the son of God does not have life.
The beginning of today’s text is shockingly bold if you stop to think about it. John writes about conquering the world. Such talk seems evil in our society and is associated with power hungry leaders like Napoleon or Hitler. Who would want to conquer the world? Isn’t it more civil and even moral to only mind your own business and take care of yourself? Even in the religious realm it is thought of as rude and arrogant to want to win any converts from the other side; from a different religion of any sorts. Pacifism rules the thought of our day. Nonetheless, God’s Word says differently. It says to -
Conquer the World by Clinging to the Son
I. You can’t be a pacifist
We live in a world that does not allow for pacifism. I quote the following from Wikipedia:
"First
they came ..."
is a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the
inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to
power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The text
expresses, in a condensed form, the understanding of history presented by
Niemöller in a January 6, 1946 speech before representatives of the Confessing
Church in Frankfurt.
"THEY CAME
FIRST for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
THEN THEY CAME for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a trade unionist.
THEN THEY CAME for me and by that time no one was left to speak up."
The Nazis didn’t
stop coming just because people didn’t speak up and they didn’t want to get
people angry at them. They didn’t care
if the people were silent. They kept
coming.
This is the way sin works. This is
the way the devil works. He wants you to
think you can be neutral in this world.
He definitely doesn’t want you to attack. He likes to cry “foul” and “bigot” and
“lovelessness” whenever you do attack against sin. He wants to keep you in the corner; convince you
to be quiet about your faith. When it
comes to evil he wants us to first of all tolerate it. But then he wants us to accept it. Then when we live with it and even accept it
as an alternate way of living; another kind of happiness; he demands that we
celebrate it. Looking at porn is no
longer adultery; it is to be called “celebrating the human body”. And who wouldn’t want to do that? Lying about the description of an item you
are selling is no longer deception, it is now called “being a good
steward.” He wants us to live at peace
with the world; to enjoy every aspect of it.
And quite frankly, we’ve bought into his lies. We’ve cowered in our corners. We’ve feared to say anything; for then we
would be accused of being hateful and unloving, and we certainly don’t want to
be called that.
God’s Word sees it as it is. This is
a battle. We are not called to be at
peace with the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. We are called to war against it. You may wish there could be a neutral spot,
but there is none. You may wish you
could relax with your faith; that you and your children could just go on cruise
control through life; but you can’t. You
have to be at war. This is the way Jesus
talked as well –
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you
belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not
belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the
world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than
his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they
obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. (John 15:18-20)
Think also of
what Paul wrote and how he again used battle terms,
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full
armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the
belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness
in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the
gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with
which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians
6:12-18)
II. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God
Radical
Islam openly declares war on the world and has decided to fight with suicide
bombers, assassinations and beheadings.
Many within American Christianity tried to fight against the world by
building a moral majority and passing
laws within the
But what about God’s Word? What does God’s Word for today say? Who is the one who conquers the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? It is an odd and completely different pathway to victory; not by blowing things up or passing laws or accepting everything; not by doing anything; but by simply believing that Jesus is the Son of God. We need to answer the question which begs answering, “What is so important about believing that Jesus is the Son of God?”
“THE Son of
God” is different than being “A son of God.”
Jesus identified Himself as the Son of God by talking about how He came
to do His Father’s will. It is an
interesting read to go through the Gospels again and read how many times Jesus
emphasized that He was only doing what the Father told Him to do and even
saying what the Father told Him to say.
In the
John writes
it this way, “That is the one who came through water and blood, Jesus
Christ, not in water alone but in water and blood.” In order to understand this correctly we
need to understand the false theology of John’s day. John outlived all of the other apostles; and
in his life time he witnessed those false prophets come rising out from within
the church. Some claimed that Jesus was
only man, and that the divine Godhood entered Jesus at His baptism and then
left him at the cross. So John seems to
contrast this idea of who Jesus was; by pointing to two main things in Jesus’
life that prove that He was the Son of God.
The water and the blood; meaning His baptism and His death. Remember how at Jesus’ baptism God the Father
called loudly and clearly from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love.” Jesus was baptized and given the Holy Spirit
in order to be directed to the cross. Right before Jesus went to the cross, the
Father again declared from the heavens that Jesus was the One He loved; as
Jesus talked with Moses and Elijah about going to the cross. So the Garden conversation points us forward
to the ultimate service of the Son in going to the cross; just as God
directed. Who of us fathers has
witnessed our sons complaining about just washing some dishes or cleaning a
room which THEY messed up? If you ask
them to clean something they didn’t get out they scream bloody murder as if
you’ve asked them to make the greatest sacrifice in the world! But when the Father asks Jesus to go to the
cross to clean up our mess; to wash away our sins; to take on our hell; Jesus,
the obedient
When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you are doing more than just proclaiming Him to be God or identifying WHO He is. You are also trusting in WHAT He did as the obedient Son. This is what the Holy Spirit has been saying to us throughout our lives. Just as Jesus identified Himself to us through water and blood, so the Holy Spirit does the same thing! The Spirit is the one that testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three that are testifying, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are one. The water and the blood that the Holy Spirit uses are baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are what the Holy Spirit uses to testify to US about CHRIST and to actually GIVE US Christ.
I find it so sad that so many Christians have turned baptism and the Lord's Supper around in such a narcissistic way; to use them instead to try and testify to the world to THEIR identity; that THEY are Christians. They get in the water and say to the crowd, “Look at where God brought me. He showed me His love. Now I am here and entering these waters to draw a picture for you about my faith; I am a Christian!” They say, “It’s not about us.” But in the end, it’s all about what God is doing through them and for them. Baptism is supposed to go deeper; it is to testify to the actual Christ. It takes us back to the cross and bathes us in the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit enters our souls and opens up our minds to who Jesus is and gives us credit for what Jesus did. When we see a baptism, we see Jesus’ blood and righteousness actually being washed on someone. This is not about the sinner identifying himself with Christ, this is about Christ identifying Himself with the sinner. This is so much more than us drawing a picture of what God is doing THROUGH the sinner. It is the Holy Spirit actually giving the sinner what Christ did FOR him or her; putting us on His side and in His side.
The same thing happens with the Lord's Supper. Some go to the Supper and say, “I am up here eating and drinking this bread and grape just to draw another picture for you; to testify to you and the world that I have faith in Jesus!” But within the bread and wine Christ Himself promises us that He is giving us His VERY body and blood for the forgiveness of sins; the same body and blood that was sacrificed on the cross and now is raised from the dead! It is so much more than a symbolic thing; it is an actual gift and tool through which the Holy Spirit gives us Christ Himself.
These are the testimonies of the Holy Spirit to who the Son is; the One who stepped into the waters of baptism to die on the cross for our sins. The sacraments are given by the Holy Spirit to point us to the cross of Christ and connect us to Christ. This is what the Holy Spirit has been sent here to do; to point us to Jesus as the Son of God through water and blood. In the water and in the blood the Holy Spirit is calling us to believe in who Jesus is; to want to be bathed in Him and to eat and to drink of Him; to have Him cover us on the outside and wash us on the inside.
The Father also wants us to look to for our salvation in Jesus His Son. He testified to the authenticity of Christ by speaking at His baptism, working miracles through Him, and raising Him from the dead. He wants us all to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. When we don’t, the Father takes this personally. This can be illustrated throughout the Bible, in good and bad examples.
· When Saul was king he wanted Jonathan to take the throne after him. So when David rose to power he did all he could to kill David so that Jonathan could be king. Even though Jonathan was friends with David, Saul wanted nothing to do with him. Even though David was always a faithful servant to Saul; Saul didn’t care. He wanted his son to be the next king.
· When David’s evil son Absalom was killed after trying to take David from the throne, David still wept for him. He cared deeply for his son, even though his son was an arrogant rebel. On a more positive note David also wept when his infant son had a death sentence pronounced on him because of David’s sins. Later on, when one of his other sons tried to usurp the throne from Solomon, David was old and near death. Yet even then he mustered his strength and made sure to it that Solomon was coroneted as king.
These are just two examples that illustrate how tight a bond can be between a father and a son; how a father cares deeply about the future of his son. And if this is how humans feel and act in their relationship with their children, then wouldn’t it be much more passionate and strong when it comes to God the Father with God the Son?
Think then, about those who claim that Jesus is different than what God says about Him. The Latter Day Saints, in their book “Gospel Principles” claim that Jesus was a brother of Satan and us who became divine and showed us the way to save ourselves. They even say of the Father,
“Our Heavenly Father is a real person with a perfect body of flesh and bones.” (113)
“Those who inherit the highest degree of the celestial kingdom become gods.” (297)
So Jesus and the Father are gods who teach us how to become gods. Think also about what the Muslim faith claims about Jesus. This is a direct quote of the Quran:
[4.157] And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Jesus) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. [4.158] Nay! Allah took him up to Himself; and Allah is Mighty, Wise.
Think also about those who claim that Jesus’ sacrifice pays for the sins you are born with; but that you have to pay for the actual sins you commit and you have to suffer for the sins you commit either now or in purgatory. That is not what Jesus claimed. These are nothing but lies about the Son of God.
This is serious business. Listen to how John writes it. The one who believes in the son of God has the testimony in him self, the one who does not believe in God has made Him to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God testified about concerning his son. If you don’t want this Jesus, then the Holy Spirit and the Father will reject you as well; for you are calling their star Player a fraud and a failure, and you are also calling God a liar.
There are many who claim today that Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all come from Abraham; so we should all get along. We should agree to disagree, for we all worship the same God. Yet Judaism denies that Jesus was God in the flesh. Islam denies that Jesus died for the sins of the world. Only Christianity says that Jesus is God in flesh who died for the sins of the world. How can we try and ignore this fact? How can we make peace with this fundamental foundation of our faith? Do you really want to just ignore this fundamental difference? Do you really just want to agree to disagree?
Fellow Christians, this is so much more than a theological dissertation on how many angels can stand on the end of a pin. You can’t agree to disagree about who Jesus is; who God is. We can’t. We dare not. We need to take a stand; a bold and firm stand. Our salvation rests on the identity of Christ. He is not just a prophet. He is not just a good example to follow. He is true God and man who came to earn our salvation and conquer sin, death, and the devil. The Holy Spirit and the Father point us clearly to the Son of God. John writes, “The one who has the son has life. The one who does not have the son of God does not have life.” John doesn’t tell us to juggle with different gods; to hold a different Jesus in each hand. He tells us to hold to only one Lord, one God, one Savior; that is our triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So where do you stand? What will you do? Are you ready to fight? Are you ready to conquer the world? These words sound so incendiary; so militant; so scary. The world hears such words and they expect us to come with vests that explode or guns blazing. But what do we come into battle with in our hands? The Son of God nailed on a cross. What do we fight with? Not with laws and threats and fists and bombs but with the Gospel of Christ; with the Triune God. It all seems so weak. Yet this God is so powerful. We tell the world; your gods are false. Your wars and your cravings will all end up burning in the fire on Judgment Day. Repent and believe in Jesus as the Son of God or perish. The Holy Spirit speaks through us. The Father stands behind us. Jesus stands with us. We give the people the Triune God; cling to Him; and let the battle rage on; knowing that in the end Jesus will reign and we will be victorious. Amen.