Question

---

He Who Overcomes the World

1 John 5:1-21

Key Verse: 5:5

1.  Read verses 1-4. What does it mean to be born of God? How do we show love for God? How can we love God's children? (2Co 5:14) Why are God's commands not burdensome?

2. Read v. 5.  Who is it that overcomes the world? (Jn 16:33; 2Ti 4:7,8a) How? (4,5) How does believing that Jesus is the Son of God give us victory? Why is faith in Jesus the only way to overcome the world? (Jn 14:6)

3. Read v. 6-12. How is Jesus proved to be perfect God and perfect man? Why is it of eternal importance to believe in the Son of God? (2Co 5:10; Rev 21:8) What does it mean to have life? (Jn 5:24)

4.  Read v.13-15. Why can we approach God confidently? (Ro 5:1,2; Mk 11:24) What does it mean to you that he hears us? What else can we learn here about prayer?

5.  Read v. 16-21. How must we help our brothers? Why must we not continue to sin? How can we escape from the one who is a liar and a murderer? (Jn 8:44) Why does John warn about idols?

---

Attachment

• 1Jn 05-01-21-q.docx

Message

---

He Who Overcomes the World

(Faith is Victory)

1 John 5:1-21

Key Verse: 5:4-5 “for everyone born of God overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Since we have studied 1 John thus far, we find several repeated themes. They are ‘Have fellowship with God.” “Not continue to sin”, ‘Love one another”, ‘Keep his command” and so on. All these themes are made complete in Jesus Christ. John warns the recipients against false teachings such as Gnosticism and encourages them to believe Jesus as the Son of God. In today’s passage John concludes his letter with several messages. May God richly bless us when we study his conclusive messages.

First, He who overcomes the world. (1-5) Look at verse 1. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.” John said that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Being born of God means becoming children of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. When you were born, you became children of your parents. You belong to your parent as a family member. We become children of God and belong to Him through faith in His Son’s name, Jesus. John said in John 1:12-13. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

John repeated our duty as children of God as well as privileges. The duty is to love God and love one another. Look at verses 2-3a. “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.” Jesus said to his disciples in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.” When we love someone, we obey what he or she says. Obedience is the expression of love. What is God’s command for us? John said in 3:23, “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” God’s command for us is to believe in Jesus and to love one another. We may ask to God, “to believe in Jesus is not difficult, but to love one another is burdensome, and sometimes it is a mission impossible.” We know how difficult it is for us to bear other’s weak points and shortcomings. Especially when someone hurts you or you are mistreated, you cannot bear them anymore. So, even Martin Luther cried out to God saying, “God, I love you, but I hate my brother.” How can we overcome ourselves and keep his command?

Look at verses 3b-4. “And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” We can overcome the world because of Jesus. We overcome ourselves and this world in the name of Jesus Christ. 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” In verse 19 John said, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” We children of God lives in the world which is under the control of the evil one. This does not mean that Satan rules this world, but the world is under the influence of Satan. Satan is described as the one who has authority in the air. The world under Satan’s control is being destroyed because the purpose of Satan is to kill and destroy. When you are filled with anger and hatred, you are under the control of Satan. But when you are filled with peace and joy, you are under the influence of Jesus. Children of God are those who are under the influence of Jesus. We live with power of Jesus according to his teaching. We children of God are born of God, which means born of water and spirit. We are people with the Holy Spirit who live by the Spirit. We live by faith, not by sight.

Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus gave this message to his disciples right before he was crucified. His disciples were filled with fear for their uncertain future and with selfish ambition among themselves. They were struggling with each other who is greatest among them. From inside and out they had trouble. But Jesus said, “take heart! I have overcome the world.” He meant, “Do not be afraid, believe in me!” Jesus overcame the world through his death and resurrection. Through his death and resurrection, he overcame the power of death and opened the way for us to have eternal life. Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)

We overcome the world means that we are challenged by this world. While living in this world we face sickness, financial difficulty, broken relationships, and many others things which gives us fear and sorrow. Fear and anxiety challenge us every day. We children of God are not exception for this challenge. But, we overcome all these because we believe in Jesus. We have hope for eternal life in the kingdom of God. We believe that God will give us final victory and that in all things God works for good for those who love him. God loves us no matter what happen to us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? So, children of God overcome this world because we have hope, faith, and love through Jesus.

Look at verse 4 again. It says that faith is victory. Hebrews 11 shows many heroes and heroines in the Bible starting with Abel, Enoch, Noah...to many men of faith such as Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Samuel and so on. They all lived by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed God and became a father of many nations. By faith Moses chose to suffer with his people rather than to live as a prince of Egypt. By faith Moses crossed the Red Sea as on dry land with his people. By faith they conquered kingdoms, administrated justice, and gained what was promised. By faith they shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. By faith weakness was turned to strength; and by faith they became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. (He 11:32-34) I don’t have time to talk about all those who overcame the world by faith.

We have faith in Jesus, the Son of God. By faith in the Son of God Jesus we overcome this world. We want to do great things by faith. But God wants us to do small things with great love. When we love our brothers and sisters, love those who hurt us or give us hard times, we become great, and we overcome this world. Proverbs 16:32 says, “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” In modern terms, controlling your anger is greater than teaching one thousand students. In the gospel story the Pharisees and other religious leaders frequently accused Jesus and provoked him to anger. But Jesus did not lose his control. Because he trusted in God the Father and believed Him. His faith in the Father made him overcome the world. So, when you have trouble within and out, examine yourself if you have Jesus in your heart or not. Look at verse 5. “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” Amen!

Second, God’s testimony: the Spirit, the water and the blood. (6-12) According to Deuteronomy 7:6, the Jews demanded two or three witnesses before they made a sentence. John said that God provided three witnesses for his Son Jesus; the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Before Jesus started as the Messiah, he was baptized by John the Baptist, When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came down on him like a dove. Then, a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mk 1:10-11) In this way the Holy Spirit and the water which indicates here the baptism testified that Jesus is the Son of God. There is one more which testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. It is his blood. The blood which he shared on the cross purifies us from all our sins. (1 Jn 1:7) The Holy Spirit, the baptism, and the crucifixion testifies that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Look at verses 10-12, “Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” John reminds us that those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God has eternal life. The eternal life in Jesus enables us to overcome the world! Amen!

Third, he hears us (13-21) What is the privilege as children of God? Children can enter their father’s house freely. As children of God, we can enter our Heavenly Father’s house with confidence. Children have confidence in approaching their fathers because they believe in their father’s love. They come to their father and ask for something when they are in need. Look at verses 13-15. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” In these verses the words ‘he hears us’ are repeated twice. This is the reason we children of God have confidence to pray because he hears our prayer when we pray according to his will. In the past we had no confidence in God because our sin broke the relationship with God. But now we have peace with God through faith in Jesus, his Son. (Ro 5:1) So we have confidence in God’s love and assurance in his answer for our prayer. The key verse for the year 2024 is Mark 11:22-24. “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” God hears us and answers our prayer when we pray according to his will. I like to pray while I walk on Wash U campus in the morning. I pray for many things, but I pray that God’s kingdom may come, and God’s will be done on Wash U. I believe that God will answer my prayer because I believe that God’s will is to bring his kingdom to the campus. God provided such a great blessing and privilege to his children of God, which is to pray. We don’t receive from God because we didn’t pray. We don’t experience his blessing and power because we didn’t ask. When we pray, he hears us, and when we pray, he answers our prayer. Amen!

In verses 16-17 John asks children of God to pray for those who commit sin which does not lead to death. Of course, all sins are accountable and pay the price. In verse 17 he said, “All wrongdoing is sin.” But here, sin which does not lead to death is like mistakes done with ignorance or by accident. These sins are easily and quickly settled through repentance and forgiveness. On the contrary, sin which leads to death is willful, deliberate, and continuous crimes before God and before people. Jesus condemns the sin which blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. (Mk 3:29) So, we must pray for those who are wandering between God and this world before they commit sin which leads to death.

Look at verse 18. “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin: the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.” This world is under the influence of the evil one. Satan tempts us to listen to him and attacks children of God with many worries and fear. But we children of God overcome this world because we have Jesus in our heart. Jesus, who is in us, is greater than Satan who is in this world. Faith is victory, and victory is ours. Look at verse 20. “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” In 3:8 John says that the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. In 4:14 John also said that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Therefore, let us fight a good fight in the name of Jesus Christ. By faith we overcome the world. By faith we overcome our sickness and weakness. By faith in Jesus we overcome fear of death, and by faith we overcome present sufferings and difficulties. Let us say ‘Faith is victory!’ Amen!

---

Attachment

• 1 Jn 05-01-21-message-4th draft.docx