Connect the Dots
Epistles of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsAs we enter the final chapter of 1 John, we see the theme of authentic Christianity once again. Here, John ties together the whole of it: Faith is connected to our identity; Identity is connected to (demonstrated by) our love for God and one another; Our love is connected to obedience of God's commands; Obedience is evidence of our victory over the world; Victory is secured through our faith in Christ. It's all connected.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
INTRO: "It’s all connected...” These are the words of PGA professional and coach Bob Seganti. Your mind, your body - everything has to be right in order to play the game of golf well.
He’s right- I like to try to play golf, and I can assure you that if I’m distracted or hurried or if my body is tense or if I’m lined up a hair left or if I dip my shoulder or lift my head.... well, let’s just say I hit more bad shots than good ones.
Each one of us lives a ‘connected’ life. What we think and say are not detached from what we feel or do. We are complex like that. Or perhaps, it’s not all that complex after all.
As we pick back up in our study of 1 John today, we see the theme of authentic Christianity as clear as ever. This section that we are going to explore together is not so much directive, but rather indicative. IOW, These five verses are not giving us instructions, but they are giving us sign-posts of an authentic Christian life.
How many times have you heard people question their faith? Maybe you are here and you are questioning your faith right now…
Am I really saved? How can I know?… can I know for sure? Sometimes I don’t ‘feel’ like a Christian...
If you’ve wrestled with this, then I urge you to lean in this morning. As we examine this section of God’s Word, I am first going to draw the connecting lines between these signposts of Christian life. Then, I hope to show you how you can look at the lines in your life to answer such questions. Further, you’ll be able to help others who might be struggling in their walk of faith.
The message is titled “Connect the Dots”. As always, there is a sermon guide in your bulletin that you can use to follow along. Let’s learn together. First, we must
Connect Faith to Identity (1a)
Connect Faith to Identity (1a)
READ 1a
This is crucial to understand. Christianity is not an add-on to our life like some sort of boy-scout badge. To believe in Jesus as the Christ, the anointed One, Son of God, is life-changing! Actually it’s more than life changing… it’s a new life all together.
When Nicodemas approached Jesus about who He is, Jesus explained in:
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
In 1 John 5:1, John tells us that our faith in Jesus, which BTW is an act of grace itself, gives us new life. We are born of God through faith. Our identity now is not what we do, but who we are! No longer are we sinners, though we still struggle with sin. Now, we are saints! Children of the living God!
Our identity as Christians cannot be separated from our faith in Jesus, for our faith in Jesus is what gives us this identity.
We must grasp this: The reason Jesus tells us that to follow Him, we must die to ourselves is so that we can be born again. In this newness of life, we are not like the world. Our priorities are Christ’s priorities. Our purpose is the purpose of the King.
ILL: I think of the story of a young orphan boy. He lived in the streets, stealing food and money to survive. One day, a couple saw fit to take him in and adopt him. The first few weeks, the boy would sneak through the house and steal away food. Sometimes, he would even take valuables and hide them away to sell. It took a while for him to realize that his identity was changed- he was no longer a poor orphan, but now a well-taken care of child.
Friends, if you have truly believed in Jesus, the Son of God who has come to take away your sins, that means that you must repent (turn from your old ways!) for you have a new identity as a child of God. Connect Faith to Identity.
Next, we need to:
Connect Identity to Love (1b)
Connect Identity to Love (1b)
READ 1b
Because we are children of God, it is assumed that we love our Father. After all, we understand that this is the greatest command in Scripture- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”
So then our identity is directly connected to our love for God, which is itself connected to our love for one another. We’ve spoken about this in depth in previous weeks- Jesus said, “They’ll know you are my disciples in this- that you have love one for another”
We need only to look back to 1 John 4:19-20 to see this connection. (READ)
We love, because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Because we have been born again, we are in a new family- the family of God. In this, you and me are family; We are knit together by the love of God in us.
Folks, we don’t love one another because we have the same talents or preferences. We love each other because we are in the household of God the Father. We have the same home! We have the same grace applied to our lives! We have the same joy that our name is written in the Lamb’s book of life!
Our Faith gives us our identity, and our identity is the basis of our love. As we continue to connect the dots, we must:
Connect Love to Obedience (2-3)
Connect Love to Obedience (2-3)
How can we know that we have faith in Christ? How do we know we are truly Children of God? How do we know that we actually love one another? Let’s read v. 2-3 (READ)
It’s all connected. “By this...” John says- we observe God’s commandments.
That is to say that we recognize God’s authority over our lives. He is King. He is our LORD. His ways are right, and we can be confident in our faith, identity, and love for one another as we evaluate our personal surrender to God’s rule and reign.
ILL: This is easy enough to understand, right? If you love America, you will respect its constitution; You will protect freedoms and rights and will prevent perversions of them. Likewise, if we love God, we will take His Word and honor it. We will look at His laws and surrender our lives under them.
Of course, this is where we have some argument about legalism and we consider how the Pharisees kept the letter of the law, but missed the heart of it.
This is where v. 3b is helpful: “… and His commandments are not burdensome.”
You see, when we love the law-giver, we see His laws not as oppressive or heavy, but as lovely. This is Jesus’ invitation in
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
When we love Him, we see that His laws are good. They aren’t restrictive like we often describe them, but rather they allow us freedom and safety.
ILL: I remember reading a story of some folks who saw a playground with a large yard and a fence around it. The kids playing would be all over the place- they would often be right at the fence- smushing their faces against it and such. These folks petitioned to remove the fence because it was restricting these kids- there was much more places for them to play, so they took down the fence. But they were surprised to find that the kids were reluctant to go even beyond the mulch in the playground. You see, the fence was good- it provided necessary boundaries so that they could play freely without fear.
That is what God’s law does for us- it gives us healthy boundaries so that we can live in confidence and joy, not fear and doubt.
Faith gives us our identity. Our identity is the basis of our love. Love is the basis of our obedience. Next, we:
Connect Obedience to Victory (4a)
Connect Obedience to Victory (4a)
READ 4a
V. 4 begins with the word for or therefore. In essence, John tells us that through our obedience, we will overcome the temptations and lusts of the world.
Remember in chapter 2, how John warned not to love the things in the world? Let me just read
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Here, we can see how by taking God’s law as our guide, we can resist the evils of the world. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is to take us back to Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness.
Just following His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted. In and through all these temptations, Jesus demonstrated His obedience to the Word of God instead of the ways of the world. Think of the temptations- Jesus could have curbed his hunger by giving into Satan’s deceit. He could have shown off his might in spectacular fashion if he’d jumped off the mountain so that angels would have rescued him. He could have set up multiple thrones on earth that would have drawn a huge crowd, if he’d just give Satan a little homage...
But the victory over these temptations was Jesus’ obedience to the Word of God. Likewise, we may be tempted to do things the worldly way.
Just a couple weeks ago I met a young man who was homeless. He had fallen into drug addiction. At the time, he had been clean for 7 days. He had spent time in rehab, but he told us that the desire for drugs was still strong. And he confessed that he could not gain victory over this addiction. My friend and I shared the hope of the Gospel - this man needed God to redirect his life; to give him a purpose and desires that aligned with God’s will, not his own. We cannot save him or give him victory, but Jesus can.
“Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
Our ability to persevere through trials and temptations is through our obedience to God’s law. Our growth and maturity in areas of weakness comes through our obedience to God’s Word.
It’s all connected. Faith is the basis of our Identity. Identity is the basis of our love. Love is the basis for our obedience. And Obedience is the basis of victory over the world. Finally, we come full circle as we:
Connect Victory to Faith (4b-5)
Connect Victory to Faith (4b-5)
READ
I like how v. 5 is a rhetorical question. Here’s the point:
Jesus is the hope of the world. As John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” Or as Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord and My God!” Folks Jesus is the answer! He is the Victory!
ILL: I think back the account of Shadrak, Mishak, and Abednego - to the fiery furnace where 3 Hebrew men were tossed in because they refused to worship the statue of the Babylonian king. It was their faith that brought victory, for they knew that God was the only one worthy of worship.
We cannot have victory apart from our faith in Christ. Without that, our obedience to the Law is an attempt to earn our way into God’s Kingdom. Without faith in Jesus, we still have the identity as an enemy of God. Without faith in Christ, we are spiteful and do not love for we cannot love rightly without God’s spirit in us. Without faith in Christ, we are hopeless.
Oh, but friends- if you have faith in Christ, then you have reason to celebrate! To testify!
What will happen to you on the day of judgment? Do you have eternal life?
Let’s connect the dots:
Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God- the Messiah who has come to take the penalty of our sins and remove their power from our lives?
Do you love God and His children? Do you act out this love?
Do you obey God’s Word? (Not perfection, but a life of repentance and submission)
Is it a burden or a blessing?
Listen, if you can’t answer these questions affirmatively, then I am pleading with you- Come to the altar during our song of invitation. Only Jesus can save you and give you victory.
Discuss: How has your faith changed your identity?
Discuss: Read the 10 commandments. Are there laws that you find burdensome? Why?
Discuss: What sort of victory can you have over the world today?
Discuss: How confident are you in your own salvation? What makes you sure?