Overcomers Of the World

YouTube Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gE69_ekGi0

1 John 5:1 – “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Background and Introduction

As we know Apostle John who wrote the Gospel of John is the author of this epistle too. The Epistle was written somewhere around AD 90 and it is addressed to the churches in Ephesus who had a good relationship with Apostle John and these churches were called, The Johannine Community. The key verse of this epistle is found can be found in 1 John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.“ The same idea can be seen in John 20:31 which is another proof that the same author wrote both the gospel and the epistles. In addition to that, he mentions other reasons for writing this letter in 1:4(so that their joy may be complete), 2:1(they wont sin), 2:12-13(their sins are forgiven), 2:21 (to confirm the truth), 2:26(warn about false teachers). So the thrust of this epistle is to let them know that they are a regenerated and redeemed community thereby having eternal life.

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If we search throughout New Testament, we can see that there are different titles/usages to describe the believers in Jesus Christ. Some of them are children of God, children of light, friends of God, sheep, soldiers, saints, disciples and it goes on. All these terms in the context which they have been placed describes our privileges and responsibilities. Likewise in the passage which we read, there is a wonderful term that describes us and that is “overcomers”. So I have titled my message today as, “Overcomers of the World”. We will get into more details as we progress through the exposition of the passage.

Coming to v1, Apostle says – “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.“ The first definition of an overcomer is being mentioned by John here. An overcomer is born of God. Those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God. John 1:12-13 says – “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” We already know being born of God talks about our spiritual re-birth. It is something initiated by God and effected through his Spirit, and it takes place in conjunction with faith in Christ. So there is a Trinitarian work that takes place. All the 3 persons of the God-head are involved in our re-birth. By accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord, we have become the children of God and it is through saving faith. So the first characteristic of an overcomer is saving faith (pistis). The converse is those who don’t believe in Jesus as the Lord are not overcomers. In the same chapter, John gives a test on how to identify those who are born of God: 1 John 5:18 says – “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning.” So an overcomer does not keep on sinning. Or in other words, an overcomer does not continue to sin.

So before we became overcomers, what was our status? Yes the opposite!! We were losers. We were surrenders. Ephesians 2 states our condition perfectly. We were dead in our trespasses and sins following the course of this world. We lived in the passions of our flesh and by nature were children of wrath. But God, rich in mercy because of his love towards us made us alive together with Christ. The Lord who was victorious over death resurrected us from our darkness. The true light of the World died for us on the Cross for our sins and redeemed us from the penalty of sin. He forgave all our iniquities and all we just did is believe in the Lord. It is by grace we have been saved and not of our works so we have nothing to boast. He made us overcomers by his grace.

Ephesians 2:8 says - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Christ is the object of our faith. So the initial point of our salvation was the point where we exercised our faith in Christ and believed as the Messiah. But as we progress, an active faith is expected from us. Our faith should be a working faith. That is what we see in the Epistle of James. That faith perseveres till the end. In the last couple of years, there has been lot of research going on how the word “pistis” is used in the New Testament. Many of the modern scholars interpret pistis as loyalty or allegiance where we prove our allegiance to the Lord through our works. The fruit produced by a Christian will prove that his faith was genuine. Otherwise it would be a dead faith. So to be fruitful in our faith, we need to depend upon the Holy Spirit who empowers us on a constant basis.

That leads me to the next part in v1. So once we have become overcomers, there is a duty mentioned in the 2nd part of 1st verse. Those who have placed their trust in Christ Jesus are begotten by God and the faith in them produces love. Love is the 2nd characteristic of an overcomer. If we are genuine in our faith, then our love for God will result in loving the children of God. That just flows out of us. It is automatic. In the same Epistle, John throws light onto that. 1 John 2: 9-10 says – “ Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him[b] there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” The test for us whether we abide in light or darkness is whether we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we don’t, then John says we are in darkness. We have not been truly saved. And that goes against the traits of an overcomer. How do we love our brethren? 1 John 3:18 says - “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

An overcomer loves every children of God and fellowships with them. 1 John 4:20: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.” You cannot say, “I believe in Christ but I am not comfortable loving others or fellowshipping with others.” That just doesn’t go with what is described in Scripture about an overcomer who is the child of God. 1 John 4:7 says – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” 4:11 says – “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” I am glad that God has blessed us all with that fruit of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Loving the children of God means to caring, praying and sharing. It is to desire their well-being. But unfortunately we live in a culture where it is all about me and my family (selfish). That is where the Holy Spirit is speaking through John and asking us to love the children of the same God from whom we have begotten. If we struggle in loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as Scripture commands, then let us ask God for the Spirits help.

So how do we know that we love the children of God? John is giving an evidence/test to prove whether we love other fellow-believers. V2 gives the answer for that- By loving God and carrying out his commands. Obedience is the third characteristic of an overcomer. John 14:15 says – “If you love me, keep my commands.” Our greatest example is Jesus himself who obeyed God the Father. Romans 5:19 says – “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” We became sinners through the disobedience of Adam but Christ the Lord became sin for us so that we will become the righteousness of God. We were justified as Christ perfectly fulfilled the law through his atoning sacrifice on the cross. John 15:10 says - If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as l have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. The evidence of abiding in his love is perfect obedience from our part and the example to look unto is Christ himself who adhered to the will of the Father. And the obedience that John is talking about is the joyful obedience that comes from our heart filled with gratitude.

It is very easy to say- I love you God, I love you, my Jesus. We know some of the modern worship songs have this romantic line – I am falling in love with you, Lord. But is our love just in words or are we expressing the love to God through our actions? Love is defined as an emotion or feeling. But the love mentioned in this passage is agape which is unconditional and sacrificial at the same time, active!! It is not merely just an emotion (there is an emotional aspect for love). But the love mentioned here leads to actions that please our God.

C.S. Lewis has a book called, “The Four Loves” where he talks about Storge, Philia, Eros and Agape. Storge is the love between family members who relate in familiar ways. The best eg: is the love between a parent and child. Then Philia is the love between friends. It is a strong bond between people who have common interests. Then we have Eros which we know love between couples or two people who are attracted to each other. In a romantic relationship, usually the guy will go-to any heights to please the girl and get their affection and attention. In our culture, the guy takes initiative to surprise the girl. That is just the worldly love or Eros.

These 3 are the types of love we exhibit or experience in the world. And finally Lewis talks about a love that is unconditional. In the passage which we read John talks about the same love and that is Agape. It stands so much higher than other forms of love which we saw. It is not Storge/Eros/Philia. It is unconditional and sacrificial. It is the greatest of all the four loves. It is selfless love. Agape love is the when you love someone that you know you will get nothing back from. And it is possible only by the help of Holy Spirit. God showed his agape love for us by sacrificing his only begotten Son for our redemption. And he expects Agape love from us. The best way to know whether we love God can be found in our attitude towards the Scripture ? Are we just hearers or doers of the Word? If we are just hearers, we are deceiving ourselves as James says.

Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). We know the greatest commandment (Matthew 22: 37-39) – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And ha second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The similar idea is mentioned here too (Love God and love our fellow-believers)

So what does it mean to love God by keeping his commands? Loving God means giving all honor, glory and worship that he is worthy of. It is a devotion to God through our worship. And that will happen only when we are in constant communication with him (online with him). Romans 12:1-2 says – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Worship is a lifestyle. It is the process of how we conduct our lives thereby giving glory to God. And in offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, our heart, soul and mind are involved which means our entire self is surrendered or submitted to God. Everything belongs to him. And this Scripture is given to us to walk in his ways. The Word of God is full of his commands and we are responsible to keep the commands. We cannot do it by ourselves but rather we have to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers us to carry out Gods commands in our daily life.

If we think the commands are hard to keep, John is saying they are not burdensome. Many a times we might think or I have even heard people say – All these commands in the Bible are easy to speak/preach but hard to keep. But remember if we genuinely love God, then we will eagerly carry out his commands. That is the evidence of our love for God. And for that, God has bestowed his Spirit upon us. 1 John 4:4 says – “ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” The “He” mentioned there is about Holy Spirit. He dwells in us to safeguard us from false teaching at the same time to keep his commands. What God expects is not a passive love but an active devotion from us and that is only possible when we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ says – “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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If we really enjoy the In-Christ experience in our life, then obeying his commands would not be a burden but rather would be a relief in our life. The closer we are to God, the more would we enjoy adhering to the Scripture. .” Psalms 119:35 says – “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Couple of verses later, the psalmist says in v47 – “for I delight in your commands because I love them.” That is the attitude we must have towards the commands of God.

Now we will come to the portion which v4 where it talks about overcoming. We know what overcome means – “To conquer or To be victorious”. The greek word is nikao(nee-kao). The noun from nikaō is nikē from which we get the word Nike. In Greek mythology, nike was a goddess who signified victory. One of the American anti-aircraft missile system was called Project Nike. And we know about the famous shoe-brand – Nike (Just do it). The ancient Greeks always believed that only gods could be victorious and humans are utter failures. But here John says we are overcomers if we believe in Jesus Christ. The same greek word in the verb form is used by Christ in John 16:33 where he says - “In this world you shall have tribulation, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” When it comes to Romans 8 , Paul used the superlative degree of the word where he says - “In all these things we are more than conquerors.” Trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword cannot separate us from the love of Christ because through faith in Christ, we are super-overcomers. Nothing can conquer us because we are overcomers of the world.

So what are we expected to overcome as mentioned in the passage? He says “Overcomers of the World”. So what does he mean by World here? In the same book, he explains it. 1 John 2:15-16 says – “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” So if we read the 4th verse completely, it means we will conquer the pleasures of the world if we completely trust in Christ. It is our faith in the Lord that helps us overcome the passions of the world. By our strength we cannot, as we still live in this sinful body. Romans 7:22-25, Paul says – “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” It is true that there is a war inside us where our flesh really wants to become friends with sin. But Paul is thankful to God as Christ has delivered him from the penalty of sin.

We do struggle with sin in our flesh. Sometimes it can be pride or greed or unthankfulness or anger or whatever it may be. We have a long way to go compared with the divine holiness. That is wat necessitates or demands our closer relationship with God. The more we move away from God, the chances are more to drench into sin. So we need to be Intune with the Spirit. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we have been adopted into the family of God and the Spirit is at work consistently in the process of conforming us into the image of Christ. We will only be perfectly conformed to Christ at our glorification. And every day we are getting closer to the day of Jesus Christ. So my dear brothers and sisters, we don’t have to fear. Perfect love casts out fear. So let us be strengthened in the power of the Holy Spirit that is working inside us. Our strength is not in our might/works but in his Spirit. By the Spirit, we can put to death the deeds of the body and our faith in Christ make us conquerors.

Then John asks a rhetorical question- Who is it that overcomes the world? He gives the answer too – those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Among the Johannine community, there were false teachers who questioned the humanity of Christ and they started to spread wrong teaching. So earlier in the epistle John confirms both the humanity and divinity of Christ and here he is giving a definition for the overcomers. Christ is our supreme model who conquered sin through his death and resurrection. Acts 2:24 says – “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Romans 4:25 says – “He was raised for our justification.” We who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are co-heirs with him. Through our faith in Christ as the Son of God, we have become conquerors of the world. And this faith is not just a passive faith and but an active one that proves our loyalty to Christ the King through our works by loving God and keeping his commands.

Finally for us overcomers, there are many rewards that awaits us. That is where I want to stop. You can see the same word used in context of the seven churches in Revelation where John talks about the rewards for those who are victorious. I don’t have time to explain all of them. But I will just mention the rewards that awaits us and conclude:

1. Ephesus- “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.”(2:7)

2. Smyrna- “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (2:10) “He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”

3. Pergamum- “To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” (2:17)

4) Thyatira- “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—’He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery.’ just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.” (2:26-28)

5) Sardis- “He who overcomes will like them be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” (3:5)

6) Philadelphia- “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on him my new name.” (3:12)

7) Laodicea- “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (3:21)

There are seven promises/rewards that are waiting for overcomers. So to summarize today’s message, we saw that all who believe that Jesus is the Messiah has been begotten of God and they have responsibility to love other fellow brothers and sisters as they love God the Father. If we joyfully obey his commands, that means we love God. In other words, faith in God leads to love others and prove our love for God by obeying his commands. So the three distinctive features of an overcomer are –

a. Faith in God.

b. Loving God and the children of God.

c. Joyful Obedience to Gods Commands.

We have overcome the world through faith in Christ Jesus, Son of God. We are co-heirs with Christ and we serve a God who conquered the world through his death and resurrection. He has risen from the dead and is interceding for us as our faithful advocate. Let us rely on the Holy Spirit to continue our Christian journey in this world as an overcomer. May God bless us with these words.