1 John 5:4-12
The Bible says in 1 John 5:4, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” There is a battle raging. We are not of this world; we are God’s children. We have a vision of the world to come. Our world-view has changed! The world to come is constantly enlarging in our vision. We understand things that unbelievers do not understand. We have seen things by faith that unbelievers have not seen.
The description of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The definition for faith is found in Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” God lists for us in Hebrews 11 marvellous examples of people who overcame the world by their faith:
Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.”
Hebrews 11:5, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death…”
Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house…”
Hebrews 11:8-10, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went…By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
God declares to us that every person who ever came to know Him as Saviour had victory only one way—by faith. People who do not know the Lord cannot understand this. They have never experienced it. We see thorough the eyes of faith! We believe God and choose His way.
There is nothing you are going to be able to do to keep from leaving this world! There is no amount of money or power on earth that is going to keep you here! You are going to leave this world, and when you do, you are going to another world. There is only one of two places to go: heaven or hell. There is only one way to get to heaven, and that is by trusting Christ and Christ alone. You can believe what I am saying and be saved or you can continue in the sin of unbelief and be lost eternally. When you die you will go to hell because you are lost.
If what the Bible says is true, you and I must understand that the world to come should take such a hold on our lives that we know it is just as real as the world in which we presently live. By faith we believe it, and we gain the victory.
1 John 5:5 says, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son? The Lord gives us several witnesses in the following verses.
1 John 5:6 says, “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” There is a bit of discussion about what this water is, but I am going to tell you what I have concluded it to be.
Matthew 3:13-17 says, “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him…But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?…And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him…And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:…And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
God gave this witness from heaven. Here we have a glimpse of the triune God. God the Son is being baptized. God the Holy Spirit is descending like a dove. God the Father is speaking from heaven. This is our first glimpse of Christ after hearing of Him as a twelve-year-old boy. Now we see Him, years later, being baptized. After whatever happened in those years, God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Not only do we have this witness by water but we have the witness by blood. When speaking of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can speak of nothing other than His shed blood for our redemption. He is the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.
When Abraham offered Isaac, he gave us a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus given by God the Father to bleed and ie for our sins. When Abraham answered Isaac concerning the sacrifice, Abraham said, “God will provide himself a lamb” (Genesis 22:8).
When the Lord Jesus was coming to be baptized, John saw him and lifted up his voice and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” He is the fulfillment of all prophecy concerning the Messiah. No matter what they say of Him, God’s witness is greater, and God says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Is this where your faith is anchored?
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” — John 16:33