MONDAY – 1 John 5: 18-20, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” Last time we saw in Part 1, specifically from verse 18 John defines a specific thing that “We Know”. It in short is that no one who has been transformed by the new birth goes on living in an unbroken pattern of sin. True Christians experience victory over sin while the unsaved, unconverted man is powerless and can do nothing but sin as he is enslaved in it. This was the first of several things we will see concerning truths that we know as believers. This week we will go on to see that we know we are of God (belong to God) and that Jesus Christ the Son is the true God.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Ask yourself again to evaluate how certain you are concerning the things John has been teaching us. Ask God to help you become more sure of these truths that He has told us as believers that we know.
TUESDAY – 1 John 5: 19, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Once again John uses the words we know to reassure us of the knowledge we have. He actually repeats the thought he expressed earlier in 3:1that the Father has bestowed such love on us that we should be called children of God. There are only two groups of people in the world beloved. Among the many various ethnicities, political parties, and organizations one can join and belong to, there are really only two groups of people; God’s children, the saved and Satan’s children, the lost. John tells us that as true believers, we are “of God”, have our origin in God and belong to Him. On the other hand, John says the whole world lies under the sway or is under the control of the wicked one. More on that tomorrow but for today please notice he does not say that the world belongs to Satan, for Satan cannot lay claim to creating it. Jesus calls Satan “the prince of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). From the biblical account of the fall of man into sin (Genesis 3:1–19), we know that Satan deceived mankind and took control of the entire world. Interesting are the words Satan uses in his temptation of Jesus when he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me” (Luke 4:6). This control had to be given because it wasn’t rightfully his. It was given to him by its rightful owner and Sovereign, God Himself. But we see that the whole world lies passively in his power. Nevertheless Satan knows that Jesus has come to drive him out and that Jesus claims ultimate ownership of the world which rightfully belongs to God.
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Do I understand that I am “of God”? What does that mean? What traits in my life give evidence that I am in fact a child of God and therefore look like my Father? Ask God to help you rest in the fact that He is the owner of everything including You and that You can rest in Him because He has loved you and saved you by His grace.
WEDNESDAY – 1 John 5: 19, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” Continuing today, we will further break down this matter of the world being under the sway of the wicked one, Satan. The whole world, from its politics, economics, education, entertainment, and, above all, its religion, lies in the power of the evil one. The evil world system is hostile to God and believers (John 15:18–19). As Satan hates God and His children, so does this world and its evil system (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, Ephesians 2:2, 6:12).We must be careful and John will warn us at the very end of his letter that we need to be on guard from being contaminated by the corrupt system that opposes God (James 1:27). To boil it down, there are only two choices. Everyone is either part of God’s kingdom, or of Satan’s. In the words of Jesus, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters” (Luke 11:23). James says it even more aggressively, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Do I recognize the things that are under the sway of Satan in this world? Where is my allegiance? What do the behaviors of my life say concerning my loyalties? Father, thank You for bringing me into the Kingdom of Your Son. Help and empower me to live a life that displays that.
THURSDAY – 1 John 5: 20, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” Kistemaker writes, “For the last time, John writes “we know”. This time, however, he reminds us of the coming of the Son of God and our understanding of Jesus. Even though we see corruption in every sphere and sector of the world, we know that Jesus Christ has come to give us insight into his true nature. In a world of deceit and falsehood, God has revealed himself in the Son of God as the one who is true. God has not forsaken us to the powers of darkness, but has endowed us with the ability to discern truth from error. God sent his Son “so that we may know him who is true.” The verb to know in this clause denotes knowledge we acquire by close association. In the fellowship we have with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ (1:3), we come to know his truth. We learn to know what belongs to God and what comes from Satan. God is true. “By true God [John] does not mean one who tells the truth, but him who is really God.” The adjective true is descriptive, for it reveals God’s nature (see John 17:3; Rev. 3:7). John says that in addition to learning to know God, “we are in him who is true.” That is, we have intimate fellowship with him through his Son Jesus Christ, who is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). We are in the Father and the Son. In his high-priestly prayer Jesus prayed, “Just as you are in me and I am in you[,] may they also be in us” (John 17:21). And last, having woven the golden thread of Jesus’ divinity and sonship through the cloth of his epistle, John completes this verse with the following words: “Even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” The Gnostic teachers denied that Jesus was the Christ, Son of God. Therefore, in this last verse John summarizes the basic teaching of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is truly divine, and is eternal life. The translators of the New International Version have adopted the reading “He is the true God” instead of “This is the true God.” Some scholars say that the pronoun he refers to the nearest noun, Christ. Others vigorously dispute this view and claim that the pronoun refers to God the Father. They point to the wording in John 17:3, “the only true God,” and see the parallel in 5:20. They have to admit, however, that their reading of verse 20 is redundant: “And we are in [God] who is true … he is the true God.” Proponents of the first view argue, quite rightly, that John ascribes eternal life to Jesus (1:2; also see John 11:25; 14:6). They also show that the entire epistle expounds the identity of Jesus, the Son of God. Therefore, a conclusive statement on the divinity of Jesus at the end of the letter is most effective. I believe that the supporters of this view, namely, that the pronoun he or this is a reference to Jesus and not to God, have the stronger argument.”
(Meditate, Apply & Pray) Father, thank You that as Your children we in fact know who You are and who Jesus is. Thank You for revealing Yourself in Him.
FRIDAY– 1 John 5: 20, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” Completing the thought of this final verse we know with the certainty that the Son of God has come. The present tense of the verb h?k? (come) indicates that Jesus has come and is still present. True Christian faith is grounded in the practical truth that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. Because no one can know “who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Luke 10:22), Jesus has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true. We don’t merely know, but we are in him, we have a personal union with Him who is true, through Christ. The Bible teaches that the only way to know the true and living God is through Jesus Christ. No one can be saved who does not believe in Christ, for there is no salvation apart from Him (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). John’s use of the word al?thinos (true) three times in this verse stresses the importance of understanding the truth in a world filled with Satan’s lies. The last use points to the most significant truth of all, that Jesus is the true God and eternal life. The deity of Jesus Christ is an essential element of the Christian faith, and no one who rejects it can be saved.
(Pray) Father, thank You for helping me see and believe in You and Your Gospel through the person and work of Your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ.
