Tonight, we continue our study in 1 John. We have seen through this study that there are many misconceptions about God. We’ve looked at three of them. We took seven tests that proved if we really knew God. We just finished six tests that prove that we really love God. Now we take four tests that prove that we really believe God—or believe IN God.
Practically every person you ask will claim that they believe in God. Most people claim to believe in God and have some idea in their minds about what God is like. There are probably about as many ideas about what God is like as there are number of people because everyone has his or her own idea of what God is like.
You start thinking about the ideas about God and you think about the Hindus, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Jews and the Christians. So who is right? Whose belief and idea of God is correct? One thing is for sure. If God really exists, and He does, then it is of utmost importance that we be correct in what we believe and think about Him because there will come a day when we will all stand before him and give an account to Him.
So how can we tell if we believe in God? How can we tell if our beliefs and concepts of God are accurate? Well this is the discussion in the last chapter of 1 John. There are four tests that will show us.
The test tonight asks the question, “Have we been born of God?” Have you been born again? If a person has been born of God then God has given that person His divine nature. But how can we tell if we have been born of God? There are 3 proofs.
The first proof is believing Jesus is the Christ. READ verse 1. That is a genuine proof that one has been born again—if that person believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. The person that believes that Jesus is the Christ is given a new birth by God. And Scripture backs that up. Verse 1 has already shown us that a person is born of God if that person believes that Jesus is the Christ.
A person who is born of God loves God. He can’t help but love God because God does this wonderful thing for him. God recreates Him. Re-creation is a wonderful thing.
Yesterday we had a special day here at the church that is foreign to many. It’s called workday. And I appreciate all those who took their time to be here to make God’s property a prettier place. Back in September, 2002 when the construction site was being prepared for our new sanctuary, they disassembled the sidewalk cover that went out in front of the foyer.
They piled all the loose metal up next to the Faith Classroom. It sat for awhile. The spiders and bugs made it their home. The tree dropped piles of leaves on top of that pile of metal until you couldn’t tell what it was. Well a group of our men gathered and started laying out the metal on the patio where the picnic tables are just to see how it would compare to the size of the slab if it were ever erected.
They ended up putting it together that day. We have a nice patio cover now. But what I am saying is that these men took what looked like a worthless pile of metal and recreated it into a nice patio cover. A pile of metal that was in the way is now serving a useful purpose.
In the same way, God takes a person who thinks they are worthless—a person who thinks they are no good for anyone or anything—and God recreates that person into someone He can use for His glory. Paul said that if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.
And when we really think about what God has done for us, how He has recreated us and put His nature in us, how He sacrificed His only Son to save us, our hearts just flood with love for God. That’s what I mean when I say that a person who is born of God loves God and he can’t help but love God. And a person who loves God is going to love other believers as well. Why? Because God has given other believers a spiritual birth as well. They too have been born of God and made a new creation. We are all of the family of God.
And here’s the tough part of the test. If we have truly been born of God—if we have truly been born again—then we will love all our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter what they have done to you, no matter what they might have said about you, no matter how angry they have made you. Why? Because being born of God means we have the divine nature of God in us and God is love. I know it’s hard. But if you are in that state, you can rise above it. You are better than that. That’s why God accepted you into His family. And that’s only 1/3 of the test.
The second proof of being born again is obedience. READ verses 2-3. Do you really believe God? If you obey His commandments you do. If you really believe God and you really cast yourself upon Him and rely on Him and do what He says, and believe that God’s Word works, then you must be obeying God.
Now look what these two verses say. Our obedience and love for God prove that we love His children, which are our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we really don’t have a choice in the matter. It’s not an optional commandment.
Verse 3 says that our obedience to God proves our love for God. There’s really no other way to show God that we love Him except by doing what He says. Verse 3 says that God’s commands are not burdensome. I hope you’re not one of those people who feel that God’s commandments are a real burden. Because there are some people who feel that way. They feel that the Scriptures restrict them too much, that it keeps them from the pleasures and possessions of the world. They feel that if you become a Christian that you’re not allowed to have fun or enjoy life.
Just look at what being born again has to offer. When you are born again:
• Jesus gives rest to the soul. All the restlessness, distress, pain and suffering that man experiences in the world are replaced by peace.
• Jesus never allows a trial or temptation to come on a person beyond what that person can bear. Christ always provides the strength or the way to escape.
Temptation is very tempting! A mother sent her young son to do some shopping for her. He returned with the few items she had requested but he told his mother, “Mom, the devil is in that store.” Thinking that someone had approached her son she asked, “What do you mean the devil is in that store?” He responded, “I walked by the candy counter and one of the candy bars said, ‘Take me!’”
When we go out shopping, we have to resist the urge to buy those things we either can’t afford or simply don’t need. It’s a constant battle. The same can be said of the Christian life. Wherever we go, Satan is there. That is why the Bible offers us encouragement when it says in 1 Peter 5:9, “Resist Satan, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
From young boys at the candy counter to senior citizens trying to make ends meet, the temptation is universal, but God always has a way out. Jesus provides that way.
• By being born again, it means that Jesus gives you the greatest hope in all the world. He gives us the greatest promises of reward. And when a person keeps his eyes on that hope, the commandments of God become light and easy to bear.
• You see, God gives all true believers His Spirit. And the Spirit gives us assurance, confidence, security, and all the love and peace we will ever need or want. When the Spirit fills a person, that believer is filled with life and all the real and meaningful things of life. So the person who really believes in God never thinks of His commandments as burdensome. They really are a joy because they bring abundant life to that believer.
• Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)
Lastly, there is a third proof of the new birth. We find it in verses 4-5. READ. The third proof of being born again is that when you are born again you overcome the world. If you look closely at verse 4 & 5 you see the same point being said three times.
The person who is born of God overcomes the world.
The victory that overcomes the world is our faith.
The person who overcomes the world is the person who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Victory is gained over the world by our faith in Jesus Christ. How can we triumph and conquer the world? How can we overcome the world? By believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Because when a person believes that, God gives him a new heart. He is then “born of God.” Spiritually born of God. So, what does it mean that your faith will overcome the world?
It means that God gives the believer victory over all the trials and temptations of life. You will have victory over the suffering, the disease, the hunger, the pain, the hurt because Jesus is stronger than all that. Do you believer that?
It means that God gives the believer victory over all the forces and difficulties of life. You will have victory over the corruption, the hate, the bitterness, the destroyed families, the envy, the greed, the selfishness, the pride, the arguments. Because Jesus is stronger than all that.
Your faith overcoming the world means that God gives the believer victory over sin. You will have victory over the immorality, the drugs, the drunkenness, the murder, the lust. Because Jesus is stronger than that.
It means that God gives the believer victory over death. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
Your faith overcoming the world means that God gives the believer victory over judgment.
It means that God gives the believer victory over fear and despair and fills him with love, joy, and peace.
Yes, it even means that God gives the believer victory over Satan and all other spiritual forces.
There is only one God that the world should worship and that’s our heavenly Father. We will all stand before Him one day and will be held accountable for our lives and how we lived them.
And the number one question we will be asked is were you ever born again? Did you ever accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? I want you to turn in your Bible to John 3.
Yes, Jesus told us that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one will come to the Father except through Him.” (Jn. 14:6) But Jesus knew that to be a believer in God we must be born again. If we ever want to see the kingdom of God, we must be born again. So we believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and THEN we are born again, the old has passed away because God has created us a new being.
Are you born again? Jesus said in John 3:3. READ.
Do you want to see the kingdom of God? Do you want to get to heaven? Then accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Your faith in Him will overcome any trials and temptations of the world. Your faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and your accepting Him as your Savior causes you to be born again. And if you truly are born again, then you pass test #1 that proves that you really believe in God.
