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Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 14 : The First Epistle of JOHN
[Chapter 5-7] He Is the True God And Eternal Life (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.”
Look at This Word of Truth
Today’s Scripture passage of 1 John 5:20 says, “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.”
What did the Son of God give to us according to this passage? He gave us the knowledge and understanding, which enables us to realize the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Jesus Christ made us realize about the True One, and about God the Father. Also, Jesus made us realize about the remission of sin and about the true eternal life.
I want to share with you all that I know and believe in my heart as I preach the Scriptures, but I recognize the need to share the intellectual parts of the Word of Truth first. I would like to interpret the Scripture passage to you, before I share the spiritual meanings implied in it with you. Thus, I plan on sharing Jesus Christ, who has come to my heart and who will come to your hearts, by explicating the Word of the Bible verse by verse. Now, I feel grateful, since I can share with you the Word of Truth, which the Apostle John believed.
Jesus Christ Is God
Today’s Scripture passage says, “This is the true God and eternal life.” To us, Jesus Christ is the true God. Jesus Christ is not only the Son of God but also the true God, who created all of the universe as well as all of humanity including us. We must know and believe that Jesus is the true God, who created the entire universe as well as you and me. Jesus Christ is the true God to us. He is not only the Son to God the Father but also the true God to us. It is important for us to know and have faith in the fact that Jesus is God. By doing so, we can have the rational faith in Him. Because Jesus is God, we have to believe in this Truth that He came to this world, received the baptism from John the Baptist, and shed His blood on the Cross to deliver us from all our sins.
“This is the true God and eternal life.” To believe in Jesus as our Savior, we need to basically believe that He is God, and that He became our Savior. We need to know that Jesus came to this world, received the baptism, and shed His blood so that you and I may realize the Truth of salvation from our sins.
“Is Jesus a creature like any other human being? Or is He the Creator of all people, plants and animals, the sun and moon, the universe, and everything in it?” If we want to have correct faith before God, we need to answer this part first and know correctly that Jesus is the true God. Then, we should believe in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. The knowledge of faith in Jesus Christ as God and Savior—who came to this world, receiving the baptism from John the Baptist to take our sins onto Himself, dying crucified on the Cross, and resurrecting from the dead so that we may be delivered from our sins—is most precious.
The Bible says, “He is the true God.” As such, Jesus is the true God. When we believe that Jesus is the true God, we come to realize how much He really loved us. How much did Jesus love us, if Jesus Christ was God to you and I, who delivered us from our sins as our Savior?
The Apostle John said in 1 John 5:6-8, “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
Jesus Christ is fundamentally God. The true God Jesus came by the water and the blood. To deliver you and me from our sins, the Lord came to this world by the water and the blood and delivered us from all the judgments for our sins. The Lord came “not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit truth” (1 John 5:6). Although Jesus was fundamentally God, He came to this world, receiving the baptism, dying on the Cross, and suffering vicariously for us in order to deliver us from all our sins because He loved you and me. You and I should believe that Jesus Christ is God. Furthermore, you and I should also believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which He gave us.
How are we going to fill our empty hearts now? It would be nice and easy if could satisfy our hearts with things in this world. However, how could we ever satisfy our hearts with things of this world? Our hearts will be saturated with the love of Christ and feel satisfied, when we know that Jesus Christ came to this world and received the baptism and died on the Cross because He loved us. Our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, therefore, is a necessity.
The Scripture passage in 1 John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” This passage implies that Jesus the true God came to this world and received the baptism and shed His blood so that we may be delivered from our sins. Through these righteous deeds of Christ, we were able to receive the remission of all our sins and become the children of God. Thus, we now are able to overcome the sins of the world.
The Apostle John said, “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood” (1 John 5:5-6).
We can become the ones born of God only when we believe Jesus Christ to be God. Jesus, the true God has loved us. Therefore, He received the baptism so that we may be delivered from all our sins. He also shed His precious blood so that we may be emancipated from the judgments for all our sins. And He became our true Savior by resurrecting from the dead. We are able to overcome the world by believing in this gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We have become truly joyful people because the love of God dwells in us abundantly. The fact God’s love is in our hearts deserves our gratitude. We have to keep in our hearts the understanding that God loved us by sending Jesus to this world for you and me, having Him receive the baptism and having Him shed His sacrificial blood.
The Apostle Paul said, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Furthermore, he said, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). The ‘love’ mentioned here is the ‘love of the Truth’ (2 Thessalonians 2:10). That is, God’s love revealed through the gospel Truth in the water and the Spirit. It would be appropriate for us to believe that God came to this world and received the baptism and endured the suffering of crucifixion on the Cross out of His love for us.
Jesus the true God has loved you and me. That love dwells in our hearts by our faith. If we have not that love in our hearts, we are nothing. Because the true God Jesus has loved us, He delivered us from all our sins. We have to keep God’s love in us as we live our lives. Only then do we have the power to overcome the world. Although we devote our bodies to the good works giving our bodies to be burned, we would be nothing without faith in this kind of love.
As I have stated in the beginning, because I need to tell you in detail what the First Epistle of John is telling us, I am explicating to you each verse by verse. While I do this on purpose, I am concerned that this may turn out to be too intellectual. Despite of this concern, I cannot but explicate today’s Scripture passage word for word to you.
To have the correct faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we need to utilize all of our minds, hearts, and emotions. And the acquisition of the knowledge of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the first step of all. Because of that, you may feel like I am conducting a Bible study more than I am preaching to you. Yet, there is no other way but to do it this way.
One thing is for sure: It is important for us to know a lot about the Bible, but nothing is still more important than to remember and believe in our hearts that Jesus being God came to this world by the water and the blood and poured out His love onto us so that we may be delivered from all our sins. I am telling you these with the conviction that you will not accept God’ love intellectually but both with your minds as well as with your hearts simultaneously.
The Apostle John said, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him” (1 John 5:1). Actually, Jesus Christ is our God, the Son of God, and our Savior, who came by the water and the blood to deliver us from all our sins. If we believe in this Truth, we are born of God.
Are you and I born of God? Or are we born only of our biological parents? Of whom and what were you born? If you are born of God, you surely believe that Jesus is God, the Son of God, and Savior, who received the baptism and shed His blood on the Cross to deliver us. Only those who believe so are born of God. They are also the children of God, workers of God, and the hosts of Heaven.
It is written, “Everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:1-3).
Those who love and believe in God the Father also love Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father. Those who love His Son also love His Father. He who loves His Father is equivalent of saying he who loves His Son
Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God to us, who delivered us from all our sins by the water and the blood because He loved you and me? Do you believe that Jesus to be God? Do you believe Him to be the Savior? Do you believe the Father of Jesus Christ to be our God? People who answer “yes” to these questions are born of God. Then, we are the ones who have been born of God.
We have to love Jesus by knowing Him to be God, and we can keep His commandments by doing so. God’s commandment is for us to love one another. The Bible says that we are to love one another, if we love God. If we know Jesus to be God and received the blessings of the remission of sin and of becoming God’s children through the love of God, we should rightly love one another.
We are not forced to love one another. To love one another is not burdensome in the love of God. If you and I know and believe that we are delivered from all our sins in our knowledge of Jesus as God and in His love, we cannot help but love one another out of His love in our hearts. We the righteous cannot live hating one another. God’s love is not passive but active.
If we know and believe that Jesus Christ is God, then we have received the eternal life despite of our sins because of that love of God. Because the love of God is in our hearts, we do not have to force ourselves to love others’ souls. Because the love of our Lord is in our hearts, it is almost impossible for us not to love. Keeping God’s commandments by loving one another is not a difficult task. If we have received the full remission of all our sins by believing in God’s love and kept that love in our hearts, it is easy for us to love the righteous as well as others’ souls. In a way, to love others in the love of God may be easier than eating our meals.
The Apostle John is telling us that Jesus is God and the Son of God, who delivered us from all our sins through His love of the water and the blood. The Apostle John is also telling us that we who have received the remission of sin by believing in the love of God should naturally love one another.
During the Early Church period, those born of God believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit (1 John 5:3-7). In other words, they believed Jesus to be God, who delivered them from all their sins by the water and the blood.
On the other hand, the unrighteous did neither believe Jesus to be God nor believe in the love of the full remission of all their sins that had been fulfilled by the water and the blood of Jesus. Jesus poured on us all. Instead of loving others’ souls, they despised the souls of others.
However, for each person who was born of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, understanding each other’s hearts and caring and loving one another are not difficult things to do. Since the righteous can automatically love one another, that love is consistent. The Apostle John said that loving is equivalent of keeping the commandments.
God spoke love to us by commanding us “to love one another.” Jesus Christ was fundamentally the Lord of love. We must know the love of God first. Although there is the occasional envy among the righteous, we must know that generally we love one another because Jesus Christ our God, who fundamentally is the Lord of love, dwells in our hearts as the Holy Spirit. We not only love our brothers and sisters in Christ but also those souls outside of Christ, who have not yet received the remission of sin.
We can see that any plant, animal, or person grows healthy when each of them receives love. How awkward would a relationship become if you find out that someone among us does not like you but hates you? Wouldn’t you hate to be with that person? We can have true communion of our hearts, when we know that we love one another. However, if I feel like that person hates me, I cannot be at the same place with that person even if I tried to.
How worried would I be if I think that another person hates me? But actually, the person who hates another person suffers the greater loss. If a person continues to hate another person, one’s own soul is surely ruined. Regardless of who the person is, if a person’s soul is full of hatred without any love, that person’s soul will wither shortly as a flower does.
On the other hand, when we practice God’s love toward others, our souls are invigorated. I am sure that all of us have experienced our own souls becoming healthier, more joyful, and more energetic as we shared our love with our brothers and sisters, God’s servants, and even the souls of those outside of Christ. Our true victory lies in the love of God.
The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Our true victory, our true salvation, and our true works of new life are being accomplished by the love of God. Jesus Christ being our God came by the water and the blood to deliver us from all our sins because He loved us. You and I should believe in the love our Lord has given us. By doing so, we become able to love others’ souls. In fact, believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have already become the ones who have put on the love of God.
God first loved the humanity. God loved all of humanity by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But there are those among people who do neither accept His love nor love Him. They treat the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which states that God sent us His only beloved Son Jesus for our salvation, as good for nothing and throw that gospel away.
What happens to those who do not believe in the love of God? Can anyone among us who does not love God receive the blessings from God and live well? Absolutely not. They will suffer greater pains than the judgment and condemnation from God. Because they did not love God but instead loved the Devil, when God loved them, they are in effect killing themselves by beating their own hearts with hatred. Those who do not love God must first believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
God is love as well as life. The love of God is the eternal life. The love of God is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All authentic love has come out of God: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). He who believes in the love of God is the believer in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That kind of person has already experienced the abundantly overflowing love of God. Because of that, that person loves the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. If we know God and know the love of God, we come to love God. You become the most appropriate person before God by knowing and believing that God loved us with the immensely great Truth.
We have to examine ourselves whether we really love God. Clearly, he who knows the love of God cannot but love God. Because God is the God of love, those who know the love of God are able to love Him by believing in Him. Those who neither love God nor the believers of God cannot love, because they do not have in them the love of God. Those, who have ignored that Jesus is God and that the same God so loved them, are the ones who do not believe in God and stand against Him instead. Their current lives are probably full of hellish bleakness and miseries. But their future holds the even worse real hell.
We who believe that God loved us by the gospel of the water and the Spirit also are grateful towards God. Dear fellow believers, do you also believe that God loves you? Of course, you do. Even now, God loves you and all of His creations. Jesus even loves those who have not yet accepted the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and hence, tells us to preach the gospel to them. As such, God’s love knows no limits, loving even the unbelievers with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
However, the problem is the presence of those ignorant of God’s love. Sometimes, such people are mingling among the saints of God’s Church. They pretend to be the born-again, but actually they are the enemies of God. Those who do not believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit are the very ones who have turned their backs against God. They haven’t experienced the love of God because of their ignorance of the true gospel. Therefore, whenever they felt troubles in following the Lord, they would say, “I don’t like that. I don’t like You! Why do You tell me that You love me, when You haven’t done anything for me! There are more things that You have taken away from me than You have given me!” From times to times, some ungrateful people turn their backs against God like this.
But, dear fellow believers, think carefully. Everything around you is from God. God has given us all the blessings and, therefore, He also has the authority to take some of them from us. As the Scripture says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Romans 11:36), we also come from God and return to Him. Fundamentally, nothing in this world was ever ours to begin with. Were even our lovers ever truly ours? They were God’s. You and I should not turn our back against God’s love. God loves you. God the Father has shown us the gist of His love through Jesus’ baptism, His bloodshed on the Cross, and His resurrection from the dead.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Because God the Father so loved you, He gave His only Son to be baptized, to shed His blood on the Cross, and to resurrect from the dead.
Do you know this love and truly believe in it? Of course, you do. To say that we believe in Jesus Christ is equivalent to saying that we believe in His love revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ so loved us that He received the baptism from John the Baptist, died on the Cross, and resurrected from the dead to become the King of kings.
As a matter of fact, it is not difficult to know about and believe in Jesus. When we look at God the Creator of all things in this universe, we come to know about the divinity of Jesus. It says in the Bible that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. Because God so loved and loves us, He became our eternal Savior by coming to this world in the flesh of man, receiving the baptism, vicariously dying for us by shedding His blood on the Cross, and resurrecting from the dead. As long as God lives, our salvation is not annulled. This is the love of God.
Is it correct that God has blotted out all our sins by the water and the blood? What I am asking is whether you believe wholeheartedly in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who believe in this are born of God, and those who don’t are not born of God. The unbelievers will live their lives as servants of Satan the Devil in this world, standing against God. Just like Satan the Devil did, those, who have not received the remission of sin through the gospel of the water and the Spirit stand against God, will leave God’s side.
Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the love of God, are born of God. And only the children of God can be embraced in God’s bosom. Hence, to become the child of God, you have to first believe in God’s love, which came by the water and the Spirit that has delivered you from all your sins. The Lord has come not only by the water and the blood but also by the Holy Spirit and delivered us from all our sins. We have truly become the children of God by believing in that love of God.
God said that there is the evidence of salvation for those who believe in the Son of God. We need to possess in our hearts the evidence of receiving the love of God. We should have the evidence of salvation in our hearts by believing that Jesus Christ, who came by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit, is the God of love as well as our Savior. Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and God to us, who has blotted out all our sins by the water and the blood and made us the children of God because He loved us, have in their hearts the evidence of receiving the love of God.
In the latter half of today’s Scripture passage of 1 John 5:20, it says, “This [Jesus] is the true God and eternal life.” Believing in God is not difficult for us. God the Father has shown His love for the entire humanity by sending His Son in to the world in the flesh of man. Although Jesus came in the flesh of man, He was the true God. The Apostle John said, “And the world was made through Him” (John 1:10). We must know that it is Jesus Christ who created everything in the universe and believe in Him to be the true God in His essence. We must know and believe that the true God Jesus blotted out all our sins and granted us the eternal life out of His love.
Jesus is truly the God of love. This God came to us by His love and delivered us from all our sins. God has made us into His own people by His love, and He gave us the eternal life. God desires for all of us to become His children by believing that Jesus is the Son of God and the true God, that He is our Savior, and that the love of God came to us by the water, the blood, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear fellow believers, you should believe in that love of God without leaving out any. I hope that all of you can become wholly God’s own people by believing that the Lord is God. Dear fellow believers, I hope that you become possessors of the true salvation by your faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, which is the love of God, as well as by your faith that Jesus is God.
Dear fellow believers, I hope that you do not fall into idol worship by placing your faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit.
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