Benefits of Believing in Jesus Christ – 10/22/23

Good morning, Church. If you don’t know me, my name is Ryan. I’m one of the elders here, and I am lucky enough to be able to preach this week and next week in chapter 5 of I John and finish up the series that we’ve been in here through the fall.

As I prepped for today, about a week ago, I had a realization. And it’s this. I used to be funny to my wife. I used to be funny. Back when we first started dating, and even those early years of marriage, I was hilarious. Every little clippy line I gave was funny. Every little bit that I tried to do to be funny got at least a genuine giggle and often an outright laugh. I was a veritable stand-up comedian to Rebecca. But now, twenty-eight years later, Rebecca has heard all my material. She’s literally said in front of people who are laughing at a story I just told … She’ll say, “I have just heard it so many times. It’s hard to laugh.” Yeah, that’s humbling. That’ll get ya, you know?! So, my humor has suffered from repetition. Apparently, comedy suffers from frequent repetition.

But not all repetition is bad. Sonia Simone, in her article “When to Be Redundant, Repetitive and Say the Same Thing Twice” … I’m going to let that sit there because that’s beautiful. That’s a great title. She writes this.

“Remember your fifth grade ‘What I did on my summer vacation’ paper, where you use the words ‘pool,’ ‘baseball’ and ‘bike’ one hundred times apiece? And your English teacher dutifully marked your paper up with her red pen. ‘Redundant. Don’t repeat yourself. Choose a new word.’”

Sometimes we get so fearful about repeating ourselves that our messages get completely lost. The truth is, after fifth grade is over, there are times when you want to repeat yourself to make sure your point comes across. Miss Simone goes on in her article and provides two reasons to use repetition. One — Repeat for clarity. She says this.

“Like it or not, your readers skim. No matter how clearly you expressed yourself the first time, your words may have literally not been seen. Remember that your content needs to cut through your reader’s dense fog of information clutter and chronic interruption. If it’s important, it’s worth repeating… It pays to repeat yourself.”

I discovered that I’m reading a commentary about the Bible, and because I know the passage I’m preaching on, when they go back to quoting the Bible, I’ll skim it. And so, when she read that I was a little bit, I don’t know, challenged in that, when I read, I often won’t even look at words that are right in front of me.

Number two — Repeat for certainty.

“It’s nice to think that our readers or listeners etch everything we write or say into their brains. Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. Don’t assume your readers got it the first time, or that they still remember it. If you have a powerful or important idea, hit your audience with it more than once.”

And then with my wife Rebecca’s help, who teaches public speaking, she brought up a third reason for repetition, and that’s memory. Repetition aids memory. So, repetition aids clarity, certainty, and memory. Clarity, certainty, and memory. John, in this little letter, is a master of redundancy, repetition, and saying the same thing twice. He does it over and over, because John wants us to be clear, John wants us to be certain, and John wants us to remember. And to help us do all of those things, John repeats three themes over and over and over.

Theme 1 – Believe Jesus is Christ. Theme 2 – Love your Brother. Theme 3 – Obey God’s Commands. These three themes open up for John a world of certainty. They create a world of clarity, and they help us remember all we need to know about who we really are and what we really believe. All three of these ideas keep reappearing, intertwined, like links in a chain that anchor us into realities that John talks about in his book, realities like fellowship with God, fellowship with each other, complete joy, eternal life, knowing God, being cleansed from sin, being forgiven by God, knowing that we’re of Jesus Christ, overcoming the evil one, having the Spirit, knowing truth from a lie, and the list of certainties goes on and on and on. John, in Miss Simone’s words, hits his audience with these three key ideas over and over and over. John brings clarity, certainty, and memory.

John does it again this week. He’s back to belief, belief that Jesus is Christ. And particularly this week we’re going to deal with the benefits of believing Jesus is Christ, the benefits of believing Jesus is Christ. John gives us four benefits. If we believe Jesus is Christ, we are born of God, love God and God’s kids, overcome the world, and possess eternal life. That’s what we’re going to talk about. So, now that you’ve just gotten comfortable, I want you to stand one more time in honor of God’s Word. Pilar is going to come up and read today’s section from I John, and I want you to try to tune your ear to those four benefits of believing Jesus is Christ.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

“This is he who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” This is the Word of the Lord.

Amen. Benefit number 1 — If you believe Jesus is Christ, you are born of God. 1 John 5:1,

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

Now, “believes” is a really normal word. We use it all the time. So, I want to give us a way to think about “belief” so that maybe it makes us think about it more. “Believes” is that something is true and worthy of trust. So, for me, some of you guys know that I ride a motorcycle and commute almost every day unless it rains. I’ve determined the truth that a motorcycle helmet will save my head in the case of impact. I trust that my helmet will protect my giant melon if I fall off of it. I believe in the reality of wearing a motorcycle helmet. So, whatever you say you believe in any area of your life, you are saying you believe it to be true and you deem it worthy of trust.

So, for John, believing that Jesus is Christ requires truth and trust. Truth — Jesus is Jesus the Christ. Jesus is the eternal life that was with God, was incarnated into the God-man and was seen firsthand by John himself. So, Jesus is truthfully both a Jewish man, and he is the incarnated Son of God.

Christ — He is also the promised divine Christ, the great rescuer. Christ is not Jesus’s last name. Christ is a title. It literally means “the Anointed One,” Jesus the Anointed One, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the promised deliverer, who will free people from sin and ultimately save and recreate the entire world. John says that believing Jesus is Christ frees us from the power and penalty of sin. He teaches this back in chapter 1 and 2, I John 1:7-2:2. John says this,

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Jesus is Christ. Jesus is the promised deliverer. So, believing in Jesus is this combination of truth and trust. Truth — Jesus is who Jesus says he is. He is the God-man. He is the deliverer. And trust — We trust that Jesus as Christ can do what he says he can do, that he can save us from all of our sin. That’s what it means to believe in Jesus, and everyone who believes that about Jesus has been born of God, which is our first benefit.

So, what does it mean to be “born of God”? Well, I imagine everyone in this room knows what the word “born” means, because everybody in this room was born. But interestingly, I want you to look at one passage of scripture from Matthew 1, Matthew 1. And Annie is going to scroll through this. This is a genealogy of Jesus. Notice that bold “was the father of the father of the father of the father of.” That is the same word “born” as in I John. So, in this genealogy, every subsequent generation is born from the father or is fathered by. So, when we come into I John, we see that God fathers children through belief in his Son Jesus Christ. God becomes our Father because we believe in his Son, Jesus the Christ. And when you’re “born again,” when you become part of God’s family, everything changes. You have a new inherited family. You have a new Father, you have a new heritage, you have a new inheritance, you have a new family culture, you have a new direction in life. Everything is brand new when you’re born again. Everyone who believes Jesus is Christ is born again.

Benefit number 2 — If you believe Jesus is Christ, you love God, and you love God’s kids. 1 John 5:1,

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him” [born of the Father].

So, first notice how belief in Jesus and love of the Father are connected. They’re inseparable. They’re almost saying the same thing. Belief in Jesus is not simply a mental exercise. It’s head and heart, or better put, it’s all of you. Everything that is you believes that Jesus is Christ, and therefore you are born again, and therefore you love the Father. Why? Because of everything he’s given you in his Son. Being born of God creates relational newness with God and with God’s kids. God’s our Father now; so, the relationship changes, and we love him. And if we love our Father, then we love all the kids he fathers. So, for me, that means everybody in this room who has been born again … If I love the Father, I automatically love you, not because of you (no offense) but because the Father … my Father’s your Father.

Why is that a benefit? John doesn’t really say that. I’m using that language. Why is that a benefit? Well, I think it’s a benefit, and I think John would say it’s a benefit because I don’t naturally love people. That’s not my starting point. That’s not my standard operating procedure, naturally, in Ryan. That’s not where I begin. But when I was born again, my love changes. I get to love people like Jesus loved people, and guess what? I’m not alone. You’re the same. Your starting point isn’t to love people either. But when you believe that Jesus Christ and you’re born again and you love the Father, you start looking around at all God’s kids and going, “I love you guys because the Father has loved you.”

Now, John is really wise and kind in his writing to help us remember that we won’t be perfect in loving each other, and this is really important information for church people. We’re not going to be perfect at it. But the beauty of what John writes about belief is that even when we don’t do it rightly, we can look at God and say, “I did not do that rightly.” I can confess the sin of not loving my brothers, and I can believe that he’s faithful and just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

John, then does this interesting little subpoint to make sure that you know how you know if you’re loving God’s kids. And he says this — How do you know if you’re loving God’s kids? Well, you love God, and you obey his commandments. So, love for others starts with love of God, and we do what he says. John literally says, “This is the love of God.” If you want an answer from John’s perspective “What is the love of God,” you answer, “We keep his commandments.” That’s what God’s kids do, and that’s how we know we’re loving each other if we do his commandments.

John has a flow here through this beginning part. If you believe Jesus is Christ, you love the Father. If you love the Father, you love God’s kids. If you love God, then you know you love God’s kids. If you keep God’s commandments, then you know you love God and God’s kids. That’s the flow that he gives us in his argument.

And then John kindly steps in and coaches us for a moment on what it means to obey God’s commandments. He says this — “God’s commandments are not burdensome.” That’s a really cool word, actually. God’s commandments aren’t heavy. God’s commandments aren’t fierce. God’s commandments aren’t vindictive. They’re not meant to take something away from you. So, if you believe Jesus Christ and God is your Father, then when he asks you to do something, it’s not burdensome. If God’s commandments feel burdensome to you, if they feel heavy or cruel, then you may need to revisit what it means to love the Father and be loved by him. Or it might be simply you don’t know the reason for the command. God’s commandments, all God’s commandments, are invitations to love. They’re not burdens to bear. All of God’s commandments for his kids are invitations to love. They are not burdens to bear.

Benefit number 3 — If you believe Jesus is Christ, you overcome the world. “Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.” Now, in my brain, I feel like this. If John were here right now … Let’s say he was right down here in the front row, and I read these words of his. Here’s what I would like to ask John if I could, if he were sitting right there. I would say to him, “John, really? Really? We’ve really overcome the world? Everyone who believes has overcome the world? Because it sure doesn’t feel like it sometimes because I keep failing. It sure doesn’t feel like it sometimes because people at North Hills keep failing each other, and the leaders of North Hills keep failing God’s people. It sure doesn’t feel like we’ve overcome the world when we actually look at everything that’s happening in the world. So, really? We’ve really overcome the world, John?”

And I’ll bet if he were here at this point, he would walk up here and say, “Hey, let me take over. Let me finish this up.” And then I think John would look at all of us, and I think he would tell us this story. I think he’d look at me and say, “Ryan, I need to tell you a story. There was this one time when me and the disciples were hanging out with Jesus. We had been with him for a while, and this one time he said this. ‘I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.’ We were devastated. I mean, deeply troubled. Bartholomew was ugly crying over in the corner because Jesus was going to leave. And then Jesus said something that was so wild to encourage us so that we would know we would be okay in his absence. Jesus looked at all of us and said, ‘Guys, I’ve said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart. I have overcome the world.’”

One of the best things about Jesus is he’s honest. Jesus actually tells his followers it’s going to look like you’re not overcoming the world. In the world, there’s actually going to be tribulation, but don’t give up. Don’t lose courage. Take heart. “Why, Jesus? Why should I have any courage when I look at the world?” “Because I’ve overcome it.” John would be looking at us and saying, “Hey, tribulation doesn’t win. Jesus does.” So, yes, you can say everyone who’s been born of God has overcome the world, not because of how I feel about my own performance, not because of how I feel about the performance of all of you here at North Hills, not because of how I feel about the events that are going on in the world. I have overcome the world because I believe that Jesus can do what Jesus said Jesus has already done, which is “I have overcome the world.”

And if Jesus did it, and I’m in him, I’ve done it. If Jesus can overcome the evil one, overcome death, overcome temptation, overcome the world, then by believing in him, brothers and sisters, if you believe Jesus is Christ, you get to share in all of Jesus’s overcomings, if that’s even a word. So, yeah, we’ve overcome the world. 1 John 5:5, “Who is it that overcomes the world [who is it that overcomes the system, the environment that is against Jesus, who is that?] except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God,” that believes Jesus is Jesus of Nazareth, the man and the Son of God, the divine promised Messiah? The only world overcomers in existence are those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

John then begins at this point … He moves on to the final benefit, and he has an explanation of the final benefit. Benefit number 4 — We possess eternal life. Before he gets to eternal life, though, John bolsters, builds up, and makes a case for the credibility of our belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus, again, the man from Nazareth, is the Christ, the Son of God. John provides evidence of Jesus’s credibility, and he does it by basically making a courtroom scene in the middle of this passage of I John. Verses 6-12, if when Pilar read it, if you heard over and over, John talks about testimony, testimony, testify, witnesses, truth. John creates a courtroom scenario to make us understand why Jesus is the Son of God or that we should believe that he is the Son of God. And John’s concern — it’s kind of that odd section that talks about water, blood, and Spirit — John’s concern is not just the validity of Jesus being the Son of God but the longevity of Jesus being the Son of God. How long has Jesus been the Son of God?

So, let’s see if we can understand this section a little bit and see the courtroom case. 1 John 5:6-8. I’ll read a part of it again.

“This is he”

The Son of God; it refers to the Son of God at the last part of the previous verse in verse 5.

“This is the Son of God who came by water and blood”

He arrived by, he was announced by, he was confirmed by

“water and blood — Jesus Christ; not by the water only”

Really important phrase; we’ll come back to it.

“But by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and blood; and these three agree.”

So, at the risk of being a little cheesy and corny, we’re going to look — because this is the only way I figured out; so, you guys have got to roll with me on the ride — this is how I could figure out what this passage meant by actually looking at it as a courtroom scenario. What do these witnesses have to say? So, in a sense, what John does is he steps from behind a table, and he calls witnesses to the witness stand about Jesus being the Son of God, and his first witness is water.

“Water, would you please take the stand? Will you tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I will.”

“Tell us how you know, Water, that Jesus is the Son of God?”

“Oh, I was there when it happened.”

“Could you be more specific about that, please?”

“Yeah, there was this particular day when Jesus of Nazareth asked John the Baptist to baptize him. Obviously, I was there because they walked down in, and the next thing you know, John the Baptist takes Jesus, plunges him under water, holds him there for a second, and then pulls him back up.”

“You saw this?”

“Yeah, I was there.”

“And how does that prove that Jesus is the Son of God?”

“Well, what happened next was really, really important. See, Jesus, when he came up out of the water, he looked up into the air, and the heavens cracked open, and the Spirit of God descended, and this voice thundered from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ I know it sounds crazy, but God spoke at Jesus’s baptism and declared him to be the Son of God. It’s hard to argue with that.”

So, Water shows up in court to testify that God himself declared Jesus the Son of God at his baptism. Now, remember, water and blood to us feel like odd words that come out of nowhere. But the events of Jesus’s life only happened forty years before the readers were reading this. They would have gotten the allusion to water and blood. We have to stretch ourselves a little bit in time. Water testifies Jesus was the Son of God. John then uses those important words “not by the water only.” Remember that. We’ll come back.

John calls his second witness.

“Blood, will you tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I will.”

“Tell us how you know that Jesus is the Son of God, please.”

“I was there when he died. And what I saw could only be explained if he was the Son of God. He had to be more than just a man. No one dies willingly for people that are nailing you to a cross, but he did. No one receives mocking, hanging naked in front of people, and then ask God to forgive the mockers, but he did. No other crucifixion involves the sky turning black in the middle of the day and the curtain of the temple being torn from top to bottom with no explanation, but his did. I mean, Jesus quoted Psalms when he was on the cross dying. He looked up at the end of that experience and said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ Who talks to God that way, but a son? I even heard a Roman centurion who was there as part of the duty to kill Jesus. I even heard the centurion who declared out loud in front of everybody treasonous words — ‘Truly, this was the Son of God.’”

Blood testifies that Jesus died as the Son of God. The Son of God came by water. He was announced to be the Son of God at his baptism, and Jesus continued the Son of God at his death.

And this is where those three little words are really important (four little words) — “not by water only” — because the people of the day that had left this church, they were fine with Jesus being the Son of God at the baptism. But to see the Son of God in his divinity, shamed and killed in front of people, no way! So, John comes in and says, “No, no, no, no, no. You’ve got to believe both witnesses. You don’t get to pick and choose. You believe Water and Blood. Jesus was divine born, divine baptism, divine death.” So, those are the witnesses that come up in court.

Similar to Jewish law, John calls his final witness to make it indisputable. In the Scriptures, more than once we read, “where two or three witnesses.” It establishes truth. So, John has another witness, and this is the Spirit of God. The Spirit who participated in the birth of Jesus, descended at the baptism of Jesus, did miracles at the crucifixion of Jesus, and now presides as an ongoing witness for all of us who believe that Jesus is Christ … The Spirit comes up behind Water and Blood, and the three of them agree in testimony — Jesus is the Son of God, beginning to end.

John brings the courtroom scene to a close, and he makes a really bold statement. If you’re willing to believe the testimony of men in courts that happen around us, then you’d better believe the testimony of God because it’s greater. If you’ll go to a court in downtown Greenville and believe a witness, then you must believe the witness of the Spirit. So, to be clear, John is saying you can ignore the story of Jesus. You can ignore the witness of water, blood, and Spirit, but it doesn’t matter about your affirmation because behind the reality of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God, it is ultimately a supernatural proclamation by the Spirit of God himself. If you believe the testimony of the water, blood, and Spirit, then John says that identity abides within you. You possess the testimony that happened in court. You have it in you. And that testimony keeps talking to you and affirming that you believe the testimony that you possess.

If you reject the testimony of who Jesus is, then John says, and he does it quite bluntly, you’re calling God a liar. So, John teaches us something really important. Disbelief is not passivity. Disbelief isn’t just not believing. Disbelief is saying, “You’re lying” to God himself.

And this is where we get to benefit number 4 — We possess eternal life. If you believe Jesus is Christ the Son of God, then you have life, eternal life. 1 John 5:11-12,

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life.”

What’s the testimony that happened in court with Water, Blood, and Spirit? Jesus is Christ. What’s the testimony? Because he is that, you have eternal life.

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

So, I’ve grown up in church since I was about eight years old, and more often than not, eternal life in church world is talked about in terms of quantity of time, that it lasts forever, and that certainly is true. John doesn’t hit that really hard here in this letter, but we can see that in other places in Scripture. What John is primarily concerned about is making sure that we understand the connection between life, eternal life, and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is eternal life. You believe in Jesus Christ, you have eternal life because you have Jesus, who is eternal life.

It’s the repetition thing again. He keeps nailing it. So, my eternal life is my possession by faith, by truth and trust in the life of Jesus Christ himself. I believe that because Jesus is who he says he is, did what he did. I believe in that. I have eternal life. And it’s a gift of God. God gave us life and that life is in his Son. And if you have the Son, if you believe Jesus is Christ, you have life. Your belief about Jesus Christ is directly connected to your possession of eternal life.

So, we have these benefits of believing Jesus is Christ. Do you believe Jesus is Christ? Do you believe that you need Jesus to save you from the power and penalty of sin? John draws this argument to a close by presenting two choices. Either you believe and have life, or you don’t believe and you don’t have life.

How does John want people to respond in this section of chapter 5? I think there are two things. Number 1 — Receive encouragement; continue to believe; stay steadfast. Remember in John’s letter, he’s continually writing about things they already know. He actually says that to them. I’m writing about something that you already know. I want you to keep at it. I want you to hold on to this. I don’t want you to change what you believe about Jesus being Christ, like all of those people who changed and left you and are now trying to deceive you. No! Continue to believe Jesus is the Christ. Be encouraged. If you believe Jesus is Christ, you possess all the benefits of Jesus himself. Don’t turn away. Stay steadfast. Don’t give up. Be encouraged.

The second way to respond is receive an invitation because John simultaneously writes to encourage people and invite people. He wants everybody to have life. He wants everybody to believe Jesus is Christ. So, you have an opportunity today. Do I believe this entire grand story about Jesus the Christ? Do you believe it? Do you look at yourself and look at the world and see the brokenness of it all and wonder where did that come from? That’s sin. That’s separation from God, and the only bridge between us and God is the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, who died for us so that we could believe in his life and be reunited with God in perfect fellowship for now and forever. So, receive encouragement. Receive an invitation to believe.

John is repeating himself again in this section with new words. You must believe Jesus is Christ. You must believe that Jesus is come in the flesh. You must believe Jesus is the Son of God. For John, what you believe about Jesus the Christ is everything. What you believe about Jesus is everything. What you believe about the Son of God being come in the flesh is everything. What you believe about Jesus is everything, and what you believe about the Son of God is everything. And it’s a message that’s worth repeating over and over and over.

We must believe Jesus is Christ. We must believe Jesus is Christ. We must believe Jesus is Christ.

Be clear. Be certain. Remember, Jesus is Christ. Amen? Amen.