The
Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Easter I
April 11, 2021
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.”
John the beloved Disciple begins our
Epistle selection for the day with a strong statement of victory and
achievement. It is fitting that he
should say so in this blessed season of Easter, for this is the time of
Christ’s exultation over death, despair and perdition. This is also our time of victory through Him. In the big scheme of things, Good wins. Evil
is defeated.
In bold and stirring words, John says we
who believe in the Son of God can overcome the world. In fact, in Christ, we the church through
faith have overcome the world.
What? On the surface it seems unlikely
when one surveys the relative powerlessness of many Christians around the world. Consider all those who are persecuted for the
faith. Although in this country, we are still free from persecution, in many
places it is not so. In China, in the
Middle East, and in parts of Africa, persecution is real and active. There are people, even today, who are
suffering and dying for the faith of Christ.
Thus, one might be tempted to look upon
these martyrs and say, “Overcome the World?
Rather the world has overcome them…”
This would be the obvious conclusion and it would be patently wrong.
Consider this. As the disciple is not above his master, nor
is the servant above his lord, so are these blessed saints in relation to
Christ. As Jesus told those women who
bewailed him on his way to Golgotha, “For if they do these things in a green
tree, what shall be done in the dry?”[1]
In other words, if the World dared to
strike the Head, what will happen to those that follow Him? The World shall strike them, just as it did
their Master. They shall suffer persecution,
deprivation, and even death. As in the
early Church, many will become as “offscouring of all things”.[2] Yet, just as the World thought it had
defeated Jesus by depriving Him of earthly life, it was totally wrong. Christ overcame the hate of the World
through Love. He asserted His Lordship over death and despair by rising from
the dead. Hate and evil were frustrated
and defeated. Christ’s victory was complete.
As faithful disciples, those suffering
for the faith, through faith, will be glorified like their Master. They will experience the glorious overcoming
of the world, just as Christ did. They may be cast down for a while, as was
Christ, but their glory will forever outshine the malignancy of evil. They will overcome the world through faith.
Yet, when
we see the vicissitudes of the Church in the World, we ponder St. Paul’s words
in First Cor. 1:26: (1 Corinthians 1:26): For you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, are called.”
St. Paul was referring to the origins of the early Church. It grew, not
from an endorsement from the rich and powerful, but rather despite indifference from them.
This changed into an active persecution of Christianity by the time of
the Emperor Diocletian. Again, how can
it be that we Christians overcome the world, especially when we consider what our
Lord Himself said in Luke
16:8: “for the children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
John answers this internal inquiry we might have when he
says, “5 And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God? In accepting this, many Christians have “confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”[3] To use a well-worn but truthful phrase,
although we are in the world, we should not be of it. In other
words, we honor the Earth and our earthly existence as good and holy things, but
they are not ultimate. Earthly
life should not hold complete sway over us.
We note its glitter and illusions, yet we are above them.
The Apostle John reinforces our faith that Christ is the One that Overcame
as he presents Christ’s “credentials.”[4] That
is, there are witnesses to Christ’s existence, His glory and his Victory.
First, there is the Spirit of God, who bears witness to Christ constantly
in our hearts, through our worship and reception of the Blessed Sacrament, and
through our reading of the Word of God.
All this comes through grace by the Holy Spirit. He is truth.
Continuing, John tells us: “7 For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.” Only in the Gospel and writings of
John is Christ constantly referred to as “the Word”. The most familiar reference
being in John 1:1, where we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.” The
Divine Son of God in the Glory that he had before the Worlds, certainly bears
witness to his human nature, as well as his divine nature. We know that the Father bore witness to His
Son directly, first at his Baptism, when God the Father spoke: “This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The Father spoke again at the Transfiguration, when Jesus spoke with
Moses and Elijah, becoming glistening white.
He said, (Luke
The importance of this little section of Scripture cannot be understated:
it is proof text for the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost. Just as these three bear
witness to Christ, they witness to us about the nature of God. He is One God in Three Persons, not three
Gods, three Fathers, three Sons or three Spirits. These three Persons bear
witness to Christ.
John echoes this, as he says, “And there are three that bear witness in
earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree
in one”.
Thus, we have a wonderful parallel of witness, both in heaven and on earth
to Christ. As many Church fathers have
taught us, and even modern writers like C.S. Lewis, things on earth are a faint
reflection of things in heaven.
The witness of men is important, but the witness of God is greater. When we see the Scriptures through new, spiritual
eyes and see the overwhelming evidence for the work and victory of Jesus
Christ, we receive the witness in ourselves. Thus, we have witness that Jesus
Christ is Lord. To God’s eternal glory,
we can only confess that Jesus is Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we
have the grace to confess this, it is well with us. We are beginning to
overcome the world.
The record God has given us is quite simple: it is the sum of the Gospel:
“And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life
is in his Son. 2 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have
the Son of God does not have life.”
We give thanks to God that He has seen fit to call us into the fellowship
of His Son… We give thanks that we, through Christ, have overcome the World. AMEN
7 “For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.”
No comments:
Post a Comment