I John 5 – Part 7

“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.” I John 5:20.

This will be our last lesson on the book of I John. As we have stated several times before, this book is about fellowship with God (1:3-4). Being in fellowship with God depends on walking in the light as He is in the light (1:7), confessing our sins (1:9), keeping God’s commandments (2:3-5; 3:24), loving one another (2:9-11; 3:11-23; 4:7-5:3), hating the world (2:15-17), acknowledging Jesus is God’s Son (2:23; 4:2-3, 4:15), practicing righteousness (2:29-3:10), listening to and obeying apostolic teaching (4:6), and avoiding idolatry (5:21).

As the apostle John concludes his letter, he is seeking to encourage his Christian readers (2:12-14; 5:13) who may be moving deeper into darkness along the path of sin or they may know of other Christians who are, and therefore, may be in danger of a premature physical death (5:16-17; cf. Acts 5:5-10; I Cor. 3:16-17; 5:5; 11:30). John already presented two unchanging certainties in 5:18-19 beginning with the phrase “we know that…” (oidamen hoti). He wants his readers to know that no matter how far down into darkness a Christian brother or sister has traveled, they are still God’s child at the core of their being because His sinless seed remains in them (5:18; cf. 3:9) and he or she is on God’s side whether they consciously sense that or not, and will therefore feel like a foreigner in this Satanically controlled world (5:19; 2:16-17). 1

We are now ready to look at the third encouragement from the apostle in 5:20. This is one of the clearest verses in the Bible concerning the deity of Jesus Christ. “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.” (I John 5:20). Again, we see the phrase, “we know that…” which reminds us that what John is about to say is absolute truth from God the Holy Spirit.

What is it we can know with certainty? “That the Son of God has come…” (5:20a). John and the other apostles were eyewitnesses to the coming of God’s Son in the first century (cf. 1:1-5; 2:7; 4:14). Jesus is not some mythical person. History attests to the fact that Jesus Christ was a real Person Who was born before King Herod’s death.

Luke 2:1 states that Jesus was born in the reign of Caesar Augustus (who reigned from March 15, 44 B.C. to August 19, A.D 14). Matthew 2:1 and Luke 1:5 inform us that Christ’s birth came before King Herod’s death. Herod’s death can be determined with certainty. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus (Antiquities 17.6.4), an eclipse of the moon occurred on March 12/13, 4 B.C. before Herod’s death. 2 Josephus also records (Antiquities 17.9.3; The Jewish War 2.1.30) that the Passover celebration that took place after King Herod’s death occurred on April 11, 4 B.C. 3 Hence, Herod must have died between March 12 and April 11, 4 B.C. Therefore, for these reasons Christ could not have been born later than March/April of 4 B.C.

Every time we write down today’s date, it goes back to Jesus. Today is May 11, 2023. Two thousand twenty-three years from what? From A.D. which stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for “year of our Lord,” and it means the number of years since the birth of Jesus Christ.

“It might sound strange to suggest that Jesus Christ was born no later than 4 B.C. since B.C. means ‘before Christ.’ But our modern calendar which splits time between B.C. and A.D. was not invented until A.D. 525. At that time, Pope John the First asked a monk named Dionysius to prepare a standardized calendar for the western Church. Unfortunately, poor Dionysius missed the real B.C./A.D. division by at least four years!” 4

In addition to the historicity of Christ’s birth, there is also ample historical evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Josephus also wrote of Jesus’ death, “Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross.” 5 Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus, wrote, “a wise man who was called Jesus…. Pilate condemned Him to be condemned and to die.” In addition, he said that Jesus’ disciples “reported that He had appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that He was alive.” 6  

A Roman writer, Phlegon, referred to Christ’s death and resurrection in his Chronicles, saying, “Jesus, while alive, was of no assistance to himself, but that he arose after death, and exhibited the marks of his punishment, and showed how his hands had been pierced by nails.” 7

In addition, Phlegon spoke of “the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place.” 8

The historical evidence for Jesus’ death is so overwhelming that even a Muslim scholar, Reza Aslan, who wrote the book, Zealot, was persuaded to conclude Jesus “was most definitely crucified.” 9 Despite the fact that the Quran denies Christ’s death (Sura 4:157),the historical evidence persuaded Aslan to conclude that Christ truly did die on the cross. “He believes so strongly in Jesus’ death by crucifixion that he uses it as the foundation for his entire theory of Jesus’ life.” 10

Just as history proclaims that George Washington was the first President of the USA, so history proclaims that Jesus Christ was born in 4 B.C., and thirty-three years later died and rose from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is the most attested fact of ancient history. Thomas Arnold authored a three-volume history of Rome and was appointed to Oxford’s Chair of Modern History. Concerning the evidence behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he said, “I have been used for years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than that Christ died and rose from the dead.” 11

Frank Morison, a British trial lawyer, vowed to write a book disproving Christianity and committed to base his book on a collection of facts. Using a critical method of evaluation and despite his initial beliefs, he concluded that Christianity is true. The resurrection convinced him, and he wrote a book entitled, Who Moved the Stone? which begins with the chapter, “The Book that Refused to Be Written.”

Former atheists Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel set out to disprove the resurrection of Christ only to be persuaded by the historical evidence that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. You can read about the evidence that persuaded them to believe in Jesus in their books: McDowell ‘s The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (1999) and The Resurrection Factor (1981); Strobel’s The Case for Christ Revised (2013) and The Case for Easter (2004).

John states that Christ came “and has given us an understanding” (5:20b). The Greek word for “understanding” (dianoian) refers to “comprehending,” or “insight, intelligence.” 12 This is the only time John uses this word in his epistle. Christ’s coming provided the giving of the Holy Spirit or “the anointing” (2:21-20, 27) to all who believe in Jesus (John 7:37-39; Acts 10:43-48; 11:15-17; 15:7-11; Rom. 5:5; 8:9; I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:2-3; Ephes. 1:13-14; et al.).

In his gospel, John records that the night before His crucifixion, Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would “dwell… in” them (John 14:16-17; cf. I Cor. 3:16; 6:19), “teach” them and bring to “remembrance all” that He taught (John 14:26), and “guide” them into “all truth” to “glorify” Jesus (John 16:13-14).

John informs us that this “understanding” the Holy Spirit gives believers (cf. I Cor. 2:9-16) enables them to “know Him who is true” (5:20c). The word “know” (ginōskōmen) refers to experiential knowledge (see comments on 2:3-4, 12-14). The coming of the Son of God has given believers the comprehension or intelligence necessary to “know Him” experientially “who is true.” This experiential knowledge is the result of obedience to God’s commands (2:3-4; c. John 14:21, 23). 13

“Christian love (obedience) is never absent where God is truly known (cf. comments on 4:7-8). There could be no true understanding of love or of God had not the Son of God come and died to reveal God’s love. Through His death the Son has given us an understanding (an intelligence) by means of which we may know God. The obedient Christian possesses the necessary spiritual capacity to know God.” 14

When John states “and we are in Him who is true” (5:20d), we are reminded that he equated being “in Him” (God) to “abiding” in Him (cf. 2:5-6), just as Jesus taught the branch is to abide in the vine (cf. John 15:1-8).Christ said that “abiding” is necessary to be a “disciple” who “bears fruit,” experiences answered prayer and “joy,” and glorifies “the Father” (John 15:1-11). To be “in Him” is equated to having fellowship with God. 15 Hence, John is not talking about our position or salvation in I John 5:20 when he speaks of being “in Him,” he is talking about our condition or fellowship with God. Being “in Him” refers to “abiding” in Him. 16

John then identifies the One “who is true” when he writes, “in His Son Jesus Christ” (5:20e). John heard Christ say the night before His crucifixion, “I am… the truth” (John 14:6). There is nothing false or misleading about Jesus Christ. He is the truth.Some suggest that the first “Him” in 5:20 refers to God the Father (“that we know Him who is true”) and the second “Him” refers to Christ(“and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ”).

“But to be in Him, that is, to abide in Him, is not only to abide in Him who is true (as John has just described God), but it is also to be in His Son Jesus Christ. There is no and between the phrases in Him and in His Son. To abide in God and to abide in Christ are the same thing.” 17

John then makes one of the clearest proclamations of the deity of Christ in all the Bible in the last part of the verse. “This is the true God and eternal life.” (5:20f). Clearly the nearest antecedent in 5:20 for the pronoun “this” (houtos) is Jesus Christ (Iēsou Christō) which agrees in gender (masculine) and number (singular). Christ is the main focus of this verse. John clearly states that Jesus Christ is “the true God and eternal life.” There is no other possible antecedent in this verse.

Someone might ask, “Didn’t Jesus deny that He was the true God when He prayed to His Father in heaven and addressed Him as the only true God in John 17:3?” Christ prayed to His Father in heaven, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3). Jesus was not denying He was the “true God,” but was praising His Father as such.

The very next words after this verse are: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:4-5). Jesus said He shared the glory of God the Father before the world was. But the Yahweh of the Old Testament says, “I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 42:8). How can Jesus claim to have the glory of His Father before the world was if Yahweh says He will not give His glory to another?

Because Jesus is the Yahweh of the Old Testament. He has the same divine nature as His Father. Jesus identifies Himself with the Father. Jesus “is in” the Father, and the Father “is in” Jesus (John 10:38). Jesus is “one” with the Father (John 10:30). They are not divided in essence. So, in one sense Jesus is in the Father; and if the Father is the only true God, then Jesus is also the true God.

The Greek word translated “only” (monos) in John 17:3 does not always refer to absolute exclusivity. For example, monos is used in Jude 1:4 of “the only” Lordship of Jesus Christ, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only [monos] Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude is not excluding God the Father when he refers to “the only” Lordship of Jesus Christ. Other verses in the Bible confirm the Lordship of God the Father (Psalm 2:7; 110:1; Isaiah 63:16; Mark 13:20; Luke 10:21-22) and God the Son, Jesus Christ (Psalm 110:2; Luke 6:5; 19:31; John 13:13; 20:28; Acts 2:36; 10:36; 16:31; Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11; Revelation 17:14).

To say that Jesus denies He is God in John 17:3 would contradict the entire message of the gospel of John which begins (John 1:1-18) and ends (John 20:28-31) with the fact that Jesus is God.

In John 17:3, Jesus was not creating a point of distinction between Himself and the Father in the expression, “only true God”, but between the Father and any other “so called god” such as idols. Christ had lived among the Romans with their many competing gods and Jesus was addressing the Father with these idols in mind.

This understanding is substantiated further by John in his epistle when he identifies Christ as “the true God” (5:20f). John clearly states that Jesus Christ is the true God. He then writes, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (I John 5:21). John affirms that Jesus “is the true God” and then immediately warns his readers to guard themselves “from idols” or false gods.

In I John 5:20 the apostle also declares that Jesus Christ is “eternal life,” which connects back to the prologue (1:1-4) where the subject matter of John’s epistle was identified as “that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” (1:2b). This supports the final statement in verse 20 as a reference to Jesus Christ. Taken together, 1:2 and 5:20 provide bookends for what John wrote. By saying Jesus is the “eternal life,” John has fulfilled his intention to “declare” to his readers this “eternal life” (1:2). 18

He has shown them that by ‘abiding’ in Him who is true (which is also to abide in His Son Jesus Christ), they can experience eternal life. That life, expressed in love toward their Christian brothers and sisters, springs out of the sinless inner self (5:18). It marks their life and experience as being of God rather than of the world (5:19), and expresses the spiritual understanding that the Son of God came to give them (5:20a).” 19

As we mentioned in our previous lesson, some of you may have a Christian spouse or child who has pursued the lusts of this passing world (2:16-17). They have been so twisted by the godless values of this world system that they are doing things that are contrary to their Christian beliefs and values. Because of their prolonged plunge into the deep darkness of sin, you have lost hope that they will ever return to fellowship with God and His people.

John wants to encourage us in 5:20 with this “spiritual radar system or search light the Holy Spirit uses to direct us to the true God. There are many false gods in the world (as the next verse warns), which can lead us far from the path of God. This internal guidance system can help bring us home. It’s what Paul would call the ‘mind of Christ’ (1 Cor 2:15-16).” 20

In stark contrast to the Lord Jesus Christ who is “the true God and eternal life” (5:20), John concludes his epistle with a final admonition to avoid false gods: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (I John 5:21). John begins this verse with “Little children” (teknia, “born-ones”; cf. 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4) 21 which expresses his fatherly love and concern for these believers.

This concluding verse may seem out of place to us at first, but in view of John’s previous discussion on prayer for a sinning believer (5:16-17) and his three encouragements (5:18-20), the last of which uses the word “true” three times to describe our “God” (5:20), this is a very pertinent conclusion to the apostle’s epistle on fellowship with God and other believers.

The opposite of true is false. Our God is true (5:20), but “idols” are false gods (5:21). “There is no need to take ‘idols’ in a figurative sense. In the Greco-Roman world of John’s day, any moral compromise with worldly perspectives was likely to lead to some involvement with idolatry, since idolatry permeated pagan life at every level.” 22

Our spiritual radar system (intelligence given to us by the Holy Spirit – 5:20), can help us recognize the true God (Jesus Christ) in contrast to the false gods of this world. False gods can destroy our fellowship or closeness with God and other Christians. 23

Anderson observes that “we don’t have to study the Old Testament long to see that while kings ruled in Israel, idolatry reigned in the temple more years than Yahweh. God used the Assyrians and the Babylonians to purify His people from their idols. And since it was King Solomon who introduced idolatry into Israel through his intermarriage with foreign wives, we see how easily idolatry can creep into the life of a wise man who was even used by God to write inspired revelation.

“Idols are usually good things. The bronze serpent (Num. 21:4-9) was initially used by God to heal the Israelites from snake bites. But eight centuries later (2 Kgs. 18:4) Hezekiah had to destroy the bronze serpent, for it had become an idol called Nehushtan (piece of bronze) to which they burned incense. Our idols are usually not evil things, but rather good things: our possessions (cars, houses, even yards), our retirement accounts, our bodies, our success—you name it.” 24

How do we identify an idol? It has been said that “an idol is like an eclipse of the sun— the moon gets in the way. When something gets between us and God’s light, then darkness creeps in and whatever is blocking that light is an idol. Beware! Solomon was no dummy. He thought he was doing something good by expanding the land of Israel out to the borders promised by God to Abraham. But he had to compromise the guidelines laid down by God for a king (Deut. 17:17) in order to do it.” 25

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Is it taking the place of God in my life? Is it becoming more important to me than spending time with the Lord Jesus?
  • Is it more important to me than my family, my Christian friends, and my ministry?
  • What do I turn to other than God to medicate my feelings of anxiety, boredom, depression, exhaustion, loneliness, self-doubts, or stress?
  • What do I turn to other than God to celebrate or reward myself for an accomplishment or achievement?

If you answered these questions honestly, you probably have a good idea of some idols in your life. An idol could be alcohol, your cell phone, drugs, entertainment, fame, feelings, intellectualism, novels, pleasure, possessions, power, sex, social media, sports, success, work, etc.

I believe one of the most dangerous and destructive idols for believers of all ages in the church today is pornography. 26 Yet most churches do not know how to address it in a way that offers hope and healing for those enslaved to it. 27 Churches often preach against the problem of pornography without providing a safe environment to address the real problem which is a deeper hurt in the hearts of those hooked on porn. Pornography is simply a surface coping mechanism for a deeper wound. Unresolved pain or trauma from our past is often what drives addictions of any kind.

The solution to overcoming pornography or any addiction for that matter, is to look to Jesus Christ, the true God and eternal life, to heal the pain that drives the addiction (I John 5:20). This is done through the discipleship process whereby a believer in Jesus learns to abide in Jesus’ word along with other believers so they can know the truth that sets them free from the lies that drive their bondage to sin and shame (John 8:31-36). As a believer identifies the lies that drive their addiction, they can learn to replace those lies in the power of the Holy Spirit with the truth of God’s Word that brings freedom from bondage to sin (cf. Psalm 119:28-29). This is to be done in the context of a loving community of like-minded believers who can encourage and empower each other on their journey to freedom (2 Tim. 2:22).

If you do not know for sure you have eternal life and a future home in Jesus’ heaven, you need to start with understanding that Jesus Christ is the only source of eternal life. The bookends of I John (1:1-3; 5:20) have informed us of this. To have eternal life in one’s life, you must have Jesus Christ, Who is eternal life (5:20), in your life (5:11-12). How do you get Christ in your life? John wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (I John 5:13). To “know” with absolute certainty, not guess, or hope that you “have eternal life,” you must “believe in the name of the Son of God.” There is no mention of having fruit, obedience, or a changed life to know you have eternal life. The only condition is to “believe in the name of the Son of God.” This is so simple that many adults miss it.

In this context, to “believe in” (pisteúō eis) the name of the Son of God means to be convinced or persuaded that Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life (5:20) Who will give you eternal life as a free gift the moment you believe in His name. 28 Are you convinced or persuaded that this promise of God is true?  If so, then you can “know” with absolutely certainty that you now have eternal life. And you can be just as certain of heaven as the people who are already there. Knowing we are going to heaven is not a guess; it is a guarantee from Jesus Christ Who is the true God and eternal life (I John 5:1, 13, 20; cf. John 14:1-6). Christ cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). His promise is as true as He is true.

If you or a fellow believer close to you find yourselves moving deeper into darkness on the pathway of sin and there seems to be no hope of returning to fellowship with God and His people, I pray that God’s encouraging promises in John’s final words in his letter (5:18-21) will give you the assurance and guidance you need. These promises include… 29

1. God’s sinless seed (divine nature) remains in you or your loved one so that you (or he/she) are still the same holy child of God who remains untouched or harmed by evil or the evil one no matter how badly or long you (or he/she) have sinned (5:18; 3:9). This unchanged seed remains a base from which the Holy Spirit can work within you (or him/her) to bring healing to you (or him/her) so you can return to fellowship with God and His people.

2. You (or he/she) are on God’s side and will never be completely comfortable living for this world (5:19). As a child of God, you (or he/she) are totally separate from the whole world that lies under the influence of Satan, and to some degree you will never feel completely comfortable in this sin sick world. God can turn your (or his/her) discomfort into disgust so you (or he/she) will turn towards home (God).

3. God’s search light (inner, spiritual intelligence) within you (or him/her) can be used by the Holy Spirit to guide you (or him/her) back to the true God and eternal life, Jesus Christ (5:20-21). God’s Spirit can whisper what is right in the ear of a wayward believer whose fellowship with God and other Christians has been cut off by their focus on the idols of this world, so he or she will return to the only true God Who alone can give them fullness of joy as they resume fellowship with Him and His people.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the book of I John which was written to help believers experience the joy of close fellowship with You and Your eternal Son, Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, there are many false gods or idols in the world that seek to draw us away from You and Your Word. Some of us or those we love, have become enslaved to these idols and we are in desperate need of Your Spirit to turn our discomfort in this sin sick world into disgust so we may return to the true God and eternal life, Jesus Christ. Forgive us Father for turning to the things of this world to medicate our pain instead of looking to Jesus, Who can heal us and satisfy our deepest needs. Thank You for the encouraging promises You have given us at the end of John’s epistle which offer us assurance and guidance. Help us to express our new nature and separateness from this Satanically controlled world system by guarding ourselves from the false gods of this world. Rescue us, restore us, and renew us, we pray. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

ENDNOTES:

1. David R. Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? (Grace Theology Press, 2013 Kindle Edition), pg. 265.

2. Retrieved on May 11, 2023, from Daniel B. Wallace’s article entitled “The Birth of Jesus Christ,” at bible.org and from the Biblical Archaeology Society Staff’s December 15, 2022, article entitled “Herod’s Death, Jesus’ Birth, and a Lunar Eclipse at biblicalarchaeology.org.

3. Ibid.

4. Wallace, “The Birth of Jesus Christ,” at bible.org.

5. Norman L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2002), pg. 236 cites Flavius Josephus, “Antiquities of the Jews,” 18:3; trans. William Whiston, Josephus: Complete Works (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1963), pg. 379.

6. Ibid. cites Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 55? – after 117), Annals, 15.44.

7. Ibid., cites Phlegon, “Chronicles,” as cited by Origen, “Against Celsus” from The Ante-Nicene Fathers, trans. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), vol. 4, pg. 455.

8. Ibid.

9. Nabeel Qureshi, No God but One: Allah or Jesus? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016 Kindle Edition), pg. 179 cites interview with Lauren Green.

10. Ibid.

11. Thomas Arnold, Christian Life, Its Hopes, Its Fears, and Its Close, 6th ed. (London: T. Fellowes, 1859), pp. 14-16.

12. Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition (BDAG) revised and edited by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000 Kindle Edition), pg. 234.

13. Zane C. Hodges; Robert Wilkin; J. Bond; Gary Derickson; Brad Doskocil; Dwight Hunt; Shawn Leach; The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition (Grace Evangelical Society, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 604.

14. Ibid., pg. 606.

15. See Dillow’s thorough discussion of John 15 in Joseph Dillow, Final Destiny: The Future Reign of The Servant Kings: Fourth Revised Edition (Grace Theology Press, 2018 Kindle Edition), pp. 611-626.

16. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 265.

17. Hodges, The Grace New Testament Commentary, pg. 606.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

20. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 265.

21. Zane C. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Editors John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (David C. Cook, 2018 Kindle Edition), Kindle Location 4130.

22. Ibid., Kindle Location 4130 to 4135.

23. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 266.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid., pp. 266-267.

26. Statistics indicate that 60-70 percent of men, 50-58 percent of pastors, and 20-30 percent of women in evangelical churches are sexually addicted – see Jeremy & Tiana Wiles, Conquer Series: The Battle Plan For Purity Study Guide, Vol. 1 (Stuart FL: KingdomWorks Studio, 2017), pg. 21; young people are also struggling with watching pornography online as young as four years of age and older because it is so accessible, addictive, aggressive, anonymous, and appealing (see Christian apologist and author Josh McDowell’s very informative and staggering videos on October 7, 2018 at Denton Bible Church entitled, “Breaking Free from the Porn Epidemic w/ Josh McDowell” at https://vimeo.com/294241982 and on August 3, 2021 with Pure Desire Ministries entitled, “The Effects of Pornography with Josh McDowell” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3sRmLFarZc .” Christians who are hooked on pornography have less spiritual interest in attending church, reading their Bibles, prayer, and hanging out with other Christians.

27. Less than 7% of pastors in America provide solutions to help their people break free from porn (see Ted Shimer, The Freedom Fight: The New Drug and the Truths that Set Us Free (Houston: High Bridge Books, 2020), pg. 89 cites Barna Survey at  https://www.charismnews.com/us/73208-15-statistics-about-the-church-and-pornography-that-will-blow-your-mind. However, Shimer also provides practical suggestions in his book on how churches can overcome the obstacles that keep them from addressing pornography in helpful and healthy ways (pp. 91-99).

28. The phrase to “believe in” (pisteúō eis) basically means to be convinced or persuaded that something is true and therefore is worthy of your trust – see Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pp. 816-817.

29. Adapted from Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 267.

I John 4 – Part 2

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” I John 4:9

In 1966 Dionne Warwick made an album that included a song that would become very famous – “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing there is just too little of.” Fifty-seven years later I don’t think anything has changed. In this war-torn world of terrorism and fear, a little love would go a long way. And its not just the world and nations that need love. I believe more than ever that Christians also need love – lots of love.

But what is love? Listen to the answers of some four- to eight-year-olds: 1

1. When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore… So, my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” Rebecca (Age 8)

2. “Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl (Age 5)

3. “Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri (Age 4)

4. “Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.” Noelle (Age 7)

5. “Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” Chris (Age 7)

6. “When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” Karen (Age 7)

7. “Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” Mary Ann (Age 4)

8. “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy (Age 6)

After talking about how God’s Spirit can enable believers to discern the spirit of truth from the spirit of error in the world today (3:24-4:6), the apostle John will now focus on how God’s Spirit can manifest His love in our relationships with one another (4:7-11).

We cannot give what we do not have. Many people today have grown up in homes where they talked about love, but they did not experience unconditional love. As they have grown up, they find it very difficult to love unconditionally if they have never received this kind of love.

We must receive love before we can give it. How do we do this? Where do we find this kind of love? You don’t find it in humans or angels or animals. It comes from God, and He wants to share it with us, so we can share it with others.

Let’s remember that the apostle John was the youngest and closest of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He discovered that Jesus, the Messiah was magnetic (1:1-2). Christ draws us closer and closer to Himself. This is the experience John had with Jesus. And he wants his readers to enjoy an increasing intimacy with Jesus by practicing righteousness as God is righteous (2:29-3:10a) and by loving one another as God is love (3:10b-3:23; 4:7-21).

Towards the end of his life, love is practically all that John can talk and think about. By the time John writes this letter, he has learned that relationships are really all that matters. The toys, the titles, and trophies we collect don’t really matter; but relationships do.

John writes, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (I John 4:7). John includes himself when he says, “let us love one another.” Just as confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh demonstrates that one is “of God” (4:2), so does loving one another, “for love is of God” (4:7a). 2 Something has happened to John. He has become obsessed with love because he has experienced God’s love in such a life-changing way.

What does this have to do with you and me? Everything. Most of us long to be loved, but we don’t know how to get it. Many of us long to give love, but we keep sabotaging our own efforts and making things worse. Like the husband who sought marriage counseling with his wife as a last resort to save their marriage. When they arrived at the counselor’s office, the counselor jumped right in and said, “What seems to be the problem?”

For the next fifteen minutes the wife talks 90 MPH about all the problems in their marriage while the husband just sits there with nothing to say. The counselor then goes over to the wife, picks her up by her shoulders, kisses her passionately and sets her back down. The wife sits there speechless. The marriage counselor looks over at the husband, who is staring in disbelief, and says to him, “Your wife needs that at least twice a week!” The husband scratches his head and replies, “I can have her here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” We cannot give what we do not have.

The apostle John wants his readers to become more Christlike by loving one another as Jesus loves them. How does this happen? If we are to share God’s love with others, we must first receive God’s love for ourselves. The more we know God, the better we will love people.

John writes, 7bAnd everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (4:7b-8). John says, “God is love.” We cannot give what we do not have. God is love. If we have Him, we have love. If we do not have Him, we only think we have love because God not only cornered the market on love, He IS the market on love.

The person who has this kind of love is “born of God and knows God” (4:7b). The phrase “born of God” refers to new birth. The reason he or she must be “born of God” is because this kind of love is sourced in God (“for love is of God” – 4:7a). The non-Christian cannot produce this kind of love. 3 Before we can ever produce this kind of love in our lives, we must first be born of God. How? The Bible says you must simply believe in Jesus Christ: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (I John 5:1). To believe “Jesus is the Christ” is to believe that He is the promised Messiah-God (“Christ”) Who guarantees a future resurrection and never-ending life to all who believe in Him (cf. John 11:25-27).

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus makes it very clear that there is only one way to God and that is through Him. Our sin, the wrong things we have done, separate us from God (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). This separation from God causes problems in every area of our lives – including our relationships. But Jesus has provided the only way back to God by dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead (I Cor. 15:3-6). The Lord Jesus now invites you to believe or trust in Him alone for eternal life. Christ said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47). It doesn’t matter how badly you have messed things up, you can come to Christ just as you are.

How many of you drive to work? Just as you trusted your vehicle to bring you to your workplace, so you must place your trust in Jesus Christ alone to give you eternal life. The good things you have done will not save you. Only Jesus can save you from your sins. The moment you place your trust in Jesus for eternal life, you become God’s child and God comes to live inside of you and love you always (John 1:12; 14:16-17; Romans 5:5). As you get to know Him and trust Him, He pours His love into your life so you can begin to love others.

Some of you are reading this today and you are ready to receive God’s love, aren’t you? Simply believe Jesus’ promise in John 6:47, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” Are you convinced Jesus was speaking the truth here and is therefore worthy of your trust? If so, you now have eternal life and Christ now lives inside you through His Holy Spirit.

If we are going to develop loving relationships, we must also refill ourselves. John said everyone who loves God’s way is “born of God and knows God” (4:7b). Once we have begun a relationship with God through faith in Jesus, it is important to stay close to Him and get to “know” Him. This is more than salvation; it is fellowship or closeness with God (cf. 2:3-5).

“Love stems from a regenerate nature and also from fellowship with God which issues in knowing Him (see 2:3-5).” 4

Notice that John says, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (4:8). He does not say the absence of love means a person is not born of God. It would have been easy for him to say this if that was true. But he does not because the absence of love is evidence he “does not know God, for God is love.” Since “God is love,” those who abide in Him or know Him intimately (2:3-5) will manifest His loving character (4:7-8). Since “God is light” (1:5), those who abide in Him will walk in His light and manifest His holy character (1:7). Since God “is righteous” (2:29a), those who abide in Him practice righteousness (2:29b). 5

In I John 2:3-11, “John used the word ‘know’ in the sense of intimacy with God. Here he comes back to the same thought. A person can be born of God but quenching the Spirit. He could be walking in darkness. If so, he is quenching the Spirit, not walking with the Spirit, and therefore not enjoying the fruit of the Spirit like love and joy. If this is true of him, we can certainly say he is not close/intimate with God. He does not know God in this intimate sense, as we have discussed previously. So, the person who exercises agapē love has a relationship with and fellowship with God. The person who does not exercise agapē love might be a person who has a relationship with God but no fellowship with Him. It’s true that a person who lacks this kind of love might be an unbeliever, since unbelievers cannot produce this kind of love, but just to observe that a person is not exercising this kind of love does not prove he is an unbeliever. He could be a believer out of fellowship.” 6

“Fellowship with God is demonstrated and attained when Christians love each other. If love is from God, then there is no option. We must love one another (4:7). This is not rocket science. Since God is love, an absence of love in your life reveals an absence of fellowship with God. It indicates that you don’t know Him like you claim you do (4:8). As sure as the magnetic pull of the earth causes a compass to point north, the magnetic pull of God’s love at work in your heart will always point you to other brothers and sisters who need love.” 7

Staying close to God is not complicated. Picture your life as a bucket. You must have your bucket filled. And God’s love is like a fountain. The more you refill that bucket, the more love you will have to share with others. If you have been a Christian for a while, you can probably tell when your bucket is empty. You are easily irritated or angered. It’s hard to let go of past hurts, to trust him or her again, to expect the best of him or her. Perhaps you can’t stand being in the same room with the person. All of these are indications that you need to be refilled. 

You ask, “How do I do it?” Spend time with Jesus. Hang out with Him. Read what He has written in the Bible. Talk to Him about what you are reading and feeling. Treat Him like a close friend, and you’ll become a close friend. And when you get closer to Jesus, you will discover that you are more able to love those who matter to you. Come to church every week so you can hang out with the people who hang out with God. Join a small group where you can hang out more intimately with a few of God’s friends.

Can you see this? Is this making sense? Can you see why you need God’s love to love others? Some of you may be saying to yourselves, “Okay, so God commands us to love one another, but what does God’s love look like?” John gives us a beautiful picture of God’s love in the following verses.

9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 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.” (I John 4:9-10). John tells us several things about God’s love:

1. God’s love is visible. “The love of God was manifested toward us” (4:9a). The Greek word translated “manifested” (phaneroō) means to “become visible, reveal, make known.” 8 God’s love is not invisible. It can be known and seen. Love that is invisible is no love at all. 9

2. God’s love is volitional. “God sent” (4:9b). God the Father chose to send His Son to earth.His love involves an act of the will. It is not a feeling. If the Father waited to feel like sending His Son to suffer and die on our behalf, He would still be waiting. To love like God loves involves a decision to act on another’s behalf; 10 to do what is best for another person.

3. God’s love is selfless. “God has sent His only begotten Son” (4:9c). His love gives without expecting anything in return. Often, we give to get. That is not God’s love. If Jesus had been selfish, He would never have left heaven or if He had come to earth, He would have packed His bags and left at the first sign of rejection. But He didn’t. He endured incredible suffering because He came to give, not to get. If God’s love is controlling our lives, we will be givers, not getters.

4. God’s love is sacrificial. “God has sent His only begotten Son into the world” (4:9c). He not only gives, but He gives sacrificially. God’s love cost Him “His only begotten Son.” The Father did not give us His leftovers; He provided His very best. 11 Why? “That we might live through Him” (4:9d). Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins so we might “live” eternally with Him in heaven in the future (John 10:10b; 3:16; 14:2-3) and abundantly with Him on earth now (John 10:10c).

Anderson writes, “I remember the story of the little girl who had just memorized John 3:16. She asked her father, ‘If God loved the world so much, why didn’t He offer Himself? Why did He send His Son?’ For a moment the father was stumped. Then it dawned on him. ‘Well, honey, think how much more love it took for God to send His Son than to offer Himself. It would be much easier for me to sacrifice my own life for a good cause than to sacrifice you, my only daughter.’” 12

Jesus “saw our deepest need and gave of Himself. If you profess love without also embracing inconvenience and being willing to give up your rights, you don’t understand God’s love.” 13

5. God’s love serves the unlovable. 14In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us” (4:10a). God’s love was not a response to our love. Before we came to Christ, we were His enemies (Rom. 5:10a). We rebelled against Him (Isaiah 53:6). We chose our own way instead of His. Yet Jesus set His love on us and pursued us to save us (Luke 19:10). He loved us even if we never loved Him back. God loves us when our walk of faith is weak or when it is strong. He sticks with us in the good times and the bad. Nothing about us makes Christ love us. He loves us because it is His nature to love. If God waited for us to love Him first, He would still be waiting. Thank God that He loved you and me first. His love does not require that you love Him back.

God calls us to love people who won’t respond in kind. But they need our love, nonetheless. The Lord wants to love our spouses or children even if they do not love us back. He calls us to love the person at work or the neighbor living next to us who never responds in kind to our love for them. Is this easy? Definitely not! But it is possible through Christ.

6. God’s love addresses sin. “He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (4:10b). The word “propitiation” (hilasmos) means “appeasement” or “expiation.” 15 Propitiation refers to the satisfaction God the Father felt when Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins (John 19:30). What should Christ’s death on the cross shout loud and clear? “God is satisfied with His Son’s payment for our sins!”

The story is told of two boys who were swimming in the lake. One of the boys went out too far, got in trouble, and began to sink. The second boy, seeing his friend in trouble, swam out to save him. He was able to keep the first boy afloat until help arrived, but in the process became exhausted and sank beneath the water. He drowned saving his friend.

Later that day, the parents of the boy who was saved came to the parents of the boy who died saving their son and said, “All we have on us right now is a dollar and eighty-three cents. We know it isn’t much, but we hope you’ll accept this as our payment to you for the life of our son.”

Now if you were the parents who had lost their son, how would you feel? I think you would feel terribly offended and insulted. But this is the way we appear to God when we try to offer Him our acts of human goodness as payment for our sins. Nothing we can offer God will ever begin to make up for what it cost Him to save us. Let’s not insult God by offering Him our $1.83 when He has given us His precious Son. The cost of our redemption is infinitely high. 16

We must be satisfied with what satisfied God the Father – His Son’s payment for all our sins. We must believe or trust in Christ alone to give us eternal life.

Earlier in I John we looked at expressing God’s love by meeting the physical needs of a Christian brother or sister (3:17-18). But here John reminds us that God’s love also addresses the spiritual needs of others. Only Christ can save people from the penalty of their sins forever, but that does not mean we are to ignore sin in the body of Christ 17 or in the lives of non-Christians. With humility and love, God’s love calls us to help those caught in sin. If they are nonbelievers, we are to share the gospel with them so they may believe in Christ and be forever saved from the penalty of their sins (Acts 16:31) and then learn to overcome sin by abiding in Christ (I John 2:3-6). If they are believers in Jesus, we are to come alongside of them to help them be restored to fellowship with Christ (Gal. 6:1).

Thirdly, in addition to receiving God’s love and being refilled with His love, we are to reflect His love to others.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I John 4:11). In other words, if God loved us with this visible, volitional, selfless, sacrificial, serving, and satisfying love when we were least deserving, then we ought to love each other in the same way. Maybe our love cannot be as perfect as Jesus’ love, but it can grow in that direction. This is to be our goal.

When we experience God’s amazing love, we will naturally want to share that love with the people we love. Forty-fours years ago this month, God’s love changed my life and I have been sharing my story ever since.

We love because He first loved us (I John 4:19). We cannot give what we do not have, but once we have received God’s love, if we stay close to Him, we just get better and better at loving people.

If you are reading this article and you conclude that it is impossible for you to love the way God has loved us, please do not stop reading. Perhaps you have wounded your spouse or friend, and they have closed their heart off toward you. Do you realize that if you receive God’s love today by believing or trusting in Christ alone for His gift of eternal life, you will be able to be a better spouse or friend because God comes to live inside of you to love others through you? You have never been able to be a better spouse or friend than you are today if you receive Christ.

Receiving God’s love requires faith and humility on your part. Faith to believe that God will really love you and give you eternal life, and humility to admit that He is God, and you are not. Jesus said, Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16b). Are you depending on Jesus alone for everlasting life? If yes, then congratulations, because you now have everlasting life and can experience God’s love everyday. You can now tell God through prayer what you have done. Remember that saying a prayer does not take us to heaven. Only believing or trusting in Christ alone does.

Prayer: Dear God, I need Your love in my life. I understand now that You loved me by sending Your Son to take my place and punishment when He died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I am now believing or trusting in Jesus alone (not my good life, prayers, or religion) to give me the gift of everlasting life. Thank You for the everlasting life I just received. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When you believed in Christ for His gift of eternal life, He came to live inside you through His Holy Spirit so that Christ now lives in and through you (John 1:12; Rom. 5:5; Gal. 2:20). With Christ living in you, you can ask Him to love others through you. Think of the person you have the hardest time loving. It may be your spouse, your child, or someone you work with. It could be someone who has hurt you deeply, but who needs the Lord. After you think of this person, you can offer this prayer in faith to the Lord.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know I feel no love for this person. You know that in my flesh, I have already rejected this person. Lord, You know the truth. You know that without Your help, I can’t forgive or love this person. But I know You love my enemy, so right now I give You permission to express Your love and forgiveness for this person through me. I can’t do this myself, but I’m going to trust You to love this person through me. In Your mighty name, I pray Lord Jesus. Amen.

Once you start really living like this, putting faith ahead of feelings, things are going to start happening. You are going to see God do things in your life you didn’t think possible. But let me caution you, it may feel awkward at first if you are not used to living by faith. But that’s okay, because we can get comfortable doing things we felt awkward doing at first (e.g., riding a bicycle, etc.).

ENDNOTES:

1. Adapted from Matt Hogan’s blog entitled, “20 Love Quotes From 4–8-Year-Old Kids (That Will Shock You)” at movemequotes.com.

2. Zane C. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Editors John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (David C. Cook, 2018 Kindle Edition), Kindle Location 3956.

3. David R. Anderson, Maximum Joy: I John – Relationship or Fellowship? (Grace Theology Press, 2013 Kindle Edition), pg. 200.

4. Hodges, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Kindle Location 3961.

5. Tom Constable, Dr. Constable’s Notes on 1 John, 2022 Edition, pg. 96.

6. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pp. 200-201.

7. Tony Evans, CSB Bibles by Holman, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (B & H Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 2947.

8. Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Third Edition (BDAG) revised and edited by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000 Kindle Edition), pg. 1048.

9. Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, pg. 2947.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid., pp. 2947-2948.

12. Anderson, Maximum Joy, pg. 203.

13. Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, pg. 2948.

14. Ibid.

15. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, pg. 474.

16. R. Larry Moyer, Show Me How To Illustrate Evangelistic Sermons (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2012), pp. 211-212 cites Dr. Tony Evans, Totally Saved.

17. Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, pg. 2948.

Every Person is Precious in God’s Sight

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46

As Valentine’s Day approaches the Lord drew me to some verses in Matthew 13 that have been a great source of encouragement to me. It may not be obvious to the reader at first, but I believe these verses underscore the incredible love that the Lord Jesus has for us.

In Matthew 13 Jesus shares many “parables” (13:3) or earthly stories which illustrate biblical truths about a period of time known as the Church Age which exists between Israel’s rejection of Christ all the way through to the end of the Tribulation period when Christ returns to earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom. One of these parables illustrates the value of a person during this time (13:45-46).

To be consistent with the previous parables (Matt. 13:24, 37, 44), it is best to understand the “merchant” to be Jesus Christ (13:45). The merchant is “seeking beautiful pearls” which represent lost individuals (cf. Luke 19:10).

In 13:45-46, the merchant is doing the work, not the pearl of great price. The merchant is doing the buying and the saving, not the pearl. The merchant is the one with the strength, not the pearl. The pearl does nothing. The merchant, Jesus Christ, does it all. It costs us nothing to get to heaven. But it cost Jesus everything. We do not give God all that we have to get to heaven. It is not you giving God your life; it is God giving you His life.“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (I John 5:11).

Some people incorrectly think that the pearl of great price is eternal life, and the merchant is a person who wants to be saved. To get to heaven, they teach that the merchant must sell all he has or be willing to give up all he has to enter the kingdom. But what does Jesus say we must do to enter the kingdom of heaven according to John 3:5-16? We must simply be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit (spiritual birth). We are born spiritually by believing in Jesus for eternal life, not by living a good life or giving sacrificially.

If you have doubts about Christ doing it all for your salvation, Matthew 13:45-46 should help to dispel your doubts. The focus of this parable is on the performance of Jesus Christ, not our performance. None of us would have any hope of going to heaven if we based it on our own works. Going to heaven is based on the finished work of Christ on the cross (John 3:15-16; 19:30), not our works (Rom. 4:5; Ephes. 2:8-9).

Notice that the merchant finds “one pearl” (13:45-46a). Christ contrasts the “one pearl” (sg) with the many “pearls” (pl) (13:45-46a). Jesus is comparing the individual lost person to a precious pearl of “great price.”

Why are pearls so costly and expensive? Among the people of Jesus’ day, pearls were ranked highest among precious stones because their beauty derives entirely from nature, making improvement by human workmanship an impossibility. All other precious gems are metals or stones, but a pearl is a gem formed within the oyster – the only one formed by living flesh. For some reason, the oyster shell is pierced by a foreign irritant (e.g., grain of sand, etc.), which enters the shell. The oyster releases healing fluids around the wound and that foreign irritant that has hurt and penetrated it. Over the course of time, the irritant is covered, and the wound is healed by a pearl. The pearl, we might say, is the answer of the oyster to that which injured it.

The pearl represents pain resulting in beauty. Christ’s pain and suffering on the cross resulted in our redemption. Jesus is comparing the lost individual that He has “found” to a “pearl of great price.” In God’s eyes, every believer is a precious pearl. But sometimes, we see ourselves as worthless pebbles, don’t we? We may have a difficult time believing that we are important to the Lord, but we are! That is what Jesus is telling us here! The last part of verse 46 tells us just how valuable we are to Christ.

What was the “great price” this merchant paid for the pearl? Jesus tells us the merchant “went and sold all that he had and bought it” (13:46b). The word “sold” (pepraken) is in the perfect tense which means his sale of everything in the past continues to have results in the present (cf. John 19:30). The word “bought” (agorazō) is used of Jesus’ death on the cross (1 Cor. 6:20; 2 Pet. 2:1). When Jesus says the merchant “went and sold all that he had and bought it,” think of what Jesus gave up for each individual believer. He gave up His majesty in heaven, His glorified state, surrounded by the holy angels of God and He comes down to this sinful earth. He was born in a humble cattle trough to poor parents. He suffers and dies a humiliating death on a cross. Your sins and my sins were placed upon Him as He hung on the cross – separated from His Father for the first and last time so He could purchase each individual person with His blood (I Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9). This is how much He loved you and me!

Our worth is not based upon our performance, but upon Christ’s performance on the cross. Jesus’ death provided the basis for God’s acceptance of us (Ephes. 1:6-7) and giving us eternal life when we believe in Christ (John 3:14-15). If anyone should know how much we are worth, it is God. He not only created us, but He bought us with the price of His Son.

If you were to wear a price tag around your neck, what value would you put on it? How much do you think you are worth? One billion dollars? One million? One thousand? One hundred? Zero? The truth is God would put Jesus Christ on that price tag because He bought you with the price of His Son.

A few years ago, when my wife and I were shopping for pearls in Metro Manila, we met a Muslim vendor who showed us her pearls. During our conversation with her, the Holy Spirit led us to share Matthew 13:45-46 with her. We explained to her that Jesus Christ was the merchant Who found one pearl of great price. When it says He sold everything to buy the pearl, we told her that Jesus sees her as a precious pearl and loves her very much. She said, “That is true.” After we shared the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection with her, she said she was now believing in Jesus for His gift of everlasting life.

How does God want us to respond to such an incredible truth?

1. PRAISE God that we are worth the life and death of His Son. God wants us to worship Him. We are to adore the Lord because of the immense value He has given to us in Jesus Christ.

2. PRACTICE godliness out of GRATITUDE. Live for the Lord because of who He is and what He has done for you. “And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15). Christ did not die and rise again for us so we can live for ourselves now. He died and rose again for us so we can now live for Him as a way of saying “Thank You” for what He gave up so we could be in a relationship with Him forever. Our good works can become a “thank You” note to the Lord.

3. PROCLAIM the gospel to every individual person (Mark 16:15). Jesus said to go into all the world – to every nation. Why? To preach the gospel to every individual in the world since every individual is precious to God. God longs to save every person because every person is like a precious pearl in His sight.  

Share the message of the gospel with others so they can discover how precious they are to their Creator and Savior. God does not want us to keep the gospel to ourselves. He wants us to share it with every individual lost person because each one is very precious to Him. Ask the Lord to show you whom He wants you to share the gospel with this week. He loves to answer that prayer.

Prayer: Father in heaven, thank You for sending Jesus to seek us out to save us, much like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. And like the merchant who found one pearl of great price and gave up all he had to purchase that one pearl, so Christ gave up everything so He could purchase us with His shed blood on the cross. Our value was determined by the price Jesus paid for each of us. Each of us is worth Your Son. Nothing is of more value to You than that. Please lead us to those You have prepared to hear and believe the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection so they may be saved forever from the penalty of their sin. In Jesus’ matchless name we pray. Amen.

Revelation 12 – Part 1

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” Revelation 12:1

If you are a Christian, you are familiar with God’s love for you. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16). The world includes you and me. God loves us!!! The apostle Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). God showed how much He loved us by dying in our place “while we were still sinners.” God did not wait for us to clean up our lives and become “worthy” of His love. Even when we were at our worst, God loved us by giving His best for us when He took our punishment for sin on the cross.

As much as God loves us, we need to understand that Satan hates us. Swindoll writes, Never forget those three words if you love and follow Christ’s teachings. Satan wants nothing more than to sabotage our love for God and for others, to tempt us into a moral catastrophe, and to see us choose a lifestyle of sin rather than a walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. When we falter, he stands ready to accuse us before God. When we pass the tests of temptation, he looks beyond that and is already strategizing his next attack. Satan’s hatred of us is relentless.

“… Understanding that Satan is neither all-powerful nor completely powerless will help us come to terms with the real challenges we face as we do battle with Satan’s evil empire in its current form. I say ‘current form’ because it’s important to understand that Satan’s ability to unleash his fury on God’s people is limited in the present age. However, one day Satan’s empire will be allowed to strike the world in full force before crumbling at the coming of Christ.” 1

You may recall that the apostle John received instructions to“prophesy again,” a second time regarding the seven-year Tribulation “about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” in Revelation 10:11. Therefore, Revelation 11-19 surveys the seventieth week of years (Tribulation) a second timewith a view to revealing the specific characters on the stage of the drama. In Revelation 11, John reviews the first half of the Tribulation with a focus on the Two Witnesses whom God will bring directly to faith in Christ so they can proclaim the truth to the world from Jerusalem (11:1-6), resulting in the salvation of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists (“firstfruits” – 14:4) who will proclaim the “gospel of the kingdom” during the last half of the Tribulation period (cf. 7:1-10) to “all the nations” (cf. Matthew 24:14).

At the end of Revelation 11, the seventh trumpet sounded to prepare the apostle John, and his readers for the seven horrific bowls of wrath (cf. Revelation 16) immediately before Christ returns to set up His kingdom on earth (Revelation 11:15-19). God now gives John and his readers more information about the forces behind the anti-God hatred during the last half of the Tribulation (Revelation 12-15), so John and his readers could understand the bowl judgments (Revelation 16) which the seventh trumpet judgment contained. 2

Beginning in Revelation 12, John will describe the conflict between God and Satan in the spiritual realm that has taken place throughout history since Satan’s rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-18) so we can understand how it will be manifested in the physical realm during the second half of the Tribulation period, especially during the bowl judgments. 3

John will now focus on five main characters in Revelation 12 that are involved in this spiritual conflict. First, we are introduced to a woman. “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.” (Revelation 12:1). The phrase “a great sign” (mega sēmeion) Walvoord says refers to “the first of a series of events called ‘signs’ or ‘miracles’ (12:3; 13:13-14; 15:1; 16:14; 19:20). As signs they were symbols of something that God was about to reveal and usually contained an element of prophetic warning. Though this sign was seen in heaven, the events which followed obviously occurred on earth.” 4

Swindoll states that the Greek word for ‘sign’ (sēmeion) signifies a mark or symbol that carries a special meaning or points us to something beyond it.” 5 In this case, John indicates that the new vision contains symbolic characters that point to real people or events in history – past as well as future.” 6

Many interpretations have been offered regarding the identity of the “woman” in this verse. Some have said that John was referring to something that his original readers knew about, namely, the “mother of the gods” represented on Roman coins. 7 Others have held that this woman is the church that is laboring to bring Christ to the nations. 8 This is built on an allegorical interpretation of Scripture and must be disallowed. The church did not produce Christ, but Christ produced the church. Also, since the church is not seen on earth in Revelation 4-19, the church cannot be represented by this woman. 9

Others say the woman refers exclusively to Mary, the mother of Jesus. 10 But this is not possible because Mary was never persecuted and never fled into the wilderness where she was fed for 1260 days (Revelation 12:6, 13-14). Clearly the woman is the nation of Israel who will be intensely persecuted during the last half of the Tribulation period (Revelation 12:13-17; cf. Matthew 24:15-22).

Other reasons why the “woman” refers to the nation of Israel include:

1. The context of Revelation 12:1 reveals that John is dealing with the nation of Israel. Grant says of Revelation 11:19, “The ark, then, seen in the temple in heaven is the sign of God’s unforgotten grace toward Israel…” 11

2. The identity of the woman as the nation of Israel is supported further by the reference to “the sun… the moon… and twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1) which connects back to a similar symbolic representation of Israel in Genesis 37:9-11. In this passage, Joseph, the son of Jacob has received a dream from God. 9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, ‘Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.’ 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, ‘What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?’ 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.” These verses identify “the sun” and “moon” as Jacob and Rachel, Joseph’s parents, and the stars as Jacob’s twelve sons (cf. Isaiah 26:17-18; 60:1-3, 20). Compare Jeremiah 31:35-36; Joshua 10:12-14; Judges 5:20 and Psalm 89:35-37 where heavenly bodies are associated with Israel’s history. 12

3. The use of the term “woman.” Eight times the term “woman” is used in this chapter (12:1, 4, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17), and thirteen additional times the pronoun “she” (12:2, 5, 6, 14) or “her” (12:1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 16, 17) is used in reference to the woman. We find this term used frequently in the Old Testament to refer to the nation of Israel (cf. Isaiah 47:7-9; 54:5-6; Jeremiah 4:31; Micah 4:9-10; 5:3; Isaiah 66:7-8). While the church is called a “bride” (Revelation 21:2, 9, 17), a “wife” (Revelation 19:7; cf. Ephesians 5:22-33), or a “chaste virgin” (2 Corinthians 11:2), we never find the church referred to as a woman in the New Testament. 13

4. The use of the term “wilderness.” The “wilderness” is said to be the place of refuge afforded the woman in her flight (Revelation 12:6, 14). The “wilderness” was a common reference to Israel in her national history (Exodus 3:18; 4:27; 5:1; 7:16; 8:27-28; 13:17-18, 20; 14:3, 11-12; 15:22; 16:1-3, 10, 14, 32; et al.). Israel was taken into “the wilderness of the land of Egypt” (Ezekiel 20:36). Israel, since she refused to follow God into the promised land, was turned back into the wilderness for forty years where they would die, and a new generation would be brought forth (Numbers 14:1-35; cf. Hebrews 3:7-18). Israel’s unbelief caused Ezekiel to declare God’s purpose: “And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face.” (Ezekiel 20:35). Hosea reveals that in the long period Israel would spend “in the wilderness” God would be gracious to them (Hosea 2:14-23). 14

5. The references to the period of three and a half years (“one thousand two hundred and sixty days” – 12:6 and “a time and times and half a time” – 12:14) in Revelation 12 connect to the last half of the week of Daniel’s seventieth week prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) which was specifically addressed to “your people and for your holy city” (Daniel 9:24). Since this prophecy was given to Daniel it could only refer to Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Each time this period is mentioned in Scripture, whether as a “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Revelation 11:6; 12:3), “forty-two months” (Revelation 11:2; 13:5), “time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 12:14), or three and a half years, it always refers to Israel and a period in which God is dealing with that nation. 15

6. The reference to the angel, “Michael” (Revelation 12:7). In Daniel 12:1 the archangel Michael is called “the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people.” Michael is united with the destiny of the nation Israel by this word of the Lord to Daniel. In Revelation 12:7 Michael appears again in reference to the warfare in heaven. The fact that Michael appears on the scene here indicates that God is again dealing with the nation Israel, and Michael is a character here because the destiny of Israel is involved. 16

Pentecost quotes Moorehead regarding Revelation 11:19, And the temple (sanctuary) of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of the covenant.’ This is strictly Jewish ground; the temple, the ark, the covenant belong to Israel, represent Hebrew relations with God and Hebrew privileges. The Spirit now takes up Jewish things, Jewish standing, covenant, hopes, dangers, tribulations and triumph.” 17

Clearly the people of Israel are in view here, so the woman in Revelation 12 represents the nation of Israel.

Next John writes, “Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.” (Revelation 12:2). Since the woman is Israel, the “child” is the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 12:5). The Bible tells us that Christ would come from the nation of Israel. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” (Romans 9:3-5).

The “labor” and “pain” in giving “birth” to Jesus (Revelation 12:2) are pictures of the grief and sorrow that the nation of Israel experienced in Old Testament days at the hand of Satan in his attempts to prevent the Messiah from coming. This agonizing struggle between Satan and Israel has been going on from the very beginning (cf. Genesis 3:15). 18

Israel’s founding father, Abraham, was promised a son (Genesis 12:1-7). Instead of waiting on God’s timing, Abraham took a shortcut and slept with his maidservant, Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael (Genesis 16:1-16). Later Abraham’s wife, Sarah gave birth to Isaac (Genesis 21:1-7). The result of these two births has been a source of conflict between the Arabs and the Jews ever since (Genesis 21:8-21; 25:12-16). Israel faced terrible pain while in exile in Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria.In the days that Jesus was born, Israel was under the oppression and taxation of the Roman government.

God used many imperfect people to bring His Son into the world through the nation of Israel. When you examine the genealogies of Christ (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-37), these lists of names contain broken sinners like you and me. They include Jacob (Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34) who was a deceiver. David (Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:31) who committed adultery and murder. Solomon (Matthew 1:7) who took an abundance of wives and concubines. Manasseh (Matthew 1:10) was one of Judah’s most wicked kings.

Moreover, and while women do not normally show up in biblical genealogies, the women in Jesus’s line were particularly questionable. Tamar (Matthew 1:3) was a Canaanite who posed as a prostitute and committed incest with her father-in law Judah. Rahab (Matthew 1:5) was a prostitute; Ruth (Matthew 1:5) was from Moab, a non-Israelite people that worshiped false gods.

Another observation about Jesus’ genealogies is that they are mixed racially, including both Jews and Gentiles which indicates that Jesus’ kingdom identity and rule includes all races of people. All of this points to God’s sovereign grace. He accomplishes His glorious purposes despite difficult circumstances and the character of the people involved. If God can use the imperfect people listed in these genealogies to bring Jesus, the Messiah-God, into the world, God can surely use you and me to accomplish His purposes. 19

Evans writes, Notice also that of the five women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy, four are of Hamitic descent: Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Ruth. That doesn’t mean that Jesus was black. To assert such, as some black theologians and religious leaders do, is to fall into the exclusionist perspective of many whites, who would make Jesus an Anglo-European, blue-eyed blond with little relevance to people of color. It would also fail to respect the distinct Jewish heritage of Christ. Jesus was a person of mixed ancestry.

“It blesses me to know that Jesus had black in His blood because this destroys any perception of black inferiority once and for all. In Christ we find perfect man and sinless Savior. This knowledge frees blacks from an inferiority complex, and at the same time it frees whites from the superiority myth. In Christ, we all have our heritage.

“Black people, as all other people, can find a place of historical, cultural, and racial identity in Him. As Savior of all mankind, He can relate to all people, in every situation. In Him, any person from any background can find comfort, understanding, direction, and affinity—as long as Christ is revered as the Son of God, a designation that transcends every culture and race and one to which all nations of people must pay homage.” 20

In conclusion, God wants us to remember that His faithfulness to His promises is not contingent upon our character, but upon His. We see this throughout history when God promised to bring the Messiah through the nation of Israel despite the nation’s unfaithfulness. The genealogies of Christ underscore God’s faithfulness in using imperfect Jews and Gentiles to fulfill this promise. As a nation, Israel had to endure much pain to usher the Messiah into the world. Likewise, we may have to endure much pain to fulfill God’s purposes. Whether we are faithful or not, God remains faithful to what He has promised.

The Bible tells us, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13). I have heard many Christians and churches insist that going to heaven is based on our faithfulness to God, instead of His faithfulness to His promises. Where is the assurance in such an assertion? If our assurance of going to heaven is based on our faithfulness to God, then we are all in a heap of trouble.

Why? Because like the nation of Israel, we also have sinned against God (Romans 3:23). Our good thoughts, words, and actions cannot make us right before God because they are all stained with sin (Isaiah 64:6). This is why God sent His only perfect Son into the world through the imperfect nation of Israel (Romans 9:3-5) so He could pay the penalty for all our sin once and for all by dying in our place on a cross and rising from the dead (John 19:30; Romans 5:8; I Corinthians 15:3-6; Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10-14). All God asks us to do to enter His heaven is believe in Christ and His finished work on the cross.

Jesus said, “14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15). Just as Moses “lifted up” the bronze serpent in the wilderness so that all the dying Israelites could look at that serpent in faith and live physically (Numbers 21:1-8), so Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross so “that whoever believes in Him” or looks to Him “should not perish but have eternal life.” Nowhere does Jesus say, “Whoever remains faithful to Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Repeatedly, Jesus and His followers tell us to “believe” 21 or have “faith” 22  in Christ alone as the only condition for entering God’s heaven.

Have you been looking to your own faithfulness as the way to Christ’s heaven? If so, Satan has deceived you to trust your own faithfulness instead of God’s. This is an expression of the Devil’s hatred toward God and humanity. Satan is a liar, a thief, and a murderer (John 8:44; 10:10a). He wants to deceive people to miss God’s heaven by distorting the gospel message lest people believe it and are saved (Luke 8:5, 11-12).

If you have believed the gospel, that Christ gives eternal life to all who believe in Him (John 3:14-18), but now you are trusting your own faithfulness as the basis of your assurance that you will go to heaven, then Satan, being the thief that he is, has successfully robbed you of your assurance of going to heaven. You still have eternal life because of your faith in Jesus, but your assurance of going to heaven is lost by looking to your own faithfulness instead of Christ’s. Our faithfulness to God can vary from moment to moment. So, when we are unfaithful to God with our thoughts, motives, words, or actions, we are prone to doubt our salvation if our assurance is rooted in our own faithfulness.

God makes it clear in the Bible that He does not want any of His children to doubt that they have eternal life and a future home in heaven with Him. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (I John 5:13). God wants you to know that you “have eternal life” the moment you believe in the name of the Son of God.” So, if you lack assurance of going to heaven, why not ask God to show you the truth and to make His Word understandable to you? 23

The key to assurance of salvation is looking to Jesus’ promise that all who simply believe in Him have everlasting life (John 3:14-18; 5:24; 6:35-50, 47; 7:37-39; 11:25-26; et al.). It is also important to remember, that we do not get to heaven through the promises we make to God, but through the promises He makes to us! 24

If you have been trusting your own faithfulness or anything else besides Jesus and His finished work on the cross to get you to heaven, Christ invites you right now to stop and look to Him and His finished work on the cross as Your only way to His heaven. When you do this, God gets all the glory and the only boasting in heaven will be in our gracious and loving Savior Who got us there (I Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 2:8-9).

Prayer: Father God, we give You praise for the first main character in Your description of the conflict between You and Satan. The nation of Israel is central to Your redemptive purposes. It was through this imperfect nation and imperfect individual Gentiles that You brought Your only perfect Son into the world the first time to be our one and only Savior. If any of us struggle with shame and not feeling worthy to be used by You, may Your Holy Spirit use today’s Bible verses to silence our shame so we can present ourselves to You as Your available servants. You are a faithful God Who remains faithful to His promises even if we are faithless. Thank You, Lord, for this powerful reminder that can embolden us to faithfully proclaim Your saving message no matter what our past. Please use us to accomplish Your purposes so all the glory belongs to You. And Lord, if there is anyone reading this article right now who is trusting in someone or something other than Christ alone as their only way to heaven, please persuade them to stop and believe in Jesus for His free gift of eternal life. Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

ENDNOTES:

1. Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on Revelation, (Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary Book 15, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2014 Kindle Edition), pp. 234-235.

2. Tom Constable, Notes on Revelation, 2017 Edition, pg. 132.

3. Ibid., pp. 132-133 cites Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8—22: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), pg. 117.

4. John F. Walvoord, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy, Editors John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, (David C Cook, 2018 Kindle Edition), locations 5656 to 5662.

5. Swindoll, pg. 235 cites Eugene Nida and Johannes P. Louw, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, §33.477.

6. Swindoll, pg. 235.

7. Constable, pg. 133 cites as examples Merrill C. Tenney, Interpreting Revelation (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959), pg. 337; and Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (London: SCM, 1965), pp. 151-152.

8. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come (Zondervan Academic, 2010 Kindle Edition), pg. 288 cites as an example Ford C. Ottman, The Unfolding of the Ages (New York: Baker and Taylor, 1905), pg. 280.

9. Pentecost, pg. 288.

10. Ibid., cites F. C. Jennings, Studies in Revelation (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, [n.d.].), pp. 310-311.

11. Ibid., cites W. Grant, The Revelation of Christ (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, [n.d.]), pg. 126. There is extensive biblical evidence showing that the woman of Revelation 12 is best identified as the nation of Israel (see Pentecost, pp. 288-291).

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid., pg. 289.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid., pg. 290.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid., pp. 290-291 cites William G. Moorehead, Studies in the Book of Revelation (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: United Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1908), pg. 90.

18. Bob Vacendak; Robert Wilkin; J. Bond; Gary Derickson; Brad Doskocil; Zane Hodges; Dwight Hunt; Shawn Leach. The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition (Grace Evangelical Society, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 1541.

19. Tony Evans, CSB Bibles by Holman, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (B & H Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2019), pp. 1480-1481.

20. Ibid., pg. 1481.

21. Matthew 18:6; 21: 32(3); 24:23, 26; 27:42; Mark 1:15, 9:42; 15:32;16:16(2), 17; Luke 8:12, 13; 22:67; John 1:7, 12, 50; 2:11, 23; 3:12(2), 15, 16, 18(3), 36(2); 4:39, 41, 42, 48, 53; 5:24, 38, 44, 45, 46, 47(2); 6:29, 30, 35, 36, 40, 47, 64, 69; 7:5, 31, 38(2), 39, 48; 8:24, 30, 31, 45, 46; 9:35, 36, 38; 10:25, 26, 37, 38(3), 42; 11:25, 26, 27(2), 42, 45, 48; 12:11, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 44(2), 46, 47; 13:19; 14:12; 16:9, 27; 17:8, 20, 21; 19:35; 20:29, 31(2); Acts 2:44; 4:4, 32; 5:14; 8:12, 13, 37(2); 9:42; 10:43, 45; 11:17, 21; 13:12, 39, 41, 48; 14:1, 23, 27; 15:5, 7; 16:1, 31, 34; 17:4, 5, 12, 34; 18:8, 27; 19:2, 4, 9, 18; 21:20, 25; 22:19; 26:27(2); 28:24(2); Romans 1:16; 3:3, 22, 4:3, 5, 11, 17, 24; 9:33; 10:4, 9, 10, 11, 14(2), 16; 13:11; 15:31; I Corinthians 1:21; 3:5; 7:12, 13; 9:5; 10:27; 14:22(2); 15:2, 11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 2:16; 3:6, 9,

22; Ephesians 1:13, 19; Philippians 1:29; I Thessalonians 1:7; 2:10; 4:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:12,13; I Timothy 1:16; 3:16; 4:3, 10; 6:2(2); 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 3:8; Hebrews 11:31; I Peter 1:21;2:6, 7; I John 3:23; 5:1, 5, 10(3), 13.

22. Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5; Luke 7:50; 17:19; 18:42; Acts 6:7; 14:22, 27; 15:9; 16:5; 20:21; 24:24; 26:18; Romans 1:17; 3:3, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30(2), 31; 4:5, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16 (2); 5:1, 2; 9:30, 32; 10:6, 8, 17; 11:20; 16:26; I Corinthians 15:14, 17; Galatians 2:16 (2); 3:2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 22, 24, 26; 5:5; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 3:9(2); Colossians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:2; 2 Timothy 3:15; Titus 1:4; Hebrews 6:1;11:31; James 2:1, 23, 24; I Peter 1:21; 2 Peter 1:5; I John 5:4.

23. Robert N. Wilkin, The Road to Reward: A Biblical Theology of Eternal Rewards Second Edition (Grace Evangelical Society, 2014 Kindle Edition), pg. 7.

24. Ibid.

Revelation 5 – Part 2

“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’” Revelation 5:9

Swindoll writes,When the incarnate Son of God took the scroll from the Father, everything changed. The rule of humanity over all creation, which has been derailed by the Fall and wrecked by the curse (Gen. 1:28; 3:17-19), will be restored through the God-Man, Jesus Christ. As a truly human descendant of Adam, Jesus Christ is qualified to fulfill the original calling of humanity to exercise dominion over the earth and to subdue it, restoring the conditions conditions of Paradise throughout the whole world. As the truly divine Son of God, Jesus Christ has the power and authority to fulfill this calling where Adam failed. Don’t miss this! In Revelation 5:8 we see the beginning of the process of God putting everything in its right place by placing everything in the right hands.

“What a reason to rejoice! In fact, as soon as Jesus took hold of the seven-sealed scroll, everything changed from weeping to worshiping. All creatures in heaven and earth burst forth in praise. Uncontainable jubilation flowed outward from God’s throne. In one wave after another, creation poured forth praise to the Lamb of God. Why? Because not only is He the Suffering Servant who took away the sins of the world by His sacrificial death (Isa. 53), but He’s also the risen, glorified Judge who will execute judgment on the wicked and bestow blessings on the righteous. All authority to judge has been given to Him alone (John 5:21-22, 27). 1

After the Lamb and Lion, Jesus Christ, takes the scroll from the hand of God the Father, we see weeping transformed into worship. “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” (Revelation 5:8). Jesus took “the scroll” because He alone was found worthy to execute judgment on all of humankind and set up His Kingdom on earth. This transfer of authority to Christ triggered an outpouring of praise and worship because it signaled that Jesus would soon begin judging His enemies on the earth. 2

Ever since that day in the first century when Jesus asked His people to pray, ‘Your kingdom come’ (Matthew 6:10), both the believers on earth and those in heaven have been anticipating the answer.” 3

Notice the order of worship. As soon as Jesus possessed the scroll the “living creatures” or angels closest to the throne, possibly seraphim (cf. Isaiah 6:2-3), fell flat on their faces before the Lord Jesus Christ as if to obey the command, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” (Hebrews 1:6). 4 This points to Jesus as God for only God is worthy to be worshiped (cf. Exodus 20:2-5). This is the declaration of Hebrews 1:8 when the Father says to His Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” God the Father calls His Son, “God.”

This is why Jesus does not refuse the worship of the four living creatures in God’s throne room in heaven. If Christ was not God, then we would expect Him to tell all the inhabitants of heaven to stop worshiping Him. But He does not do this because He is God Almighty!

Then the “twenty-four elders,” representing faithful church-age believers, the highest of God’s redeemed, also “fell down before the Lamb.” Only “each” elder, had “a harp, and golden bowls full of incense.” This is clear in the Greek text from the masculine gender of hekastos, translated “each,” which agrees with the masculine gender of “the twenty-four elders” (iekosi tessares presbuteroi), not the neuter gender of the “four living creatures” (ta tessara zōa). 5

These redeemed saints offered “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” By the way, don’t ever think your prayers are insignificant. Even if God doesn’t answer your pleas for help now, one day when Christ reverses the curse and rights all wrongs, your desperate cries for His intervention will be counted. God never tosses your prayers into a trash bin—He’s storing them up in bowls, and He will one day answer them in ways beyond your imagination. Be patient!” 6

Then the four living angelic creatures and the twenty-four elders broke out singing a new song.9 And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 and have made them kings and priests to our God; and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10). This song was probably “new” in the sense that it represented new praise for a new deliveranceabout to take place. 7

Several times God commands us to “sing a new song” to Him (Psalm 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10). As God reveals new blessings to His people, they are to respond by singing a new song which praises God for those blessings. Failure to sing a new song when God is doing something new in our lives is disobedience and can lead to a loss of joy and admiration for the Lord in our worship.

But when God’s people obey the Lord and write and/or sing new songs to the Lord which reflect the new manifestations of His grace toward us, He will reveal more of Himself to us (cf. John 14:21). Also, there will be an increase in our praise to Him and “many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord” (cf. Psalm 40:3). Being sensitive to the new manifestations of God’s grace to us in our songs to Him will increase our “fear” or admiration of Him and lead us to “trust” in Him more in our daily lives, and it can also lead the unsaved to “trust in the Lord” Jesus as their Savior. Hopefully, no Christian wants to hinder unsaved people from coming to faith in Christ because of a music style preference.

All of us have our music preferences, but as we look back at history in the Old and New Testaments (cf. Exodus 15:1-17; Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9; 14:3) and in the Church Age, songs changed as the Lord revealed Himself and His workings in new and different ways. Singing a new song to the Lord enables us to experience and express the new manifestations of His grace in our lives in more meaningful ways. 

As I look back at my Christian life the last forty years, some of the most intimate times of worship with the Lord were when I learned a new song which expressed the new things God was doing in my life. I especially enjoyed it when the worship leader in our local church would write and/or lead us in a new song that reflected the new manifestations of God’s grace in and through our local church. Praise Jesus for those who capture the new things He is doing in the songs they write and/or sing! 

When is the last time you sang a new song to the Lord? Take time today to draw near to Him by singing a new song to Him that expresses something new that He is doing in your life. To find a new song, you can use google and search for “New Christian Songs.” Since God continues to create new and refreshing songs for His Church, you should have no trouble finding one to enhance your worship of Him. One of my favorites right now is “House of the Lord.”

In Revelation 4 the four living creatures and twenty-four elders praised God for His work of creation (4:11). In chapter 5 they praised Christ for His work of redemption. 8 This new song of praise to Christ focused on His worthiness to open the scrolls because of His death (“You were slain”), the redemption (purchase) of every people group by His shed “blood” (Revelation 5:9). Verse 9 is being sung only by the twenty-four elders because only humans can sing “You… have redeemed us to God.” 9 Jesus did not die to redeem angels. He died to redeem sinful human beings (cf. Romans 5:8; I Corinthians 15:3-4).

The reference to redeemed people in heaven being from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (5:9b) portrays the ethnic, linguistic, and national diversity that will be present in eternity. This means that difference and diversity are not problems to be solved but were part of God’s plan from the very beginning. God delights in the variety and beauty of His creation. Here in this perfect, complete worship service around the throne we can see clearly that ‘red, yellow, black, and white’ are all precious in God’s sight. And this diverse community of saints is unified in their worship of the Lamb. Christian unity does not mean uniformity, but a shared focus on and worship of Christ Jesus.” 10

In God’s plan of redemption, all lives matter to the Creator of the universe. In fact, each person, no matter what their color, is worth the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:9; cf. I Corinthians 6:20). His blood was the purchase price for each of us. All people are created equal and are dearly loved by the Savior of the world. Each of us can be grateful for our diverse backgrounds and appearances because they all bring great pleasure to our Creator God!

Verse 10 has two important textual issues. The NKJV reads, “And we shall reign on the earth,” (5:10b) but the Majority Text (MT), along with the Critical Text (CT), reads, “And they (believers) shall reign on the earth.”Who then is speaking this sentence? Some say it is spoken by the twenty-four elders, who are angels. Another suggestion is that there is an antiphonal choir here, with the four living creatures singing this line (i.e., all of v 10) as they alternate lines with the twenty-four elders.

“The same is true of the first clause in the NKJV translation, ‘And [You] have made us kings and priests to our God.’ Once again, the NKJV mistakenly has ‘us,’ whereas the MT and CT have the third person plural: ‘And You have made them kings and priests.’

“The four living creatures and elders are singing joyfully to the Lamb about those who will not only be entering His eternal kingdom but will also be ruling with Him in it because of their steadfast devotion. They were faithful and godly in life; therefore, they will reign in eternity (cf. 2:26-27).” 11

After the living angelic creatures and twenty-four elders sang a new song of praise to the Lamb of God, John writes, 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’” (Revelation 5:11-12). The chorus of praise did not end with the twenty-four elders. Two more groups join this worship service in God’s throne room. An innumerable host of “angels around the throne” now join “the four living creatures and twenty-four elders… with a loud voice” ascribing worth to “the Lamb who was slain” Who deserves “power… riches… wisdom… strength… honor… glory… blessing” to be given to Him at the beginning of His reign on earth (5:11-12). These seven qualities belong intrinsically to Christ. 12

“The angels use seven expressions (the perfect number is probably significant) to indicate the wonder of the Lamb.” 13

The repetition of “and” (kai) between each quality brings special emphasis to each one individually. It “produces the impression of extensiveness and abundance by means of an exhaustive summary.” 14

The final group to join this profound worship in God’s throne room includes “every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13). Every creature, saved and unsaved, angelic and demonic, will join in giving God the Father(“Him who sits on the throne“) and “the Lamb,” Jesus Christ, “the blessing and honor and glory and power” they deserve.

“The creatures in view must be intelligent beings capable of worship, who can fully appreciate God and the Lamb— not the stars, planets, and animals. This probably involved a forward (proleptic) look to the end of the history of planet earth, when every creature will bow the knee to Jesus Christ (cf. 5:10; Phil. 2:8-11).” 15

Even the inhabitants of hell (“under the earth”) will bow before Jesus Christ and confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:8-11). If you have not yet concluded that Jesus Christ is Lord (cf. John 20:28), the day will come when you reach such a conclusion “on the earth” during the Tribulation period (Revelation 6-19) or during Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6), or “under the earth” in the future in hell if you never believe in Christ alone for His gift of everlasting life.  

Why not come to faith in Jesus now for His gift of eternal life (John 3:16) so you can give Him the glory He deserves both now and “in heaven” in the future? Simply come to Christ as a sinner, realizing you cannot save yourself from sin’s penalty (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Recognize that Christ died for all your sins on the cross and rose from the dead, proving that He is God (Romans 1:3-4). Take Him at His Word when He says, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16), and He will give you everlasting life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). Then you can give Jesus the glory He deserves every day for the rest of your eternal life!!!

John concludes Chapter 5 with these words: “Then the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:14). While all creatures in every corner of creation worshiped God the Father and God the Son together for their work of creation and redemption (5:13), the four living creatures and twenty-four elders continued their unceasing worship (5:14).

Revelation 4 and 5 present heaven, God’s dwelling place, as a real place. John saw God the Father and God the Son receiving great honor there, surrounded by church-age believers and innumerable angelic worshippers. Even though John saw a vision, it was a vision of something that truly exists. We may be able to see both heaven and its inhabitants there some day depending on how we respond to Jesus Christ in this life.

The reason I am going to repeat what I said above is because some people need to hear this more than once before they understand and believe it. The Bible says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36). You have a choice to make. You can refuse to believe in the Son of God and abide under God’s wrath for eternity confessing His Lordship “under the earth” in hell or you can believe in Jesus now for everlasting life and enjoy confessing His Lordship “on earth” and “in heaven” for eternity.The choice is yours.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for the preview You have given us of heaven where all its inhabitants will focus on giving You and Your Son the blessing and honor and glory and power You both deserve. Thank You for reminding us that anyone and everyone can worship You. Revelation 5 shows us that every kind of creature from every level of creation has something to offer the triune God. Through new songs or old, with beautiful instruments or bold voices, by heartfelt prayers or hearty ‘Amens,’ all of us can reorient our hearts and minds toward You, Lord God. This powerful preview of worship in Your throne room gives us a rare insight into the spontaneity and variety of genuine praise. As great as it will be to see people there from every tribe, language group, and nation in Your throne room, we look forward to seeing the Lamb and Lion, Jesus Christ, the most, because He paid the price to make it possible for us to be there with Him!!! The One Who is worthy to exercise judgment and rule over the earth will accomplish His will through our lives. Even though human history is strewn with the wreckage of failed attempts to fix humanity’s problems, we can turn to Christ, Who has paid the price to bring about this glorious future. Help us to invest our lives in His coming Kingdom by proclaiming His gospel of grace to a lost world so more people can inhabit Your heaven in the future. To Jesus and to You, Father, be all the blessing, glory, honor, and power both now and forever. Amen.

ENDNOTES:

1. Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on Revelation, (Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary Book 15, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2014 Kindle Edition), pg. 141.

2. Tom Constable, Notes on Revelation, 2017 Edition, pg. 78.

3. Bob Vacendak; Robert Wilkin; J. Bond; Gary Derickson; Brad Doskocil; Zane Hodges; Dwight Hunt; Shawn Leach. The Grace New Testament Commentary: Revised Edition (Grace Evangelical Society, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 1520.  

4. Swindoll, pg. 142.

5. Constable, pg. 78 cites Henry Barclay Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John. 2nd ed. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1907), pp. 79-80.

6. Swindoll, pg. 142.

7. Constable, pg. 78.

8. Swindoll,pg. 142.

9. The word correctly translated “us” (hēmas) is found in the Greek Majority Text. See Vacendak, pg. 1520.

10. Tony Evans, CSB Bibles by Holman, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (B & H Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2019), pg. 2380.

11. Vacendak, pp. 1520-1521.

12. Constable, pg. 80.

13. Ibid., cites Leon Morris, The Revelation of St. John, Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. Reprint ed., (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, and Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), pg. 101.

14. Ibid., cites F. Blass, and A. Debrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Translated and revised by Robert W. Funk (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961) paragraph 460 (3).

15. Ibid.

I am redeemed in Christ

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7

When I believed in Christ, He “redeemed” or “purchased” me “through His blood.” This word for “redeemed” (apolutrōsis) is very important. At the time of the writing of the New Testament, it meant to go to the market place and buy a slave who is in trouble and then set the slave free. This is what Jesus did for us when He shed “His blood” on the cross.  He came to the market place where we have been slaves to sin.  And He paid the price or ransom for all our sins with “His blood” and set us free.

Before I placed my faith in Christ alone for salvation, I was enslaved to my sin. But the moment I believed in Jesus, I was taken off the slave market of sin so that I am now free to obey the Lord and not be enslaved to sin. The Holy Spirit, Who lives inside me, can empower me to say “no” to sin and “yes” to Christ (Romans 8:11-13). But if I do sin, the Holy Spirit will convict me so I can confess my sin to God and be restored to closeness with Him (I John 1:9).

Have you ever lost hope trying to overcome a sinful habit? You have tried and tried to break this habit, and you may be successful for a few weeks or months, but then you relapse? What God is telling us is that Christ has broken sin’s power in our lives by paying the full penalty for all our sins. Sin is no longer our master. Jesus Christ is now our Master and He wants to come alongside of us to enable us to get victory over sin.

One of the main reasons we may continue to sin in a particular area is because we believe the lie that says, “You cannot change because you are still a sinner who always sins.” But listen to the voice of truth. God says, “You can change through My Son, Jesus Christ, Who redeemed or purchased you off the slave market of sin so you are no longer enslaved to sin. You are now free to obey Me and live for Me.” Sin is no longer our master after we believe in Christ alone for salvation. Jesus is now our Master and He not only gives us the command to live holy lives, He also gives us the power to do so.

Let me illustrate the meaning of redemption. I read a story today about a father and son who worked for months to build a toy sailboat. Every night when he came home from work, the man and his boy would disappear into the garage for hours. When the boat was finished they stood back to admire the results. The wooden hull was painted bright red and it was trimmed with gleaming white sails. When it was finished the boy went to a nearby river for the boat’s trial run. The father had tied a string to its stern to keep it from sailing too far. The boat performed beautifully, but the string broke and the sailboat drifted out of sight. Attempts to find it were fruitless.

A few weeks later, as the boy was walking home from school he passed a store and was amazed to see his sailboat in the window. He ran inside to claim the boat, telling the owner he lost the boat. The store owner said, “You may have it back — for $50.” The boy was stunned at how much it would cost him to regain his boat, but since it was so precious to him he quickly set about earning the money to buy it back. Later he joyfully walked into the toy store and handed the owner $50 in exchange for his sailboat. It was the happiest day of his life. As he left the store he held the boat up to the sunlight. Its colors gleamed as though newly painted. “I made you, but I lost you,” he said. “Now I’ve bought you back.

God made you and me, but He lost us through our sin which separates us from Him. But God came to earth and bought us back by shedding His own blood on the cross. We now belong to the Lord Jesus and He is our Master. Let’s thank Him by living for Him!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the full price for my sins with Your shed blood so I am now released from enslavement to sin. Because of my redemption in You, You are now my Master and I am Your slave. You not only give me the command not to sin, but You also can give me the power to obey it. Please use the Holy Spirit to apply this truth to my heart and mind so that obedience to Your Word becomes normal and natural to my Christian life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.