For Whatsoever Is Born of
God
Overcometh the World
Preached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX
The First Sunday
after Easter, 2010
by The Rev.
Stephen E. Stults
I John 5:4
For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
John the beloved
Disciple begins our Epistle selection for the day with a
bold statement, a strong statement of victory and
achievement. It is fitting that he should say so in
this blessed season of Easter, for this is the time of
Christ’s, and thus our, exultation over death, despair,
and perdition. This is our time of victory. In the
big, big, scheme of things, Good has won. Evil is
defeated.
 John goes on to
tell us these bold and stirring words, that we who
believe in the Son of God, that is, those of us born
anew into Him through the waters of Holy Baptism, are able to overcome the world. In fact, in Christ,
as well as we the Church, through faith, has overcome the world.
This is a
statement worthy of examination. While on the surface it
seems unlikely, when one surveys the relative
powerlessness of many Christians around the world. We
are speaking of those who are persecuted for the faith.
Although we in this country are blessed to be free from
persecution, in many places it is not so. In China, in
the Middle East and in parts of Africa, persecution is
very real and very active. There are people, even
today, who are suffering and dying for the faith of
Christ.
Thus, one might
be tempted to look upon these martyrs and say, “Overcome
the World? Rather the world has overcome them…” Yes,
that would be the obvious conclusion, and it would be
patently wrong.
Consider this.
As the disciple is not above his master, nor is the
servant above his lord, so are these blessed saints in
relation to Christ. As Jesus told those women who
bewailed him on his way to Golgotha, “For if they do these
things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?”
(Luke 23:31). In other
words, if the powers that be dared to strike the Head,
what will happen to those that follow Him? Good
question. Yes, the World shall strike them, just as it
did their Master. They too shall suffer persecution,
perhaps deprivation, and even death. Just as those in
the early Church did, many will become as the
“offscouring of all things,” in St. Paul’s words (I Cor.
4:13).
Yet, just as the World poured all its hate and
maliciousness on Christ, thinking it had defeated Him by
depriving Him of earthly life, it was totally wrong. Christ overcame the hate of the World through
Love. He asserted His Lordship over death and despair by
rising from the dead. Hate and evil were totally
frustrated and totally defeated. Christ’s victory was
complete.
Because the
faithful disciple is like his master, those suffering
for the faith, through faith, will be glorified like
their Master. They too will experience the glorious
overcoming of the world, just as Christ their Lord and
Master did. Perhaps they are cast down for a while, as
was Christ, but their glory will forever outshine the
malignancy of those that put them to their glorious, but
somber fate. They too have overcome the world through
faith.
Yet,
sometimes, when we see the vicissitudes of the Church in
the World, we ponder St. Paul’s word in 1
Corinthians 1:26: ”For you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble, are called.”
Of course, St.
Paul was referring to the origins of the early Church.
We know that it grew, not from an endorsement from the
rich and powerful, but rather despite a benign
indifference from the rich and powerful. This point of
view changed into an active persecution of Christianity
by the time of the Emperor Diocletian. Thus, how can
it be that we Christians overcome the world, especially
when we consider what our Lord Himself said about the
unjust steward in Luke 16:8: “And
the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had
done wisely: for the children of this world are in
their generation wiser than the children of light.”
John answers
this internal inquiry we might have when he says, “And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (I John 5:5). In believing
this, there is a sense that many Christians have
“confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
To use a well-worn but truthful phrase, that although we
are in the world, we are not of the world. In other
words, while we honor the Earth and our earthly
existence as good and holy things, they are not
ultimate. Earthly life does not, or should not,
hold complete sway over us. We have seen its glitter
and its illusory enticements, yet we are above them.
This is not to
say that we Christians despise the good things in life,
or earthly success, or worthy material possessions. Far
be it from us to think that way! We recognize all these
things as gifts from a loving Father in return for our
labor and dedication. Most of us are not called to be
poor, holy hermits, huddled in a cave over our prayers. No, but our point is this: we overcome the world
through our faith, our love, and our charity. We acquire
certain material things, sometimes in great abundance,
but yet we do not give them power over us. We do not,
or should not, let the material overwhelm the
spiritual. If we do, we are in danger. Rather than
overcome the world, we have consented to the world’s
overcoming us. For the Christian, this should never be.
The Apostle
John reinforces our faith that Christ is the One that
Overcame as he presents to us Christ’s “credentials”
(Matthew Henry, Commentary on 1st John) That is,
there are witnesses to Christ’s existence, His glory and
his Victory.
First, there is
the Spirit of God, who bears witness to Christ
constantly in our hearts, through our worship and
ingestion of the Blessed Sacrament, and through our
reading of the Word of God. All of this confirmation
comes to through grace by the Holy Spirit. He is truth,
according to the words of St. John.
Continuing,
John tells us: “For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (I John 5:7). Only in the
Gospel and writings of John is Christ constantly
referred to as the “the Word,” the most familiar
reference being in John 1:1, where we read: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.” The Divine Son of God in the Glory
that He had at the beginning before the Worlds certainly
bears witness to His human nature as well as His divine
nature. We know that the Father bore witness to His Son
directly, first at His Baptism, when God the Father
spoke: “This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew
3:17).The Father
spoke again at the Transfiguration, when Jesus spoke
with Moses and Elijah, becoming glistening white. He
said, “And there came a voice out of
the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Luke 9:35).
The Holy Ghost witnessed directly to Jesus at His
Baptism, descending bodily upon Him in the form of a
dove. We as Christians know that the Holy Spirit
witnesses to us daily in our private meditations and
prayers, as well as our weekly worship.
The
importance of this little section of Scripture cannot be
understated: it is proof text for the Holy Trinity: God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Just
as these three bear witness to Christ, they witness to
us about the nature of God. He is One God in Three
Persons, not three Gods, three Fathers, three Sons, or
three Spirits. The Holy Trinity is probably the most
baffling yet most powerful truths of Christianity.
These three all bear witness to Christ.
John echoes
this, as he says, “And there are three that bear witness
in earth, the Spirit,
and the
water, and the blood: and these three agree in one” (I
John 5:8). Thus, we have a wonderful parallel of witness, both in
heaven and on earth to Christ. As many Church fathers
have taught us, and even modern writers like C.S. Lewis,
things on earth are a faint reflection of things in
heaven.
St John begins
to close this discussion by stating that the witness of
men is important, but the witness of God is greater.
When we see the Scriptures through new eyes, spiritual
eyes, and see the overwhelming evidence for the work and
victory of Jesus Christ, we receive the witness in
ourselves. Thus, we have this witness that Jesus Christ
is Lord. To God’s eternal glory, we can only confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord by the power of the Holy
Spirit. If we have the grace to confess this, it is well
with us. In so doing, we are beginning to overcome the
world.
The record God
has given us is quite simple: it is the sum of the
Gospel: “And this is the record that God hath given to
us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the
Son of God does not have life” (I John 5:11-12)
We give thanks
to God that He has seen fit to call us into the
fellowship of His Son… We give thanks the we, through
Christ, have overcome the World. For this, we are indeed
blessed, we are indeed fortunate; we are indeed the most
thankful.
In the Name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
AMEN
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
are one. (I John 5:7)
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