Weekend Bible Reflections with Jon
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 1 John 5:19
One of the beautiful things about being a Christian are the promises God gives to His followers. Since God does not lie (Titus 1:2), His promises are sure and certain. These assurances help the Christian find encouragement, peace and joy during the hardships of life (Romans 15:4; Philippians 4:6-7; James 1:2-4).
One thing all Christians need to be assured about is their relationship with God. All saints can gain insight into the unique and intimate relationship they have with the Almighty by examining the differences between them and the world. John wrote in the above verse that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
This is sad but true. Those who are not Christians are people of the world, and people of the world do not follow God. They reject Jesus. They reject Him by rejecting
His Word, the Bible which contains His words and teachings. And by rejecting Jesus, they demonstrate that they have a different father than God. Their father is Satan, and they remain under is power as long as they remain in their sins (John 8:42-47). John wrote earlier in 1 John, “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil…By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (3:8, 10).
What a terrible situation to be in when one is not a Christian! They are still under the influence of the devil! He has blinded them to the truth! As Paul wrote, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
Yet Christians are different from the rest of the world. 1 John 5:19 says that while the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, “we know that we are of God.” Christians have been born of God. We know this because the Bible teaches that “whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God…” (1 John 5:1). Jesus himself said that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (John 3:5), a reference to being baptized for the forgiveness of sins to obtain salvation and be raised to a new life in Christ (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Romans 6:1-5).
Because Christians have been born of God, they have a privilege bestowed upon them…the greatest privilege and highest honor anyone could ever be given. They are privileged to be called the children of God. The apostle wrote, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:1-2).
The world does not know the children of God. That shouldn’t be a surprise because the world does not know God. They lie under the power of Satan. Christians do not lie under the power of the devil. Christians are the children of God. Christians are heavenbound. When Christ comes back, His faithful followers will be just like Him and see Him as He really is! What a wonderful day that will be!
If you believe with all of your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and are willing repent of your sins and be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you will be born of God, be added to His family, and be heaven-bound. That is a certainty. Contact me at calhounchurchofchrist@ gmail.com to learn more!