The Season of Resurrection: Part 3

First John 5:4-10 
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
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“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.” But how are we to believe such a thing? How are we to dare to believe that sin, death, and devil can all be outdone simply because we have been adopted as sons of God? Saint John’s answer is that we believe it on the authority of credible witnesses.

The world provides us with many sources of authority. The anchor on the nightly news, books filled with quotes and footnotes, pundits, preachers, teachers, parents, journalists, and experts of various fields all serve as sources of authority. They tell us things and we tend to believe them. They speak and we listen, and very often obey. Yet, not all authorities are created equal.

 If a random man with a doctoral degree meets you on the street, looks you over, and declares that you must certainly have stage 4 cancer, you would be right to regard him with suspicion. If, however, your personal physician tells you that you have stage 4 cancer after running various medical tests and consulting with other experts in the field, you are almost certainly bound to believe him. Why do we ignore the intelligent stranger and listen to our family doctor? Credentials.

The stranger has at least one credential. He has a doctoral degree, which makes him an expert in a very narrow field of study. The family physician, though, has many other credentials: years of experience, medical tests, familiarity with the patient, access to other experts, knowledge of family history, a medical degree, and more. These all add to the credibility of the later and lead you to ignore the former.

When someone wants us to believe what they say, they often establish their credentials. This is why physicians hang their medical degrees on the wall in their offices. It is why authors cite their sources. It is why journalists often like to get a first hand report. Credentials make authorities more believable, more credible.

Even the Bible establishes its credentials for us. Take, for example, Saint Paul’s comment to the Corinthians in his first letter: “Then [Jesus] appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.” (First Corinthians 15:6) When trying to establish the credentials of his testimony to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Paul refers the reader to 500 eyewitnesses to the event. It is as if Paul is daring the reader to question him. “If you don’t believe me, just go ask one of those 500 other witnesses.” 
    
 Saint John tells us that there are three witnesses who bear testimony to Jesus being the Son of God. The Spirit, the water, and the blood testify to the fact that Jesus is not a mere mortal, but God in the flesh. These three establish firm credentials for faith to latch on to. 

The Holy Spirit, through the verbal preaching and teaching of the Apostles, and now through the written Scriptures, testifies that Jesus is truly the Son of God. This is not something any man invented, but revealed to us through the power of God speaking via the disciples and eyewitnesses. 
At His baptism (the water) God revealed that “this is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) John the Baptist also confessed that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) We might take the baptism of Jesus as a summary for all of the miraculous things that occur around and through Jesus, showing time and again that He is God’s very own Son.

It is at His death (the blood), however, that it becomes clear as to why Jesus’ identity as God’s Son is so important. Certainly, this event establishes Jesus’ credentials as the Son of God. It is at the cross, when God-in-the-flesh has poured out His blood for the sins of the world, that a centurion declares, “Truly,  this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54) But it also establishes the fact that this Son of God died, not randomly, but according to the will of His Father for us, for you. 

Why else would God die? He does not need death. He does not need me or you. Then why die? Because He has deep compassion for us. Because He is merciful. Because He loves us. The God who loves you enough to die for you must be trustworthy. That is a witness with credentials beyond all others. So anything that He says, we should believe. You can stake your life on His every word and promise.

So when John writes, “Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” he is right on the money. (I John 5:5) The three witnesses have firmly established God’s credibility. He is the one authority that we can believe without the shadow of a doubt. Jesus is God’s Son, the Lamb of God whose death takes away the sin of the world. We can absolutely trust Him to forgive our every sin, to trample down the plans of the devil, and to raise us from death on the last day. By faith in the Son of God, all of God’s children overcome the world.