The Centrality Of Christ

On these Sunday evenings we are looking at 1 John 5. At this time of year over the past 4 years we have been working our way through this great epistle with a chapter each year. And this year we have got to chapter 5. Our passage for tonight is 1 John 5.6-12. In the earlier verses of chapter 5 of 1 John, the writer, John, has been telling us what marks out a born again believer. He tells us first of all that he or she "believes that Jesus is the Christ"; secondly, that they love God and their fellow Christians; and thirdly, that they obey God. And he then goes on to say, "this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (verse 4). But there was a great deal of confusion in John's world as there is today. Many people talked about Jesus and love and faith, but meant quite different things. How were they to know the true faith? How could they be sure? That is still a relevant question. There is confusion today, all right. So as we look at our passage tonight, to examine further this confusion in John's day, first, I want to focus on the BACKGROUND to these verses. Secondly, I want us to ask WHAT DOES JOHN SAY? And thirdly, I want us look at THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST. First, BACKGROUND The world of the New Testament was full of beliefs and religions. It was pluralism gone mad. When Paul went to Athens he found "that the city was full of idols". He wrote to the Corinthians that "indeed there are many [so called] 'gods' and many 'lords'." But he is quick to add:

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live (1 Cor 8.6).

And with all this pluralism the old certainties had gone. And with those certainties so had rationality and morality. But the God of the bible is rational and moral. He is a God who speaks. He utters words that need to be thought about. And his word comes through prophets and apostles and supremely Jesus. And you need to listen to what they say. But where do you get their words? Not by inspecting and meditating on the inner recesses of your consciousness, but by reading and discovering the bible. That is why the bible is so important. Nor is this bibliolatry. It is common sense. But as the true God is rational and moral, so the devil attacks rationality and morality. In John's day he was attacking all right. And so he is today. G.K.Chesterton said that when people cease to believe in God, they don't believe in nothing, they believe in anything. Isn't that so true? That is why you have all this New Age irrationality. Take Madonna, as a modern example. She has now gone "New Age". Her latest album "Ray of Light" comes from her new Jewish Kabbalistic beliefs in reincarnation, astrology and other nonsense. One music critic comments:

I think this is a natural move for the Rev Madonna. After all when you get tired of selling sex, why not sell religion. I expect no less from the Spice Girls in 10 or so years.

And John's readers were living in such an irrational and immoral world. So they asked the question: "how can we know the truth? How do we know who to believe? How can we have certainty?" That is a question many people are also asking today. In New Testament times there were three basic answers. And these answers are still given. There were some people who said that fundamentally truth and certainty came from "miraculous signs" or "signs and wonders". Many come up with that same answer today. Do you want to convince people? Then, they say, pray for and then point to "miraculous signs". But the trouble is that miraculous signs - including healings - are all evidenced in other religions and beliefs. There are lying signs and wonders. Now, don't get me wrong. In the providence of God amazing things still happen to Christian people after prayer. The very hairs of your head are numbered. So, of course, God is interested in the tiniest detail of your life. So if you are ill, or depressed, or lack finance pray to him. He will answer your prayers - not necessarily how you want, but in ways that are best for you. And, in the providence of God you will discover remarkable answers to prayer. Christians down the ages have always discovered that. In my time here at Jesmond there have been amazing answers to prayer. But these should not necessarily be the focus for someone who has doubts. As Jesus said in his parable, they may "not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." Then there were other people in New Testament times, as there are today, who said that the answer to doubt and confusion lies in human wisdom. I am always amazed when I ask a student doing theology or religious studies, "why have you chosen that subject?" and they reply, "because I want to find out what to believe?" Studying theology from cold, sadly, so often leads to even more confusion. Again, don't get me wrong. We want people thinking through their Christian faith and doing theology. But in the famous words of St Anslem, it needs to be "faith seeking understanding", not "understanding seeking faith". You see, the problem as John made so clear, is not fundamentally intellectual but moral. It is a problem not of knowledge but of the will. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1.22-24:

Jews demand miraculous signs [as some do today] and Greeks look for wisdom [as others do today], {23} but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, {24} but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

True power religion and true intellectualism is in the Cross. The Holy Spirit brings assurance and dispels doubt by the "preaching of Christ crucified". Preaching is a rational presentation of the facts. But these are not any old facts. They are the facts of the Cross, that men and women reject God and need forgiveness; and that Christ died to bear the punishment in our place that we deserve. You say, why is that the way to dispel doubt? I don't know. But it is all of a piece with the fundamental problem - namely that men and women reject God and need to be reconciled to him. Deep down they know there is a God and that they sin. I don't care who they are. When the chips are down, their defences go, and they are like little children. They need to know that the Cross is the answer to their problems. But there is such opposition - even hatred for the Cross. The devil attacks it. He makes Christians neglect it and focus on other things. That is why we have the Holy Communion - so that we continually remember the death of Christ for us on the cross. In John's day there was a vast New Age movement made up of different types. They are given the umbrella name of "Gnostics". They talked about Jesus but had weird ideas about him. They were very "spiritual". Beware of "spirituality". Spirituality if not based on life in Christ as the bible teaches it, can be demonic. There is nothing particularly good about the "spiritual". God's creation is material. Let's enjoy it - but as he directs us. These Gnostics falsely taught that what is important is the spiritual. The material, they said, is unimportant. Some of them went on to say that because the material, and so the body, is unimportant, what you do with your body doesn't matter. So they justified sexual immorality. That is what some people are doing today. They say that sex is sometimes permitted outside marriage; yet they can seem to be so spiritual and nice. And they deceive many. They were doing that in John's time. There was one group of these that followed a man called Cerinthus. He was a heretic who taught that you must separate the man and material "Jesus" from the divine and spiritual "Christ". He taught that the man Jesus was born of Joseph and Mary, without a virginal conception. But the divine Christ came on him at his baptism; and then left him before his crucifixion. In this way Cerinthus destroyed the wonderful truth and reality of the cross - that God himself was in Christ reconciling the world. So Jesus was not, according to Cerinthus, the second person of the divine Trinity. He was only a man, but more God conscious than anyone else. When you hear that sort of view today, it is not something modern. It is as old as the apostles. They knew of that view and knew that it was wrong. They had lived with Jesus and knew that he wasn't just like any other man. He was fully human but fully God. Well, all that is the background to what John is writing. Secondly, WHAT then DOES JOHN SAY? Look at verse 6:

This is the one who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.

Here John is answering Cerinthus head on. Jesus Christ "did not come by water only" - it wasn't just at his baptism that the divine Christ came on Jesus. No! He was divine all the time. He came by "water and blood" - the blood of the cross. So he was the divine Lord on the cross. John will have none of that side-lining of the Cross. Who is tempted to sideline the Cross tonight? Who has never been to the cross for forgiveness? Why not do that tonight? No one is too good not to need to be forgiven. And no one is too bad to be forgiven? But you still say, "how can I know all this is true? Why should you be right? Why should John be right?" Look at the last part of verse 6:

it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

The great work of the Holy Spirit is to testify to Jesus. Fundamentally he is concerned with "truth" - the truth about Jesus - that he lived, died and rose again. Truth, of course, is something for your mind. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, concerned with knowledge. And he imparts that knowledge through the prophets he has inspired (and you have those in the Old Testament as we have said) and through the apostles he has inspired (and you have those in the New Testament). The bible teaches that God's word brings about faith - Rom 10.17:

faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

And all this is external and objective. It is factual. God has acted in history - real history, "out there". But secondly the Holy Spirit brings conviction about this objective truth. This conviction is more internal and subjective. Why is it that when the word of God is preached, some respond and some don't? Answer: some are and some are not convicted by the Holy Spirit. That is why prayer is so important for the Holy Spirit to work. Yes, you must be rational and sane and thoughtful as you talk to your friends and colleagues about Christ. But unless the Holy Spirit is also working, their hearts and wills will not be softened. They will remain hardened. The root problem is not in their intellects, it is in their rebellious wills. That is why prayer as well as preaching is so important for evangelism. On the day of Pentecost, there were no new facts about Jesus. It was that the Holy Spirit came and brought conviction to the people about the facts that many already knew. And John says that the Holy Spirit's witness to the truth meshes in with the objective facts of the life of Jesus. As the Spirit works and as you focus on the reality of Jesus' ministry beginning with his baptism (the water), and then as you focus on the reality of the Cross (the blood), you have a great divine testimony from God himself. This brings conviction that the apostolic gospel about the incarnate Son of God is true and right and that these Gnostic New Age ideas, for all their spirituality, are false and wrong - verses 7-9:

For there are three that testify: {8} the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. {9} We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.

And that brings us to our third and final heading tonight - Thirdly, THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST. God's testimony is "about his Son". How important, then, in John's day and ours, to focus on God the Son, the 2nd person of the divine Trinity - the incarnate Lord, who died on a cross and rose again. But perhaps there is even still someone saying: "I find this convincing, after a manner of speaking; but how do I get real assurance? How do I receive this testimony? I hear what you say, and I can read what John says; but can I really know all this is true?" Look at verse 10:

Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

Do you see what is being said there? "Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart". You believe, and then you receive "this testimony" in your heart. This is the principle of commitment. You only get full assurance after you have started. That is so true of many areas in life. You never can be 100% sure that the train you are on is not some freak train going to another destination, until you are leaving the station and going along the old familiar track. You never can be 100% sure your breaks will work until you test them out. If you are wise you have good evidence before you start on your journey or drive your car. But there never can be that 100% certainty until you commit yourself. It is the same with Christ. As you trust him and live for him, so you get assurance -John 7:17:

If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

As we must repeat again and again, the fundamental problems over assurance are usually not intellectual they are moral. And John is saying that if you do not believe in Christ, you make God out to be a liar. The evidence is so clear, if only you open your eyes. So what, then, is the testimony that you get in your heart? Look at verse 11:

this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

It is new life. That is what the Holy Spirit works in you that brings conviction. He is the "life-giver". Note three things about this new life. One, it is a gift; you cannot earn it - "God has given us eternal life". Two, it is eternal - it starts now and continues on beyond the grave - "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Cor 4.18). And, three, it is personal - it is "given us". So we can say with Paul, "the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2.20). Can you say that? If you have never done so before, why not do that tonight - "he loved me [and put your name in there] and gave himself for me." I must conclude. These issues we have been dealing with tonight are not academic issues. They are matters of life and death; and of heaven and hell. Look at verse 12, and with this I close:

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.