Intro: Whether you were with family, friends, or by yourself, I trust you had a blessed and glorious time of celebrating the birth of the Christ. The first Advent of Jesus changed everything, because he came to bring humanity life from above; so we could enjoy God with us! Jesus makes us spiritually alive, so we can model his loving character with human action.
The Christian’s purpose is to live by faith in Christ and reveal the character of God, everyday. We now live to worship him each day by being conformed to his image and bringing glory to his name (Ro 8:29; Ro 12:1; Gal 2:20). Jesus gave us his Spirit, so we could be his redeemed flesh. God is the Life of believers, so no matter what we are doing we are to reveal our faith and trust in God through our faith-filled words and faith-driven actions.
In our passage today, the Apostle John teaches believers everywhere about being spiritual children of God. We are learning how to live by faith and empowered by the Spirit. This is how we overcome the influence of evil in the world; we live by faith in the Son of God. Some days our load may be heavy; perhaps we are not sure we are going to be able to carry on. However, we must remember God’s grace is sufficient for every need and he is working a greater measure of trust within us (Mat 11:28-30). We need to simply pray and ask for more grace and strength. May God’s strength fill you today for whatever comes your way.
1 John 5:1-12 Faith in the Son of God
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. 7 So we have these three witnesses— 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. 9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. 10 All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.
11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for being the spiritual Life I need each day. I have faith in your ability to help me overcome every obstacle. In Jesus’ name. Amen.