1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
Oh Friends, that most memorable day is drawing nigh! The day the greatest miracle ever was performed; that’s two thousand odd years ago, when the Lord put His awesome plan into motion to bring His lost, disobedient, sinful children back into His everlasting, ever-LOVING fold. Just two more days to that day we call Christmas, and the joyous celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And Friends this ties in nicely to our Bit where John is proclaiming; ‘Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.’ I know it sounds somewhat confusing, but when broken down into its basic elements, we discover that John’s making several important statements in those few words, my people. The first part of the statement has to do with belief; the belief that ‘Jesus is the Christ.’ Now this is of utmost importance to our faith. In fact it’s the bedrock, the very foundation on which our Christian faith is built; that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the innocent One who atoned for our sins and sits at the right hand of the Father doing due diligence for us. John makes several adamant, inflexible statements re our belief in Jesus. Let’s check out a few. ‘Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.’ (1 John 2:22-23) That sounds fairly logical. If the Father and the Son are One, like two peas in a pod, then if you deny any one of them, most likely you’ll also deny the other. Then, in talking about trying the spirits, John vociferously declares: ‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.’ (1 John 4:1-3) And that’s the living truth Friends! The purveyors of the antichrist movement are rampant in our society today, and we need to be very careful of what we believe, and whom we believe it from. John is adamant and unrelenting in his belief that if the Spirit doesn’t acknowledge that Jesus is God, or of the triune Godhead, then it’s false and should be cast aside. And finally, he declares that ‘Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.’ (1 John 4:15) So my Friends, the first thing our faith calls for is the strong, unrelenting belief that Jesus is Christ, the Messiah, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar and antichrist, and doesn’t truly have God in him, because only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, truly have God in them. It’s an unbroken circle my people: believe that Jesus is Christ, then you have God in you. And to have God in you, you must believe in Jesus. You can’t have one without the other. And when you sincerely believe that Jesus is the Christ, then you’re born of God. ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ (John 1:12-13) Yes Friends, all those who receive and believe in Christ, are born again; not of flesh and blood, but of God, of the Spirit of God. Then we become new people in Christ. Our lives change for the better. We move up to a higher level, a more spiritual plane. We’re not as concerned with the things of the world, of the flesh, but of the Spirit and of heaven. The last part of John’s statement is also significant re our faith; ‘and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.’ When he says ‘begat,’ he means a father. In this particular case, God. And ‘begotten of him’ is the child of the father, here meaning Jesus. The point he’s making is that generally, if we care for a father or parent, then we’ll most often also care for their children too. So in effect, if we truly LOVE God, then we’ll also LOVE His Son Jesus, and pay Him due respect. That makes sense, doesn’t it my people? And, per the scholars, there could also be another twist to John’s statement. ‘Begotten of him’ could also refer to us, the children of God, those born again through accepting Christ and His Holy Spirit. Then it means that to truly LOVE God, we also have to LOVE all His other born again children. Which certainly makes a lot of sense. For remember Friends, God is LOVE, and LOVE is of God. They’re inseparable. Again, you can’t have one without the other. And the complete cycle my people is: Belief that Jesus is the Christ, also the Son of God, gives us rebirth on a spiritual level, and brings the eternal emotion of God, LOVE, into our hearts and souls, and causes us to LOVE Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Father, our neighbours and ourselves. If that cycle doesn’t operate within us, then we’re not true believers, not sons of God, but antichrist. So let’s do some diligent soul-searching asap, and quickly reconnect the cycle if it’s broken. Much LOVE!… may the circle be unbroken…in the sweet bye and bye…
Oh Friends, that most memorable day is drawing nigh! The day the greatest miracle ever was performed; that’s two thousand odd years ago, when the Lord put His awesome plan into motion to bring His lost, disobedient, sinful children back into His everlasting, ever-LOVING fold. Just two more days to that day we call Christmas, and the joyous celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And Friends this ties in nicely to our Bit where John is proclaiming; ‘Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.’ I know it sounds somewhat confusing, but when broken down into its basic elements, we discover that John’s making several important statements in those few words, my people. The first part of the statement has to do with belief; the belief that ‘Jesus is the Christ.’ Now this is of utmost importance to our faith. In fact it’s the bedrock, the very foundation on which our Christian faith is built; that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the innocent One who atoned for our sins and sits at the right hand of the Father doing due diligence for us. John makes several adamant, inflexible statements re our belief in Jesus. Let’s check out a few. ‘Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.’ (1 John 2:22-23) That sounds fairly logical. If the Father and the Son are One, like two peas in a pod, then if you deny any one of them, most likely you’ll also deny the other. Then, in talking about trying the spirits, John vociferously declares: ‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.’ (1 John 4:1-3) And that’s the living truth Friends! The purveyors of the antichrist movement are rampant in our society today, and we need to be very careful of what we believe, and whom we believe it from. John is adamant and unrelenting in his belief that if the Spirit doesn’t acknowledge that Jesus is God, or of the triune Godhead, then it’s false and should be cast aside. And finally, he declares that ‘Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.’ (1 John 4:15) So my Friends, the first thing our faith calls for is the strong, unrelenting belief that Jesus is Christ, the Messiah, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar and antichrist, and doesn’t truly have God in him, because only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, truly have God in them. It’s an unbroken circle my people: believe that Jesus is Christ, then you have God in you. And to have God in you, you must believe in Jesus. You can’t have one without the other. And when you sincerely believe that Jesus is the Christ, then you’re born of God. ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ (John 1:12-13) Yes Friends, all those who receive and believe in Christ, are born again; not of flesh and blood, but of God, of the Spirit of God. Then we become new people in Christ. Our lives change for the better. We move up to a higher level, a more spiritual plane. We’re not as concerned with the things of the world, of the flesh, but of the Spirit and of heaven. The last part of John’s statement is also significant re our faith; ‘and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.’ When he says ‘begat,’ he means a father. In this particular case, God. And ‘begotten of him’ is the child of the father, here meaning Jesus. The point he’s making is that generally, if we care for a father or parent, then we’ll most often also care for their children too. So in effect, if we truly LOVE God, then we’ll also LOVE His Son Jesus, and pay Him due respect. That makes sense, doesn’t it my people? And, per the scholars, there could also be another twist to John’s statement. ‘Begotten of him’ could also refer to us, the children of God, those born again through accepting Christ and His Holy Spirit. Then it means that to truly LOVE God, we also have to LOVE all His other born again children. Which certainly makes a lot of sense. For remember Friends, God is LOVE, and LOVE is of God. They’re inseparable. Again, you can’t have one without the other. And the complete cycle my people is: Belief that Jesus is the Christ, also the Son of God, gives us rebirth on a spiritual level, and brings the eternal emotion of God, LOVE, into our hearts and souls, and causes us to LOVE Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Father, our neighbours and ourselves. If that cycle doesn’t operate within us, then we’re not true believers, not sons of God, but antichrist. So let’s do some diligent soul-searching asap, and quickly reconnect the cycle if it’s broken. Much LOVE!… may the circle be unbroken…in the sweet bye and bye…
SCRIP-BITS 