If you haven’t already, I encourage you to go back and read 1 John 5:1-12. The beginning of 1 John 5 talks a lot about Jesus being born of God, of Jesus being the one perfect and holy sacrifice that could be made for us, and how we are to behave as Christians. The letter of 1 John gives advice to us on how we are to live our lives as children of God. One thing that I find interesting is at the end of verse 3 where it says, 'This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.' I think that this is very important for people who are new to following Christ or even for those who do not know the love of Jesus, and it serves as a reminder for people who have been believers for many years.
Being a Christian or a follower of Christ is never supposed to hold us back but to help us find and believe in a purpose that is much greater than the short-term pleasures we naturally gravitate towards. Every day, we face worldly temptations, but if we stop and place our faith in God, anything is achievable. Victory over sin, worldly desires, and personal temptations is only available through placing your heart in the hands of the Lord and allowing Him to renew your spirit through the only perfect sacrifice, Jesus, who walked, talked, and bled for each and every one of us.
1 John 5:6-12 goes even farther with Jesus being the living and breathing God. In verse 6, it talks about Jesus coming 'by water and blood,' referring to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry when he was baptized, and the very end where Jesus was crucified because some of the people at that time did not accept that Jesus was the son of God. This passage continues to support that it was necessary for Jesus to live as the perfect example and die as the perfect example, not only for the believers of that time but to complete the holy sacrifice. This is a strong message that allows us to dig into the perspective of the Romans who stuck to their roots and would not believe that the living God was in front of them. It makes me wonder how much I miss in simple opportunities that God puts in front of me every single day, much less the big-ticket items that I get to see and some that I miss out on.
Starting in verse 9, 1 John talks about the testimony from God about the promise of eternal life because He is so much greater than we can even fathom. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the opportunity to receive eternal life, but if we turn away from God, we will be lost and left without a life. We have the opportunity to believe in and study God's word. We must humble ourselves and become diligent followers of Christ, living out each day to the best of our ability to follow the teaching and leadership of Jesus.
God absolutely wants to have a strong and healthy relationship with you. He wants to rejoice in heaven when our day comes and to live eternally with Him. The only way to get there is through believing in the Trinity, loving the Lord our God, and following the teaching and life of Jesus Christ, as He was the one and only sinless man who died so that we could be saved.
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