Text: 1 John 5:1–12
We live in a world full of noise—voices telling us what to value, whom to fear, and how to live. And in the middle of all that cultural confusion, John reminds us of something essential: the confidence we need to love each other and to overcome the world comes from knowing Jesus is King.
A Voice You Can Trust
In March of 2022, CBS News told the story of Jacob Smith, a 15-year-old freeride skier who is legally blind. Jacob has extreme tunnel vision, no depth perception, and everything he does see is a blur. His visual acuity is 20/800—meaning he would need the big “E” from the eye chart blown up four times its size to see it from twenty feet away.
So how does a teenager who can barely see ski down steep, dangerous mountain faces?
He listens to a voice he trusts.
On competition days, Jacob’s little brother guides him to peaks so high the lifts won’t take you there. His father waits at the bottom, takes a deep breath, and begins talking Jacob down the mountain. Jacob keeps a radio turned up loud in his pocket, and as he starts downhill he does exactly what his father says. “Turn right. Slow down. Big drop coming. Stay left.”
When asked how much he trusts his dad, Jacob smiled and said, “Enough to turn right when he tells me to.”
Confidence comes from knowing the authority you’re responding to. When you trust the one giving the command, obedience isn’t burdensome—it becomes natural. Fear loses its power.
That’s the tone John sets in 1 John 5. His churches have been overwhelmed by competing voices, false teachings, and spiritual confusion. So he brings them back to the one truth that changes everything:
You know who your King is.
Jesus is not one more voice among many. He is the true King of the cosmos—our source of life, confidence, and victory.
A Church Formed by Love
The Church John envisioned is: a people who remain in the truth and walk in love. Discipleship isn’t complicated. We receive God’s love, which empowers us to love God and love people, and then others experience God’s love through us. That’s how disciples are made. That’s how we bear witness to the reign of King Jesus.
The apostle John wrote his first letter to faith communities under his care that had been under attack and divided by false teaching. This teaching downplayed Jesus and sin while focusing on spiritual power and enlightenment. John wanted to remind them of Jesus’s true identity as the unique Divine Son of God, the King of the World, and that our job is to love God and to love people.
John has just finished teaching about love—that the true definition of love is not what the false teachers say it is, but God, specifically seen in the sacrifice of Jesus. God’s type of love is sacrificial. It is giving what we have so the other person can be blessed. Along with love we need faith. What does this faith look like?
The Faith We Need
1. Faith in Jesus Produces Obedience and Love (vv. 1–3)
John begins with a simple assumption: faith comes first. Believing that Jesus is the Christ—the King of the cosmos—is more than mental agreement. It requires loyalty. Faith makes us God’s children, giving us a new identity and new expectations.
And what does this new family do?
We love.
For John, love for God and love for God’s children are inseparable. Love is not merely a feeling or warm sentiment—it is action. We love God by keeping His commandments: forgiving, showing mercy, serving, helping, and seeing others with honor. These aren’t burdensome tasks. They are the natural way of life in God’s kingdom, empowered by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23).
To love well, we must (1) declare our faith in Jesus, (2) choose to love His people, and (3) ask God to empower us.
2. Faith in the King Overcomes the World (vv. 4–5)
John reminds us that every child of God “defeats this evil world.” Our victory does not come from withdrawing or fighting harder—it comes from being made new. New birth gives us a new identity and a new allegiance.
Faith is the means of victory. Left to ourselves, we fall prey to deception, fear, and the false promises of the age. But loyalty to King Jesus anchors us in truth. There is no alternative path to life. The world doesn’t need our cleverness; it needs rescue. And God has provided that rescue in Jesus.
3. God Himself Testifies That Life Is in His Son (vv. 6–12)
John draws our attention to God’s testimony about His Son. The “water and blood” point to Jesus’ baptism and His sacrificial death—bookends to His earthly ministry. The Spirit affirms this testimony: in Scripture, in the apostles’ teaching, and in the inner witness of God’s people.
Rejecting Jesus is not merely a disagreement; it is calling God a liar. But receiving the testimony leads to life—true life, the life of God Himself, present within us now through the Spirit.
John makes the point unmistakable:
If you have the Son, you have life.
If you do not have the Son, you do not have life.
Living in the Confidence of King Jesus
What is the Point?
John gives us clarity about faith:
- Faith leads to love and obedience. We can love in small ways because we’re made in God’s image, but to love consistently, sacrificially, and joyfully requires surrender to Jesus.
- Faith leads to victory over the world. Our allegiance to King Jesus defines our identity. His victory becomes our victory.
- Faith rests on God’s testimony. The Scriptures, the work of the Spirit, the history of the Church, and transformed lives all come together to assure us that Jesus is the true King.
Big Idea: The confidence we need to love each other and to overcome the world comes from knowing Jesus is King.
Living out God’s love is challenging. What if we get hurt? What if people take advantage of us? What if nothing seems to change?
Our courage does not come from outcomes—it comes from the truth that Jesus has already won. His life, death, resurrection, and ascension declare that the world’s power is broken. So we live like people who belong to a victorious King.
A Challenge
In your prayers this week, ask God to empower you to love. Love is how we are known as God’s people. And we desperately need His help to love well.
Final Thought
Because Jesus is the King who has already overcome the world, we don’t love out of fear—we love out of confidence. Every act of forgiveness, every step of obedience, every moment we choose love over resentment declares to the world:
My King has already won.
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