Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
WEEK 15
CONTEMPLATING ETERNAL LIFE
AND JOY
1 JOHN 5:1-13
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this; that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
FATHER, we thank You for the truth revealed in Your written Word,
which testifies to us about Your Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You also for the testimony of the Holy Spirit,
who attested to Christ with many miracles and wonders
at the dawn of the gospel era. We thank You as well for the audible testimony You gave
at the time of Jesus' water baptism: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."1
And above all, we thank You for the blood of Christ,
the ultimate proof that Christ always does
the things that are pleasing to You.2
That precious blood is a most satisfactory sacrifice
for all the sins of all who would ever believe
these testimonies about Christ. We affirm that all these impeccable testimonies are true,
and we confess that Christ is indeed
the Son of God and the only Savior— and that by believing in Him we have eternal life.
We thank You, O God, that You granted us
this eternal life through Your mercy. One of the fruits of that gift for us is eternal joy. What amazing love that You sent Your Son to
sorrow, suffer, and die that we might know joy!
How can we thank You enough?
You have commanded us to rejoice always and in every circumstance—
even our trials are an occasion for rejoicing.3
Joy is such a delightful duty,
and yet we humbly confess that because we are weak and sinful, grumbling and complaining sometimes seem to come more naturally
as a response to the issues of life. Forgive us for such a bleak and ungrateful response
to the grace You show us each day, and help us even now to be glad participants in heaven's joy.
By making joy both a privilege and a duty in our daily lives,
and by preparing us for an even greater eternal joy, You show Yourself to be a God of gladness and cheer. Though sorrow is an inevitable part of the human experience
because of our sin, You meet our sorrow with countless reasons
to be grateful and glad, full of hope and full of rejoicing. Our weeping may endure for a night,
but joy will come in the morning.4
Your mercies, likewise, are new every morning.5
How gracious and merciful You are
to those who are sinful and were once Your enemies!6
We are utterly unworthy,
but still You chose to bless us with so great a salvation. You have turned our mourning into dancing;
You loosed our sackcloth and clothed us with gladness.7
Even in our sorrow we find our way to joy by thinking of
Your love, Your forgiveness, Your tender mercies,
Your sympathy for our weaknesses, and the hope of eternity in Your presence. We look forward with glad expectation
to that perfect, endless joy that will be ours
when we meet You face-to-face.
Fill our hearts even now with heaven, dearest Lord. May we live free of the failures
that mar our lives and spoil all earthly joy. Lord, lead us out of those things
into the place of obedience and faithfulness. We thank You for the promises of
Your power and Your care. In the name of Christ our Savior we pray. Amen.
1. Matthew 3:17 2. John 8:29 3. Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16; James 1:2 4. Psalm 30:5 5. Lamentations 3:23 6. Romans 5:1,8-11 7. Psalm 30:11