Who God is and becomes for us, with what He does for us, reveals His name at that moment.
Jesus, in John 12:20-26 says, He is the lone Seed that must die, so much fruit will be produced. Therefore, if Jesus was “the lone Seed”, then through Him, God could not have other children, for this was only possible through Christ, the seed-bearing Plant (Body) that was unrecognizable, as we learn from 1 Corinthians 15:35-39. We see this in John 20:11-18, after the resurrection Mary Magdalene thought Christ was the gardener, until He called her by name, and in Luke 24:13-35, when two of His followers did not recognize Him, until He broke and blessed bread.
Knowing these factual truths, we can now understand from 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, it is Christ who now sits in rulership on the heavenly throne, until all God’s enemies are cast into the lake of fire, and then Christ will give the eternal rulership to Father God.
Since Ephesians 4:1-6 explains how the biblical One and only God, performs as though He were Triune (three in one/Trinity), such as the One Holy Spirit who baptizes Christians into One body, Christ’s body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-14), One Lord in whose name we do all things (Colossians 3:12-17, yet verses 23-24 say, we serve the Lord Christ), and the One faith that once and for all was delivered to the saints (Jude1:3-4).
Before we read Jude 1:3-4, we also need to read verses 20-25, because Galatians 5:1-6 warns us strict obedience to the Old Testament Law, separates us from God’s grace, so we become willful enemies of Christ, because righteousness (who Christ is: 1 Corinthians 1:30-31) is by faith, and faith must have love, through which to work, or “faith” is only wishful thinking.
First Corinthians 13 is called “The Love Chapter”, and verses 1-2 is a perfect word-picture of “faith working through love”, for the first clause in verse 8 says, “Love never fails.”.
Through all of what we have presented, what biblical truth is God telling His children, members of Christ’s body, the church?
It seems obvious, God is showing the church, as sinners who become “new creations in Christ Jesus” are so lovingly forgiven and changed, we become unrecognizable by our sinner friends. We have probably heard about or have known someone God so radically changed, their dog did not recognize them, and this is what 2 Corinthians 5:12-21 shows.
God, who is Perfect Love, forgave all our sins, and radically changed the entire us to be so like Him, even close friends knew we were not the same person they previously knew, because we were totally and newly created in Christ Jesus; our past is gone, and our future is joyous, yet unknown to us, as we know from 1 John 3:1-3, but we also know from Hebrews 13:1-6, as long as we stay in Christ, we will always be in His sweet, protective presence.
Christian is a faith-choice we make; meaning, when we choose to believe God’s word and do what it says, then we will have the witness of the Holy Spirit that we are a spiritually legal child of God, but we first must believe and obey God’s word, before the Holy Spirit gives witness to it.
As we read 1 John 5:1-5, erase from your mind everything you have been taught, and simply choose to believe and obey God’s word, believing when you do, then you are what God promises, for I am going to explain all this to you, so you can understand it, by using John 16:31-33, 1 John 2:15-17, James 4:1-6, and Galatians 6:11-15, to explain verses 4-5, and Romans 8:12-17, to explain the Holy Spirit’s unquestionable witness, so you will fully understand God’s heart.
First John 5:1-5 is one of God’s commandments, He expects us to obey.
Yes, well-meaning people tell those who “receive Jesus, the Christ” by their doctrines, they are saved, a born-again child of God, yet there is no change in them, so they feel “miserable”, for the Holy Spirit has not yet given His unquestionable witness to their salvation, so they know they are a child of God, His legal heir, and Christ’s legal joint heir.
The necessity of “the Holy Spirit’s witness or the witness of God” is again in 1 John 5:9-13.
Having all this explained to you, will you now choose to believe Jesus is the Christ, believe you are God’s child, and chose to love God’s other children, and believe Jesus, the Christ, is God’s Son, and by this faith—choosing to believe and obey God’s word, you keep the world overcome in you, because Jesus Christ has already overcome to world for you?
Go back and read 1 John 5:1-5 again, so you can believe, obey, and choose to become God’s child, a Christian, whose faith in what Jesus Christ has already done, keeps the world overcome in you, for Galatians 6:14 says, “The world is crucified to me and I am crucified to the world”.
Jim and Kim Nabors
