What We Need to Know.

What We Need to Know.

April 19th, 2016, Kichijouji Bible Study

Gotthold Beck

1 John

5:11 This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son.

5:12 The person who has the Son has this life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

[International Standard Version]

Today, I would like to discuss with you the knowledge that all people absolutely need to have. It is the knowledge that no one but the Lord God can give us. Let me read again the last verse we just read.

1 John

5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

In the original Scripture, a stronger expression is used, which is “so that you may be clearly convinced.” It seems that in this present world, having more knowledge is considered favourable. Unless you have completed a certain level of school education, it seems difficult to even find a good place to work.

It is not only the society, but also the true living God which places much value in having knowledge. The importance of having knowledge is stressed in the Scripture. However, the knowledge demanded by the Lord and the knowledge required by humans are not the same. What is true knowledge? What kind of knowledge is absolutely necessary for us?

Certainly, the word 'knowledge' appears repeatedly in the Bible, which consists of the words of God. One of the disciples of Jesus, John, wrote in one of his letters, which we just read above:

1 John

5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

True knowledge gives us safety, calmness, joy, strength and patience. Today's world encourages us to have more knowledge indeed, but the present time we are living in is characterized by horrible turmoil. People are occupied with transient and material things, which are all so unstable.

Consequently, many people are in fear; not only are they filled with fear, but they are controlled by fear. People suffer so much from anxiety and feel devastated. Let us look at what the Bible says about the end of time:

Luke

21:26 People will faint from fear and apprehension because of the things that are to come on the inhabited world, because the powers of heaven will be shaken.

Not only the land we are living in today, not just Kumamoto (which was hit by a horrible earthquake this month), but all heavenly bodies will be shaken. This is beyond our imagination. However, still the true living God, our Lord God, hopes to provide us with the true knowledge that gives us eternal security and safety.

Then, what is the foundation of our true and immovable conviction? Needless to say, it is the word of the Lord; the Bible. It is where the Lord God reveals himself. The Lord speaks to us through the Bible and his words are all true. Jesus once said:

Matthew

24:35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”

Jesus is the truth itself and there is no lie in him. It is very true. “My words will never disappear.” One of the disciples of Jesus, Peter, wrote fundamentally the same thing:

1 Peter

1:23 For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish―by the living and everlasting word of God.

1:25 The word of the Lord lasts forever.

These are the words the Lord told us. And we can reach these words of the Lord anytime in the Bible.

Why did the Lord have to say these things to us? It was in order for us to obtain the true knowledge, to let us have immovable conviction. Then, what is it that we actually need to know? There are three things.

Firstly, we need to have a conviction that Jesus is still alive today and loves each one of us; after all, not only is he our personal saviour, but he is also our friend. This is the conviction we ought to have. That is to say, the Lord God wants each one of us to reach the perfect understanding of Jesus. What matters here is not any specific teachings, religion or ethics, but  one personality, Jesus; he is all that matters.

For many years, Saul of Tarsus had a deep hatred of Jesus of Nazareth more than anybody else. It was because Saul believed and had never doubted that a man called Jesus was the worst swindler in history, the worst blasphemer in history and the death on the Cross was the true punishment the Lord Jesus deserved. Saul believed this way.

But, the Lord Jesus who was crucified, resurrected and then was raised to heaven showed himself to this man, Saul. At that moment, he instantly realized that all he had been assuming for many years was totally wrong and that he had been heading in the wrong direction. Now, he realized his sins, which made him fall to the ground. Later on, he became the inheritor of the true faith. That is to say, he was filled with joy when he chose to die the death of the martyr. This man, who used to be Saul, now called Paul, left these words:

2 Timothy

1:12 I know the one in whom I have put my trust.

In here, what he is saying is, “I know the one whom I personally met, who is the Lord Jesus.” This exactly is the confession that all those who believe in the Lord should make; I have been totally blind to the truth for many years. I also knew absolutely nothing about myself.

However, now I know that not only Jesus loved me, but that he laid down his life on behalf of me. And I also know that this Lord Jesus still cares about me day and night. Jesus is my personal Saviour, my Lord and my friend.

The foundation of this conviction is nothing but the Word of God in the Bible. Jesus said, “I’ll never turn away the one who comes to me.” Therefore, those who have come to Jesus through prayers came to be aware that Jesus would never turn them away and in fact, had already accepted them. In this way, Paul was so glad to call Jesus his Saviour.

Now, what is the second thing we absolutely need to know? It is that all our sins are completely forgiven.

1 John

2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

To whoever confesses their sins to Jesus, he would answer, “All your sins have been forgiven.”

Mark

2:5 He told, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Sin is a wall that separates humans from the Lord God. Those who do not yet have the fellowship with the true living God through Jesus are unaware of the most important fact. It is that the wall which used to separate humans from the Lord God has been taken down and they do not have the conviction that all our sins are forgiven by the blood our Lord shed.

When Jesus died on the Cross, he sacrificed his life on behalf of us. This is the central theme of the entire Bible. This is what the Bible is telling us; Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. All who have sinned will die. But, our Father God does not take delight in the death of sinners; he would rather delight when sinners repent their sins and live. Jesus died in order to forgive our sins. Let us look at what the words of God say:

Isaiah

53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.

53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Let us look at the words John the Baptist used, when he first introduced Jesus into the world. It is in the Gospel according to John, chapter 1, verse 29; “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And Peter who was the disciple of Jesus said the same thing in his confession:

1 Peter

2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to those sins and live righteously. By his wounds you have been healed.

All those who believe in everything the Father God has told us and accept Jesus are saved. They know that their sins are forgiven and they have the peace with the Father God and the eternal life.

Acts

13:38 Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

13:39 and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses.

Three thousand years ago, King David experienced this freedom in every detail:

Psalms

32:1 How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

He said, as his actual experience and as his testimony:

Psalms

103:12 As distant as the east is from the west, that is how far he has removed our sins from us.

The third knowledge the Father God wants to tell us, or the conviction he wants us to have is that we have been already transferred from death to life. All humans are spiritually dead as they were born. That is to say, they do not have a connection with the true living God.

Romans

5:12 Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned.

Ephesians

2:1 You used to be dead because of your offenses and sins.

These are the verses that explain the state of our mind mentioned above. To those who attempted to go to heaven on their own accord, Jesus said:

John

5:40 But you are not willing to come to me to have life.

Coming to the Lord, believing in Jesus and accepting him into our lives; these things are connected to finding a new life, receiving an eternal life and being newly reborn. And this means that we are eternally secure.

John

1:12 However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God’s children.

10:27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

10:28 I give them eternal life, they will never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

10:29 What my Father has given me is more important than anything, and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand.

Let me read few more verses.

1 John

5:11 This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son.

5:12 The person who has the Son has this life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life.

What about us? Does each one of us who is gathered here today, have a conviction that they are newly reborn, that they are given a new life and that they have been rescued from their spiritual death? 

Let me finish this sermon with another verse. It is by itself a piece of good news. We read and hear all kinds of news every day through newspapers and TV shows, but none of them is as important as this. There is no such news in this world that makes us happy and feel grateful the way this news does. We can find it in the Gospel according to John, chapter 5, verse 24. This is what is called The Good News:

John

5:24 Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life.