I John 5:3-4 “For the love of God is
this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory
that conquers the world, our faith.”
Do
you consider yourself a conqueror? According to the author of 1 John, you
should! You have been born of God and whatever is born of God conquers the
world. We have victory over all things through our faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing
at all, no evil, no trial, no circumstance, no suffering is too great for you –
world conqueror! So, bring it on world!
Now, that
being said, I believe the misuse and misinterpretation of this verse has
introduced a great deal of suffering into our world. The image of a ‘conqueror’
has a violent origin and there are many examples throughout history, continuing
to this day, of Christians using violence to dominate others in the name of
God. This, of course, is a great tragedy for the gospel. You see, inherent in
the argument of 1 John is the usurpation of the violent image of ‘conquering’
so ubiquitous in the 1st century world and our own for the sake of
the gospel’s message of love. Religion’s use of power to dominate others in the
name of ‘conquering the world for Christ’ completely misses the theological
insight of John that our victory comes through love. It is the love of God
that leads us to obey his commandments and it is love that ultimately conquers
the world, not through power or domination, but through suffering and sacrifice
so clearly demonstrated on the cross.
The
gospel transforms the violent image of the cross, a horrible tool of torture
and empirical conquering, into a symbol of God’s victorious love. It is God’s
love that wins. It is God’s love that conquers the world. As people of faith in
Jesus, the power to conquer all things is ours, to be sure, but it’s a
different kind of conquering than the world has ever known.
Lord Jesus, lead us in lives of
obedience to your commandments so that, through our suffering and sacrifice,
the world would be conquered by love. Amen.
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