1 John 5:11-12

This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. Sooner or later, everyone is bound to ask what life is all about. Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, one of the most successful rock groups of all time, asked the question in one of his last songs: “Does anyone know what we are living for?” It was a genuine cry from the heart. In human terms, he had everything. He had money and fame on a colossal scale, but, shortly before his death in 1991, he admitted that he was desperately lonely. He said: “You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Success has brought me world idolisation and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented me from having the one thing we all need – a loving, ongoing relationship.” John would have totally agreed with Mercury. A “loving, ongoing relationship” is what we all need, and the only place to find that is in our relationship with God. Human relationships are wonderful, but they come and go, and even the best of them cannot last forever. However, our relationship with God has no limits and will never come to an end. It is this relationship which opens the door to life in all its fullness. John was typically blunt in his language. If you have faith in Jesus, you have life, and if you don’t have faith in him, you don’t have life. This is completely in line with Jesus’ own language. He said: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Jesus’ words give the definitive answer to anyone who wants to find the real purpose of life, whether they are a rock star or you and me.

Question What do you think John meant by describing people as not having life?

Prayer Lord God, thank you that your Son came to this world to give us life in all its fullness. Amen

1 John 5:4-5

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We need to be clear that whenever John talks about the world in this passage, he is talking about the world without God. When humankind rejects God, the world is a terrible place full of sin, death and destruction. We are all called to live in such a world, but John wanted to make it clear that we don’t need to be scared of it because in Christ, we have the victory. On Good Friday, Jesus died as the evil world unleashed its worst on him, but that wasn’t the end. On the Sunday morning, Jesus rose from death and proved that he had the victory. This has very practical implications for us. It affects our daily lives in a very profound way. Day by day, we head into a world where God is not respected by most people. The news is full of accounts of abuse, violence, brokenness and disorder. On the face of it, this is all very depressing, but the wonderful fact is that because Jesus has won the final victory over sin and death, we can look at the world with hope and confidence. Towards the end of Jesus’ ministry, he encouraged his disciples to receive his gift of peace. His words were very realistic. He didn’t deny that there would be problems in the world, but assured his followers that final victory would be theirs. Jesus said: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). At times, it might feel as if the power of God and of evil are fairly evenly matched, but they aren’t! As we place our trust in God, we can claim the Easter victory every day. This should fill us with confidence as we serve God today.

Question What do you understand by Jesus’ claim that he had overcome the world?

Prayer Loving God, I thank you for your gift of peace. Thank you that as I trust myself to you, nothing can destroy it. Amen

1 John 4:11-12

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. You cannot see the wind, but you can easily see the effects that it has. Equally, you cannot see electricity, but we have no doubt that it exists because of all that it does. No one has ever seen God, but we know that he exists because we see his love reflected in the people around us. The more we love people, the more they will have the opportunity to see the living God. Tertullian, one of the early Church Fathers, wrote of how the pagan Romans were struck by the Christians’ way of life. “See how they love one another,” was their response. I would love to think this would be the response to each of our churches, and I believe it often is. People see churches setting up food banks, debt advice services, parent and toddler groups, listening services and many other activities. They are wonderful expressions of love and care to our communities, but let’s be honest – people often see something very different. They see churches squabbling over doctrine, worship and buildings, and the last thing they see is love. We won’t make things better by decrying the Church and blaming other Christians for not being loving. We need to look to ourselves and reflect on how we can be more loving. As we listen to God’s voice, we need to find practical ways of increasing our love for our Christian brothers and sisters, and then explore together ways in which we can share his love more fully. We don’t want to put on a big show, but we want to love. We want to make it clear to everyone in our communities that God is alive and well.

Question How can you reflect God’s love today?

Prayer Lord God, I thank you for your amazing love to me. Help me to share your love generously with others in whatever I do. Amen