Big Idea - We like in a world that seems to be slipping further and further into darkness. Maybe it has seemed that way in every generation, but one thing is certain - the ways of the world and the ways of God are very different! In John's letter, one more truth becomes increasingly certain, and that is that anyone who is an authentic Christian will be living a life that is very different from the way the world lives. In fact, John says this is how we can know we have been saved by God. But when we look at the way many Christians live, and at the way Christian organizations function, and how things are in the Church, or we look even at our own lives, we often see much more of the world in these than of the new life of Christ! But, John says we have overcome the world! So, what does that mean? How are we overcoming the world, and what should our lives be like if we are indeed His children?

First, John explains how the life of the believer is different, how we have been changed, and how our life and conduct are no longer like the world system. First, we have been born to a new father and are now part of a new family. So, there will be a growing love for His children. Second, we have an entirely new motivation for how we live. We want to do what is right, which may not be new, but now the reason we want to do the right thing is because of our great love for God who saved us. Third, we overcome the world, that is, we defeat its power over us that holds us captive to sin. We now have the ability not only to want to do what is right but actually to do it; the power not only to want to love people but to actually love them as God loves them!

Those are the primary ways that we are changed, but how does this change come about? John says it is by means of our faith in Jesus as the Son of God. This faith is in Jesus, both who He is and what He has done. But how exactly does this faith change us? First, we are changed when we really come to understand and believe how much God loves us, which is abundantly evident through the gift of His Son. Second, we are changed when we understand and believe in the power that is ours through the victorious work of Christ. We exercise this faith in the spirit of dependence, humility, and surrender.