Jesus Supplied Certitude

What Did Jesus Do?

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
1 John 4:16

The great George Bernard Shaw was fascinated by the English language. If you are a fan of the film Patton you may recall the scene where George C. Scott, excuse me, where George S. Patton, quoting Shaw, observed that Americans and Englishmen are “Two people separated by a common language.” Shaw once noted on a radio program that there are two words in the English language that begin with the sh sound, but are not spelled with sh. A woman wrote, challenging Shaw, and asserting that sugar was the only word that makes the sh sound without sh. Shaw wrote back, “Madam, are you sure?” Sometimes, it seems, we shouldn’t be so sure of what we know. But, when it comes to faith and hope, Jesus supplied certitude; we can be sure of what we know and believe in and through Jesus.

Though there are folks who will tell you that certainty is the enemy of faith, don’t listen to them. John wanted his little children (the Church) to know and believe, to have a faith, they could be certain of. So, in the middle of his letter to the Church, John wrote about several things that believers receive in and through Jesus, which make our faith something we can be sure of.

At the top of the list is the Holy Spirit, who assures us that we abide in God, and he in us (1 John 4:13). Secondly, we have the witness of the testimony of John himself, along with all the other apostles (1 John 4:14). Next, there is our own affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father to be the Savior (1 John 4:15). Then there is the certain hope we have in the love of God—which we know and believe, which is being perfected in us, in which we have boldness (“no fear”)—love which we now give because it was first given to us (1 John 4:16-19). Finally, there is the love we have for all other believers, a love God confidently can command his children to express because, through all the ways he has gifted us with his love, we are now able in Christ Jesus to love (1 John 4:20-21). As God is love, so his children receive his love and reflect that love to others. Of this we can be certain, because—that’s what Jesus did!


S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4