Is there a way to stand strong in such a frightening world?
For starters today, I’d like to quote the great theologian, Christopher Robin. You won’t find this in The House at Pooh Corner, but it’s from a 1997 Disney video titled Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin. I appreciate these words of encouragement, which were spoken much like a blessing to Christopher’s favorite bear … “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
Braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. Smarter than you think.
Did Mr. Robin get it right? From the perspective of one trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, I think that he did. And what I’d like to do is pull some truths from First John 4 and explain to you what I mean. That’s the chapter where we find the marvelous promise (4:4): He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Please take the time to read the entire chapter. You’ll be glad you did.
The first thing I notice in this great chapter is that you and I, and I am referring exclusively to our status in Christ, have the capacity to recognize the forces of spiritual darkness. In fact, we’re instructed (4:1) to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. We live in a day of mega information but little truth. Just because a truth claim is attributed to God does not mean that it comes from God. Exhibit A might be the Koran. Exhibit B might be the Book of Mormon. Exhibit C might be a bestseller promoting the health-and-wealth gospel of prosperity. Exhibit D might be a widely accepted mantra like “God helps those who help themselves.” There are many people out there who (and this is a loose Alistair Begg paraphrase) employ basically correct phraseology, but with false definitions underlying those words. So, in this great chapter, John is attempting to correct our careless naiveté when it comes to claims of eternal importance.
You and I are called to discern wisely, and to distinguish true claims from false claims. Just this morning, I had to know the difference between a small orange pill and a small white pill. Both were in our medicine cabinet, and both were available to me. Had I been under the false assumption that it really didn’t matter which pill I chose, I would have proven that it really did matter. Similarly, the Bible is reminding us to test what we read, hear, see, and think. It matters. It always matters.
We’re not just given an instruction here, but we’re given the promise of an abiding presence (4:9): the love of God was made manifest among us. Sooner or later, every human teacher will let us down. But not Christ! By His Spirit, He is empowering us to overcome the deceptive influences of this world. Spiritual warfare is as real as the air we breathe, but you and I are not alone. We are never alone in the fight. We’ve been issued our spiritual armor for a reason: we need it. If you’ve read the New Testament, you may have noticed that the first ones to recognize the incarnate Christ were not religious Jews. Mark 1:24 and Luke 4:34 record accounts of demons crying out in terror that the Holy One of God had come to rain on their parade. Jesus explained that He was casting out demons by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28-29) – and that meant that the kingdom of God was on the move. Jesus was attacking the power of the devil – “binding the strong man” – who had for millennia been keeping the human race in the dark and painful prison of unbelief, sin, and judgment. Until you and I are with the Lord, our commission here on Planet Earth involves helping people escape unbelief, sin, and judgment. And, if we presume that we can do that without fierce opposition, we are terribly misguided. How we need the Holy Spirit! And the good news is that He is ours, and that we are His.
This chapter includes a beautiful description of precisely how, in Christ, we are learning to love. To love others as we’ve been loved by God (4:7): Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. We’re called to do something here which we just can’t do, but Christ can. How can He do that? Because Christ is (4:10) the propitiation for our sins. That word refers to a sacrifice of atonement, and it makes all the difference. The English “propitiation” is from Latin, meaning “favorable, gracious, and kind,” and the first attested use of the term is in a Latin translation of the Bible. The Latin form propitiatorium was employed to translate a Greek word which is found 22 times in the Old Testament. That word, hilasterion, was used in the Septuagint (the earliest extant Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew) to translate the Hebrew term “covering” or “mercy seat” – which was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant where the sacrificial blood was placed for the atonement of the sins of the people.
Let me say it another way: Christ is the only Way out of the mess which we have made! And you and I can’t love unselfishly and sacrificially without Jesus. But, because my sins have been passed over by God – this was pictured gloriously in the Exodus – I can now make it my job to pass over the sins of others. The same goes for you, friend. In Christ, we’re learning to love as we’ve been loved.
And it gets even better (4:18): There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. When we think of the “heroes” of the Bible, all of them had to learn to rise above their fears. All of them. Their call was to walk by faith anyway. To walk by faith in spite of their fears. At times, to simply do it afraid.
If you have to, just do it afraid.
In a nutshell, I think that we’re being called to get over ourselves. Appropriate Christian bravery includes recognizing the toxicity of our own pride, and acknowledging that the root of all pride is – ultimately – fear. That pervasive fear looks something like this: “If they really knew me, they would reject me.” What you and I most need, perhaps, is an invasion of love! That starts by our understanding how much we’ve been loved, in Jesus, and that starts by believing the gospel. The gospel is the only picture on earth of perfect love, and perfect love casts out fear.
Beloved in Christ, don’t ever forget that you’re braver than you believe.
Pastor Charles
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