Being From God

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF JOHN

BEING FROM GOD

1 John 4:4-6

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

NIV

Can we get an Amen? We are from God! We were, without question, born in this world and we once lived as though we were part of this world. However, we died and we were born again in Christ, therefore we are now and forevermore from God. That is certainly what the evidence of our baptism bore out. We walked into the water and we died and were buried beneath the waters, as Christ was buried in the tomb. But we were raised up, as he was, and born again a new creature, the old is dead, and the new is alive in Christ. This means we are no longer of this world because we have overcome them because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and He is so far greater than the world. When someone of the world speaks, they can only speak from the viewpoint of the world and, of course, the world listens. It is like the old commercial when E.F. Hutten speaks, people listen. So here is the dilemma. If we are from God and those who are not from God, but from the world, then we should not partner with them in any matter at whatsoever. They do not listen to us, because they are not from God and we are. We should not listen to them because they are from the world and we are not. Does this apply only to spiritual matters? Does this apply to all philosophies, all ideologies, and all physical matters? What this boils down to is that we are supposed to base our lives on the principles of the kingdom of God rather than on the principles of this world. Paul puts it in this way:

2 Cor 6:14-18

14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."  18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."  

NIV

Being yoked means being in partnership with, working together toward the same goal. How can we do anything like that at all? How can we take on any of the world’s way of life? How can we be in concert with the world? How can we have harmony with those of this world, when we are no longer a part of the world? Why would we listen to them instruct us in any of the ways of this world? We listen to the Spirit, we learn from him, for he instructs us in the ways of God. How can we listen to their advice at all? The Psalmist said it best when he said that we are blessed, happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, when we do not walk in the advice of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of mockers. So we are not to walk, stand, or sit in any way whatsoever like the world. No partnership with them, no harmony with them, also includes not sharing in their endeavors, which can apply to the way we handle our financial matters as well. This could get sticky, but we have to listen to God. How can we invest in the world if we are not part of the world? John makes it clear, we are not of the world anymore and therefore are from God and should live our lives as people from God. There is no question, we are different than the people of this world, therefore we do not listen to them.