1st John – The Transforming Power of Abiding in Christ – 2007 – Northern VA

John’s primary PURPOSE is that believers will enter and maintain fellowship with God, with the RESULT of inner joy.

His secondary PURPOSE is to give believers ASSURANCE of their salvation, with the RESULT that they will continue to live by faith.

“That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that our joy may be full … These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may [continue to] believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1Jo 1:3-4; 1Jo 5:13 (emphasis added)

This compilation of notes represents the truths found in the Epistle of First John.

Gene Cunningham - April 19, 2023

Living Hope

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1st Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy...” Catch this, “...has begotten us again...” --that's our spiritual rebirth-- “...to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” You have a living hope if you have believed in Christ. You know how important hope is? Survivalists talk about the “Rule of Threes.” You can live three weeks without food. You might live three days without water. You can go about 3 minutes without air. But you can't live 3 seconds without hope. Stop and think about it, my friend. The whole world moves and functions on hope. Everyone has some hope. The tragedy is that the people who are out there without Christ and without eternal life have set their hopes on things that will never fulfill and never satisfied their living by hope. But it will always be “disappointed-hope.” And that's why with life of sorrow and suffering a disappointment, people take their own life. Why do they do that? They lost hope. Every single one of you right now have things that you're hoping for. But I want you to understand that human hopes and this hope are different. This hope is an absolute certainty. When the Bible talks about hope, it's not talking about a “hope-so-someday.” It's talking about an absolute certainty right now. Why do we have that certainty? Because our hope rests on the promises of God. And God cannot lie, and He will never fail us.