We experience true community with God and others when we find our identity in what Jesus offers, not what the world offers...

This week we have been looking at a section of this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of John. So far this week we have looked on as John revealed the qualities of faith that should be evident in all followers of Jesus.

We looked on as John commanded the readers of this letter, and followers of Jesus throughout history, to not love the world or the things of the world. When John uses the phrase the world, he is referring to everything in the world system around us that is hostile to God and that sets itself up in opposition to God and the kingdom of God.

John then revealed three different worldviews that come from the world system that sets themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God that compete with God for our devotion. One worldview that desires to find fulfillment through physical pleasure is called sensualism. A second worldview that desires to satisfy our longing for possessions, which is called materialism. The third worldview that desires to satisfy our ego which longs to be the center or the star of the story, which we call humanism.

John then explained that all of these worldviews find their origin not from our Heavenly Father, but from the world. The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life come from the world system that sets itself in opposition to God and the kingdom of God and are led by the devil.

And because the desire for fulfillment through pleasure, possessions, or position are not the way of Jesus, fulfilling these desires fail to fill the empty spaces in our lives. Because these desires do not flow from God’s nature and character, they are unable to fulfill our deepest needs. And the timeless reality is that when we spend our time seeking fulfillment through sex, salary, or status, we spend our time attempting to experience connection and community with sex, salary, and status instead of with Jesus. However, the deepest needs and longings in our lives; our needs for restoration, repair, and relationship can only be never be met by anything or anyone else than through Jesus Christ.

Now a natural question or objection has been raised in your mind. And if we were to have a conversation, the conversation might sound something like this: “Well Dave why can’t sex, salary, and status satisfy the deepest needs and desires of my life? Why can’t pleasure, possessions, and position fill the empty space in my life?”

If that question and objection is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that you are asking a fair question. And fortunately for us, we see John provide the response to that question or objection in what he says next. So let’s look at what John says next in 1 John 2:17:

 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

John concludes this section of his letter by stating that the world is passing away. As we looked at last week, the phrase passing away literally means to go out of existence. John is revealing the reality that the world system that sets itself in opposition to God and the kingdom of God, which plays itself out through our rebellious desire to please and worship pleasure, our possessions, or our position, will be brought to an end by God through Jesus.

And because of that reality, the communion and connection that we try to experience through pleasure, possessions, or position will not stand the test of time. In contrast to the world system that sets itself in opposition to God and the kingdom of God, John states that who does the will of God lives forever. John’s point here is that the one is driven by the desire to live their lives according to God’s desires for their lives will continue to experience connection and community with God forever.

John’s point is that the one is driven by the desire to live their lives according to God’s desires for their lives will have the deepest needs and longings in their lives met by Jesus as they live in connection and community with Jesus. John’s point is that the only connection and community that will stand the test of time and that will fill the empty space that we have is Jesus Christ.

And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to connecting in true community. And that timeless truth is this: We experience true community with God and others when we find our identity in what Jesus offers, not what the world offers. The timeless reality is that we experience true community with God and others when we live in the reality that we have come into a relationship with the Creator of the universe.

As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we live in the reality that we have been released from the moral consequences of our acts of omission and commission against God and others that flow from our selfishness and rebellion against God and others. As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we live in the reality that we have come into relationship with Jesus Christ as the eternal God and Creator who entered into humanity to have relationship with His creation.

As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we live in the reality that we have the victory over Satan and his attempt to keep us from the relationship that we were created for with Jesus Christ. As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we live in the reality that we have come into relationship with God that is an ongoing reality in our life.

As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we live in the reality that we are called to be strong spiritually as a result of the message and teaching of Jesus and the letters that make up the Bible remaining ingrained in our life to develop the spiritual strength necessary to fight the ongoing spiritual battles that occur as we live out our day to day life as followers of Jesus here on the earth.

And as followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we reject the temptation to satisfy our deepest needs and desires through pleasure and sex. As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we reject the temptation to satisfy our deepest needs and desires through our possessions and our salary. As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we reject the temptation to satisfy our deepest needs and desires through our position and our status.

As followers of Jesus, we experience true community with God and others when we find our identity in what Jesus offers, not what the world offers because what the world offers cannot and will not satisfy the deepest needs and desires for our lives. What the world offers cannot and will not satisfy the deepest needs and desires of our lives because what the world offers does not flow from the nature and character of God. What the world offers cannot and will not satisfy the deepest needs and desires of our lives because what the world offers will not stand the test of time. The only communion and connection that will stand the test of time and that will fill the empty space that we have in our lives is Jesus Christ.

So here is a question to consider: Where are you seeking to find fulfillment? Where are you looking to fill that seemingly empty space in your life? Where are you finding your identity, value, and significance? Are you looking to pleasure and sex? Are you looking to your possessions and salary? Are you looking to your position and status? Or are you looking to Jesus? Only Jesus Christ can provide the true fellowship and fulfillment we are looking for.

Because the timeless reality is that we experience true community with God and others when we find our identity in what Jesus offers, not what the world offers…