Certainties and Challenge (1 John 5:20-21)
We can see from these verses that John closes his letter first by expressing the certainty that Christians have and then leaving a challenge with them regarding alternative forms of worship. I would say that verse 20 is one of the most amazing verses in the Bible, and hopefully we will see that is the case after we have thought about it. Their certainty concerns the person and mission of Jesus Christ. So the first detail we can ask ourselves is, Who is Jesus? John says three amazing things about Jesus: he is the Son of God, he is the true God and he is eternal life. In order to link these three features, we can begin by thinking about what it means for Jesus to the true God. This is a reminder of his uniqueness because other objects of worship are false and unreal. It is also a reminder of his competence because he possesses the attributes, performs the actions, and plans the aims of God. The attributes of God are many and Jesus possesses every one of them. We list them in differe...