1 John 5:1-5

1 John 5:1-5 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  What if I cooked you a dinner that was the greatest meal you'd ever eaten, and that I offered to teach you how to cook it, but first told you that there was only one way to do it?  Would you try and figure it out for yourself, or trust me, and follow the instructions?
  Or what if the world's most beautiful diamond was yours to be had, but you could only get it following a certain path up a mountain?  Would you follow the path, or make your own way?
  The world can be overcome.  God promises us that.  The evil and sin and brokenness in the world will be defeated.  We see a glimpse of that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we're promised that we, too, will join in that victory one day.
  But there's only one way to victory.  There's only one path, and it's through Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the world.  He invites us to come as we are, and grants access freely, to any who will bow the knee and proclaim Christ as Savior.  Jesus tells us that there are sheep we don't know about, and we can't pretend to understand everything about the final victory, but we know what it takes to be a part of it.  So much time is spent inventing our own way around it, but ultimately, our victory depends on Christ.  Let us rejoice that Christ is defined by grace and mercy!