This is a complete redefinition of what it means “to conquer.” Caesar sees the world as something to dominate, something to exploit, something to bring into submission. If God is our Father, then we have the ability to keep the command of love, because everything that is fathered by God conquers the world.
What we have in this text, on the other hand, is something entirely different.Ĭhrist has truly conquered the world through obedience and love, and because of his victory we are all now the children of God, all beloved sons and daughters of God - a claim that Caesar would never have made. Caesar conquered, and your job was to stay in line … to be conquered. There was nothing invitational about that conquering. Caesar was the son of God - fathered by God, if you will - and the evidence of his divinely regal power filled the known world, from the coins bearing his image to the garrisoned troops to the literal sacrifices made in his honor.Ĭaesar was the Son of God, and he had conquered the world. In the communities in which this essay on love and obedience and truth initially circulated, the question of who conquers the world had an obvious answer: Caesar. His commandments, what’s more, are no trouble, because everything that is fathered by God conquers the world.
Let’s pull out one passage from it: This is what loving God means - it means keeping his commandments.
We’re asked to consider how remembering the truth about Christ leads us to understand love, how loving God and one another is the obedience that God requires, and how loving obedience is our way of being living witness to the truth of God’s revelation in Jesus. It’s a short read, and the author weaves together three themes in it: Love, obedience, and truth.
#Conquer meaning full#
In a world full of “you oughta’s,” here one more: You oughta read the letter of 1 John.
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