We are continuing this study in I John. In the New Testament, you have the Gospels, and after the Gospels, you have the Acts of the Apostles – this is where the New Testament church was modeled and formed. After the Acts of the Apostles, you have the Epistles (or Letters), many of which were written by Paul, who was once Saul (meaning “Big”) now he is Paul (meaning “Small”). There’s I and II Peter, and James, the half-brother of Jesus who writes a letter to the Church in Jerusalem. And then there are the letters written by the man who has written 1/3 of the words spoken in the New Testament – John – who wrote the Gospel of John, I, II, and III John and Revelation.
In I John, he is writing to a group of churches that were in Ephesus, that he had already addressed in Revelation chapter 3 prophetically. He is writing to them to address a problem they were struggling with, their problem was not a doctrinal problem, but a LOVE problem.
So, what we have in I John is a church who loves truth, but they are struggling to love their neighbor. They love the WORD, but they do not love the people that the WORD was sent too. They are struggling with how to Live in a Faith that is illuminating the darkness of the world, with an invitation to walk with a God who is Light, one of the major messages of the book. And in the same breath, they are being called to not reject those who are being called out of that darkness into the Light. Not to revile or dismiss those who God has called.
Listen, our attraction to Jesus was not the Law that condemned us, but the Love that redeemed us. Jesus draws us by His love, He helps us to understand our state by the Law, and helps us to understand how His love redeemed us from the penalty of that Law.
This Book begins with two hard truths that we shared in week 1, and that is that God is Light and God is Love. The first message is that “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.” In other words, there is nothing about God’s life that would cause us to doubt His holiness. God is righteous and Holy and nothing that has happened over time has changed the character of God – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
Our problem in all this is that we do have a downside, we do have darkness, we do have character flaws. We do tend to walk in the Light and at the same time try to dabble in darkness.
Funny thing about that is, we in the church like to refer to sin as something we used to do – although that “used to do” might have been at 1 am this morning! We always refer to our sin as something we USED to do way back when, but not as the sin we committed this week, or even sitting right here in a church service.
SO, I am thankful this morning that God does not operate in condemnation, but He operates in conviction. He operates in a way that draws us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Righeous, to repentance. Conviction is not meant to condemn or reject us, but it is an invitation for us to a new way and a better way of living. He is inviting us to have not only life, but to have it more abundantly!
Conviction is not a rejection, but an invitation for you and I to Live in the Light, and Living in that Light God expects us to Live Up to our New Name in Christ Jesus, and the first step in us learning to do that is by Loving One Another.
This past week, we began to reflect on the second major part of John’s message and that is to Love. Last week we talked about how God loved us and forgave us at the most unlovable and unforgiveable points of our lives. We also discussed how we should also love and forgive others with that same kind of love.
Now join me as we read I John 2:12-17,
“12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
John, as I’ve told you from the start, writes repetitiously. These verses are a perfect example of that. He is writing here to little children, young men, and fathers. Now it looks like he is writing to 3 different groups, but he is only addressing 2. Let me explain that: Children is the grandfatherly title that John uses to describe the people he is writing to. So children is John’s “All y’all.” So, when John says “children,” he is saying “EVERYBODY.” “All of y’all in the church and beyond.” “All of you who are in Christ.”
In one way, John is saying he loves y’all like you are his kids and grandkids. In another way, he is addressing the new position we have in the family of God.
Now there are two messages he wants “All y’all” to remember:
- Our sins have been forgiven (v.12) – there are no footnotes or bullet points here – this is straight to the point – WE ARE FORGIVEN. John is writing so that we know we are forgiven. WHY? Because our tendency is to think that we are forgiven today, but we will have to earn it tomorrow. You are forgiven today, but you better put more effort into it tomorrow. Listen, we came to God, not on the basis of anything that we did, because we could not clean ourselves up, but we came to God solely on the basis of Faith in what He has done. It has nothing to do with what I have done, but everything to do with what He has done. Our works did not get us saved and our works will not keep us saved! Child of God, we’ve been forgiven solely on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ the Righteous. John message I simply this, YOU ARE SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH – it began that way, and it will end that way!
- We know the Father (v.13) – The Father of all time works “in-time” in the most miraculous ways. There are going be times when we are going to feel forsaken, and rejected, when we are not accepted or loved by God. And it is in those moments that we have a Father that we can appeal that voice to. Our Father has clearly illustrated and demonstrated His love for us through His Son Jesus Christ.
John wants us to know that our sins have been forgiven and that we know and love the Father.
Now John is going to break this into two groups: Young men and Fathers. What John is demonstration to us through this is that we are all at different stages in our walk with the Lord.
I’ve heard it said that some folks have a “High Calling and Low Character.” They are very immature. They get very excited about things and take off like a rocket but usually come down like a rock. So, let’s start here with the YOUNG MEN so we can progress upward.
Verse 13, “. . . I write to you young men, because you have overcome the wicked one . . .” and verse 14, “. . . I have written you young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”
John is writing to this maturing, but not matured group of followers. They are growing, but haven’t arrived in the sense of being rooted in the faith. They have quick growth, but they are easily shaken. Though they want to be used of God, they are still moving constantly between light and darkness. But that is not the conduct that you and I are to be marked by or to live by.
So, John is writing this group to encourage them in two areas: Their Strength and Their Overcoming.
Listen, when we became a child of God, our identity is no longer limited to our ability. I may not always live up to my New Name, I may often fall and come up short, but at the end of the Day, I have overcome that by my faith in the One who redeemed me, claimed me, and called me for His purpose. And if you believe that your victory comes from anywhere other than Christ, then you will be deceived into thinking that God loves you solely based on your individual potential. Or you can be tricked into believe that God doesn’t love you as much because you don’t have the ability or potential that others may have.
Our victory is not rooted in what we will do, but what has been done for us. So, we don’t fight FOR a victory, we fight FROM a victory. And that victory was from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, giving us victory over death, hell and the grave. We are strong and we have victory – BECAUE THE WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN YOU.
Why is it so important that we spend time in the Bible? Not because the preacher tells you that you should – though he’s not wrong. You should spend time in the Word because it is where our strength comes from, it is where our victory will come from.
John’s very first introduction was John 1:1 where he said, “In the beginning WAS the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD.” So when we say spend time in the Word, we are saying Spend time WITH God. And when John says, the word abiding in you, he is saying God is living IN YOU. Now that is an introduction. When you spend time in God’s Word, you are allowing God to live inside of you.
Colossians 1:27 says, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
God doesn’t just want to just talk to you, He wants to live inside of you. This is more than just reading His word, this is Jesus Christ taking up residence inside of YOU. Young men, young Christians, that is where your strength and victory comes from! The hope is that Christ, “who began a good work IN YOU, will complete it until the day of Christ.” At the end of the day, what we need is not a God that we can go to, but a God who goes with us and that is the distinguishing mark of the Christian faith. Young Christians need to know this because they can become easily excited, easily frightened and easily distracted.
Now John is going to address the second group called Fathers. This is a reference to those Christians who are mature. And he has one message for this group that he conveys both in verses 13 and 14 and that is that THEY KNOW;
“13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning . . .” and “14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning . . .”
Now this is a group that doesn’t get overly excited, or easily frightened, they don’t get easily distracted, BUT, they do get easily bored, and calloused, they often get numb. So, what is the challenge for those mature Christians? The challenge is to REMAIN AND REMEMBER IN WHAT THEY KNOW.
If you are mature in the faith, then you REMAIN when the storm comes – and it will come. The challenge is to REMEMBER what God has already done in your life – because we can easily forget. Remember what God has done in your life; remember where He has brought you from; remember the victories; because child of God, a time will come when you will need to remember.
Listen, as parent of a child who has battled stage 4 cancer for nearly 6 years, who has had a total mastectomy and hysterectomy, a child who have been on chemo for 4 years straight, a child who is given all clear then told she has it again – I’m telling you, I have to remember what God has done. Because if He could do it then, He can do it AGAIN.
Here is the call that John is given to “All y’all.” “You can be saved, adopted, received, forgiven, loved, and share in His victory and strength, simply by faith in Jesus Christ regardless of where you’ve been and what you’ve done. God loves you and He demonstrated that love for you over 2000 years ago on Calvary’s Cross. That single event changed all of history. He has demonstrated that to you and that is and “ALL Y’ALL INVITATION.”
For those of you that are young Christians, God’s desire for you is that you will grow-up in a slow, steady dependence of faith. For those of us that have been Christians for a long time, God’s desire is that we will remain and remember. God is not looking for us to be retired in our faith, He wants us on active duty! Listen older Christians, we have a lot of young people who need you in their lives to help walk them through some of the tough things they are going to go through. They need your wisdom and they need your counsel, and they need your encouragement – SO GET BACK IN THE GAME.
John finishes by saying this:
“15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
“Only one life will soon be past,
only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Fighting for My Pea Patch 