Loving What We Should: 1 john 2:7-17

Intro: When somebody defines themselves by being something, we usually know what they mean. If somebody said they were a football fan, we would know they probably like football. They probably watch football and can talk about it to some degree. If we were to say somebody was American, we would probably say they were born in America or had gained American citizenship or had been in the country long enough to be culturally assimilated to the point that we would call them American. So far in our walk through the book if 1 John, we have seen John giving descriptions of how we can tell somebody is a believer. We will see that again in today’s passage. The main idea of today’s passage is that as believers should have love for one another and not the things of the world. We see this demonstrated in three points. We Should have love for the family, There are things we celebrate as believers, and we should chose the eternal over the temporary.

Transition: As we do on Sunday mornings, please stand as we honor the reading of God’s word

Love For The Family(1 John 2:7-11)

Exposition: John starts by telling the believers that he is writing them not a new command. By looking at verses a little bit further down, we know that John is talking about the commandment to love. When John says this is an old commandment that they have had since the beginning, he is probably referring to the command to love your neighbor. This command goes all the way back to the giving of the Mosaic law in the book of Leviticus which says to love your neighbor as yourself. John then says it is a new commandment. This seems pretty strange right. How could this be an old commandment and a new commandment at the same time? The answer is probably found by looking in John’s Gospel at John 13:34-35. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” There is a chance that John is pointing us to this commandment that was given by Jesus.

Exposition: John goes on to say in verse 8 that this new commandment, “which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” This commandment is true in Christ because he is the ultimate example of love. he surrendered the glory of heaven to be born as a baby and live a perfect life, only to die on the cross and be raised again. He endured the punishment we deserved. He said himself that, “Even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.” There is no better example of love. This it true in us as well. The world is watching how we interact with one another. When we love our other brothers and sisters in Christ well, it shines the light of Jesus because it shows the world the example of who He is. Jesu said this is how people will know who we are. Not by our buildings, not by our Christian t-shirts, not even by saying we are Christians. He said people will know we are his followers by our love for one another. John says, “because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.”

Illustration: If I were to turn my cell phone flash light on right now, you might would see that it is on, but it wouldn’t shine very bright in the light. But when we turn the lights off, it shines bright. Light always shines brighter in darkness. The light is already shining, but it shines brighter in darkness. If you go into your schools and demonstrate the love you have for one another and show that all are welcomed to follow Christ, people will want to be a part of that.

Exposition: John says in verse 9 , “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” The word hates is defined by the oxford dictionary as, “to feel intense or passionate dislike for. This is a word we throw around a lot. I want us to address the way we use this word first. We just throw it around. But this word is much too strong to do that. We as believers should not be marked by hate, but by love. But in action, John says that if we hate a brother, this term us usually used to refer to other believers, if we hate a fellow believers, we are still in darkness. John is saying we cannot truly be a part of God’s eternal family, if we have hatred towards other believers.

Application: Right now, it’s easy to start doing some mental gymnastics to try and clear your own conscience. You can start saying, I don’t really hate this person.” But let’s look at the definition. “Feel intense or passionate dislike for.” Are there people that this describes your emotions towards. Are there people in the church that when you see that you begin to kind of feel your heart rate and blood pressure start to rise. Are there people you think of that you don’t think of them as a child of God, but based on something they have said or done to you? Are there people at your school that you know are involved in other youth groups that you have this hatred or strong dislike towards. Maybe it’s not a specific person. Maybe it’s a type of person. While your age seems to struggle with this less than others, is it a racial thing. Are there people that based on the way they dress or talk that you have preconceived notions about? If this describes you right now, John says that you are not walking in the light that is obedience and faithfulness to Jesus Christ. You are walking in darkness.

Exposition: In verses 10 and 11 John gives this brilliant illustration. “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Illustration: The contrast is pretty stark. When we live without hatred for somebody, we are able to walk freely without fear because we can see where we are going. But it says with hatred, darkness blinds us. This isn’t the kind of walking in darkness we do when we wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom. Y’all know what I’m talking about. Where once you finally decide you’re not going to be able to go back to sleep until you get up, so you get up and walk carefully because you can’t completely see, but you can see enough that the only real danger is whatever you left in the floor of you room. This is like trying to walk blindfolded or with your eyes closed. You have a hard time moving forward because you can’t see where you are going. Isn’t this what hatred does. We become so preoccupied with what a person has done that we can’t even live our lives or we can’t do something normally when that person is around or on our mind because we become so preoccupied with the thought of that person.

Application: If that describes how you feel towards a person, I would encourage you to pray that God would help remove that burden from you. This is not how a follower of Jesus should feel about other followers. It is also hindering the mission of Christ. It does not give us a free pass to hate those outside the family of God. A believer should never me marked by hatred. But John is dealing specifically here with the unity between believers.

Transition: After John speaks to us about the need to love one another, he goes into a somewhat poetic celebration of what it means to be a believer. Looking at verses 12-14 he writes, “I am writing to you little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you know the Father. I write to you, Children, because you know the Father. I am writing to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have over come the evil one.

What Believers Celebrate (1 John 2: 12-14)

Exposition: We see John use three titles here. Little Children, young men, fathers. He is not addressing people based on age or gender, but he is using these titles to address the different levels of spiritual maturity. Little children refers to new believers,. Every reference used for little children is to something that is an experience all believers have felt. Young men refers to believers who are not new believers and are enduring spiritual warfare. Fathers refers to those who may be reaching the end of their lives on earth but have lived to an age of great spiritual maturity. So starting with verse 12, John says, “I am writing to you little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

Explanation: The first step in following Christ is confessing our sins, turning away from our sins and believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died on the cross and rose again. This is how we receive the forgiveness of our sins. Every believer experiences this. It doesn’t matter how long somebody has been a believer, all his or her sins are forgiven. So John writes to them because they are a part of God’s family. He is celebrating that. And it was all done for God’s glory. It is a demonstration how how good He is that he would love us like that.

Application: We must never forget that we have been forgiven of our sins if we have given our life to Christ. We must never forget how big of a deal that is.

Exposition: He says, “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.” John is reminding the men that this God they are in relationship with is the eternal creator God.

Application: We must never let the story of the gospel become old news to us. We must always be in awe that we can be in relationship with the creator of the universe.

Exposition: John goes on in verse 13, “I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.” As we grow in our relationship with Christ, the greater impact we will make for God’s kingdom. John is probably thinking of men that were serving as pastors in their churches. He was probably thinking of parents raising their children as Christians in a hostile world. He is probably thinking of those that were spreading the gospel in an increasingly dangerous climate. He knew that satan, the evil one, was not going to sit idly by while the gospel of Jesus Christ was shared. He was going to be actively do what he could to disrupt the spread of hope. But John is reminding these believers that whatever they face, they have over come the evil one because their eternal fate is in the hands of Christ. No matter what the world throws at them, they had the creator of the world on their side and the hope of eternity.

Application: As you walk with Christ and begin to live more and more for him, you will face spiritual warfare. There will seem like there is opposition. At times it will seem like everything is stacked against you. But whatever we face in life, if we have placed our trust in Jesus, we have overcome the evil one because we already know the ending. Spoiler alert, God wins. Take hold of that in those dark times.

Exposition: Lastly in verse 13, John says. “I write to you children, because you know the Father.” John is celebrating that no matter how long one has been a believer, there is a relationship with the Father. This is a Father that loves us so greatly. He listens and responds to our prayers. We are loved by the God of the universe.

Exposition: Verse 14 reemphasizes a lot of what John has already said. That fathers have known him who is from the beginning. It ends by saying young men have overcome the evil one. But this middle part is what I want to focus on for a second. John says, “I write to you young men because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Once again, John is preparing them for the spiritual warfare is going to come their way. But he is strong.

Application: As you walk with Christ, temptation is not going to cease. There will be temptation for sins and habits of sin. At times it will seem hard to resist. But we are strong, because we have the word of God in us. There will be times where we feel alone or forgotten and that obedience is not getting us anywhere, but the word of God is in us. When speaking through the OT prophet Jeremiah about what He would do through the messiah, God said, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they will be my people.” The word of God is not something external to us, it is a part of who we are. And remember, we know the ending.

Transition: One thing everything John lists has in common is that the impact lasts for eternity. Our sins are forgiven for eternity. To know the one from the beginning refers to the one that has existed for eternity past and will exist for eternity future. To overcome the evil one is an eternal stance. That is quite a contrast to what John warns us of in verses 15-17. John writes, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from the Father but is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Temporary vs Eternal (1 John 2:15-17)

Exposition: When John refers to the world in Verse 15, he is not referring to creation. He is referring to the worldview perspective that is contrary to God’s character. We are not to idolize thoughts values and behaviors that are contrary to God’s word. He once again gives us this dualistic scenario. We cannot love the things of the world and God.

Application: There can be no, “I love Jesus, but...” We cannot claim to love God but draw a hard line in the sand of thins we are not willing to give up to be obedient to Him.

Exposition: In verse 16, John says, “For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from the Father but is passing from the world.” John is describing what it is that the world uses to tempt us. The desires of the flesh are cravings, lust or passions. The word for desire is neutral, but what determines if it is good or bad is what the object of it is. Flesh typically in scripture refers to the tendency of humans to fulfill natural desires in a way contrary to God’s will. The lust of our eyes appeals to our affections. The pride of life appeals to our ambitions. This is when we try to glorify ourselves rather than God.

Explanation/ Application: For example, the desires of the flesh could be the desire of a drug addict to continue doing drugs to fill the craving. Maybe it’s not a drug addict. Maybe it’s a teenager that breaks the law by doing drugs such as marijuana to get the feeling of being high. Maybe it is having sex outside of marriage to fill a passion we have let run unchecked. The lust of our eyes is being tempted by the way something looks. Obviously, allowing ourselves to look lustfully at a person other than a spouse, which is anybody if you are not married. Young men, maybe it’s not an explicit thought, but you continue to gaze over and thinking of a person physically and not as someone made in the image of God. Maybe it’s not sexual. Maybe you see something materially you want and it consumes you. All you can think about is how you can have that new phone or new car or any material item. The pride of life refers to our ambition. It’s when we want people as school to like us that we do things that we know we shouldn’t or we treat people a way that we shouldn’t so that people will think we are popular. Maybe we want to make good grades, go to a certain college or have a position so bad that we are willing to do whatever it takes to get there, even if it means forsaking our relationship with Christ. Sometimes these things intermingle. Sometimes the pride of life causes us to pursue the desires of our eyes. Because we want to obtain a certain status we go after things we desire with our eyes. Because we want to have a certain status we satisfy the desires of our flesh. We do all these things knowing that they are of this world and not from God.

Exposition: And young people, please hear me now. I am not telling you all this because I want you to live a life where you do a bunch of good things. Just doing good things to do good things is not the point, in fact that itself is pointless. I am saying all of this, because of what scripture tells me. I am telling you this because I want you to live a life that matters. Verse 17 says, “And the world is passing away along with its desires...” When we pursue the things of this world we are pursuing something that will eventually pass away. You want to be popular at school, guess what, nobody is going to care about that in the future. You want to have nice things, guess what eventually they will be old and any satisfaction you may have gotten from them will be gone. Any physical craving we try and fill will return. And that doesn’t even include the fact that eventually we will die and all of those things will die with us. In fact, everything of the world will pass away because this world will pass away. The last part of verse 17 says, “but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Exhortation: I plead with you tonight, do not chose to pursue a life filled with things that fade. Do not let the desire for the things of this world keep you from committing your life to Jesus. When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we receive the promise of eternal life. We have a hope that goes beyond the temporary and looks to the eternal. We look forward to a life in Christ. If you have never given your life to Christ and you are ready to commit to that which will not pass away, do not let tonight pass by without talking to somebody.

Transition: As we close I want you to take the next few minutes to examine your life and heart.

Conclusion: When you examine your relationships with other believers, what defines them? Do you catch yourself being preoccupied with evil thoughts for other believers? Do people see your love for other believers as a draw to Christ? Do you feel consumed by the things of this world? Do you feel like you can’t get away from them? If you need somebody to pray with you, find me or find another adult in the room. Are you ready to give your life to Christ for the first time? Come talk to us? Maybe you are just feeling God calling you to come pray? Be obedient to that. Let’s pray.