I Write to You
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
How many of you are into poetry? Personally I tend to be more of a prose kind of guy. It’s not that I can’t appreciate the beauty of a well-written poem, but I tend to prefer the more straightforward mean-what-you say kind of writing. That’s why I’ve not really written much in the way of poetry. I lack the subtelty required to make interesting poetry.
The apostle John on the other hand, while he mainly deals in narrative and direct instruction takes the occasional foray into poetry. That’s how he begins his gospel, and it’s the turn he takes in our passage for this morning.
1 John 2:12–14 (CSB)
I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.
I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
In John’s day people were saying a lot of things about these new “Christians” that were showing up on the scene. Many Jewish people called them heretics. Greeks called them athiests because they wouldn’t worship idols. Some accused them of cannibalism and orgies because they misunderstood the “love feast.”
The same is true today. Today people often say that we Christians are hypocrites. We’re judgmental. We want to force everyone to live by our version of morality. We’re foolish people who hate science. Those sort of things can start to get to you if you listen to those voices for too long.
But it doesn’t end there does it? If the negative labels were just about us as Christians generally maybe they would be easier to shrug off and ignore. Sadly there are negative labels we pick up along the way that are just for us, or so it seems. A careless insult, a tease or an accusation that sticks. Maybe it even just comes from inside yourself and no one even told you that’s what you were, but you adopted the negative label for yourself. I’m a poser, I’m a fake. I’m a failure.
The Bible doesn’t call you those things. No, instead into the din of negative words and self-talk John gives us these words. Well timed too, since he just finished saying strong words about the fact that those who don’t keep God’s commands don’t really know God. His readers might have been thinking at that point, “he means me. I mess up, I must not really know God.” So John anticipates this and takes a moment to pause and remind them that he knows them, and he knows some really cool truths about who they are.
Throughout this poem John says he is giving them the reasons that he is writing to them. These are unlike the other reasons he gives in the letter for writing, in that they are less purposes for which he is writing his letter and more truths about his readers which are true because of their relationship with Jesus, and he is writing to them because they are believers. So rather than “I am writing in order to…” it’s more like “if you’re reading this letter, I know this about you.”
There are three addressees, if you will, in this poem: children, fathers and young men. It’s very likely that John is not writing separate truths about those three categories of people, and more likely that these things are true of everyone reading, and the use of these three titles is just for poetic variety, using something called a “synechdoche” which is when you use a part of something to refer to the whole. For example when a captain says “all hands on deck” he means the whole person, not literally just hands. They span all age groups, and in mixed gender groups the masculine plural can an in this case certainly does refer to both genders. John F. Walvoord puts it well in the Bible Knowledge Commentary when he writes “It seems best (with C.H. Dodd and I.H. Marshall) to view the terms of address as referring to all the readers in each case. Then each experience ascribed to them is appropriate to the category named.”
Leon L. Morris agrees in the New Bible Commentary and says “But as all the qualities ought to be found in all believers it is best to regard the division as a stylistic device, adding emphasis. ‘All Christians are (by grace, not nature) children in innocence and dependence on the heavenly Father, young men in strength, and fathers in experience[2]”
So these things he writes to the children, fathers, and young men he’s writing to all his readers. That my friends includes you and I and everyone else who calls themselves a disciple of Jesus. So what does he say about us? What is his encouragement to the believers bruised and beaten by the negative labels of the world?
He tells them:
They are forgiven
They know God
They have conquered the Evil One
Forgiven
Forgiven
Has anyone else ever paid off a debt before? When I was a younger man I set out to move to Ontario to perform in a punk rock band with a good friend of mine. The problem was that I was only just making ends meet, and in the process of preparing to move to another province I had basically spent all the money that I had. Then on the week I had been planning to leave to my shock and horror my car broke down. Now at this point in my life I didn’t even own a credit card, but I had no money to pay for the repair and I needed the car to drive, it was all I had. So I called up the bank and got a credit card and immediately maxed it out to get the repairs done on my car.
Now my financial situation took a little while to stabilize after I moved to Ontario. So I was stuck with that credit card debt making minimum payments for longer than I’m proud of. Still eventually the day came when I finally sent that last payment, closed the account and cut up my credit card. What a feeling to finally have that debt off of my shoulders.
I can’t wait to do the same with my student loans some day.
Even still, there’s a much much bigger debt that I owe that was paid off. I however didn’t do the paying myself. You see it was a debt much too large for me to ever repay. That’s why Jesus had to step in and pay it for me, and why John says in 1 John 2:12
1 John 2:12 (CSB)
I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
You see one of the reasons why those negative labels are so hard to shake is that sometimes they ring true, especially the ones you give yourself. You see if we struggle with the idea that we are failures and dirty rotten sinners, well… there’s evidence stacked against us. We know ourselves better than anybody and vividly remember the times we’ve failed and done wrong. But you know what the Bible says to that?
That’s not you. You aren’t a sinner, you aren’t a failure, you aren’t weak. In God’s eyes if you repent and follow after Christ you are forgiven. End of story.
We have been forgiven δια, by or on account of, “His name.” John has already talked about the forgiveness and cleansing that is made for us by the atoning sacrifice of Christ and the shedding of His blood. Let’s remind ourselves of what he says in 1 John 2:1-2
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
Even earlier than that in 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We are now clean and it is as though they have never sinned. Why? Because of His name. Someone’s “name” in the first century was synonymous with their reputation. I think this statement works on two levels. First we are forgiven because we call on the name of Jesus, which is the only name given to men by which we can be saved. Peter says in Acts 4:12
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
Second we are saved because of what Jesus has done, which is His reputation. By His perfect sinless life, atoning death, and resurrection.
So what then shall we do with this information that we are forgiven? Well John’s primary purpose in bringing it up here seems to be mainly encouragement. He wants us to feel the burden of our sins lifted off our shoulder. He wants us to feel the inner peace of knowing that God no longer holds our sins against us. I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to doubt God’s word. If you asked for forgiveness from Jesus, you got it. No ifs ands or buts.
If you haven’t repented and followed after Jesus, there’s no time like the present. Every passing moment is another opportunity to turn to Christ and have your slate wiped clean and replaced witht he righteousness of Christ.
This is what we are inviting people to when we invite them to join us in becoming disciples of Jesus. We are inviting them to peace with God and forgiven and forgotten sin. This is true of every single person, that God is ready and willing to forgive them everything if they’ll only come back to Him.
Knowing
Knowing
So for a second I want everyone here to pause and think about their favourite musician or band. Now ask yourself, how cool would it be to know them? I’m not talking you met them one time and had a pleasant conversation with them, I’m talking they send you a Christmas card kind of knowing them. Imagine having a real friendship with your favorite musician. Or maybe for some of you this would hit home better if it was your favorite athlete. Maybe your favorite actor or director. Imagine getting free tickets to events, getting to test drive their fancy car, cool stuff like that.
Now imagine knowing the Person who created the entire universe. Oh wait a minute, we don’t have to imagine that. John tells us in the first part of verse 13:
1 John 2:13a (CSB)
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the one who is from the beginning.
and again at the beginning of chapter 14:
1 John 2:14a (CSB)
I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning.
You see when we imagine the hypotheticals of knowing someone famous, besides just spending time with someone you admire, one of the coolest parts of knowing someone like that would be the access it gives you. Since we know God we get access to God, and unlike with celebrities who even if you were close friends probably wouldn’t share everything they own with you, God actually promises to give you access to everything. That’s because we’re not just friends of God - though we are that, see John 15:15
I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
No we’re not just friends of God, but adopted as His children and treated with all the priveleges of a firstborn son Romans 8:14-17
For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
So let’s get back to those labels we sometimes accept for ourselves. Are we losers? By no means! We are sons and heirs of God Himself. I can think of no greater winner than that.
The second reason John gives for writing in this poem is because they have known that which was from the beginning. This accomplishes three things. In the first place it is John’s claim that they already have all the knowledge they need, and they don’t need any secret knowledge from these “Gnostics” who pride themselves by their supposed secret knowledge. Second it again affirms the nature of John’s message being its conformity with what they’ve already heard. Remember that John opens this letter which “That which we have heard from the beginning.” His readers already know Jesus and His gospel, John is just confirming it with them.
The third thing? Remember all that John said about how we know whether we know God? Well by telling his readers that they know God, he is telling them that they fulfill all those things he said before.
So he’s saying that we:
Walk in the Light
Keep His Commands
Walk as He Walked
Love our Brothers and Sisters
The genius of John in this letter is that he lists a bunch of high bars to being able to claim that we know God, and then tells his readers that he knows they know God. How encouraging is that? Remember John isn’t writing to bring sinners to repentance, or to chastise the gnostics who likely left this church. He’s writing to encourage a church that has stayed faithful in the face of false teachers and endured likely a church split and yet remained in tact. He’s not writing to beat them down but to encourage them and remind them of what it means to be a disciple.
So what do we as modern disciples take from this? A reminder that we are not our failures and our flaws, that we know God and that means everything. I know I’ve said this before but remember that knowing God isn’t just knowing facts about God, but knowing God through relationship, and that relationship is as firstborn sons who will inherit the kingdom. I say sons not to exclude the women but because of the high status of sons in the time John is writing here. So I guess my point is mainly that the application of this statement is to be reassured and encouraged by these words and let them give you the confidence to live boldly for Christ.
Conquered
Conquered
Who doesn’t enjoy a good story about a hero slaying a dragon? I know that many a day in my childhood was spent swinging around any vaguely sword shape object I found in the yard pretending to vanquish my evil foes with nothing but my courage and my trusty sword. These days I think about how badly I wanted to fight a dragon back then and wonder if that was very smart for an out of shape child. That dragon would surely have me for a light snack and move on, am I right?
The thing is, we actually do get to slay a dragon, metaphorically speaking. Hear me out. The second half of verse 13 says:
1 John 2:13b (CSB)
I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.
and the end of verse 14:
1 John 2:14 (CSB)
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
Remember John is talking to all of us here, not just the literal young men. So we have conquered the evil one. We’re not weak or ineffectual, we are conquerors. Paul goes even further and calls us more than conquerors in Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
So how’s that for a title you can take home with you? If you’re keeping track your labels from John’s epistle are:
Forgiven
Knowing God
Conquerors
Notice also that this is past tense. In Christian theology we believe that the evil one, satan or the devil, is still free and out there doing evil. In the words of Peter he’s a lion waiting to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
But John talks about our victory over Satan as though it’s a done deal. We’ve already conquered him. This is because really it is as good as over. We know the end of that story, and John has the confidence in Christ to know that what Jesus has said is true, and that we’ve already won.
Later he adds that they are strong, and that the word of God remains in them. Their strength of course understood in broader Biblical context is only because of the word of God remaining in them. The word of God likely meaning Jesus Himself and the Scriptures both at the same time. John often likes to speak of two things at once and this is one of those cases. Our strength to conquer isn’t in ourselves but in Jesus who is in us and who has conquered death, hell, and satan already.
Let’s take a look at what’s in store for the dragon we’re up against: Revelation 20:1-3
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time.
Then we see the short release and the result later in this chapter:
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
I love by the way that Jesus doesn’t even throw Satan into the abyss personally. He just has some anonymous angel do it. Like Satan isn’t even worth His time, you know?
And He really isn’t. Right now Satan has dominion over the earth. The Bible calls him the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians, the god of this world in 2 Corinthians, and later in this letter John will himself tell us that Satan has sway over the whole earth, 1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
But that doesn’t mean we need to live in fear of him. It’s like the stove at home, the proper reaction isn’t to have fear but to be careful to be sure you’re not burned. The Bible teaches that Satan is real, and that he is out to get us, but it also teaches us that 1 John 4:4
You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
I know I’m jumping ahead, but that’s important. Our verse tells us that we have already conquered the evil one. Why should we be afraid? We have nothing to fear. God is on our side and that’s huge.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Let’s take a second to zoom back out and look at the bigger picture. Let’s reread our passage, 1 John 2:12-14
1 John 2:12–14 (CSB)
I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.
I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
So what is the main thing that John is trying to get across to us, and that the Holy Spirit is trying to get across through us through John? This is our identity. A lot is said these days about identity, and a lot of people are building their identities on flimsy foundations. This is the identity the Bible has for us. We are forgiven. We know God. We have conquered.
It’s easy to get down and beat up in our faith. Especially when the internet gives a platform for people to criticize and criticize everyone for everything, and Christians are certainly not immune. The answer to this problem isn’t to get depressed, it isn’t to get defensive, it isn’t to deflect onto others.
The answer is to get back in God’s word and remind ourselves of what God says about us. How can you not be encouraged? If you read the Bible and look for what it says about YOU as a disciple of Jesus, it has nothing but good to say. Jesus doesn’t want us to beat ourselves up about our failures every day. He wants us to know who we are in Him, and out of a grateful heart strive to live up to the titles we already have.
So from here let’s together live like we’re really forgiven by God. Let’s embrace our knowing Him and the acess that knowing Him gives us. Let’s stand tall in the knowledge that we have already conquered.
And through all of this let’s sound the call to our friends, neighbors, strangers and enemies to come join us. That they can take these titles on themselves. And if you’re hearing my voice and you want these things to be true about you but you haven’t started the journey, I urge you to do it now. Repent, be baptized, and follow after Him.
Let’s pray.