The New Covenant  Hebrews 8: 3-13

Throughout the old testament period there has been a hint that the (old) covenant God established through Moses would be replaced one day. This promise of change came to a resounding clarity with the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It became reality in Jesus.

Just before he was crucified Jesus shared in the Passover meal with his disciples. Taking a cup of wine, he gave thanks and offered it to his disciples, saying, ‘This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many.’

In Hebrews 8:3-13 the two covenants are contrasted:

The covenant of Moses -  law, priests and ceremonies. (Old Covenant.) This partially dealt with sin so God could continue with his people. (8:3-6)

The covenant  of Jesus. (New Covenant) This dealt completely with sin so God could live with his  people forever.

 ‘.. the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one,­– it’s founded on better promises.’ Heb. 8:6)

It's very important to know how the new covenant works. Sadly, many Christians live as though they are still under the old.  They don’t experience the joy, freedom and close relationship with God that the new covenant brings.

The apostle Paul called the old covenant the ministry of death with a fading glory.  He called the new covenant the ministry of the Spirit with surpassing glory that lasts. (2 Cor. 3:5-11)

Two major defects in the old covenant:

1. It gave no strength to enable the people to do what they promised.

2. it couldn’t provide for the clearing of the conscience. ‘....the gifts & sacrifices

being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper.’ (Heb 9:9)

Many people today still look to old covenant type activities––Doing good things, ceremonies and rituals to reach God.  They fail, and a guilty conscious remains.

 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming,…, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. (7-9)

The best the Old Covenant gave was to show people their need to trust God for something more.  It also gave them a wonderful high moral code to aim for.

The old covenant (law) failed because of human weakness.  It clearly revealed the ways of good and evil. What it didn’t give people was the desire or the strength to do the good things or resist the evil things. Paul explained: The law (old covenant practices) was put in charge to lead us to Christ  so that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:24 ).

(10-12) The prophets in Jeremiah chapter 31 and Ezekiel 11 spoke of a future new covenant. This is what Hebrews addresses. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord…. (10a)‘

Through his death and resurrection Jesus dealt with human weakness once for all. The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs ( priests) as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. (Heb 8:6)

The Better Promises

1. The promise of forgiveness of sins means our deepest need––to be reconciled to God is met: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (2)

2. The promise of inner strength means our moral weakness can be overcome. (11) No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. (10)  (the ministry of the Spirit. 2 Cor.3:6)

How do we know we have entered the New Covenant relationship with God? When we begin to resist wrong desires and old covenant activities and begin to live God’s way.

We are speaking here of something that is more than a legal contract. The new covenant relationship is entry into a new life with Jesus that affects every aspect of our being.

3. The promise of adoption by God means eternal life is guaranteed.

 I will be their God, and they will be my people. (10b) -  Jesus reveals God as our father.

4. The promise of a deeper and fuller revelation of God and his ways means a personal fellowship with God is guaranteed: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts…’(10b) The Holy Spirit indwells us, the Bible becomes alive to us, and we receive spiritual understanding and motivation from the Spirit sent from God.

Something wonderful happens immediately we receive the New Covenant: Every description of our failures (sins) is removed absolutely from God’s records.  God declares us legally and absolutely without fault. Unlike us, he can choose not to remember and forgive absolutely. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (2)

We are now free to enjoy life and grow with God as our father and friend. For by the one sacrifice Jesus has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.  (Heb 10:14)

So far as life is concerned we have already graduated with honors, and we haven’t even finished the course.

Being under the new covenant, means salvation is offered as a free gift, not as a reward for any good things we have done––By grace are you saved, not of works…(Ephesians 2:8-9). For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15).

Living in the freedom and strength of the New Covenant is truly wonderful. All we need to do is identify with Jesus––See his suffering and death on the cross as given for us. See him risen from death for us. Trusting him as our (personal) Lord and savior. Then we are free to live out our lives simply by showing up each day, and thinking about how we can enjoy and please God as we follow Jesus.

Bill Saville

Let us Enjoy our God

The Enjoyment of God

There is an old saying amongst serious believers: ‘Our main purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever’. In his book Desiring God John Piper changes this profoundly: ‘Our main purpose is to glorify God by enjoying him forever’

Let’s think about how we can enjoy God and thus glorify him. Still following the overall ‘Tow Worlds’ theme for this blog we are reminded of the connection and experiences that connect this world to the place of God.

We begin by briefly thinking about what God is like: 

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below.  There is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39)––One of. God is the eternal non human reality existing in heaven (spiritual dimension) and on earth (physical dimension)

(King David ) One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his Temple. (Psalm 27:4) God is beautiful!

(Jonathan Edwards)  ‘The highest delight in God arises chiefly from his beauty and perfection, not from the blessings he gives. The deepest cause of true love for God is the supreme loveliness of God’s nature. People whose love for God is based on God’s usefulness to them, are beginning at the wrong end.  They are regarding God only from the viewpoint of their own self- interest.  This is failure to appreciate the infinite splendour of God’s nature––He is the source of all goodness and beauty.’

There is a fundamental thing we must know about God. This truth will enable us to grow closer to him in the tragedies of life as well as when good things come our way. It’s a real waste of time and emotion to go through an unpleasant experience and not see the activity, love and beauty of God in it

The fundamental thing that brings us close to God is stated clearly by C. S. Lewis.

He  insisted that  ‘Above all else that God is good.  Lewis said there are two things we must not do:  We must not believe God is in any way evil––In him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:1) And we must not throw out any Bible passage that seems to show evil in Him. Instead we should save these passages until we understand them better’ 

We are thinking about what God is like. Isaiah had this view of God: I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exulted, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.  Above him were the seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two wings they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6: 1-3)

There’s no reality more breathtaking than God. Just because we haven’t seen Isaiah’s vision doesn’t mean we can’t also become overwhelmed and overjoyed as we think about God.

We have a more complete picture of God than Isaiah had: The son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3)

How can we enjoy God? Learn to feel as well as think as we respond to God’s word, God’s world and God’s son. The apostle Peter understood this: Though you haven’t seen Jesus, you love him; and even though you don’t see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8)

Because of a lot of emotional manipulation in the church many Christians are wary of their feelings. We shouldn’t be afraid of proper emotional responses to God but we should  learn to identify improper ones. Scripture directs us to experience many emotions such as: Joy, hope, fear, peace, anger, grief, desire, tender heartedness, brokenness, contrition, gratitude, humility.

We can  enjoy God as we enjoy the pleasures he brings to us. 

 ‘A man can find nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This, I see is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment (Ecclesiastes 2: 24)  Taste and see that the Lord is good ( Psalm 34:8) Both high and low people feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights (Ps 36:8) You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11)

We can also enjoy God by thinking about our future with him: Now we are the children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Jesus appears, We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2)

It’s been said that the Christians who do most for the present world are those who think most about the next. It is there: in heaven that are enjoyment of God will be fully experienced without the burden of sin.

We are directed by God to be affected by him in such a way that our lives show it.

This is how we glorify him. Life is serious and spiritual things are serious, yet what God has given us in Jesus is a family relationship with the creator and he has made us to enjoy both the  creation and the creator.

(Philippians 4: 4)  Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!   

What about Christmas?

Christmas  2011  A Time to Think

What are the chances of us being remembered in 2,000 years time?

Why does history remember some people and ignore most people?

Consider this:  There was a man named Augustus. He was the first and greatest emperor of the Roman empire.  Augustus ordered a census that brought a man named Joseph and his wife Mary to Bethlehem where he son Jesus was born.  The month of August is named after Augustus. Why don’t we remember his birthday?

This brings us to Christmas. Why, out of the billions of people who have lived is so much attention still given to a  baby born in Palestine 2,000 years ago?  Why have thousands of books been written about his life and teachings. Why in the year 2011 do over a billion people follow him?

The story of Jesus is amazing: It’s about God appearing on earth as a human being.

Why did Jesus come? 

The historian Luke knew Jesus personally.  He wrote extensively about his birth and life. According to Luke, when Jesus was born an angel appeared to some shepherds. Luke wrote that the angel talked  with the shepherds about a baby just born in nearby Bethlehem.  The angel said:  ‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born for you; he is Christ the Lord’   (Luke 2:11)

The apostle Paul wrote this about Jesus some 50 years after Jesus was born: ‘When the time set by God arrived, He sent his son, born of a woman. (Galatians 4:4-5)

Here is a mystery:  God sent his son––Jesus came from God, yet he entered our world through the body of a women. No wonder people were still talking about this 50 years later and even  today.

Why did God send a saviour.

God sent a saviour because people were lost from God and didn’t know it.

People hadn’t forgotten God existed. They had just forgotten how to live in relationship with him as creature to Creator.

What happens when people are lost from God? 

We get  pretty much the kind of world we have now.  A world where people  make things of great beauty that enrich life.  Yet at the same time we make things that cause great suffering and destroy life.

When people are lost from God there are consequences.  Individuals and nations fall towards a spiritual and moral vacuum.  Why have family breakdown, suicide and depression reached epidemic proportions in this wonderful land of Australia? Because people are lost from God!

Christmas is a happy time of giving and family re-union for many people.  But it’s also a sad time of loneliness, alienation and depression for many others. 

Why is it that in the last century we saved millions of lives through scientific discoveries and in the same century millions of lives were destroyed by war?

Why are people wiping themselves out with alcohol & other drugs? These are all consequences of being lost from God.

Think about this: Everything that takes away our happiness is a consequence of being lost from God.

What does the coming of God in a person 2011 years ago say to us?

It tells us that although we may be lost from God God isn’t lost from us.

As savoir Jesus came to bring lost people back into relationship with God.

Christmas is about the beginning of the work of the Saviour. He was born to be our Saviour.  And he had to become a man to complete our rescue.

What happened to cause us to be lost from God was so terrible that Jesus  had to die to rescue us.   There’s a mystery here but mystery does not take away truth. Easter completes the story of Jesus coming to be the saviour. Our rescue is achieved at great cost––not to us but to God.

‘“God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16)

To find and know God in a personal relationship we must first receive Jesus as our eternal leader and follow him through the twists and turns of our lives.

Religion or Gospel

Having just read ‘The Reason for God’ by Timothy Keller I was particularly taken with the thought that we respond to the good and bad of life from one of two motivating principals: Religion or the Gospel. The test to help us know whether we live from a religious or a gospel foundation is answered by how we deal with the good and bad things that enter our lives.

I hope the following comments encourage you to develop a mind-set that raises religious warning bells and guides you to live under the gospel.

There is a great difference between the understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done. Religion operates on the principle, 'I obey––therefore I am accepted by God’ But the operating principal of the gospel is ‘I am accepted by God through what Jesus has done––therefore I obey.’

Two people living on the basis of these two different principles may be part of the same church. They both pray, give money generously and are loyal and faithful to their family and community, trying to live decent lives. However, they do so out of two radically different motivations, in two radically different spiritual identities. The result is two radically different lives.

The primary difference is that of motivation. In religion people try to apply God’s standards out of fear. They believe that if they don’t obey they will loose God’s blessing in this world and the next.

In the gospel, the motivation is one of gratitude for the blessing we have already received because of Jesus Christ. The religious person is forced into obedience, motivated by fear of rejection, When we understand the gospel we rush  into obedience, motivated by a desire to please and resemble the one who suffered and gave his life for us.

Religion and the gospel also lead to different ways of handling troubles and suffering. Religion is deceptive and leads people to the conviction that if they live a ‘good’ life, then God (and people) owe them respect and favor. These people believe they deserve a decent, happy life. If, however, life begins to go wrong, religious people (moralists) will experience devastating anger. Either they will be furious with God (or the universe) because thy feel that since they live better than others; they should have a better life. Or else they will be deeply angry at themselves, unable to shake the feeling that they have not lived as they should or kept up to standards.

 The gospel, however, makes it possible for us to escape the spiral of bitterness, self-recrimination and despair when life goes wrong. We know that the basic premise of religion- that if you live a good life, things will go well for you–is wrong. Jesus was the most morally upright person who ever lived, yet he experienced poverty, rejection, injustice and even torture,

The Threat of Grace

When many people first hear the distinction between religion and the gospel, they think that it just sounds too easy. ‘Nice deal!’ they may say. ‘If that is Christianity all I have to do is get a personal relationship with God and then do anything I want!’ Those words, however, can only be spoken on the outside of an experience of life changing grace. No one from the inside speaks like that. In fact, grace can be quite threatening. The religious/moralistic person can find the reality of grace very threatening. Grace calls us to reject our claim––that God should accept us because we are trying to be good. Then the way is open to receive Jesus as Lord. Then and only then will we be free to follow Jesus out of gratitude and ‘do as we please’

Bill Saville

Books In a Book

Reading the Books in the Book

What is the Bible?  The word means 'Book' or 'Writings'.  It contains 66 separate  books written by various people over a period of 1000 + years.

How did the Bible arrive?   2 Timothy. 3:16a All Scripture is God breathed.

2 Peter 1:21 Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

What is the purpose of the Bible?  (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

- To give  us the wisdom that leads us to salvation

 - Words from God himself (written down by his writers) God speaking.

- Useful for teaching things God wants us to know

- Rebuking (standing against wrong thinking)

- Correcting (Giving the truth where there is error)

- Training in righteousness (equipping us to live God’s way)

The Bible is given to us so that we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work (17) -That is to live a happy life in good relationship with God.

How to read the Bible

Suggestions:  Start with the New Testament.

Questions to consider as you read:

- What does the passage say to the people it was first written to?

- What is the application for me?

- What does it tell me about God?

- What does it tell me about myself? Is there an instruction to obey, a promise to hold, a action to avoid, a warning to heed, a fact to believe or a truth to consider.

The Bible is God actually speaking to us. He does this through the inspiration of gifted people who have written down what the Spirit of God has moved them to write. 

The Bible really is the book that leads to knowing God and living with  eternal life. When we come to read it we should come with the prayer: "What does God want me to know?" And a mind that is open to hear, learn and do what God tells us through the inspired words.

How To Take It With You

 Two important questions: 1. Why do people invest so much time, energy and money preparing for a future that is uncertain? 2. Why do people spend so little time, energy and money preparing for a future that is certain? It’s all about faith, values, short and long term comfort.

Comparing what people value to what God values, Jesus said: “What is highly valued among people is detestable in God’s sight”   (Luke 16:15b)

Jesus teaches that we can identify our true ambitions by identifying the things we value most. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6: 21)  Jesus defines treasure to mean that in which we take our greatest delight, and towards which we give our greatest efforts.

Jesus taught that we can actually accumulate wealth in the Bank of Heaven. He manages an investment fund that always gains because he is the perfect fund manager and he will only receive investments that last.

Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matt 6:19-21)

Jesus tells us we can store our treasure in one of two places. Keep this in mind: He isn’t promoting poverty and he isn’t saying wealth is evil. Jesus is simply helping us see that one line of investments are very high risk and the other is absolutely secure and growing––unable to fail.

How to invest in Heaven’s Treasure (three stories) 

1.    Jesus tells a strange story in The parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16)

The parable teaches that we should use our material resources to gain friends. Use your worldly wealth to gain  friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into heavenly dwellings.” (Luke 16:9)   This is not about salvation through generosity.  It’s about gaining eternal benefits for those we help and for ourselves. The shrewd and worldly manager only gained temporary friends. Jesus wants us to see that we can gain eternal friends through the wise use of our material resources.

Think about this: There may be people in heaven who will thank you for showing them the light of God through your material generosity.

2. The Parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:15-21)  illustrates that we can store enduring treasure in just one of two places.  This parable has an application for Christians and for those who aren’t Christian. Both can waste their lives storing up things for the wrong reasons. It’s sobering to remember that the moment we die, everything we have accumulated here on earth will be of no value to us.

3.There is to be an award giving ceremony in heaven: ‘If what we have built survives, we will receive our reward’. (1 Cor 3:10-15)

We should invest in heaven now—we may make a quick exit from our bodies.

Some day the heavenly fund manager will present us with our eternal superannuation statement. He will clarify our ‘lump sum’ that has been accumulating as we made  contributions while we were on earth.

For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each may receive what is due to them for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad

(2 Cor 5:10)  Jesus will display his pleasure in those who have used their lives to honour, love and serve him.

The currency that is accepted in heaven: First, we should make sure we are going to be there to access our wealth: Heaven’s first treasure offered to people who are not Christian is the gift of eternal life.  This comes when we determine to follow Jesus as our personal  Lord and Saviour.

Responsible use of wealth. “Command those who are rich  (We are the rich) in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6: 17-19)

Two things not to do

1. Don’t become arrogant: This happens when we place our confidence in

anything other than Jesus himself.

2. Don’t put our hope in wealth: This happens when we ignore Jesus, and believe we are in control of our lives.

Three things to do 

1. Trust Jesus for the present and the future. (Matt 6) As we do this we free ourselves from the things unbelievers get stressed over.

2. Measure wealth by the good we do with it, not by what we have for our use. 

3. Have a generous attitude by being ambitious to share generously. 

Two Outcomes 

1. The future: Our treasure is secure for us in heaven. And with wise and planned investment here on earth it will continue to grow.

2. The present: We are offered a fuller experience of eternal life now. And we have freedom from the anxieties over the future that those who do not trust in Jesus experience.

What holds people back from investing in heaven?

The main thing that keeps us from investing in heaven’s treasure is  lack of faith. This causes us to opt for earthly rather than heavenly treasure.  Lack of faith also causes us to settle for the minimum investment in heaven.

Jesus must be Master over our hearts: His will, precepts and values must receive our primary attention; then and not till then will everything in our inward person fall into its right place.  Unless our hearts are so ordered, everything will be in confusion and our whole body will be in darkness. 

With global economies wallowing in debt and failure it’s wonderful to know we have a future that is absolutely secure. This should give us great joy. And to know we can increase God’s pleasure in us through investing more of our resources for the growth of his Kingdom should give us a sense of purpose, hope and adventure.

Consider your spiritual investment portfolio—assess the risk and invest wisely.

He Came from Eternity

When Jesus Comes 1 John 1:1-2:2

As a young man, John was attracted by the personality and words of his cousin Jesus. Jesus so attracted him that he left a comfortable life as a fisherman to follow him. Now, much older and still following Jesus John writes this letter.

Over the years the word about Jesus had spread and many people followed him.  Yet from the beginning there were people who polluted the gospel with false teaching. John discovered that in some churches it was taking a hold and destroying absolute faith in Jesus and his word.

 

Much like our times: We hear many voices, often from so called Christian leaders proclaiming another gospel that removes the fundamentals of the true gospel and steals our hope. To name a few false words: The gospel is being polluted by cults, prosperity teaching, words of knowledge that oppose biblical teaching, the minimising of moral failure and distorting God’s word..

John writes with two basic aims: (1) To expose the false teachers (2:26) and (2) To give believers clear assurance of salvation (5:13)

John begins his letter motivated by personal memories of being with Jesus.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1 John 1:1-2) What a great start!

Can you grasp the life changing enthusiasm in John’s words?

He says: go back, to the beginning of the universe, then go back further, to before time. There you see Jesus with God––With God because he is God.

(3) We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, (personal experience) so that you also may have fellowship with us (having in common) and our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ.

 

John says in affect: “Don’t try and tell me I didn’t experience Jesus!”

John can see clearly how false teaching was damaging people. As an apostle his joy in the Lord couldn’t be complete unless his readers shared the true knowledge of Jesus. We write this to make our joy complete. (4)

False teaching disrupts fellowship but truth unites true believers––to one another & to God. our fellowship is with the Father & the Son, Jesus Christ. 

John wants us to know Jesus is proclaimer of God’s message and the message itself––Jesus is the living Word of Life and the Way to complete life.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. (5-6)

The thing that keeps us from knowing and enjoying God is not allowing Jesus to be God in our lives. John calls this Walking in darkness (6b) Living a lie.

In contrast to walking in the darkness John calls allowing Jesus to be God in our, lives Walking in the light (7a)

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (7)

The false teaching John confronts redefines sin. In our times sin becomes relative to social norms. People say we don’t need a saviour because we don’t sin. John won’t accept that. He proclaims the eternal reality and remedy for the consequences of sin. Sin begins with self deception.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (8)  People do this when they see sin as a moral situation––it’s spiritual.

John: “If we don’t admit we have sinned it doesn’t mean we haven’t”  

Yet sin can be dealt with properly and strongly. (more about this to come)

If we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (9-10)

Unbelief that ignores God’s word is the foundation to all sin––the moral consequences of unbelief. Sin not dealt with interferes with spiritual growth.

Confession of sin ( the moral consequences of unbelief) is essential for a good relationship with God. People need to know they are forgiven by God.

How forgiveness happens My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the father in our defence––Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (2:1-2)

Hear this  Jesus speaks to the Father in our defence. He is our advocate or barrister but he’s more than this––The way and Remedy. He’s the way to being friends with God (propitiation). And he’s the remedy for our failures.

Two major errors were being taught in John’s time.

1.  That sin doesn’t cut people off from God.  People won’t measure their behaviour against God’s standards, so they make their own and convince themselves that God will be OK with these. He’s not! 

2.  People can be sinless.

No one is free from the consequences of sin. Sadly, many people live out their lives with it unrecognised.  Everyone needs the help offered by Jesus.

His grace and power are sufficient to deal with our past and present failures.

Jesus provides a free legal service  to everyone who comes to him. It’s worth a try––He’s never lost a case. Jesus negotiates our case with God. And he always wins us a pardon. This is because God accepts his life and his cross as both penalty and plea for us.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (2:2).

The work of Jesus on the cross and now before God is sufficient for the salvation of everyone––The whole world.  Yet it’s only effective for some people––Those who come to him, believe in him, trust and follow him.

So, John writes, remembering the amazing time it was when he was with Jesus.  This ageing man remembers how his life was changed by Jesus. Now he can look back on a long life rich with personal experiences of the life giving grace of God in Jesus. Is it any wonder that he attacks false teaching. Is it any wonder that he seeks to protect God’s people from false teaching’s devastating affect. We should do likewise.