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.
