Bible Series: "Nine Little Letters"

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The Incarnate Word (1 John 1:1-4)  

As with all letters, our first duty is to determine who wrote the letter and to whom the letter was intended.  The way John begins his letter, might be better understood if we recall the experience of the Apostle Thomas after the resurrection of Jesus (John 20:24-29). When Jesus appeared to ten of the apostles, Thomas was not there. When the other apostles told him about seeing Jesus alive after His resurrection, Thomas rejected their story and told them he would not believe unless “he could see the nail prints in His hands, put his finger in the nail prints and thrust his hand into his side,” he would not believe (John 20:25).  Eight days later, Jesus appeared again, but this time, Thomas was with them (vs. 26). Jesus invited him to put his finger in the nail prints and his hand in His side. While the Scripture does not say that Thomas accepted the invitation, Verse 28 says, “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God” (KJV). Verse 29 has Jesus’ response as, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yethave believed.” 

Now, 1 John 1:1 can be more fully understood in the context of what the disciples saw after Jesus’ resurrection. Here, John is reliving the experience of Thomas; that is, he saw and looked with his eyes, he touched the Word of Life with his hands.  In Verse 2, John says he experienced the life of Christ, and he is testifying or recounting those experiences of seeing that eternal life to us. 

John says in verse 3 that his purpose in sharing his experiences with us is so that we can join him and the millions of others in fellowship, and that that fellowship is with “the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ. It is like John is welcoming us to a club, of sorts, that’s members have this common experience, like Thomas did, of knowing the Word of Life, first hand, by seeing, and hearing, and touching, and feeling the resurrected Christ for ourselves. He realizes that we cannot have the same joy he and the other apostles had of actually living in the presence of Jesus for three years, but he hopes our joy can be completed by reading the words of his account of those many experiences (vs. 4). 

Jesus: The Light (1 John 1:5-10)  

John begins his message by recounting what he heard from Jesus directly. First, Jesus told them that “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (vs. 1). His illustration is like walking into a room with no lights and having someone turn the lights on. The light reveals the details of everything in the room. There are no secrets remaining. Before the light came, one could only guess what might be in the room. But with the light, every secret thing in the room is revealed and there is no darkness left once the shining of God’s light begins. It is all-revealing light. In verse 6, John says if one can say there is still darkness after His light shines, he is lying and the is no truth in him. Verse 7 is a transitional verse:  it starts by setting a conditional idea that if we walk in that all-revealing light, just as God Himself is that light, we have fellowship with one another. The end of verse 7, after the transition to the new topic or condition, John says the “blood of Jesus, His Son cleanes us from all sin.” So, in this  statement, John reveals that the light of God establishes unity among the believers and establishes a complete cleansing from all our sin. So, The light of God brings its believers together in solid unity and provide a full and complete cleansing from all sin - righteousness. 

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So, John wants to set up two realities with the believers in Christ. First, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin and if we say we have no sin, we are misguided or simply lying. Second, if we confess (acknowledge) our sin, Jesus is faithful to remove those sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous (vs. 9). 

In the first case, the subject is the “wearing of sin.” In the second case, the subject is the personal commission of sin. The first establishes our condition as sinners, while the second establishes that even if we could be excluded by living in the condition of sin, our personal commission of sin establishes our status as sinners. Whether we are talking about sin because of our humankind or because of our personal unholiness, we are guilty of being sinners. But also, in either case, the blood of Christ is fully capable of forgiving sin and cleaning us from either and all sin.  

Christ the Advocate (1 John 2:1-14)  

Here, John switches to a more personal approach to addressing the audience. Now he calls us his little children, this is, we are part of the family – we are together in this situation with John. He says he is writing these things to us that we may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate (vs. 2:1). He has already proven that we are not only all sinners but that we are guilty of a sinful status and a sinful performance so, there is no one without sin (Ron 3:23) nor is there anyone who does not sin (Rom 3:10). The fact that we have an Advocate in Jesus Christ is good news because we are guilty and need Him every day, maybe even every hour. Notice also that John says Jesus is fully righteous. That is important because another sinner cannot serve as an advocate. Verse 2 strengthens that stand by saying that Jesus is the propitiation for all our sins. The word propitiation is the Greek word hilasmos meaning expiator or atonement. Atonement can be seen in its syllables as “at one ment” or the curing of any separation between us and our Savior. He heals the breach caused by sin and causes us to be one with the Savior again. And here is the rest of that great news; He is the atonement for the sins of everyone in the entire world (vs. 2). A person can acknowledge that He is their Savior and received that truth, or one can deny He is their Savior and suffer the condemnation of paying for their own sin (Acts 4:12, Rev 20:15). A person can tell if he is one of His because they act (walk) the same way He acted (vs.6). The drives in your mind and heart make you want to do what He did, and you are uncomfortable doing anything else. 

John realizes that this kind of talk might seem new or novel to us so, he says “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment you have had from the beginning” (vs. 7). He reassures us of his truth by saying, “I am writing to you, little children because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake” (vs. 12). He writes to the fathers because they know Him, and to the young men because they are strong and know the Word of God abides in them. In every case, John addresses the abiding of God as a requirement for everyone; not church or clothes or uniform or memberships but God within us. Jesus told one of the most noted Israeli scholars of His day, “You must be born-again to see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

The World vs. Eternal Life (1 John 2:15-29)  

In that same sense of walking the way Jesus walked, John says “Do not love the world nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (vs. 15). This is another measuring stick to understand where our hearts are. Write a list of the things you like and the things you do not like. If your “likes” are godly things and your “dislikes” are worldly things, there is something in you driving you toward being like Jesus. If not, you might be heading the other way! You must also measure whether doing these things is natural or forced. If God is your guide, you do these things naturally because of Him. 

Verse 16 is a universal truth, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world” (vs. 15). Look at what Satan has used to temp Jesus? What has led to the failure of priests, pastors and political leaders? Sometimes it is not as easy as it looks.  What are the things God has created us to need? Example: When Satan tempted Jesus to turn the rocks into bread, how long had it been since Jesus had eaten? 

Verse 18 opens the discussion of the promised Antichrist. (The capital “A” is the person; the small “a” is the behavior.) Second Thessalonians 2:3-12 gives a short background of him. Revelation 13 shows him as the first beast and the false prophet as the second beast. This person, the Antichrist, will be the key leader during the Tribulation Period. He will be worshipped on the Temple Mound in Jerusalem. He will kill all who will not worship Him. The False Prophet will be the “Preacher” who exalts him. Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet are the unholy trinity of the seven-year Tribulation Period.

John finishes with a warning that we abide in Him and He abides in us. He warns us that when He appears and takes His Church away from the earth before the Tribulation Period that we make sure we can be certain of our stand and approach Him in confidence. We certainly do not want to have to back away in shame because we refused to be called one of His.