John is called the “Apostle of Love.” In his first epistle he expresses love for his readers much like parents express love for their children.
A young teenage boy had just gotten his driver’s license. When he got home, he asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss the use of the car. His father took him into his study and said to the boy, "I’ll make a deal with you. If you bring up your grades, study your Bible a little, and get a haircut, then we’ll talk about the use of the car."
After about a month, the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss the use of the car. They again went to the father’s study where his father said, "Son, I’ve been so very proud of you. You have brought up your grades, you’ve studied your Bible diligently, but you didn’t get your haircut." The young man waited a moment and replied, "Dad, I’ve been thinking about that. You know, Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, even Jesus had long hair..." His father interrupted him at that point and said, "Yes son, and they walked everywhere they went!"
Just like this father, John related to his beloved “children” from a position of love and concern for them.
Early in chapter two of his first letter, John writes, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Today, we will be looking at verses 12-14 of this chapter:
(1 John 2:12 NKJV) I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
(1 John 2:13 NKJV) I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
(1 John 2:14 NKJV) I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.
Did you know there are only two families in the world: the family of God, and the family of Satan?
According to the Bible there is no such thing as the universal fatherhood of God or the brotherhood of man. This is the heresy that teaches that God is everyone's father and that all men are brothers. Men are either children of God or of Satan.
As Christians, we do not love the world because we are the family of God. In our text, John describes the different kind of believers in the family of God. Some are spiritual babies, some are young men, and some are fathers, but we are all His children by faith in Jesus Christ.
John speaks about the family of God and the different levels of maturity that His children have. John lets us know that the very nature of the family allows no possibility of loving God and the satanic system simultaneously.
Let’s look at the text.
I write to you, little children…
To begin with, “little children” refers to all believers. Literally, this word means, “born ones.” It comes from the word, teknion, tek-nee'-on, meaning an infant, little born one.
John then gives the reason he is writing these little born ones: “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.”
Your sins are forgiven you…
“Are forgiven” is the expression that means “to send from one’s self, to send away, to bid, go away or depart. When God forgives us He puts away our sins. He sends away their guilt, defilement, and penalty and He does this at the Cross.
The words “are forgiven” are in the perfect tense, which means that they speak of a past, completed action having present and permanent results.
John is telling us that we become the “little born ones” of God when our sins have been forgiven. Sins are forgiven when one trusts in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
All Christians have been born into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ, and their sins have been forgiven. Regardless of age or maturity, if you have been born again, you are a born one, a child of God.
John is telling us that our sins were put away at the Cross, with the result that they are never more remembered against us.
When I did something wrong as a boy I had to look forward to the wrath of Mom. As I waited for her to get home from work the clock would seem like it was running in slow motion.
If I were on my way home to a mother who already knew my bad, I would never be in a hurry to get home and see my mom face to face.
The parents of some of the guys I hung out with waited at the front door for their son with a belt in hand. As soon as my friend put one foot in the door the strap went into motion!
If you are a Christian, you don’t need to be anxious about going home, for your Heavenly Father won’t be waiting at Heaven’s gate with a strap in His hand, but with outstretched arms.
Why? Is it because we’ve never done bad? No! It is because our punishment was already poured out on Jesus and because Jesus took our punishment, our sins were put away, never to be remembered again.
(Psa 103:11 NKJV) For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
(Psa 103:12 NKJV) As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
(Micah 7:19 NKJV) He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
(Isa 38:17 NKJV) Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
(Isa 44:22 NKJV) I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."
(Heb 8:12 NKJV) "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Our sins have been forgiven. Peter writes that Jesus has Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Pet 2:24 NKJV)
If you are a Christian, you are the little “born ones” of God that John is writing to because your sins have been forgiven—they have been put away permanently.
Next John writes that our sins have been forgiven us“…for His Name’s sake.”
The word, “Name,” is an Old Testament word expressing the sum of the qualities which point to the nature or character of a person.
When Jewish parents named their children, they prayed that their children would grow up to take on all the characteristics befitting the name they were given
When John writes that “our sins have been forgiven us for His Name’s sake” he is saying that all that is true of God in His glory, majesty, and might is behind the reason He saved us.
We were saved for “His Name’s sake.” In other words, the gift of salvation exhibits all the characteristics befitting the name Jesus!
In Matthew chapter one, the angel told a despairing Joseph that wife Mary “would bring forth a Son, and he was supposed to call His name JESUS…” Why? “for He will save His people from their sins."
Jesus is an exalted Name! God says through the Apostle Paul:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
Some of us got the pitiful idea that God saved us because we were worth saving.
Some believe that salvation is like spring cleaning your home and finding something that still has value and rather than throwing it away, you save it.
Some people think that salvation is merely God saving someone, like a piece of jewelry, who was valuable to Him.
“Oh! This ring is valuable, I better not throw it away.”
I am reminded of that bumper sticker that says, “God doesn’t make no junk.” This is true; Genesis says that everything God made, He said it was “good.”
However, things didn’t stay the way God made them. For example, man was made in the image of God but his pure image was defiled when He disobeyed God. Adam brought a curse upon himself, his family and the earth.
Man’s image was so tarnished and his conscience so defiled that he and Eve couldn’t even walk around naked anymore—they were ashamed of what they saw. Men and women would eventually seek companionship with those of the same sex.
This same-sex controversy wasn’t born in San Francisco.
Paul writes in Romans chapter one, “Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved.”
God doesn’t save man because man is worth something to Him. It is quite the contrary.
Paul continues in Romans, “Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving.”
This doesn’t sound like something worth saving. It sounds to me like something worth throwing into an incinerator.
Here is a verse that describes the motivation behind God saving mankind:
(Deu 7:7 NKJV) "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
(Deu 7:8 NKJV) "but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
(Deu 7:9 NKJV) "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
In essence, God saves man because it brings Himself glory.
In chapter one of the book of Ephesians we find Paul writing several times that God saved us, “for the praise of the glory of His grace…” In other words, we were saved for “His Name’s sake;” we were saved for His glory.
Now that John has explained why he has written to children—all believers in Jesus, he writes to fathers.
Fathers
(1 John 2:13 NKJV) I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
pater, pat-ayr'; a "father " or parent.
The “fathers” John refers to are mature believers who have an intimate personal knowledge of God. They have “known Him who is from the beginning.”
The word “known” – ginosko – ghin-oce'-ko. It is the Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman but it primarily means to become acquainted with, to know.
It is one thing to be introduced to someone and it is another thing to come to know that person. The “fathers” John writes have known Him who is from the beginning.
Ginisko refers to an experiential knowledge. It is a knowledge gained by experience. These “fathers” were Christians who were the saints in the church who were mature in the Christian life because they have lived in regular and consistent fellowship with the Lord.
These are those Christians who can sing from experience the words:
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
We are living in a time where we have instant pudding, quick grits, microwave ovens and fast food. But Christian maturity doesn’t come “instantly,” “quickly” and “fast.” The Christian life can begin in an instant but the Christian takes time to develop and grow and mature.
Church leadership is reserved not for newcomers to the faith but to those who have learned over time to walk with Christ. Paul instructs Timothy that an elder of the church must “not [be] a novice (a recent convert), lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:6)
There are responsibilities you just don’t trust to children.
I have sat most of my children in my lap as a toddler and let them turn the steering wheel of my car while I parked and most of my children have walked away from the experience thinking they could drive. But we know they can’t.
There are some of God’s children in the body who have had the wonderful experience of knowing God’s forgiveness and they think they can drive. But we know they can’t; they are not ready to take the steering wheel of leadership in the church.
But fathers can drive! Because they know God, they know the dangers of the world’s highway.
They know that some areas of the highway are dangerous and need to be avoided.
They know when they should slow down and when they should speed up.
They know to watch out for pedestrians and other obstacles on life’s highway.
They do not go for long periods without routine maintenance.
They know when they are in need of service and repair.
They are wise to the schemes of those whose goals are to divert them from reaching their destination.
They do not attempt to drive while under the influence of anything or anyone other than the Spirit of God.
The “fathers” John refers to in his writing are mature believers who have an intimate personal knowledge of God. They have “known Him who is from the beginning.”
Young Men
“Young men” is neaniskos, neh-an-is'-kos; a youth (under forty):--young man.
I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. (vs. 13b)
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. (vs. 14b)
The “young men” are the conquerors: they have overcome Satan, the wicked one, who is the prince of this world system.
The word “overcome” is the Greek word nikao, nik-ah'-o, which means to subdue (lit. or fig.):--conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory. From this Greek word we get the athletic shoe company called Nike.
Young men according to John are victors and conquerors. They have been victorious over Satan who is the wicked prince of this world system.
The word “overcome” is in the perfect tense, which means that these young Christians had conflict with the enemy that led to a complete and permanent victory.
In May of 2003 President Bush declared that we had achieved victory in Iraq. Those of us who have been following the war know that since that time almost 400 U.S. soldiers have been killed. President Bush never said the war was over; he only claimed victory.
The Bible describes the Christian as one who has overcome.
(1 John 5:4 NKJV) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith.
(1 John 5:5 NKJV) Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The young men John wrote to were victors over Satan but the war is still going on. Though we have occasional setbacks, it will never go back to where it was before the victory.
Before the victory we were in bondage:
* We were dead in trespasses and sins,
* We once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
* We once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
* But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-6)
Before the victory…
* We ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
* But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:3-6)
As Christians, we walk in the victory afforded us by Jesus Christ.
As Christians we “fight the good fight of faith” not with fleshly weapons but with mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.
Yes, we may have occasional setbacks. The Apostle Paul says:
2 Cor 4:8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2 Cor 4:9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
The point that John makes about these young Christians is that they were strong, the Word of God abided in them and they have overcome the evil one.
One more thing we need to know about the “young men;” they are not yet fully mature; but they are maturing. They are not yet “fathers;” they are young men.
In the armed forces, the leaders sometimes have problems with some of the young men who are strong and courageous. They are the young men who want to charge into the battle half-cocked. The older, wiser, leaders have to teach these young fighters how to use wisdom.
The Apostle Peter has a word of encouragement for young hot shots like these:
1 Pet 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
1 Pet 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
1 Pet 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
I can remember the times as a young minister where I barged into my pastor’s office with a list of problems that needed his attention.
I was zealous for the things of the Lord.
I wanted the Bible to be exalted in the church.
I thought that they ought to be doing things differently.
We have some “young men” Christians at New Vision and I praise God for you! You are strong, the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.
You are zealous for the Word of God.
You are zealous for the things of God and the tendency is for you to want to get things moving.
You want to see people save.
You want to see people delivered.
You can’t stand people who are indifferent towards God’s work.
It distresses you when your brothers and sisters are passive about church attendance and ministry and worship, fellowship and discipleship.
I must exhort you like Peter exhorts the young warriors in his letter: Be patient; wait on the Lord!
Submit to your leaders
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time
While you wait, just cast all of your anxieties on Him, for He cares for you.
God has a plan. He is patient and longsuffering toward sinners and us.
He told Noah to preach 120 years before the flood waters came.
One verse that has helped me in this regard is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:14:
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
This means that we must ask God for discernment concerning who in our congregation is unruly; who is fainthearted and who is weak. We must also ask God to help us to be patient towards everyone.
Little Children
Another group of Christians that John writes is “little children.” But these are not the “little children” addressed in 1 John 2:12; two different Greek words are used.
1 John 2:13 - I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
In verse 12 teknion, tek-nee'-on, is used, meaning an infant, little born one. This is the word that refers to Christians no matter how old you are.
The word “children” in verse 13 is the Greek Word paidion, pahee-dee'-on; It is referring to a childling (of either sex), a half-grown boy or girl; an immature Christian:--(little, young) child, damsel.
This word carries the idea of “immature ones,” or little children still under the authority of teachers and tutors. These are young Christians who have not yet grown up in Christ.
This word describes many of those in our churches today. They received Christ as their Savior but they are still immature.
Some of these people gave their lives to Christ 10, 20 or 30 years ago but they haven’t been taught the Word of God and thus haven’t ground. We used to refer to people who have grown to be adults but have the mind of toddlers as “retarded.” Today we say they are “disabled” or “challenged.”
There are many in the church that are spiritually “disabled” or “challenged.”
John also tells us that these children have known (ginosko) the Father. They know Him experientially but are still learning of Him, thus they are still “children.”
Why is John laying out these stages of Christian growth and maturity?
In our text John reminds us that we are in God’s family; some of us are children, others are young men and still others are fathers.
I believe that John is letting us know that
…it doesn’t matter if you have an intimate relationship with the Father
…it doesn’t matter that you are strong and know the Word and have overcome the evil one
…it doesn’t matter that you have years of experience serving the Lord as a “father”
You and I are still susceptible to being tempted by and succumbing to the allures of the world and its lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.
Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you are exempt from being tempted by worldly attractions.
You might be a young man in the Lord and strong; the Word of God might dwell in you and you may be victorious over the devil but you could still give in to your fleshly desires—just ask King David.
You see, the devil isn’t behind all of your giving in to sin; many times he has nothing to do with us disobeying the Word.
Paul lets us know that it’s our flesh.
Rom 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.
James puts it like this:
James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
James 1:15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Next time we will deal with verses 15-17 where John writes:
1 John 2:15 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.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world.
1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
