The Anointed Life
1 John 2:18-27
May 28, 2006
The Bible begins by describing a world created by God and in his image.
As God spoke, "Let there be" all that is came into being.
For 6 days this happened. At the end of each, God spoke his verdict. He assessed his work and called it "good." And after creating the man and woman, "very good."
This work had pleased him.
This work, this coming into being of land and sea, sky and moons, plants and animals, brought him great joy, a quiet and contented calm. So he rested on the 7th day, basking in the joy and the gift of his work to the man and woman who he created to enjoy it.
This state.
This condition of things.
This reality as we picture it.
We imagine it.
As we rehearse this story in our minds.
Was God given.
God initiated.
God directed.
Was all God. His doing. His work.
And it was beautiful.
And yet in chapter 3 of Genesis, this beauty was abandoned by both the man and woman because they wanted more.
They were discontent because they were deceived by the deceiver, the evil one, the serpent.
"Did God really say?" he asked.
"You won’t die," the deceiver says.
But they did, when the man and woman ate, the life they had been given died with them. They had separated themselves from God.
They had been deceived.
The protected, God anointed, God created life they had been given was no more.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he too finds himself in a situation similar to what Adam and Eve experienced. After his baptism, he is led to the wilderness, the desert where he is tempted. Without a nourished stomach to sustain him. Without a community of friends to help him at this time of trial, Jesus, depending upon the word of God, does not fall in the deceivers hands. He will be faithful to God and God alone, no matter the offers meant to divide his loyalty. He rests in his Sonship, one anointed by God to be Savior of those who have been deceived.
In these two stories, one in the beginning of our Old Testament and the other at the beginning of the New Testament, we find ourselves, you and I like Adam and Eve are deceived.
Have been led astray.
Have been lied to.
Given misinformation.
We like them have partaken of these lies.
These false truths with the consequences being that we are separated from the nature that God intended for us.
For those though, that place their life in Christ, who invite him to reign and rule in their life, there is the promise that this sin, this deception that has entangled us will not have the last word, nor be the final verdict. But instead this old nature is of the past and a new nature, a new beginning has come in and through Jesus, who was able to triumph over the deceiver in the desert as his ministry began and at the end of his ministry when he left death behind, walking out of that tomb.
As we spend more and more time in this book of 1 John, the same two stories are told. The story of being deceived, the Adam and Eve story and the story of Christ’s life to save us from deception.
John is pointed in his writing, he uses the word liar 5 times, darkness, deceiver, led astray. He speaks of false teachers and prophets and antichrists and sin. The tricks of the trade that got Adam and Eve off track years earlier, John makes note of warning of them and their power.
In todays text, John chooses to highlight the fact that there are what he calls anti-christs around. People, not an extra-terestrial being. People, not some Hollywood like creature like Revelation tells us will come, but people who in the spirit of the antichrist say that Jesus is not the Christ and do their best to lead people astray.
John’s words, "even now many antichrists have come." (v. 18)
Not 1 but many.
Not a Revelation 13 beast yet, but human deceivers.
He writes, "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist." (v. 22)
John tells us that there were antichrists in the people who were present in and among the Jesus-followers. These people had on "disguises." Formerly they claimed to be part of the church but their beliefs and their actions revealed them for who they were.
This reality, that there are people who in the spirit of the antichrist
are opponents to Jesus.
are antagonistic to His ways.
are bent at deceiving those who claim allegiance to Him.
Was warned about by Jesus.
In Mark 13:6, we read these words of Jesus.
"Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming "I am he" and will deceive many."
In verse 22, Jesus continues, "False Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect."
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount spoke of false prophets. "They come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matthew 7:15)
Paul also warned of this as the church was in its infancy.
"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:29, 20)
The Bible is clear from the beginning to its end that there is a deceiver and there are false teachers, prophets and antichrists who will have as their purpose the destruction of the children of God.
But here is the deal, John is also quite clear about another reality. Though you and I, like the people who first have been deceived and will continue to face antagonism read these words, hear these words of deception for those who are truly God’s there is:
Assurance
Hope
And a security.
V. 20, After speaking of the antichrists formerly present among the faithful, John directs his attention to those in the church.
"But you". -
But you - not like the false christs.
But you - different from them in obedience.
But you - you faithful ones.
"You have an anointing from the Holy One and all of you know the truth."
To those who find themselves among deceptions,
Living under these temptations.
Influenced by false truths yet seeking to remain loyal to Christ.
John writes, "You have an anointing" he uses this word 4 times (v. 20, 27 - 3 times). By this word he means we have been consecrated, set aside for sacred significance. He is speaking of the reception of God’s Spirit. As a child of God we have been sealed by God’s Spirit (Ephesians 1:13, 14). This mark identifies us as his.
This anointing by God safeguards us from the lies of false teachers because according to John, we "know the truth." (v. 20)
A gift of being a child of God is the ability to discern lies and untruths.
We have been anointed by God, John tells us, with the result being that we can recognize untruths.
Does this happen automatically? No, in verse 24 John tells us of our responsibility.
"See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you."
That which led you to know God.
Those truths that ushered you into relationship with God.
began your life with God
are to remain in you.
be present and active and not dormant.
Friends is it possible for us to come to know God, grow in our love for him and then after a while lessen in our relationship. Yes? We call this backsliding. Walking away.
John knows of this reality, that’s why he is emphatic.
See that what you heard remains.
abides.
lives in you.
for if it does, "you also will remain in the Son and in the Father." And this leads to "eternal life." (v. 25)
In this economy of fluctuating returns and mis-reported earnings - stands a promise from our God.
That those who receive, live in and under His anointing, they have the gift of God’s Spirit.
For those who remain faithful despite the opposition
For those who abide.
who are constant in their devotion, they are promised God’s presence.
While these words may at first cause within you dis-ease.
While these words may cause you to be afraid, this wasn’t John’s intent nor is it mine today.
John writes and I am having us read his words because of the assurance given to us by God.
God’s children have been anointed,
in a sense "inoculated"
in a sense "safe guarded"
from the untruths of the false christs
who tell us there are many ways to God,
who tell us Jesus wasn’t God.
The truth of God within us.
The words of God within us.
The Spirit of God inside us, keeps us safe from the Deceiver.
Our task is simply to remain, to abide, to stay loyal to God, like that tree we read about earlier in Psalm 1.
Now recognize something.
Deception comes to all and at anytime. Don’t be misguided in your thinking, believing that once you are God’s child this reality of deception fades away. If you aren’t being assaulted, being tempted to be led astray perhaps you aren’t truly God’s. Perhaps your faith is counterfeit.
Friends let us together recognize the reality that there are lies, deceptions, and untruths all around us.
Let us affirm the fact that as children of God we have his anointing.
An anointing that teaches Truth.
Clarifies God’s way.
An anointing that as it
abides
dwells
remains within us
leads us not from temptations but through it and at life’s end to our eternal home.
Praise be to God, the Father.
God, the Son.
and God the Holy Spirit.
who gives us the hope, promise, and assurance that our lives are His though the deceiver is out there. Amen
