Remain! 1 John 2:18-27 Series

In the next couple of verses he gives the readers a bit of a reminder of who these anti blokes are and that they are denying God the Father and God the Son, which in reality leaves them believing in a handful of nothing, a faith that’s a vapour. He states it plainly, “No one who denies the Son has the Father: whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

I was trying to come up with an illustration about this and it’s a bit like saying that those of us who know that we have a roof over us understand that a wall or two in our case that there are four keeping the roof there. We could deny the wall-ship of the walls but they still exist and the roof is still there. In the same way these antichrist characters, were denying the Son-ship of the Son and still expecting they had a relationship with God the Father. Remember last week when I talked of how Jesus advocates on our behalf with the father and the Father sends the promised Holy Spirit to be with us. These antichrists were in their minds removing Jesus from his rightful place with the Father.

It makes little sense to deny the existence of something or someone that exists. In the case of Christ it is just stupidity at the least, or a well thought through rebellion against God at the worst and most dangerous to boot. This is about remaining in Christ Jesus.

One way to look at Jesus is to remember that he is All Powerful and to deny who he really is entering dangerous territory. We cannot fit Jesus into our own pattern or our own design, any more than we can grasp a bolt of lightning with our bare hands and hold it. Remember all the power of creation had to conform to his will as he walked on water, as he stilled waves, multiplied food and his dead body lived again. If all the power of creation cannot contain him neither can our thoughts constrict him to our wants, no matter how well meaning they may or may not be. Jesus is the Christ!

4) So John reminds the reader to keep it together, not to get it together, but to stay on the right path.You are perhaps thinking that there’s nothing there about paths, but there’s oodles of scriptures that talk of paths.

Psalm 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

Matthew 7:14 “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

This one about a highway

Isaiah 35:8 “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.” The word highway here is not as we depict a highway, multilane, two directional with over passes and arteries, fast cars and whooping great truck and trailer units. This was a road, a track of sorts, probably a cart or two wide. The way of holiness is narrow and is journeyed by those whose relationship with God is right!