“The Truth Part 2 The Sequel”
Last week we looked at Family Trait #1.
God's Family Trait #1: Honest about sin.
We saw that God’s people, the family of God - those who have really and truly come to know Him, are those who embrace the truth about sin. They are honest about their sin. They admit their guilt. They own it. They freely admit that they fall short of the glory of God. God’s children are not perfect (not yet!!!), and His church is not perfect. We are not perfect - far from it. Just forgiven. And it is this fact of admission which opens up the way for forgiveness. For cleansing. Being washed whiter than - so that we can more perfectly reflect who God is. The God of light. In Whom there is no hint of darkness. So we have this family trait of honesty, and at the same time we now belong to a family where our Dad is perfect. Our Big Brother is perfect. The standard is perfection. White as snow. No hint of darkness. Much less walking in it. We are totally okay with admitting our mistakes, our sins, knowing that the abounding grace of God and the blood of Jesus completely covers it - but what John tells us today is that we are totally NOT okay with continuing in sin. In this respect, we are truly intolerant.
1John 2:1-6 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
My little children… John calls us his little children. Seven times in this letter, in fact. Not just children (which is teknon in the greek), but a cuter sounding word for a smaller cuter child (teknion). It would be somewhat like how we would call a young Bob, ‘Bobby’, or a young Susan, ‘Susie’. And when they grow older, they most likely come to prefer to be called by the more adult-sounding name. But they will make an exception for their parents or grandparents, most likely. My grammy got to call me ‘Chrissy’. Or the family will simply persist in using the cuter nickname. We call this is a term of endearment, and John uses one of those here. Whatever his relationship with these readers, we can understand that John thus has a fond affection for them, for us. He cares. He is the parent, or the wisened old grandparent, passing on sage words of advice to these younger readers of whom he is so fond.
I am writing… Remember we are classifying this as a writing. It reads like no other epistle in the NT. No introduction or identification of author or audience, no greeting or farewell, no real sequential flow. It reads more like Psalms or Proverbs or Ecclesiastes - sort of a stream of spiritual consciousness. I am writing, John says, so that:
- 1 - my joy may be made complete (last week)
-Remember, joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is all circumstantial. When my circumstances change, that can rob me of my happiness. Joy is qualitatively different. It is a deeper abiding sense of goodness and satisfaction which is rooted in the reality of Who God is, what He has done for me in His Son, and who I am in Him. It is grounded in timeless unchanging truth. Which is why Scripture tells us to rejoice always. Truth is always truth. So that which is my cause of rejoicing today - truth - will (or should) still runneth over my cup tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. Joy triumphs over circumstances - or should. It washes over the brokenness and the sadness and the loss and the missteps, and says, something greater is here. Something good is here. In fact, it is a Someone, and He working a weight of glory which is far beyond compare. And right here, right now, even though my circumstances don’t feel good, HE is good, He is in control, and He is with me. Emmanuel. And John’s joy here could be increased glory for Jesus or increased joy for his readers - either will result in filling up his own joy. That is why he is writing.
- 2 - you all - John’s readers, His little children - WILL NOT sin…
Isaiah. 6:1-5
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Here is where these twin towers of grace overlap. God’s children are those who are "okay" with their sin - because God’s grace and the blood of Jesus completely covers and cleans it. But we are also not at all okay with our sin, with continuing in it. He loves us just the way we are, but too much to let us stay that way. We see this overlap in verse one. This is our current reality if we are in Christ, our struggle, if you will. We still struggle with sin, but we struggle against it, because we hate it - or should. And by His grace we experience freedom! Healing! Victory! Further up and further in!
The good news, John says, is that we have an Advocate! Because we do still struggle with sin, and we most likely will - or should - be having these these fresh visions of glory, these fresh crises of filthiness, we need a Helper. And that’s Jesus. Jesus Messiah. The Christ. Savior.
- Advocate (paraclete)
- We think of someone who is our champion, who has our back. Could be a lawyer, someone Who pleads on our behalf before a Judge. Which Jesus does, for sure!
- The word in the Greek is paraclete - same word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit. One called alongside to help. Our Helper. Jesus is the One Who actually perfected the art of being in two places at once. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, praying for us, interceding for us. But He is also with us, right here with us. I am with you always, even to the end of the age, He said. The Helper, the Spirit of Christ, will be with us forever.
- Jesus Christ the Righteous
- who better to help us obey than the One Who always did everything His Father wanted. He kept His shirt totally clean. Not one spot. So He can sympathize with us while still being our Ultimate Example. But He also has the impeccable credentials to approach the bench on our behalf. He can - and does - do both.
- Propitiation
- He is both the priest AND the sacrifice
- For the WHOLE WORLD.
- He is Knowable - Abide-able - Imitate-able
But so here we come to Family Trait #2
God's Family Trait #2: Obeys Him
By this we know (which John repeats 2x)
- That we have come to know Him
- That we are in Him
Those who know - Keep His commandments/His Word (3x)
- this means guarding - attend to carefully, take care of, to carefully hold on to it and protect it
- I can tell you this, John is talking about so much more than compliance. He is not talking about lip-service, rote obedience. As much as anything he is talking about heart.
- This is what Moses was trying to communicate to the Israelites
Deut 5:24-6:10 “You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. ‘Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’ …Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD.”
Dirt creep. We compromise. We cut corners. We forget. We forget Who He is, what He is like. We become enamored with other lesser things. Like Martha, we get busy and distracted and focused on other things, worried and bothered by so many things. But just a few things are necessary. Really only one, Jesus said. And Mary found it. Remember? What was she doing? Listening, and paying careful attention to what? The Words of Jesus. Truth.
Truth in me, God’s love in me (these things being perfected/completed)
- The Truth is in fact NOT in me if I am not keeping it
- Perfect love, the perfection of it, it's already completed, actually. It has been completed at some point in the past in the life of this one who in the present is keeping God’s commands
- John talks about joy being completed (1:4) by this love being completed
The God Who forgets our sins wants us not to forget Him. Not ever. This is our family trait.
Is. 43:25
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Is. 44:21
“Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.”
We are "obligated", John says. He says that if you say you are abiding in Him, you are obligated to be walking just as He walked. How did He walk?
Luke 6:42-46 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
There is this overarching commitment. And it flows from the heart.
Lev. 16:29-31
“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.”
2Corinthians 5:14-15
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Gal. 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Not how much I love Him - but how much He loves me. But our response is one of full out reciprocation. So we are doing what He did, yes. We are following Him - like Vector (the villain in Despicable Me). We’re talking about direction, and magnitude! Fixing our eyes on Jesus, following in His footsteps, and doing what He did, but also greater works!
This is, All the way in - like Reepicheep, the talking mouse of Narnia, who was all the way in with his eyes fixed on pursuing Aslan: "While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country, or shot over the edge of the world into some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.”
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