1 John 2.13b “I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.”
Verses 12-14 should be read together. John is building an argument by explaining why what he writes is so important to everyone in these small church communities. Because their sins are forgiven; because from the beginning they have known Jesus; and now because they have overcome the evil one. Because of all that they can be assured they stand secure in their faith. Spiritual conflict is a daily reality for all of us. Temptation, discouragement, anger, lack of love and care for others, and the so many other ways we forget “we are not our own but bought with a price.” But if we live in the love of God, and depend on God’s grace, we overcome evil with good.
Tuesday
1 John 2.13c “I write to you dear children because you have known the Father.”
Christians come to know the Father through the Son by the Spirit. John is clear about this all the way through his letter. God’s love is revealed in the Word of Life, through the Advocate who speaks to the Father in our defence, and through the Saviour who is the atonement for our sins – Jesus Christ the Righteous One. God is light, and in Christ God’s light we see light. God is love and it is through the love of God in Christ that we are drawn into that eternal relation of love that John calls knowing God.
Wednesday
1 John 2.14a “I write to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning.”
This is exactly the same as verse 13. Why does John say the same thing twice in a letter so carefully composed and so tightly argued? Actually, “from the beginning” is used eight times, and it is intended as a catchphrase. John is making sure that his people understand that the Gospel is the same now as it was “from the beginning.” The Father’s love has not changed; Jesus is the same One who was seen, proclaimed and testified from then till now. “Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same.” That could be a paraphrase of John’s urgent reminder -from start to finish, from then till now, that which was from the beginning is still, and always, true.
Thursday
1 John 2.14b “I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one.”
Assurance of salvation and confidence in God’s promises, is not self-generated. Our assurance isn’t based on our own strength to cling on and grow our own faith. We are kept by the power of God, or as John says we are strong because “the word of God lives in you”, dwells in you, occupies your heart. We overcome by the word of God, in the strength of the Spirit, and through the love of God in Christ. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him”. (1 John 4.16) We’ll come to that verse, but John is already building towards that climax with words of assurance and encouragement. Christian life is possible only because the word of God lives in us. “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine” is one of the best commentaries on 1 John!
Friday
1 John 2.15 “Do not love the world, or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them.”
You can’t give the complete love and loyalty of your heart to two entirely different things. Jesus said as much when he said you can’t serve God and stuff, things, status, or money. John is not talking about God’s created world, but about the world of human enterprise organised for human benefit and control with no reference to God. The love of God is poured into hearts that are open to the grace, forgiveness and newness of the Gospel. From the very start God’s call was to choose between life and death, between love for God and love for whatever else we surrender to.
Saturday
1 John 2. 16 “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”
Lust of the flesh means giving in to every selfish desire; lust of the eyes is greed in embryo, we see it, we want it, and must have it; the pride of life is that self-assertive throwing off of any authority or restraint that holds us back from the previous two lusts! John is a realist. He knows the heart is deceitful, the mind entertains thoughts that leads us into temptation; and the will is weak without the grace of God. So love not the world because it is not the true source of light and life. That belongs to the Word of Life and Light whom we have come to know in Jesus Christ.
Sunday
1 John 2.17 “The world and its desires pass away, but the person who does the will of God lives for ever.”
If you live for the moment, the moment passes and nothing is permanent. If our desires, hopes and longings are centred on the material and visible world, we will be disappointed. Jesus said as much, and warned, “where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.” Treasure in heaven consists of the riches we have in Christ, our life of graced obedience and loving service dedicated to God in Christ, the transformed self even now being conformed to the image of Christ, and the vision of God in all the splendour and glory of eternal, creative and redemptive love.
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