Parents:
Last week at Wednesday Night Live, we began the Torn Apart series in I John. Unfortunately, our CD burner had a malfunction so I wasn't able to catch any of the recording for you. But, hopefully this blog post will explain things pretty adequately. Get your Bible out!
Remember the background: John is writing this letter to churches he has planted in and around Ephesus. He is confronting some false teaching that is being spread by people who were formerly leaders or influential members in some of these churches (for more on what they believed, see the previous post). John jumps right into the body of the letter without even including the standard greetings that letters from that time normally included (check out any of Paul's letters, which all fall into this format: Author, Position, Recipient, Greeting, Body).
Now, on Wednesday, we did verses 1-5 of chapter one. This is really the gist of what John is communicating to his churches:
Jesus has always co-existed with the Father.
Notice the very first thing John says in verse 1 - "that which was from the beginning". And then in verse 2, he says the eternal life (Jesus) was "with the Father and made manifest to us".
Eyewitness testimony is superior to "Special Revelation"
As one of the twelve disciples, John's proclamation of the Gospel was based on his own personal experience with Jesus. Over and over in the first three verses he says something like "which we have heard...which we have seen...which we have looked at...which we have touched with our hands". By contrast, the group John is writing against claimed that their belief came from a special revelation given to them by God.
The Gospel doesn't exclude; it includes.
John wants to make it clear that the heart of the Gospel is inclusion. Check out verse 3 - "that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ". John's opponents felt that their alleged "special knowledge" made them better than everyone else. Accordingly, they actually separated themselves from the churches.
Living out the Gospel results in joy - joy that you'll want to share.
John's writing of this letter has a goal in sight: that those who read it will solidify their hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and experience the joy that comes with doing so. In verse 4, John writes, "And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete". To John, the joy that a person receives from living out the Gospel is magnified that much more when that person spreads it and others, too, come to experience that same joy.
God is the standard of holiness and does not tolerate/co-exist with sin.
John wants to communicate to his churches that God is holy and righteousness and does not / will not co-habitate with sin or sinful people. For those of us who have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior, this isn't a problem since Jesus died on the cross as the payment for our sins and we are - in Him - a new creation. But John's opponents denied their sinfulness in the first place and deliberately continued to sin because they believed that their "special knowledge" was proof that God has saved them (remember, they also believed that the soul was innately good and the body was innately evil and therefore what a person did with his/her body didn't matter because it couldn't affect his/her soul).
So here's the deal. From the start of the letter, John wants his churches to know that the Gospel is trustworthy. Why is it trustworthy? Because it's based on Jesus, who has always been with the Father. And also because it's based on eyewitness testimony, not some unverifiable "special knowledge". John is also claiming the Gospel's superiority over His opponent's belief because it includes people and results in joy that you want to share - not some special knowledge that excludes people and results in conceit. Lastly, John wants his followers to know that God is holy and righteous. Therefore, people who have been redeemed by their faith in Christ are called to pursue God and forsake sin - not continue to live in it.
Here's what I really wanted the kids to take home from this:
1.) It is important to have good theology (right belief). What we believe forms the foundation of authentic faith in Christ Jesus - which saves us. But if the belief is wrong, then it's possible that faith is being put in something other than Christ....and only Christ can save.
2.) The Gospel as revealed in the Bible is trustworthy because, though it was written down by the hands of men and women, those men and women were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write what God knew would provide people with an accurate picture of who He is and His love for them expressed in the Gospel.
3.) The result of a truly living out the Gospel is joy and a deep desire to see others experience the same joy. If you aren't compelled to share the Gospel with others, then you're probably not experiencing the joy you were meant to experience. And if you're not experiencing the joy you were meant to experience, something is really wrong and needs to changed.
Parents, here are some questions that can serve as conversation-starters with your kids. Just a thought: you might spend some time answering these yourself before you chat with you kids about 'em. Be honest with yourself AND with your kids when you talk with them. Let these questions serve as a great opportunity for self-reflection, transparency, and - possibly - realization of the need for change. Amen!
- There are all kinds of religious claims out there. How do we Christians know that we're right?
- Even inside Christianity, there are a lot of variances of belief. How can a person arrive at the right beliefs?
- Why is it so important to have correct belief?
- The Bible is old and has some really crazy stuff in it. How can you trust it and know it's true?
- What's wrong with the picture of a person who claims to believe in the Gospel but has no joy?
- Do you think it's possible for a person to authentically believe in the Gospel but not experience joy (and love, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness....)?
- Do you think you're really living the joyful life that God meant for you?
- If you consider yourself a Christian, but haven't really experienced any of the things that the Bible says Christians are supposed to experience (Galatians 5:22-23 for starters), then what should you do?
- If you have experienced those things, then are you telling other about Jesus? Why? Why not?
- What can I do to keep you accountable to spending time in God's Word or in prayer?
- How can I be praying for you?
sray
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