Children, Fathers, and Young Men

1 John 2:12-14

December 21, 2002

 

            Open your Bibles this morning to the book of 1 John, chapter two, verse 12.  Our text for this morning is 1 John 2:12-14.  Follow along as I read the text. 

            I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.  I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.  I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.  I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.  I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.  I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

            As we come to this text this morning, we are immediately struck by how different it is from what has preceded it.  Chapter two is full of theology and exhortations and tests to see if we are in the faith.  We have read about our Advocate, Jesus Christ, who intercedes on our behalf before the Father.  We have heard John’s trumpet call to finish the Great Commission and get the Gospel to every people group, tongue, tribe, and nation, as he reminded us that Jesus died not for Jews only, or not for Greeks only, but for men of all nationalities, races, tribes, and ethnic backgrounds – for the whole world.  John reminds his readers of their global responsibility as Christians.  He then goes on to give them tests to see if they are in the faith or not.  “Do you keep God’s commandments?” John asks.  If so, then you can be assured that you know God and He knows you.  If you walk as Jesus walked, then you have grounds to be assured of your salvation.  Then John asks, “Do you love your brother?”  If so, then you know that you abide in Christ.  If not, then you hate your brother and are in the darkness headed for eternal punishment. 

            These are weighty words; they are heavy, and can put fear in the heart of even the most devout Christian who feels a sense of his own sinfulness and lack of conformity to Christ.  In fact, it may even be that people could read John’s letter up until this point and get the feeling and the sense that John questions the reality of their salvation.  After reading verse four of chapter one, that John and the apostles write what they write to fill up their joy, they read all these tests, and these exhortations to walk as Christ walked, and begin to sink under the weight of requirements that John puts forward.  Not only this, but they begin to be put off by John as he could perhaps have come across as questioning their salvation rather than trying to give them assurance of their salvation.

            John had an interesting situation with which he had to deal.  His readers were being attacked by false doctrine, and perhaps some were even being tempted to be led astray.  So John had to combat the false doctrine and at the same time reassure his readers of the true doctrine of Christ.  So up until verse 12 of chapter two, we see John laying down test after test for his readers. 

            Now, at this point, then, in verse 12, John takes a break from his normal flow of writing, and here he writes a sort of parenthesis to his letter.  John was by the time of this letter an old man, and he had been a pastor and shepherd of God’s flock for many years.  He knew how sheep acted, and how they reacted.  And John realizes his readers may misunderstand him and his message if he does not put in this parenthesis at this point.  He realizes that in the Christian life there is a time for conviction and exhortation and command, but there is also a time to reassure and comfort.  There must be a balance, and John realized this, and so here he puts in this parenthetical section, which really is a digression from the main point of the letter.  

            It is important that we realize that here John is letting his readers know that he has not given them the tests because he doubts their salvation, but because he believes they actually are saved, and he wants them to be sure as well.  He wants them to be satisfied in Christ so they will not be shaken by false doctrine.  The false doctrine told them that they had not yet reached the knowledge they needed, the secret knowledge, for salvation.  So John wants them to have tests to be able to prove to their detractors that they are, in fact, believers.  So here John spends a few verses making his position clear. 

            John’s whole purpose in this section is to reassure his readers that he, as their pastor and friend, does not doubt them, but thinks the best of them whatever their level of spiritual development and maturity.  He is not writing to condemn them, but to help them in their spiritual development and understanding of the gospel message.

            John develops this section, then, in a rather strange way.  As you read along in the text earlier, you perhaps noticed the repetition that John uses in this section.  John repeats himself to his readers.  You also, perhaps, noticed that John does not approach his readers in strictly chronological order, as he first addresses children, then the fathers, and then the young men.  So he does not go in the conventional order children, young men, and fathers, as we might expect him to do.  Third, as you look at this section, you will notice, if you have a good translation that the verb tense changes when John begins his repetition.  He uses a present tense for the children, fathers, and young men, and then a verb in the past tense the next time through.  All of this organizational structure is very strange, and the question inevitably comes, “Why did John so arrange this section?  Why this repetition?  Why this strange order of addressing the three different groups?  Why the verb tense change?”  Let me briefly address these three issues before we jump into the heart of the text. 

            First, Why this repetition?  I believe that John repeats himself here for emphasis.  John’s letter is weighty with tests and theological truth and exhortations, and so he wants his readers to understand that, although these three verses are short and make up a minority of the letter, they are still very important and should not be lightly passed over.  This section brings great comfort and thankfulness for the gospel, and should be thoughtfully heard and applied.

            Second, Why this strange order of addressing the three groups?  Why put young men last?  I believe John does this because the young men are the ones in the heat of the battle of Christianity at that time.  The children are too immature to battle for sound doctrine and to battle sin in the church.  The fathers are most likely elderly men and women who have battled for many years and now no longer have the strength to endure the heat of battle.  The young men are the ones to whom the torch is being passed and who will fight the evil one after John and the fathers pass away.  So John puts the young men last for emphasis, as he wants them to understand what their importance is in the battle for truth and holiness. 

            Finally, Why the verb change?  I believe that the verb change here allows John to write from two perspectives.  The first perspective is that of himself.  He is presently writing the letter, and he says to his readers that as he writes, this is why he is writing.  The second perspective is that of the readers.  When they receive the letter, the act of writing will be in the past.  So John tells them that his purpose in writing them is the same both as he writes it and as they read it.  His purpose for writing does not change while the mail is being delivered.  And this is of great importance for us.  His purpose for writing is just as relevant for us today as it was when he wrote the letter.  Whether John was writing the letter now, or whether he wrote it 1900 years ago, as he did, the need for this section remains.  John’s purpose in writing, and our need in reading, have not changed.

            There, then, are the answers as I see them in this context, to these somewhat difficult introductory issues.  There are many different differences of opinion on these matters, but this seems to best suit the context and the message of John in this section.

            With this basic structure in place, then, let us look now at the particulars which John puts forward in this section.  The main point of all that John is doing here is to reinforce the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith to all those who are believers.  He wants to encourage his readers that the exhortations he gives are not to condemn them, but to help them in their walk with God.  To encourage them, he wants to remind them of basic things that are true about them as Christians.

            It is because they are Christians that John can give the exhortations that he gives.  It would be no use for him to tell them to love the brethren if they had no ability to love the brethren.  It would be sheer impossibility for them to walk as Jesus walked if they did not have a relationship with Him.  The commands in the New Testament are always given to believers.  The New Testament does not put forward a moral system for the world to follow, because the world has no capacity to keep the high standard of the New Testament.  It is only through faith in Christ that the holiness of Christ can be achieved.  Through faith we are saved, and through faith we are sanctified, made holy.  It would be inconceivable to a person outside of Christ to be told to not love the world, because he is by nature a part of the world.  So then, John wants to encourage his readers here that, while these commands and this standard is exceedingly high, it is possible for them because of their faith in Jesus.  What he says is not speculation or wishful thinking, but it is to be a practical reality because of their faith.  John wants to remind his readers that if they feel the first part of the letter is impossible, then they need to be reminded of the fundamentals of the faith, and here in these three verses he gives the fundamentals. 

            Let’s take these principles of the Christian faith that John puts before us here by age category this morning.  Let’s begin with the children.  What is it that John has to say to them?  He says two different things to the children.  First, he reminds them that their sins have been forgiven for Jesus’ name’s sake.  This is as basic as Christianity gets – forgiveness of sins.  At conversion all of our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future.  John reminds his readers of this here, that their sins are forgiven.

            There are two important implications of forgiveness.  One is that since our sins have been forgiven, sin no longer has any claim on us.  All of our sins are forgiven; we are free from the penalty of sin!  We no longer have to live in guilt and shame and fear, but we can live in victory and joy and love!  We have no excuse to say, “Well, I just can’t love the brethren and excel in my walk with Christ because I am just a guilty sinner.”  No!  You have been forgiven, John says.  You have no time to sit and wallow in self-pity about your past sins because they are forgiven, and you are a new man, and you must now go out and live like a new man, looking forward at what is ahead of you and not behind you.  So John reminds these children in the faith that their sins have been forgiven, and they no longer should live their lives in slavish fear of sin, but should press forward, realizing what has been accomplished on their behalf.

            The second implication is that since our sins have been forgiven, we now have the ability and capability to love.  This is so crucial.  These children, who may have thought to themselves, “Well, I can’t love the brethren yet like I need to,” have no excuse to not love the brethren.  Why not?  Because their sins have been forgiven.  They are recipients of the infinite mercy of God.  No Christian, however mature or immature, can claim immunity from the necessity of love.  We all who have Christ in our hearts by faith are recipients of infinite mercy and love which we do not deserve, and because we have received mercy, we now are able to give mercy.  We are freed to love because God first loved us, as John will explain in chapter four. 

            “Little children,” John is saying, “these things are not impossible for you.  Your sins have been forgiven, and now you are free to live for Christ and love the brethren.”  And lest the children misunderstand, John reminds them that their sins are forgiven for His name’s sake or “on account of His name.”  It is not because of their own merits that their sins were forgiven, or because of anything they deserved.  God forgave them because of Christ and the name of Christ.  God did it for His own name, for His own glory, because of His Son.  This is the reason that the new covenant was given.  In Ezekiel 36:22, when the new covenant was promised, the Lord said to Ezekiel, Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name.’”  The covenant promises given to all who would believe on Jesus were not because of any merit in those who believe, but because of the great name of God, so that His salvation would be seen by all the nations.  We have so freely received mercy!  All Christians, whether little children, fathers, or young men, have had their sins forgiven, and how quick we should be about showing mercy.  Not for the sake of the one who has sinned, but for the sake of God’s great name, that it not be profaned by us.  So John writes to the children to remind them that their sins have been forgiven, and because of this they are able to live out what he has already written.

            Secondly, he tells the children that they know the Father in verse 13.  They have their sins forgiven and they know the Father.  These two things are essential for the Christian faith.  No one who has not been forgiven is a Christian, and no one who does not know the Father is a Christian.  It is important to note that John contrasts children and the Father in this verse.  The children know the Father.  They are dependent upon Him.  This is why the whole Christian life is possible for them.  Not because they have something in and of themselves that allows them to be good, moral people, but because they are absolutely dependent upon the Father as children, and He provides what they need. 

            These believers, young in their faith, needed to understand that they were children of the Father.  They had been adopted into God’s family.  God was their Father, and He cared for them and loved them and protected them and provided for them.  And John writes to them because they know the Father.  Because they have a relationship with the One who has adopted them as beloved children, John can write to them and exhort them to love the brethren and to walk as Jesus walked and to be in the light. 

            The second group, then, that John writes to in this section is the fathers.  And he only characterizes them with one trait.  He says that he writes to them because they know Him who has been from the beginning.  Who is he talking about here?  John says that the reason he writes to the fathers is because they know the Lord Jesus.  He is the one who has been from the beginning.  In 1 John 1:1 John writes, What was from the beginning, and as he goes on it is clear that he is talking about Jesus Christ and all that He is.  In John 1:1 we read a similar statement as John writes, In the beginning was the Word and then in verse 14, And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.  The only one this could possibly be describing is Jesus Christ.  The fathers are the fathers because of their relationship with Jesus.  They have a deep, abiding, enduring relationship with the Lord Jesus Himself. 

            The fathers are the only ones who only receive one reason as to why John is writing to them.  I believe that the reason for this is because there is nothing more to say to them than this.  Nothing is higher than to know the Lord Jesus Christ.  What more could he say?  What could be a greater thing than this?  What level of spiritual maturity is beyond this?  This is the goal of the Christian life, to know Jesus.  If we have such a deep communion with Him, then we are spiritually mature and we are rightly called fathers. 

            In fact, to know Jesus Christ was the passion of the Apostle Paul’s life.  This was his aim.  In Philippians 3:8 Paul wrote, More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.  Then he goes on to say that he wants the righteousness that comes by faith, so that I may know Him, Paul writes, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  These are shocking, startling statements that Paul makes.  The goal of the Christian life and relationship is to know Jesus Christ.  To know Him in the power of His resurrection life; to know Him in His sufferings; to be conformed to His death.  This sounds like masochism.  Why would Paul want to know Jesus so deeply that he was well acquainted with Jesus’ sufferings?  So that he might attain to the resurrection from the dead. 

            Those who know Jesus, who become spiritual fathers, do not become so by only knowing Jesus in a frivolous, happy-go-lucky, life is wonderful way.  They know Jesus by knowing Him in His sufferings and in His death.  There are deep waters that flood the path to being one of the fathers John mentions here.  But there is a sweet reward on the other side of the river for those who know Jesus in His sufferings and death.  Those who know Jesus, He who was from the beginning, know Him as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.  They have a gravity and seriousness about them because they understand suffering personally because they know Jesus in His suffering.  This is the peak of Christianity here.  John, here in 1 John 2, takes us to the Mt. Everest of the Christian life – knowing Jesus Christ deeply, which means not only knowing His resurrection life, but knowing Him in His sufferings and knowing Him in His death.  This is what Paul aimed for.  This is what John aimed for.  This is where we should aim. 

            So John says to these fathers, “I write to you because you know Him.”  “The reason I write these things to you, fathers, is because you know Jesus deeply and I know you’ll delight in these truths and that you’ll help the young men and the children understand and apply and live these truths.”  John is not questioning the fathers in this epistle.  He writes to them because he knows they have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

            Finally, then, and this is the group that John emphasizes by placing them last and out of natural order, we have the young men.  Those who have known the Lord for a while, but they haven’t suffered with Jesus yet as much as they will, and they haven’t experienced His power yet as much as they will.  But they do know more than the children.  John says two things to them, both very similar, one an expansion of the other.  Let’s combine the two statements into one statement and see the message to the young men, the one’s receiving the baton from the fathers and ready to run the race set before them.

            I think what John is doing here is showing us two causes one effect in this statement we find at the end of verse 14.  We find three reasons John writes to the young men in the faith, and they build, with the first two reasons being the ground for the third reason.  The ultimate reason John gives for writing to them is because they have overcome the evil one, as it is stated in verse 13 and repeated in verse 14.  But there are two facts about them that have allowed them and given them the ability to overcome Satan.  The first reason he writes to them is because they are strong.  Strength is a mark of youthfulness.  And I think John means spiritual strength here.  These young men are spiritually strong.  They have endurance and stamina.  Their senses are trained in righteousness.  They are not what Paul describes in Ephesians 4:14 where he writes, We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine…but speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into Him.  The young men are not children, they are strong enough to face the waves and the winds.  They are not easily blown about by false teaching.  Do you see why it is so important, then, that John write to this group?  The children are characterized by weakness and proneness to error, so the young men need this letter because they are strong.  They need to know the truth of what they believe and of their walk so they can protect the children.  So John writes to them knowing they are strong. 

            The second characteristic, which is linked and tied to their strength, is that the word of God abides in them.  This simply means that they know the word.  They have obeyed Paul’s command in Colossians 3:16 where he says that we should let the word of Christ dwell richly in us.  God’s word is in their hearts.  The Psalmist in Psalm 119 gives vivid illustrations of this when he writes in verse 15, I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.  In verse 24 he writes, Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.  Throughout Psalm 119 we read again and again what it means to have the word of God abide in us.  These young men are characterized by meditating on God’s Word and it’s practical implications for their lives.  They use the Word to help them make decisions.  The Word counsels them, instructs them, rebukes them, corrects them.  The Word abides in them.

            Ultimately, this strength and the indwelling Word cause the young men to be able to overcome the evil one.  The young men are considered young men because they have not only been forgiven but they are actively fighting the battle against sin.  They are overcoming the evil one in their everyday lives.  The tense here for overcome is the perfect tense in Greek, which intentionally makes the verb take place in two separate sets of time.  The past and the present are both in view.  The young men have overcome the evil one in the past and that overcoming continues to the present moment.  It is a process that is continuing in them, rather than a past event that is over and done with.  The idea is this, “You have overcome and are even today overcoming the evil one.” 

            This is the effect of being strong and having the word of God dwell within you.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:11, Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.  These young men were realizing the reality of that verse as they knew the Word, had spiritual strength to do it, and were overcoming the evil one in their spiritual lives.

            The Christian life is full of stages and steps of growth.  Those who are new to the Christian life will find that at first it is quite simple, and all they know and want to know at the first is that they are forgiven of their sins and safe in their Father’s arms. 

But then as nature proves, children grow up to young men, and life is not so simple anymore, but the Christian life is now a battle against sin and the flesh and the devil.  The warfare begins to become more real, and as we grow up in Christ we find ourselves more and more in the thick of the battle.  The more we know the Word, the more we will find ourselves battling sin and error, because the more we will recognize sin and error.  As children we knew that we were sinners, but as young men we begin to understand just how sinful we are and the particulars of it because God’s Word abides in us and teaches us all these things.  And as we see our sin and we see the errors in the world’s philosophies we find ourselves constantly battling and overcoming the evil one.  The mark of young men is that they are in the battle against the evil one by applying the truth of God’s Word with the strength of the Holy Spirit.  Many Christians today do not even want to be young men!  How tragic when truth is pushed aside and people want to remain babies!  This is the inevitable result of neglecting doctrine and the deep, profound truths of God’s Word.  We never grow up.  But we are called to grow up.  If we are to grow up we must become strong in the Word and it must dwell in us, which means we must begin to understand the sinfulness of sin and the importance of truth and righteousness.  Young men are needed in the church today.  We need those who are actively overcoming the evil one and who know the Word of God and are using it and applying its truths.

The fathers are the mature believers who have fought the good fight.  How we need fathers to mentor young men, and young men to mentor the children!  Fathers know the Lord Jesus experientially.  They have a deep, personal relationship with the Lord, not just in His life, but in His sufferings and death.  And this is the ultimate blessing of the Christian life to which we should all hope to reach. 

Yet it is also true that all of these principles apply to all of us who are Christians.  Whether we are children, young men, or fathers, we all have our sins forgiven, we are all called to overcome sin through the Word, and we all are called to know God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Let’s pray.

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