1 John 1:1-2:2
The Letters of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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When i was a kid i had the rare gift of getting to know my great grandma. she was my favorite. what was amazing was my great grandpa got to hold me when I was born he passed away soon after but it means alot to this day
He was never able to give me advice from a lifetime in a sit down because cancer was already attacking his body
but he wanted to leave me a message about life. Older people want to leave us the deepest messages they have. to do it they have to write it down before their voice goes with them
My great grandpa was like that with me. he left a 4-10 shot gun for me when i got older and in the bag was a note. it was the name jason written 3 times. the first was almost unreadable and progressively got better until a perfect cursive Jason was last. The message was that things will get hard in life and you will have struggles. don’t give up. in a world of competing voices don’t quit use adversity to get better and thrive
If you want to know what the letters of John are they are the note from my great grandpa
John is the last of the disciples left alive and he knows in his old age he is going to be gone soon
all the eyewitnesses are passing away from age and persecution of Rome
He wants to leave his voice for the people he loves before his voice is in the grave with him
what is 1 john about? it is the message of if I get one more chance to tell you anything know this - know it because i have seen it i have experienced it i have held it i have lived it it is the only way to life and I want you to grab hold of it and never look back.
and this is my message to you if it is all i am given in this life - know this it is the truth and i want nothing more then for you to grab hold of it and run with it with all you have. never look back never let someone lead you into something other then this
the people john loved in these small houses churches lived a world alot like ours.
they were in a world of anything goes. mix and match whatever beliefs you want as long as it makes you happy. define your own truth and stay numb with affluence and comfort and entertainment
John Has Lived It (1:1-4)
John Has Lived It (1:1-4)
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
To hear the voice of this letter and read it right you have to get this in your mind
Here is an awesome combo- imagine that old person you know who is past the point of caring what anyone or society thinks is right. Says what they think makes that grunt noise when they sit down and stand up…can you picture that person....ok now combine that with the old person who repeats themselves 10 times in one sentence…now combine that with a situation where life or death is in the balance and it all depends on their words to you
Life or death urgency, an old man repeating himself because its what they do, and no more cares to give about formality
That is John writing this letter…what is the one thing he needs those he loves to know before his voice is gone with them and it is nothing short of life or death still for us today
hear the voice of grandpa John letting the christian message rip on his way out because storm clouds threaten them and same darkness threatens us today
A storm cloud was threatening the people he loved and it was a storm of a message being spread of a different christian message …he us urgent
Can you feel and hear the voice of this letter?
He opens almost in a frenzy where the one transcribing what he was saying probably looked at him and said slow down slow down slow down!!!
here is verses 1-4: “what he is bearing witness to is no figment of his imagination, no invention of his own. He wishes to set before his readers the life that is in Jesus Christ”- Marianne Thompson
And he is saying that he has the credentials to tell us where life is found because he lived it
“for John, the significance of what happened in Jesus can be summarized by one word: life. Jesus himself is the life of God (1:1) and came to give eternal life to those who believe (1:2”)- Marianne Thompson
John has lived it and so have I
How can I tell you the truth of the Gospel is real?
Not because I grew up in it and won a bible memory verse contest when I was a kid, not because I can say I follow the rules so I am good....I know it because I was dead and hopeless and I was found by the light of life
It changed everything…i know it is true because I have studied it saw it felt it and know it and it is all I ever want you to know walking out of here ....in a world that isn’t how its supposed to be the real Jesus has spilt his blood to make everything sad come untrue and one day be better for having once been broken
He has come to reconcile me to God because I never could and the hope that gives is unlike any other
As bad as i want you to know that message I am just as desperate for you to see the false messages of where hope and salvation can come
I am just a link in a long chain of faithful messengers that goes back to this aged apostle john
And he is telling us the ulitmate hope being linked to Jesus gives
I have the same mission as John…testify to the reality of the good news of Jesus and proclaim that good news
Have you been sad or overwhelmed or anxious or afraid have you been alone or broken or felt regret
I have experienced all of those more then i can measure…and i know it is reality for all of us in this room
What i have also experienced is the message of the real Jesus and I know one has overcome all of what i have known
Even my greatest regrets only lead me to the cross and Jesus
I can attest to the realness of my saving and it is that message I share
That is john in verses 1-4
the message that is proclaimed, the Word of life, originates in the words and works of Jesus. Because Jesus was a real human being of flesh and blood, the author can write that the life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father. The order of these verbs (have seen … testify … proclaim) is chosen deliberately. They “express in order the three ideas of experience, attestation and evangelism which form part of any genuine and lasting response to the Gospel” - Marianne Thompson
So many ask how do i know if I am a christian? and thats a great question. does the sky split do i never want to have a cigarette again do i immediately become the author of a parenting book because I am so awesome now?
No you still wrestle with a broken world but as one with power and hope
You may still want that cig heck you may have it and thats ok
Here is how you know…can you attest that there was a progression of your life or a moment when you realized your need for a savior…did you repent and believe that that savior is the real Jesus…can you attest to new life and wins in areas where you used to only know losses and can you share that message with another broken person
Know this John is saying if you do you have it all....
John has to passionatley and obnoxiously repetitively tell them this because the message is under attack
There are build a bear Jesus being taught in Ephesus 2000 years ago as he wrote as there are now....
And he is desperate to make the real thing known so we can have life
he shows the real Jesus of the Message
The Fundamentals
The Fundamentals
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
There a simplicity and a complexity to a baseball swing…as i developed i learned more about spine angles and leverage
But no matter the level i got to the start of the day was the same
we hit off a tee....like a tee baller nothing can happen without the fundamentals
What we just read is the fundamentals
Argue all you want about women in ministry how old the earth is who wrote what and it doesn’t matter
You can never get away from the fundamentals
Here is Old man John making sure we never stop doing the tee work of the christian life
And it all centers on the simple gospel and the non negotiables of the christian faith
Like a little kid in tee ball if we forget how to hold a bat with our hands the right way it doesn’t matter what we do …it ain’t gonna work
We need the fundamentals because there world and ours swarms with messed up fundamentals
God is Light is the fundamental if you want to know life and hope and courage in the face of a world that isn’t how its supposed to be
remember back to the open…God has revealed himself in every way in the word and in the Word of Life Jesus himself John has touched it and lived it and seen it
The love of God to reveal himself to us blows me away
And that is the fundamental we cannot lose sight of
Just as light shows people where to walk when it is dark, so God shows the way to the salvation we long for in a broken world “in your light we see light” Psalm 36:9
Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light on my path.
We need light in a world of loss and regret and fear that seems too dark to see hope in
God alone in Jesus is the only light that pushes back the darkness of this life
As John does in this old man repeating himself way he says it again
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
John emphatically restates the point: in him there is no darkness at all. God is pure light, not diluted or mixed in any way with evil, hatred, untruth, ignorance or hostility. God is light is a statement that drives us to the heart of what God is like. For John this statement rings with implications for the Christian life. that is the fundamentals he longs for us to get hold of and never forget” Marianne Thompson
We all look to cope with life one way or another
We look to cover and numb the fact time is passing, or that we are afraid, and ulitmately the older we get the more we want to feel whole when we know we aren’t
that is where the fundamentals burst in with the christian message
When He is how i cope…when the gospel changing everything is what i look to and run to and cling to I am in the light
John is saying to deny that you are still a mess is insane
And the beauty of the gospel is that its ok to say you are a mess
Relationships are a mess, parenting is a mess, money is a mess, our hearts prone to wander and do life on our own is a mess
thats the point we should be in awe of ....God looks at our mess we have made and says stop trying you can’t you have to simply admit you can’t and that I alone can and that I alone have saved you in Jesus if you believe
Why would i taste that grace and then run back to the darkness? I have no idea but i do we all do but we never lose the fundamentals and when we wander away we go back to the basics…the Gospel and feel it knew again
If you ask me why I am a christian I will tell you because it is true
I have known darkness and brokeness, i still fight it and will until I’m with Jesus but I have been in his light
I have repented and believed and I know I am saved
And at everyturn the only way to the life I have longed for is found in the gospel shining light into my life
Why am I a christian. why do i fight to walk in the light of the Gospel ? Because it is the only story that makes sense of a broken world and the only light that makes me truly see where life is found
And C.S. Lewis says it best: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
In the Gospel I see everything and most of all i see my great need
And the beauty of 1 John 1 is this: 1 John 1:9-10
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
One of the awful teachings spreading in the church John is writing too is the lie that once you become a christian you won’t sin anymore and don’t need to ask god to forgive anything ever again
I have been a follower of Jesus for almost 2 decades and I can tell you that is doo doo to believe
You will still sin and struggle thats the point. The amazing news is that His grace and mercy never run out
If we say I have it all figured out and don’t struggle with pride or regret or vices anymore we tell God i know you say I need to run to the cross everyday but i prayed that prayer one time and keep the rules now so I don’t need you
If i tell you today I have not sinned I am full of crap…crap is in the greek
Of course I have failed today already to do what he has asked with all of me to love the lord with all of my heart soul mind and strength and my neighbor as myself
I need a savior and I have one
it is who god says he is from cover to cover of the bible
The bible is telling one big story of perfection broken by sin and the hero of the universe come to save us by dying in our place
To say God is not doing that is to call god a liar…if that is his mission from before time began but its not what we need we make a joke of God and make him a liar
But praise God that he is exactly who he says he is
He is the one who one author says came to kill the dragon and get the girl that is the message of the bible
I need grace and the gospel and a savior everyday and I have one
I need a god who offers hope in the darkness is bigger then my regrets
I need a god bigger then my pride and selfishness and my failings as a dad
I need a god who promises he is working all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes even when it looks like the bad guys are winning in this life
Don’t you need that God
And american dream mr rodgers Jesus can’t give you that
A keep the rules or you will get coal from god in your life stocking Santa Clause Jesus can’t give you that
Only the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Real Jesus sitting at the right hand of the father using all that has made you cry as a step stool to save you can give you that
Grab hold of it John is shouting don’t ever let go of it run to it everyday every minute it is the light of life you long for
John is saying you practice the fundamentals everyday not by denying you are a mess but by confessing it everyday to God because you are saved by Jesus there is no more condemnation for it you simply run To God confess and unload the weight of feeling like you have to clean yourself up
I have ran to this verse and will until i die and I hope you see the light you desperately long for in it....
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Are you serious with what i have done and said and thought and completely missed on because I was too selfish...
if you feel that all you have to do is confess it know Jesus covered it and know God has sent that regret and guilt away as far as the east is from the west…those are the fundamentals
If we are wrong here nothing else will be right
I like to picture John as this old man dictating this letter and he is like ok i need a mid day nap maybe he hits up 1 century craker barrell at 4 for an early bird dinner gets back and before wheel of fortune comes on he wants to hammer out some more of this letter....and forgets what he already said so he hits the same thing again
But everytime he says it its loaded with life and wisdom and that grandpa to his grandkid life lesson he would give anything for you to get.
Grandpa tells you because its all that matters…and he tells you why
The Why
The Why
My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
I hope my kids don’t know the mistakes I have known
I pray they don’t know the regrets I know
Like John I tell them how to find life so they don’t look for life somewhere outside of God’s design
Don’t we tell kids all the time I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made
What i want more then them to keep some rules is that i don’t want them to believe the lies that led me to make mistakes
Back in genesis 3 Adam and eve believed something wrong before they did something wrong
We cannot miss this
They believed the lie that God was holding out on them
The believed the lie that God was keeping them from the good life
They believed the lie that if God really loved them things would be different
I get for may here the word sin sends a wall up
Maybe you are here and in our age of progress and enlightenment we don’t believe in this sin stuff anymore
But i am a terrible pastor if I avoid the hard stuff so lets see what the bible tells us about why we need a savior and don’t let my principal from Lutheran school terrify me with words like sin
What the bible calls sin is not at its heart that we stub our toe and drop an F bomb
What the bible calls sin in a nature that believes the same lie our grandparents did in the garden
Why do i do what I do? Because i want to be on the throne and define life I want the good life and the moral order of things keeps me from it so i can act how i want
John like me as a dad longs desperately that our kids won’t believe that lie
Don’t its a lie that God is holding out on you
But if you fall to it like we all do here is the amazing news: when we believe it we can always run home to him
Living out of the lie from the garden is why you make self defeating choices that can never lead to fullness of life
And when we self defealt and self destruct what does God do to us?
He sent His son to die to kill the lie and get us home
Where is Jesus right now? What is he doing? He is helping you by taking the destruction our self defeating choices create upon his own body
And as the risen king He is with the father advocating for you to get you to a place with im forever where ther is no more regret or fear or doubt no more lie
What does John long for us to know?
he wants us to know we have all believed the lie and lived out of it
We have all thrown a middle finger up to God because we think we know best and it has cosmic shattering consequences
He wants us to know that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever repents and believes in Jesus will never know the cosmic consequences but will know life forever with HIm
God doesnt say clean your mess up before you come to me
He says i will nail your mess to the tree with my son as your substitute so that you CAN COME TO ME in a world that makes us hurt and cry and fear and regret
John is saying in all we have read” I was young and now I am old and this one thing is true the life you long for is found in Jesus. repent and believe and run to him and you will know life to the fullest”
Let the words of John in this letter drive you to awe and love and obedience to the King who died for you
Lets pray