1 John 2:1-6
Christ our Advocate • Sermon • Submitted
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One day…one Sunday…I promise you…one Sunday one day I am going to give you a 30 minute sermon…BUT NOT TODAY! No time for funny stories, no time for jokes…it is time to DIG INTO THE WORD!
Open your Bibles to 1 John chapter 2. We are going to be looking at verses 1-6 this morning.
So we are in our 3rd week in 1 John…lets not forget why this Epistle is written. It is written to give the Christians confidence in the hope they have in Jesus Christ. When someone mentions 1 John to you…just remember chapter 5:13…John says...
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
A lot of people think it is SO presumptuous for us to say, “I KNOW I have eternal life”. Im not saying “I know that ONE DAY I will have eternal life”…I am saying “I know I have eternal life NOW”. WE CAN be confident in this if we look to Christ alone. It is those who look to Christ and themselves for salvation that can’t say they are 100% confident in their salvation. It is only those who have faith in Christ ALONE that can KNOW they have eternal life.
Knowing
This whole thing is based on KNOWING. What is wrong with the American Church today, the American Gospel, is that it is based on an emotion…it is based on an experience, a feeling.
I want you all to know that Christianity is based on the Word of God, not a feeling. We learned that in Chapter 1:1-4 didn’t we. It is based on believing the Word of God. It is based on the apostolic writings. Let’s look at it again...
1 John 1:1-4
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 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 the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
So you want to know if you are truly a Christian…
Test #1: Do you believe the Word of God? Do you believe it when it goes against everything else? Do you put your logic and reasoning over Gods Word? Do you believe the Word?
We know that God is love right? That is what John tells us in chapter 4. But what he tells us before that is that God is light in verse 5 of chapter 1.
Why?
Because you can’t hide your sins from him! In Him there is no darkness.
You want to know if you are a Christian?
Test #2: Do you come to the light or do you act as if you have no sin in your life? Do you claim to have fellowship with God but walk in the darkness? If so, you are a liar and the truth is not IN you.
But...
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Confess your sins to God ya’ll, He is light and in Him there is no darkness…fall on your knees and confess your sins.
Lets stand and read our text this morning:
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Let’s pray!
Alright! Let’s Go!
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
The heart behind these first 3 words is something we all need to learn from John but especially those who are called to leadership. John looks at this congregation that he is shepherding and says with sincerity, “My little children”. He doesn’t say, “Listen to me because I am so much more spiritual than you”, he doesn’t say, “Listen to me because I am in an authoritative position, I have a title”…NO! He loves them, he truly loves him. The shepherd loves his sheep. If you read this slowly look and see how many times he includes himself in the things he tells them. He doesn’t look down his nose at them as if he is better than them…John loves his sheep because he knows the Shepherd that they ULTIMATELY belong to so he treats them as such. We should all heed this but especially those in leadership over a flock.
He says, “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.”
Imagine when they got this letter. Imagine being the first group of Christians to read those words from the Apostle John. Someone is standing up front waiting to read the letter…everyone is sitting around and you open the scroll its written on. You start reading about John walking with the Lord, seeing him with his own eyes. He tells you to trust what he says and what he proclaims to you and your’e thinking about the false teachers that were telling you all those things just a few weeks ago and how you entertained what they had to say for a moment. Then you hear the person read how God is LIGHT and you can’t walk in darkness and claim fellowship with him. The first section is over and you completely understand what John was telling you…don’t act like you don’t sin, don’t claim that you don’t sin. Confess your sins.
Then....then your sitting there feeling convicted of your sin, feeling horrible for your sins…then he reads this line to you for the first time… “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” The reader pauses and looks up at you and everybody else in the room. You look at him and you look at the others in the room and everyone is saying, “shhh…shhh…he’s about to tell us what to do so we don’t sin anymore”. You can’t wait to hear what he is about to say can you…because you don’t WANT to sin. The anticipation grows as the guy up front reads the next line to himself…you say, “what does it say? What does it say?” And he reads...
“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
How awesome is that!
I bet John was snickering when he wrote that line…when the Holy Spirit guided him to write that I bet it took him back to some of the things Jesus did and said. I bet it reminded him of Jesus’ personality…always keeping his listeners on their toes.
He wasn’t about to contradict what he just said in chapter 1! In Chapter 1 he told us that we can’t act like we don’t sin…he knows that the Christian sins. It is the deceived person, the liar that says he doesn’t sin.
So what is it that keeps us from living in sin? It is keeping our eyes on Christ Jesus. What keeps us from continuing to live in sin? It is remembering the gospel of Jesus Christ. Knowing his love for us and what he accomplished for us…keeping that at the forefront of our minds that by his grace alone He saved us.
But, when we DO sin…we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
So what is an ADVOCATE?
It is an intercessor, a mediator. It is someone called to ones aid. It is a legal assistant.
It is what Jesus is to us in Heaven right now before the Father…our legal assistant. He is one who speaks on behalf of the accused. When we say “legal assistant” we see a lawyer in a suit, a trained professional who defends the defendant. In the ancient world in this context that John is writing they understood an ADVOCATE as a friend who speaks up in favour of the accused. In Jesus calls us his friends. How cool is that?
But what qualifies Jesus to be our ADVOCATE? We find out in the next verse...
Lets look at it:
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
What makes him our advocate is the fact that he was our propitiation.
What is this saying? If your napping…wake up for this one. We are about to get deep here. Stay with me and lets work through this text.
Propitiation? It says that he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the world.
We are going to go slow and lets look at the first part first… “He is the propitiation for our sins...”
What does that even mean?
Propitiation: it means atonement; the means of appeasing; sacrifice to atone, sin-offering. The means of forgiveness.
This is a theological word…it is the means of reconciliation between God and people. It is the act by which God and man are brought together in personal relationship.
Its the atoning or making up for an offence committed against God or one’s neighbour. It is the manner in which Christ puts the sinner in right relationship with God.
This is how and why He is our ADVOCATE.
In the ancient world people would make sacrifices to appease their angry gods. When bad things happened to people in these days they thought it was because the gods were mad at them so they would make sacrifices to their gods to appease their anger.
This is what Jesus Christ did on the Cross for us!
In the ancient world people would make sacrifices to appease their angry gods. When bad things happened to people in these days they thought it was because the gods were mad at them so they would make sacrifices to their gods to appease their anger.
Is this what it is saying to us? Is this what it is saying to Christians? Is our God an ANGRY GOD?
No!
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
It was the Love of God that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins! It was His Love for us that motivated Him…not anger like the false gods that people worshiped.
And Christ did it willingly, not begrudgingly...
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Christ’s DEATH on the Cross was the DEATH that we deserved to die. This is what is called Substitutionary Atonement. It was an ACTUAL Substitution…not POTENTIAL Substitution. What I mean by that is that Christ ACTUALLY died for our sins, He ACTUALLY paid the price that was owed for our Sins. God the Father requires perfection. God laid out his law and ALL OF US missed the mark. No one could fulfill the LAW of God perfectly so Christ came to Live the LAW perfectly on our behalf and He ACTUALLY DID THAT…and He ACTUALLY DIED as our SUBSTITUTE and God was ACTUALLY SATISFIED with that Sacrifice. He DIDN’T Die fas a POTENTIAL SUBSTITUTE.
So…if that is true…If Christ did ATONE for our sins and the wrath of God was poured out on him and God’s wrath was satisfied in the death of Christ how do we make sense of the rest of verse 2? Let’s look at verse 2 again...
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
If Christ was the propitiation for our sins (He satisfied Gods wrath for our sins and there is no wrath left to give) it says that it was not only “for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”.
Does this mean that EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD goes to Heaven since God’s wrath was satisfied in the death of His Son?
I think if we really get contextual it becomes clear.
First, who is John’s audience? Jews! What do Jew’s know better than us? What is it that Jews in the first century know better than most people? The Old Testament!
What does everything in the Old Testament point to? Jesus Christ!
So John is talking to Jewish Christians in the first century about Christ being our propitiation…our atonement. Is there anything like that in the Old Testament? Yes!
The people of Israel had a yearly fast day called the DAY OF ATONEMENT.
So, the Jews had a pretty good idea of what John was talking about don’t you think? Let’s look at something here in the Old Testament to try to get a better understanding of what John is telling these first century Jewish Christians...
Turn to
The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
“Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:1-
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. [(Who was the sacrifice for? This sacrifice that pointed to the Messiah…who was it for?
It was for the people of Israel)]. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.[Again, who is this atonement for? This sacrifice that points to the coming Messiah? Put yourself in here and try to understand the context. Imagine you’re a Jewish Christian and you here John telling you about the Atonement of Christ]. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins.[These people Jewish Christians knew what Atonement meant! And they knew who the sacrifice was for on the Day of Atonement…it was for God’s chosen people]. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities [all of Israel’s iniquities] on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
So back to
When they hear John telling them that Christ was the propitiation for our sins (“our sins” — John is a Jew…he’s talking to Jewish Christians…they get what he is saying…they understand). But then John says, but guys…not just “ours” but for the sins of the whole world! The Father has people from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. It’s not just for Israel anymore but it is for all those who God calls to himself. God has sent His Son and He is calling a people to himself.
Remember when we were going through Galatians…chapter 3:7 “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham”.
Turn to the Gospel of John Chapter 11
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
God the Father, In LOVE sent His Son to be the propitiation, that atonement for our sins…It was the Lord’s PLAN and His PROMISE that a day was coming when he would draw people to himself from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation...
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
English Standard Version Chapter 11
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Now, back to the question…If JESUS’ Death on the Cross was an ACTUAL SUBSTITUTION then that means those He died for He bought and Paid for them…they will come to him because they were bought with a HIGH PRICE. We weren’t bought with a goat…We were bought by the Precious blood of the Lamb of God. The Atonement was always made for God’s people.
Once we really understand that it will drive you so close to Christ! That is motivation not to sin isn’t it…knowing that Christ bought you and paid for you. Not only you but there are others out there that he has bought and paid for…the blood He shed on that cross is SUFFICIENT enough to save every single person in the history of the world but it is only going to EFFECTUAL for those who put their faith and trust in Him. And know this…if you have put your faith in Christ it is because He has bought you and reconciled you to the Father. IF you dwell on that and rest in that it will propel you to live for him like you never believed. This Bible is awesome ya’ll…believe the Word. But I want to leave you with some good news…i want to remind you of some good news...
when you do sin…know this, once they sacrificed the smoke of the burn offering would rise to the Father and he accepted that for a time but when the True LAMB OF GOD was Sacrificed, He rose to the right hand of the Father and until He comes back from Heaven He is there advocating for us to the Father. He is our friend, our brother, our Savior
So when you do sin, and you will, believe this, “we have an advocate with that Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”. Fall on your knees and confess your sins and turn to Christ.
If you have never came to Christ come to him today. Repent of your sins that you know you have committed against God and turn to Christ and live. He is the only one that can bring you into right relationship with the Father. Put your faith in Him Alone. If you want to talk more about that find me or someone else here and we would love to talk to you about that.