Reflections on 1 John

Everyone should be made to read their old love letters!

For any generation X & Y’s who might be reading this, there was a time when romance was articulated with a hard copy. It may sound archaic but at least the embarrassment could be physically hidden and the pics burnt if the romance failed. The internet is not eternal or omnipresent but it will see us all out and gets everywhere. Be careful.

Old love letters either written or received are powerful reminders to the potential love holds. Unabashed physical compliments, emboldened declarations of love and eternal promises, extreme and impassioned language…. all ‘S.W.A.L.K.ed’ Who were these people? It sounds like they could’ve changed the world or been in a movie. What love!

John writes a love letter. But he’s not a young pup gooey eyed over a pretty girl, he’s an old man with enough years to know better who’s fire still burns bright. It’s real for him, he’s happy to bare his heart and we are re-awakened in our relationship with the living God when we read him and believe it.

God became man and this an act of love…

1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the word of life.

John is at pains to tell us God was really here in flesh and bone. He’d seen Him in the man he walked around with. Making matter from fresh air and stopping storms. The man he walked, talked, laughed, cried and fell asleep with also conversed with the elements, illnesses and evil spirits. The Word became flesh. Promises and rules written on ancient scrolls came to life and began to make sense in his person. Whatever we don’t know, can’t fathom or reason about God, we know he’s real and loves us because of Jesus. Because he was real.

Life has seasons

I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 14 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. 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.

Rarely do we realise our value in the moment. Often we see our maximum use at some other point in our timeline, this is especially true of our Christian service. We think; there’s lots we could do in the future or wish we’d done in the past but not a lot we can do right now. John says to this crowd of different ages that there is something special about where you are right now that’s unique to you and significant for God’s Kingdom. He’s writing to you!

We lose sight of the main things

2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

We’re not zombies but… on a busy high street where people meander towards you consumed by their phones.. you glimpse our distracted state. There’s lots we miss, that drops off our radar. Countries at war we forget about, poverty appeals that come and go. Distraction from the ugly world has an appeal… we don’t chase down these stories too hard.

We tend to think we know what the main problems are and who’s causing them. John’s message here is that both are easily missed. People who assume to know evil’s appearance are blind to the reality it’s already upon them, looking for an Antichrist and missing the many present subtle evils all around. This misdirection, he says, is the sign of the last days!

John screams, wake up! This is a dark light world. This is an urgent struggle. This is the struggle. This is what really matters. This is the danger!

We’re soaked in a special kind of love

3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

This is the loudest message in the letter… you’re loved by God! Do you see?

Adoption into God’s family is a grace we don’t deserve. Our position is a miracle. A love that defies definition. The Greeks of the day had brilliantly (and in a way we undervalue now) categorised love into various types to get a better handle on it. One they named agape — unconditional and unmerited favour. Ignited in Jesus, it fuelled the early church to acts of unearthly selfless kindness. Even the all conquering Romans were powerless to stop it. John says “can you believe this… what kind of love is it?” God’s love!

Love letters are there to declare and prove love, but there’s only so far you can go with words. When read later their merits are only weighed by the subsequent actions of the writer. True love bears out in actions. The words must come to life. John says… they did.

Ash Gibson, Pastor, Christchurch Xscape