Children, Fathers, and Young Men

Continuing in our study of 1 John, Pastor Ben Stuart discusses John’s encouragement to believers at all stages of life, reassuring the readers of this letter that they can hold tight no matter where they are in their walk of faith.

In this passage of Scripture, John isn’t giving commands. He is comforting them and calling them forward by reminding them of what is already true. He started the letter with some hard truths to help them differentiate between his audience of believers and those who are against God, but claim to have a relationship with Him. These hard truths can be difficult for tender-hearted believers and cause them to doubt if they really know what is real or if they truly know God. This risk is getting discouraged.

This is why John moves into a section of no “should” or “ought” to comfort them: they really do belong to God. He also did this to call them forward: so they can live a glorious life. Yes, he addressed the children, fathers, and young men, but everything He says is true about the Gospel that is emphasized at different points in life.

For the children, John is giving them basic foundational truths that all believers must embrace. First, our sins are forgiven. A lot of people live under the weight of guilt and condemnation instead of the flourishing life God has for them. It can become a tyrannical self-absorption. We bed for what we already have—the forgiveness of our sins. “Forgiven” is in the perfect tense which means the action was completed in the past and its implications run into today. In the Greek, forgiven is a combo of the words “send” and “away.” Your sin has been sent away, left behind, and canceled. It’s in the passive voice, so it was something that was done to you. Our forgiveness has come for His namesake. Jesus is our righteousness and advocate, this is basic Christianity. It’s an insult to God to carry around the burden He already paid to release you from.

He also told the children that they had come to know the Father. The hope of the Old Testament found in Jeremiah 31 is that they were going to be forgiven and in fellowship with God. John 17:3 says that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ, who He sent. Your life should change, but as an effect of knowing God, not the cause. When you have a new identity, you have a new activity. John is comforting them…they are forgiven and they know the Father, when they embrace that, they act differently. He wants them to know the freedom of having God as a Father and being forgiven.

Next, John moves to talk to the mature believer with some tears behind them. He tells them that they have come to know Jesus. They can be settled in their assurance of truly being God’s. Why does John keep saying “Him who was from the beginning” when referencing Jesus? He’s emphasizing Jesus’ authority over time. He was at the beginning of all things, all things were created by Him, the implication is they are all in His hand. As you get older, you become much more aware of time and how fleeting it is. John is letting us know, you know Jesus, He knows you, and time in is His hands, so what you fear doesn’t scare Him. The One who brought you life will bring you safely home. When you get old, you want to know that.

The last group John talks to are the young men. When we’re children, we need forgiveness from sin’s penalty. When we are old, we’ll be released from sin’s presence. When we are young, we have to fight to be released from sin’s power. The young tend to have the strength to fight, they also have powerful impulses to lust and temptation. In addition, the young also have the uncertainty from the lack of experience and ask if they have what it takes. So John reminds them that they have overcome the evil one. Again, that’s in the perfect tense, past action with present implications. How have you overcome the evil one? 1 John 4:4 answers because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 3:9 says Jesus destroyed the works of the devil by setting us free. Yes, there is still an evil one and he’s still powerful, but he’s not your master anymore. 1 John 5:4-5 is how we overcome: faith in Jesus. They are strong because the Word of God in is them.

Through all of this, John is keeping it simple and encouraging.

We can tell the voice of condemnation that we have been forgiven. We can tell the voice of fear that we know the one who holds time. We can tell the voice of temptation that we are no longer its slave.