Tuesday, January 26, 2010

 

1John 2:12-17 Your Destination And Your Detours

 

12      I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13      I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.

14      I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is 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 wicked one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

As Christians, one of the amazing things we can discover, is how to be true men and women.

At the creation Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.

But the Image of God was destroyed when mankind sinned. When mankind chose the Thou art the One who saw Him fall… and began each erring one to call.

I discovered a way to become a man. That is the really tremendous thing. that is what God is after -- men and women. The goal is not sainthood, but manhood and womanhood, as God intended them to be.

There are three stages given in these verses. 1. Spiritual Infancy. 2. Spiritual Adolescence. 3. Spiritual Maturity. Where are you today? At what stage are you in your growth as a believer?

Your Destination 12-14

Mature Through Forgiveness

"whose sins are forgiven." That is the most elementary thing you can say about a Christian, his sins are forgiven. Well, why forgiven? Now he makes it clear. "Because you know the Father." That is why sins are forgiven. They have joined the family of God and come to know the Father. They have come to God through the only way any one can come to know the Father. Remember that the Lord Jesus himself said so. "No one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him," {cf, Matt 11:27, Luke 10:22}. Or, as he puts it in that oft-quoted passage in John 14, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me," {John 14:6 RSV}.

The Lord makes clear, we are in the hands of a Father,

A Father who knows us and loves us, who has an intense concern for our development,

A Father who has numbered the very hairs of our head, and without whom not even a sparrow falls to the ground;

A Father who is aware of our deepest needs and is abundantly able to provide them.

That is the one we have come to. "I write to you, little children, because you know the Father." What a glorious thing it is to see the birth of a new life in Jesus Christ, and to watch the joy of a babe with his Father, and the Father with the babe. But even that joy soon turns to sorrow if the baby remains forever an infant.

Mature Through Fighting

I’ve had many tears and sorrows I’ve had questions for tomorrow,

There’ve been times I didn’t know right from wrong; But in ev’ry situation

God gave blessed consolation That my trials come only to make me strong.

Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.

"you are strong, and the word of God abides in you." He put that last because here is revealed the secret of growth. What makes a child, spiritually, become a young man, spiritually? Why, the Word of God abiding in him! What makes a young man become a father? The Word of God abiding in him! That is the secret of growth. That is what will move him from one stage to another until at last he becomes a father, able to reproduce himself in others. It is by the Word of God, abiding.

Here, then, is the divinely designed instrument of growth, the Word of God. It is absolutely impossible to grow up as a Christian, or as a real man or woman, unless the Word of God abides in you. This is why the devil fights this whole matter of Bible study, the building of your life around the centrality of the Scriptures and the authority of the Scriptures, and why there is loosed a constant barrage of attack at this level. It is the supremely important thing to move us into maturity. Though the devil cannot stop us from being Christians, he can certainly keep us from becoming strong Christians, and this is exactly the way he does it.

The Psalmist testifies,

“Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee.” (Psalms 119:11 NAS)

And says of God’s man, “The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.” (Psalms 37:31 NAS)

While Paul exhorts, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 NAS)

Mature Through Faithful Fellowship

Two times in these verses he says the same thing to the fathers. Look at v. 13, “I write unto you, fathers...” He’s talking about spiritual fathers. Look at what he says, v. 13, “I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning.” He says it again in v. 14, “I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning.”

Your Detours

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The World..

not the world of creation Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.

1 Tim 4: 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Not the World of people John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave His • One and Only Son

The World System Operated by Satan 1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.

Ephesians 2: 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously • walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also.

Eph 6:12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

The World System Opposed To Christ.

James 4:4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy

2 Cor 4:4 Regarding them: the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Tim 4:10 for Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica.

Recognise The Passing Nature Of This World

2 Peter 3:10  But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that [day]the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, [it is clear]what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness
12 as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be on fire and be dissolved, and the elements will melt with the heat.

Recognise The Permanent Nature Of The Will Of God

Recognise The Purifying Nature Of The Word Of God

Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage (and eventually a martyr), wrote to his friend Donatus: “This is a cheerful world as I see it from my garden under the shadows of my vines. But If I were to ascend some high mountain and look over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see: brigands on the highways, pirates on the sea, armies fighting, cities burning; in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds; selfishness and cruelty and misery and despair under all roofs. It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians — and I am one of them.”






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