I Write To You

Welcome dear readers to Deeper Waters. I thank you all for your continued prayers. I do believe I am making great progress on the path that I’m walking on and learning more in an area I need to learn more in. I thank you again and I ask that you keep it up. I also ask for prayers concerning my current financial situation. Finally, prayers concerning a certain situation that all will go well. For now, let’s get to the text. Tonight, we’re looking at 1 John 2:12-14.

¹²I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
¹³I 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 evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
¹⁴I write to you, fathers,
because you have known 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.

I find it amazing all the references to Christ in this passage. First off, our sins have been forgiven on account of his name. Think about that. In the Old Testament, it was under the name of YHWH where one found forgiveness for their sins. When we get to the New Testament, the writers are quite quick to apply this to Jesus instead. What does this tell us indeed about how they saw Jesus?

What is the next category? They have known him who is from the beginning? We are reminded of 1 John 1:1 and this is a point John wishes to emphasize repeatedly. It is essential to know who Jesus is. This could also be seen as countering the tendency of gnostic teachers to teach aeons, minor deities of a sort who came from the original deity. Jesus was not a created deity in the sense that he had a beginning in time. Jesus is he who was from the beginning. He is not an aeon.

Next is overcoming the evil one. When we get further into this text, we will see this contrasted with the good one. That’s for another chapter however so keep it in memory for now. John is finding it important to stress the victory of Jesus over the powers of darkness however, a theme that is repeated throughout his gospel.

Next is knowing the Father. For John, one can only know the Father through the Son. Remember what we read in John 14:9. He who has seen the Son has seen the Father. The only way they could have come to the knowledge of the Father then is if they had true knowledge of the Son, also a counter to the gnostic teaching.

John repeats the knowing of him who was from the beginning and then closes with the young men. The only difference is that the Word of God lives in them. This could be a reference to the Son living in them as they have fellowship with the Father and the Son, or it could be a reference to Scripture. John refers to both as the Word of God. Finally, it could be a term used to mean both.

We shall continue our study of this epistle tomorrow.