Wednesday June 4th, 2014 REVIEW 1 JOHN

Wednesday June 4th, 2014.

Review of 1 John

We learned that some of our class members will not be able to attend our last day of class! We wish you a wonderful summer break and look forward to seeing you again September 17th, 2014.
Keep praying and spending time reading your Bible over the summer...& God Bless.....

Exactly one week ago, last Wednesday, 28th May 2014, the world lost a great soul: Maya Angelou. Writer, activist, peace maker, teacher...warrior for tolerance and equality, she had some beautiful quotes:

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope."

"I know for sure love saves me and that it is here to save us all."

And her last tweet was:  
"Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God."

I know, you are thinking, ok, what does Maya Angelou have to do with 1 John?  
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

1 John is about love, more than anything else...it is virtually impossible to read this little book and miss the emphasis it places on love. The word LOVE occurs more than 50 times in the book of 1 John.  John looks at love in three forms:  God’s love for us, our love for Him and our love for one another!

Families are built upon love and thrive upon love. One of the parallel topics on love is that we are part of God’s family.  We are his children.

I’ve been saying that John is the author of this book, but the author of 1 John does not identify himself. Most people believe it is John who divinely wrote this book, his words inspired by God. John was one of Jesus’ inner circle, and may have even been a first cousin of Jesus (his mother Salome would have been Mary’s sister).

The letter is clearly written to believers, but the letter does not indicate who they are or where they lived.  No specific destination is mentioned.  The letter reads more like a sermon, and is clearly written to believers.  It could have been a letter sent to circulate to a number of Christians in a number of places.  

John would have been elderly at the time of writing 80s or 90s.  Like a loving grandfather at the end of his years, perhaps John wants to reminisce a bit, and encourage, and pass on wisdom.  Can you not hear a great grandfather saying...now remember this my child….now do not forget this...now I must tell you this….I hear this sweet endearing voice in this letter.  God is using John to combat the gnostics who claimed Jesus came in spirit only, not in body.  John makes it very clear from verse 1..that which we have looked upon, and our hands have touched, going back to that eye witness testimony.

Besides the theme of love and being a child of God, another interesting aspect of this book is the use of contrasts or opposites...did you notice that?

Here are some key verses from 1 John:

1:1 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. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

v 5-10 darkness & light - sin is darkness...light is being purified by Jesus, and seeking holiness

1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Chapter 2 - loving your fellow believers, not loving the world, remain in Christ!

Chapter 3 -

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!

1John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

People who need love will ask for it in the most unloving of ways.

Chapter 4:   Warning against denying Christ in the flesh

1 John 4:4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

1 John 4:7  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  

1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

The Book of 1 John is a book of love and joy. It explains the fellowship we have with others and with Jesus Christ. It differentiates between happiness, which is temporary and fleeting, and true joy, which 1 John tells us how to achieve. If we take the words written by John and we apply them to our daily lives, the true love, commitment, fellowship, and joy we long for will be ours.