1 John 4:7 - 5:3

This is the next to last section of 1 John that we will be covering. The focus on this passage is obviously love. I hope you have continued to read the whole book around once a week and that it has helped you grasp this little book that says so much in terms of its force.

If you can, please take some time between now and Sunday morning to read and meditate on this passage. Here are some questions to consider while doing so:

1. What is the expectation John is placing on believers and to whom are the targets of our expected actions?

2. Why are we expected to do this?

3. What does John say enables us to do this?

4. What are the four reasons John lists as to why God sent Jesus to the world? (Three are pretty obvious, the fourth really isn't too explicit, but its closely related to the other three.)



-casey

John 3 Recap

Honestly I wasn't very pleased with how the lesson came out and I apologize if you didn't get the most out of it. I will try harder next time to make the most out of the time we have. So let's review some of it briefly.

1 John 3:1-3

How loving is it for God to take us, who were children of the devil rebelling aginast Him in our sin, and adopt us to make us His children, which gives us forgivenss, heaven, purity, etc?

Do we really put our hope in not only what Jesus has done for us but in also what he will do for us when he comes back? That he will make us as he is? Does that thought give you comfort, give you hope, and make your day better when you think of it? If so...John says that hope in Him purifies us. Only hoping in Jesus do we beat the sin in our lives.

3:4-10

If sin is rebellion against God, what Jesus came to take away, and was not ofun in ?Jesus at all...how can we keep on sinning when He lives in us ans we in Him? That is the question John is asking. Rmember though, he isn't asking it to shake his finger at believers, but to show that the heretics in John's churches could not be of God since they had such a cavalier attitude towards their sin. They were sons of the devil, as were we before we were born again...born of God.

3:11-18

What else distinguishes the children of Satan from the children of God? Their love for the brothers (and sisters). Those of Satan generally hate God and his offspring as typified in Cain. Hate is murder (remember the Sermon on the Mount?). Murderers abide in death. God's children love as he loved us. Instead of taking life through hate we give ours in love. We passed from abiding in death to abiding in life...Jesus, the word of eternal life.

3:19-24

The children of God can have confidence to approach our heavenly father in prayer. Living a righteous life of love (which requires believing in His son) assures our hearts to ask God for what we need and He wants to give us.

Until next time...

casey

1 John 3 - Children of God

This will be briefer due to the fact that I'm doing this update from my phone (which means probably even more typos than usual). Chapter 3 is all about being children of God. It covers much of the same subjects that were covered in the God is light section, but adds its own insights. I hope everyone will be reading the whole book this week in addition to reading chapter 3 with a little more depth. Here are spmecwuestions to consider while reading:

vv.1-3: why would John say that it is loving for God to make them his children?

vv.4-15: how comfortable are you with the phrase 'children of the devil'? Why or why not? Who are they and how do we treat them?

vv.16-24: does your heart ever condemn you? What should you do about it or keep in mind?

See you Sunday morning...God bless!

Casey

Recap of Sunday

1 John 2:18-28 and 4:1-6

I will recap last Sunday’s lesson by reviewing some of the major concepts and terms from the passage that we discussed and give verse references with them:

‘the last hour’ (2:18) – John tells us we are in the end times, which can be a little hard to understand if the last hour started almost 2000 years ago and Jesus still hasn’t come back yet. I think it is important to understand that a few things together marked the start of the last days, or ‘beginning of the end’, for the apostles. That would be first foremost the first coming of Jesus (Heb 1:1), but also the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) and the appearance of antichrists. While the apostles were certain those events signaled the ‘last hour’, they were not certain how long this time would last before Jesus returned.

‘Antichrist’ and ‘antichrists’ (2:18, 22; 4:3) – John says that (the) Antichrist is coming, but that many antichrists have already come. One way to read this is that John says one big bad Antichrist is going to come and signal the end times, but there are many lesser antichrists already on earth making trouble. These antichrists are actually the primary reason for John’s letter…they have come out of John’s churches and broken away to teach their own heresies. John says that the fact that they broke away reveals they were never true believers to begin with. John defines antichrists by their denial of Jesus as the Christ, the God in man.

‘anointed’ and ‘anointing’ (2:20, 27) – One thing John says differentiates the believers and the antichrists is the anointing from God the believers have. He may be using a play on words. ‘Christ’ is a term meaning ‘Messiah’, but literally means ‘anointed one’ in the Greek. Therefore antichrist literally means ‘opposite of’ or ‘against’ anointed or anointed one. It is the believer who has the anointing, the Spirit of God and His word indwelling, that gives them knowledge and teaching, not the lying antichrists.

‘abide’ (2:24, 27, and 28) – John uses this word over and over in his Gospel and letters…to understand what the Holy Spirit is telling us through John we have to understand this concept. We are to abide in Jesus, and therefore abide in the Father. At the same time, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and his word is supposed to abide in us. This is the idea…that we continually live and exist in Him, and He in us. It’s a picture of close fellowship and communion, and this should characterize the lives of all believers…and maybe a description of the union of our spirit and identity with His…the new creation.

‘test the spirits’ (4:1-6) – There are really only two ultimate sources of spiritual inspiration…God and the evil one. How do we tell them apart? John says the spirit of antichrist denies Jesus the Christ came in the flesh from God. Also, only people from the world listen to this message. On the other hand, only people of God listen to the Spirit of God’s message, that Jesus is the promised God-man. It may seem a bit simplistic to us (and inadequate to judge today’s false prophets), but that could be attributed to two things: 1) this was all that was needed by John’s church members in this specific situation to tell the false prophets from the real guys, and 2) his church members probably needed to basic and clear cut guidelines to help the confusion that undoubtedly occurred as the result of the schism.

I'm loving our journey through 1 John so far, and can't wait to go through the rest of it!

-casey

The Spirit of the Antichrists

Hey folks! This Sunday we will be covering 1 John 2:18-29 and 4:1-6. We are taking the first few verses from chapter 4 out of order because the subject matter is very similar in these two passages. John speaks about antichrists and false prophets that were among the members of his churches. And if you haven't read through all of 1 John this week please take 15-30 minutes and do so.

Take extra time if you can to focus on what we will cover Sunday and consider these questions as you do so:

1. What does John mean by "it is the last hour"?

2. What is the difference between "antichrist" and "antichrists"?

3. What is the "anointing" and how does it "abide" in people and teach them?

4. How have we overcome the antichrists/false prophets?

One more thing, we are combining classes with the Door due to the holiday, so we might end just staying in their room...not sure at this point as it will probably depend on how many folks show up in total.

-casey