Children, Young Men, and Fathers

1 John 2:12-14
“I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have written unto you, little children, because ye know the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one.”

“Why does John pause to insert these admonishments? Well, the answer it seems to me is this: it is because the apostle was a pastor, an understanding and loving pastor. His object after all, was not simply to lay down Christian doctrine. He had a very practical object which was to help these people.

What is it that every Christian should know?

The first thing is that our sins are forgiven. The Christian’s certainty and assurance of forgiveness of sins is based upon his knowledge of the way in which sins are forgiven. ‘Your sins are forgiven you for His Name’s sake.’

The second thing that every Christian should know is the way which sins can be overcome. We are no longer under the dominion of sin. We may be conscious of a great weakness toward sin, yet we know [satan] is a defeated enemy and that we are fools if we listen to his lies. Further, if we feel that we would rather be talking about our own weakness and failures, then let me emphasize once more that this is not humility nor Christian modesty. It is a lack of faith and a lack of knowledge. There is a sense in which we have no right to be weak, no business to be failures.

The third and last point is that we must all have a knowledge of the Father and Son, to know Him in person, to know His work for us, to know Him in His offices as the sin-bearer, the sacrifice, the prophet, priest, and king. Above all, to know Him and to feel He is near in the hour of need and in temptation so that we can rise above it.

While we are young in the Christian faith and feel so weak and small, the one thing we really want to know is that God is our Father, and loves us, and that our sins are forgiven. John emphasizes this in writing to ‘the little children.’ When you are in the middle stages of the Christian faith, you must especially hold on to this – that you are not left to yourself. The Word of God abides in you, and Christ has defeated the enemy and can enable you to overcome. When you are old, what should be occupying your mind and attention is that the day will soon come when you will see Him face to face. You will say, ‘oh what I long for is to know Him better, to know my Savior as a person and to know God.’”