Children of one Father

Know God in all your ways and He will make your paths straight!

Harry Schoemaker October 27, 2022 3 min read

1 John 2:12-17
¹²I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.
¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
¹⁴I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been 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 evil one.

¹⁵Don’t love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
¹⁷The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Devotional

The Gospel is not a questionable thing, not a maybe. John positively writes that sins are forgiven (1 John 2:12). They may no longer block the relationship with our heavenly Father (cf. John 9:31).

In 1 John 2:13 and 14 John divides his readers into three groups of experience. The fathers-in-the-Lord know Him who is from the beginning. They have more vision and insight than their children. Spiritually there is also a gradual difference, but one is not less than the other.

The youths have overcome the evil one. Resist temptation and keep the devil at a distance by God’s Word. Because the Word abides with them, is in them, the devil is overcome and has no chance (cf. Psalms 119:9,11).

The children, who are only at the beginning, know the Father in his forgiveness, His help in battle, His consolation in adversity.

For example, each experience group has its own specific characteristics and it is not easy to clarify this. It is best to use ordinary life as a mirror in the relationship between fathers, youngsters and children, then things become more transparent.
The same applies here: experience is the best teacher.

There is much in the world that can draw us away from the love of the Father (1 John 2:15,16).
The lust of the flesh focuses on everything the heart can desire outside of God.
The same is true of the desire of the eyes. The sinful eye is not satisfied with sight (Ecclesiastes 1:8; Proverbs 27:20). There is no limit; it is never enough.
It focuses on the earth and not on the Father.
It focuses on superfluous luxury and pleasure and not on God.

To live proud is to show off everything you have. “Today we bring a new sofa to your neighbors”, we read on a furniture truck. This can awaken all kinds of new desires.
But we will not be able to take a piece of furniture or anything else with us when we die.
However, if we do God’s will, we have a great future (1 John 2:17).

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