I have been loving the first letter of John recently. Whenever I read Scripture I rarely take in every word, so I can read the same chapter (or paragraph!) for a while before I'm able to recall what it says. Anyway, one of my favorite elements of John's writing is the names he uses for his audience. My little children. Beloved. Children of God. Some people may not appreciate being called children and see it as condescending, but I think he is using parental language because of his deep love for them and he can find no more affectionate way to address them.
In calling the readers children, John also draws attention to their, and our, relationship to God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. We are not just in an earthly family, we are part of God's family too! Through this whole letter I can almost hear John pleading with his readers to understand and embrace their standing with the Father. In chapter three, John makes the connection for why it is so critical to understand our relationship with God. "See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are!" (exclamation mine)
What are children like? You could answer that question a lot of ways. For one, kids tend to acquire traits from their parents. They might have the same mannerisms, tastes, opinions, or sense of humor. Kids pick up on these things innately, sometimes even while unaware of what they are doing. In verse two John says children of God ought to be the same way. Someday when we see God in person we will look like him. Until that day we live in the hope of his coming and we ought to emulate him, even if our knowledge of him is imperfect. He has given us enough through his Word to mature into his likeness. "And everyone who hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (vs. 3).
Then there's a new paragraph. Until recently I had never really noticed the connection between 3:1-3 and 3:4-10. Verses 4-10 are often looked at when talking about eternal security and sin in the life of a believer, and that is fine. But I think it is much more compelling to read that paragraph through the lens of life in God's family. Right after John says God's kids ought to be pure because he is, he gives an example of the opposite. "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness…no one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has seen him or known him...By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."
While I would much prefer to believe that I am my own person, independent of any outside influence, that is clearly not the case. I am either a child of the devil, or a child of God. And my life will reflect my family tree. Either I will live a life defined by sin, or I will be made righteous by my new Father. There is not a lot of grey area here.
John goes on a roll for pretty much the rest of the letter talking about abiding in Christ and letting the Spirit lead, and having wisdom in a world controlled by the devil. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. It's a short one. Then, we get to the last paragraph of the letter: "We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols."
Sometimes when I'm reading letters like this one I imagine the author writing it. Where was he sitting? What materials and tools was he using? This letter ends so abruptly that it makes me wonder if he ran out of parchment! Did he start the last paragraph and then realize his handwriting was too big to fit in his thoughts? Maybe he said, "Oh shoot, I was going to explain the connection here, but I'll just squeeze the conclusion in…Kids, stay away from idols. There. They'll figure it out." God must have wanted him to be brief, but you have to admit it's a funny way to end a letter! If Paul was writing this he would have gone on for pages...
So what is the connection? God's family doesn't live in continual sin…got it. The world is under the power of the evil one and doesn't know God, so the world sins…check. Only Jesus has the power to save leading to eternal life and give us an understanding of God…right…so what about idols?
Idolatry is the worship of anything that is less than God; it's putting anything in place of God in our lives. In other words, the world lives in perpetual idolatry because they do not know the one true God. The world puts a myriad of things on the throne and calls many things King. This is a temptation that believers have to fight every moment. Being in the world, we are tempted and enchanted by lots of glittering things that only look like they will satisfy. We are God's children and to follow, worship, or surrender to anything other than our Father is to walk a path that is not laid out by the Spirit. It will only lead to death. So consider: what are you following that is not the one true God? What things of the world are getting your allegiance? What do you spend the most time thinking about? If we know Christ, we need to ask these kinds of questions and continually grow into the likeness of our Father. That will not happen if we are being led by the things of this world. "Little children, keep yourself from idols."
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