Three-In-One

God's Fellowship

Live in Light

1 John 1:1-2:14

1 John has two main sections. Each starts with, “This is the message.” (1:5 and 3:11)

The first section (1:5-3:10) declares that God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. The contrast of light and dark then grows into more contrasts:

  • truth and lies
  • obedience and sin
  • eternal life and finite earthly life

The book of 1 John was originally written for "God's dear children," meaning people who believed Jesus was the Messiah and followed him faithfully.

Today, 2,000 years later, anyone who believes Jesus is the Messiah and follows him faithfully can confidently say, “I am God's child, and this book was written for me.”

One thing about 1 John: it returns to the same ideas over and over again, kind of like a spiral staircase. It's moving forward even when it feels like you're reading something you already read. Don't get confused or tangled up. Instead pay special attention to those repetitions and spirals. They contain important truths for all of us.

Read & Reflect

1 John 1:1-2:14

  • Copy verses 1:5-7 in a journal. What words and ideas did you notice while writing?
  • Talk about the contrast between light and dark, truth and lies, love and hate. What is John trying to say and show?
  • What do you learn about God in these verses? (When Paul writes "God" he almost always means the Father.)
  • What do you learn about Jesus in these verses? (When Paul writes "Lord" he almost always means Jesus).
  • What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in these verses?
  • What do you learn about humanity and yourself in these verses?

Extra Info

❮

  • Verses 12-14 are like Old Testament Hebrew poetry that we talked about in the very first 3-in-1 conversation God the Father - In the Beginning. Verse 14 restates verses 12-13.
  • Some Bible scholars think John was writing to people in three different stages of spiritual maturity:
  1. God’s children or little children or dear children=newest believers
  2. young in faith or young men=growing believers
  3. mature or fathers=mature believers

Others think John was writing to people in just two different stages of spiritual maturity that were both included under the complete umbrella of "God's children," a phrase John often used to describe all followers of Christ:

  1. young men=less mature believers
  2. fathers=mature believers

Regardless of the word choice, John’s letter is intended for both men and women.

  • Even though 1 John is usually included in a list of epistles (the New Testament books that were written as letters to churches) it seems to be something different. Most Bible scholars and teachers think 1 John was written as a sermon or lesson that could be carried from church to church and read aloud to the people.
  • 1 John doesn’t move step-by-step through the main points like this:
  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D

Instead, 1 John has a few major points that it keeps cycling through, sort of like this:

  1. ABCD
  2. ABCD
  3. ABCD
  4. ABCD

Extra Verses

❮

John 1:1-18

Extra Things

❮

Listen to the song and spoken word below about Jesus, the Light of the world.