That which was from the beginning…, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which….our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word {who is life. ·That life was made visible and we saw it.}... ·My dear children [Gr. teknia], I write this to YOU[i] so that YOU will not sin… ·We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands… ·If anyone obeys his Word, God's love is truly [matured in this one]… ·I write to YOU, dear children, because YOUR sins have been forgiven on account of his name. (1 John 1:1-2; 2:1a,3,5a,12 NIV {JB} [S4A]) 

·I am writing to YOU, fathers, because YOU know him who is from the beginning;

I am writing to YOU, young people, because YOU have {overcome} the evil one.

·I write to YOU, children [Gr. paidia], because YOU know the Father;

I write to YOU, fathers, because YOU know him who is from the beginning;

I write to YOU, young people, because YOU are strong, and the Word of God abides in YOU.

·Children [paidia], ·…YOU have been anointed by the Holy One… ·I write to YOU because…YOU know the truth, and YOU know that no lie comes from the truth. (2:13-14,18a,20-21 NRSV {NIV}) 

Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father. ·See that what YOU have heard from the beginning {abides} in YOU! If it does, YOU also will {abide} in the Son and in the Father. ·He has promised us…eternal life. ·I am writing these things to YOU about those who are trying to lead YOU astray … ·Dear children, {abide} in him… {Beloved}, we are [sons and daughters] [Gr. tekna][ii] of God…; ·we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ·Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (2:23b-25,28; 3: 2-3 NIV {NRSV} [own translation])

Dear children, do not let anyone lead YOU astray!… ·Do not be surprised, {brothers and sisters}, if the world hates YOU…·YOU, dear children, are from God and have overcome them... ·If we love one another, God lives in us and his love, [having been matured, is in us]. ·We know we {abide} in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ·…The Father has sent [the Son] to be the Savior of the world. ·If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ·So we know and rely on the love God has for us. (3:7,13; 4:4,12b-16a NIV {NRSV} [S4A])

In this letter John speaks to all the believers as a ‘father’, using the affectionate form of address, ‘dear children’ [Gr. teknia] fivetimes in the above verses. Yet while he uses the Greek word for actual ‘children’ [Gr. paidia] to address some of them, he speaks to most of them as ‘beloved’ fellow adults (‘we’) who are first and foremost God's ‘sons and daughters’ [tekna][ii] and his ‘brothers and sisters’ in Christ. This distinction becomes important when John uses two different terms to address these fellow adults. So when he refers to ‘children’, ‘young people’ and ‘fathers’, he is speaking about three different levels of development in the Father's family.

To those at the earliest stage of development—underage children and new believers)—John reminds them: ‘YOU know the Father’. In other words, these ‘children’ already know the Father's character because they are in a relationship with him through Jesus. They need to be reminded, however, that their heavenly Father is like Jesus and not like the absent, demanding, or abusive fathers that many of them have (Med.#2). Nor is he like the distant, unpredictable and vindictive divinity that people in many religious groups are taught to be afraid of. This is especially important since learning to walk like Jesus walked is like learning to walk as a child. You fall down a lot. So if you sin, you can confidently come to your Father and confess it, since he doesn't need anyone—not even by Jesus—to convince him to forgive you. Because of Jesus your have been forgiven, and ‘YOU know’ the truth about your Father's character. Secondly, John reminds them that they too have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who faithfully guides them (Med.#57); brings Jesus and the Father close to them—reminding them of all that Jesus taught (Med.#51) and of who they are in him. He even helps them know how to pray so they can become more like Jesus (Med.#5). For it is this hope, not fear of judgment that motivates them to seek to live holy lives. So they mustn't let any lies lead them again down the dark path of fear (Med.#52).

Believers who have become adult ‘young people’, the next stage of development, are those in whom the Word of God abides, and those who have overcome the evil one. Young adult sons and daughters of the Father have learned that submitting their lives to Jesus does not suddenly make things easier. After giving my life to Jesus at age eight, I became even more aware of my vulnerability to the temptations of the evil one. Yet I was fortunate to grow up in a family where we memorized portions of God's Word, and in a church where the pastor himself taught a Bible course for all the young teenagers in the congregation. Nevertheless, it was only at age sixteen that I started digging daily into God's Word for myself. And the more I sought to obey Jesus' commandments, the stronger I became in experiencing a genuine relationship with God by his Spirit, and in dealing with temptations. For in his Word, I saw how Jesus had demonstrated adult fellowship with the Father in the Spirit. And while sharing our human weakness and vulnerability to temptation (Med.#7), he overcame the evil one through confident obedience to the Father based on his knowledge of the Scriptures (Med.#26). In the same way, John says, we too can avoid the devil's dark paths: of compromise (Med.#53), of becoming the cause of broken fellowship with brothers and sisters (Med.#54), and of becoming deceived by ones who used to walk with us in the church (Med.#55).

Some of the believers, however, have ‘gone out into the world’ and have become ‘false prophets’ by denying one or more important things about Jesus—like saying that he was not really God's promised Messiah, or that he didn't really ‘come in the flesh’ but only possessed a special spiritual quality. So John reminds the faithful believers that they are all able to test the spirits and discern the difference between lies and the truth—even the youngest ones. Yet his words of encouragement to the ‘young people’ and to the ‘fathers’ in the churches show that we need more than just the Holy Spirit's help if we are going to abide in the Father and the Son—and in the truth that we ‘have heard from the beginning’. And we need the strength that comes from God's Word and from one another. ‘Young’ men and women who have gained experience in overcoming the evil one, through their deep roots in the Scriptures, can encourage younger ones. And those who have become ‘fathers’ have an additional dimension of spiritual authority that is a source of strength to their younger brothers and sisters. And this, John says twice, doesn't come from a leadership position, but from a deep relationship with ‘him who is from the beginning’.

The opening sentences of John's letter show us what he has in mind. As one of the Twelve, John had enjoyed a deep relationship with Jesus as a human being he could physically relate to. But after witnessing Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, and after receiving the Holy Spirit, John came to know Jesus also as ‘the Word who is life’: who had existed ‘from the beginning’ with God, who himself is God (Jn.1:1,14). Spiritual ‘fathers’, according to John, are those who have matured in the Father's love by obediently walking with him long enough, like Jesus did on earth, so that they reflect the light of his character no matter how dark it gets. For they know Jesus as more than just the Messiah who does something for us. They have come to know him as the divine and human ‘Savior of the world’—the unquenchable Light in whom we already enjoy eternal life and fellowship with the Father (Med.#52, Jn.1:4-5; 17:1-3). And so their lives model a confident faith in their Father's love and in his transforming purposes, even when the Gospel doesn't seem to be having much impact on the world, and when the people around them regard Christians as foolish or even hateful.

If you are a follower of Jesus, is John speaking to you today as a new believer who needs to be reminded: that you too know the Father, and that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is also in you? If so, are you seeking to mature in the Father's love by taking time regularly to abide in his Word, so you can overcome the evil one when he tempts you? Or are you one of the ‘young people’ who already has a fair bit of experience in both areas, yet still finds it difficult to know Jesus as the Savior of the world who is both human and divine? If you are a ‘father’, are you letting ‘younger’ believers get to know you, so that they can draw strength from your confident relationship with Jesus? Are you also showing them how to draw strength from the Word and the Spirit themselves, as they learn to walk with the Father like Jesus did—through the battlefield of this world?

Father, thank you that I can know you and your love, based on what I see in Jesus. Fill me with the revelation and wisdom that come from your Holy Spirit—as I meditate on your wonders and obey your Word, so that I might know you, Father. And know you, Jesus: the Word from the beginning who is life, and the Word made flesh who is the Savior of the world. Strengthen me according to your Word as I hide it in my heart so that I might live in accord to it like Jesus did—as a son (or daughter) whoovercomes the power of this world and the evil one. (1 Jn.2:14,5-6; 1:2; 4:9-10,14; 3:1; 5:4; Jn.14:9; 17:3; 1:14 Eph.3:19; 5:18; 1:17; Ps.119:27-28,17,9-10)

[i] As in my own translations, I use ‘YOU’ in caps when the 2^nd person pronoun and verb forms in Greek are plural.

[ii] On why I render the Greek plural words tekna as ‘sons and daughters’, see Med.#5, footnote [ii].