1 John; 2 John; 3 John

John began his gospel by establishing the foundation that Jesus, the word of God, IS God. By the Word of God – Jesus – the universe was spoken into existence. As God in human form – the Word become flesh – Jesus is the unconquerable light that conquers the darkness in this world through sin.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5

Therefore, it should be no surprise when this same foundation is laid down in John’s epistles. The eternal Word and eternal Light revealed God to the world in the person of Jesus who is God, the Son. In truth alone is fellowship between God and people possible.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 3:12-21

While John 3:16 is a beautiful statement of our trusting belief – faith – in Jesus as the Son of God unto salvation, there is much more that Jesus was trying to teach Nicodemus. By definition, darkness is the absence of light. Beginning with Eve and Adam, human choose sin (darkness) over light (God). Because of this, the only recourse to save us was for God to become a man to bring Light back to us. God became one of us because we could not grope in the darkness and find our way back to Him. It is a profoundly tragic state with a profoundly wonderful solution.

John’s three epistles are an ever-present encouragement to know that our fellowship in IN the Light and we must walk IN the Light. The Greek verb “meno” means “to remain, to continue, to dwell or to abide”. We find the word “abide”, “abides” or “abiding” 23 times in 17 verses in First John and then another 3 times in 2 verses in Second John. Through John, the Holy Spirit needs us to understand the urgency of remaining (“abiding”) in the fellowship we have in the Light. To abide in the Light is to abide in Christ … to abide in Christ is to abide in truth … to abide in truth is to abide in love.

Interestingly, on the night He was betrayed, Jesus spoke extensively on this crucial and essential matter. Although the older translations use the very unfortunate word “mansions”, John 14:2 contains the blessed promise of Jesus that there is room for whosoever will come into fellowship (“My Father’s House”) with God through Him. Jesus uses the noun form (“dwelling places”, “rooms”, or “abiding places”) of the verb “meno”. Fellowship with God is NOT living in a mansion in God’s neighborhood, but instead is living securely in God’s House – the church (1 Timothy 3:15). Later, in John 14:23, Jesus said that when we obey truth, God (the Father and Son) will come and “make His abode with us”. Finally, Jesus teaches the fellowship of the True Vine. Presenting Himself as the Vine and Christians as the branches, Jesus uses the term “abide” 10 times in 11 verses to describe “walking in the Light” as a connected fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

In John’s gospel and three epistles, this unmistakable teaching is revealed to us. Obedience in love is both the establishment of our fellowship with God and the continuation of that saving fellowship. As children of God, we love God, love truth and love His children.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:3-11

Love for God. Love for truth. Love for the church. It is a choice we all must make. Will we walk the illuminated pathway to heaven, or will we love the world and walk on the highway to hell blinded by darkness? John says walk to the light … and abide there!

Consider His nature.  Consider His ways.  Strive to love Him more!