Last night’s Bible study looked at 1 John 2:12-14, John’s ‘reasons for writing’ as the heading in the NIV calls this section. Here, John writes to three main categories of people: ‘dear children,’ ‘young men’ and ‘fathers’, but rather than taking these words literally, we looked at how they symbolise the three main ages (or stages) of our Christian walk: being a new Christian, growing in the faith and becoming more mature. We have to go through all these stages (none can be omitted; there are – alas! – no shortcuts to maturity), but in some ways, we can exist in all three stages at once, being more mature in some areas than in others. We thought of this rather like a music equaliser, where the levels are different, allowing for different volumes of different frequencies, so that we may be more advanced in ‘faith’ (for example), but still struggling with ‘patience’.
The ideal (in Christian terms, but not necessarily in musical terms, of course!) would be for all the sliders to be at the top, meaning we are fully mature in all areas of life and faith, but as our series ‘Growing Up In God’ has discussed, this will not be until we see Jesus face to face! In the meantime, we are all works in progress.
John writes about different aspects of understanding and growth associated with the three different stages. Firstly, he talks about forgiveness of sins on account of Jesus’s name. Accepting God’s free gift of salvation can be hard for us to believe, inured as we are to the world’s maxims that ‘if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!’ and ‘there’s nothing free in this world.’ We may start well, but often fall back on the belief that we have to earn God’s approval or forgiveness, instead of understanding that the basics of the faith – salvation through grace, forgiveness of sin, God’s unconditional love for us – remain true throughout every stage of our walk with God.
As we grow and mature, we encounter opposition and attacks from the enemy. The devil, unlike God, is not creative or inventive, however. His tactics and strategies remain predictable (and sadly their predictability alone is no guarantee of our overcoming them, for they are effective and we are often weak!) As we journey through life, we come to recognise these tactics, however, and learn strategies from God to overcome the evil one. Knowing and applying God’s word is crucial in this (see Ps 119:9, Prov 30:5, Is 40:8, Luke 11:28, Eph 6:17, 2 Tim 2:15, Heb 4:12) We overcome the evil one ultimately because God’s Word lives in us; just as Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the enemy in the wilderness temptations (Matt 4:1-11), so too as we grow and mature, this becomes our weapon.
Knowing God is, according to John, the pinnacle of maturity: the fathers ‘have known him who is from the beginning.’ John Stott says this speaks of a ‘deeper, ripened communion.’ The more time we spend with someone, the more we know them and this is true of our relationship with God as well. We know their characters and their characteristics; we know how they act and react and can predict what they will do in particular situations. The more we know God, the more we can assess and judge whether something is ‘like Him’. That does not mean we can ever entirely predict how He will work (for He is eternally creative and far greater than our capacity for understanding!), but we can see His hand of love and mercy even in difficult situations and circumstances. So often, we think of knowing God as being at the start of our Christian journey, but eternal life is all about knowing God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3) and so this knowledge remains essential to maturity.