Take out the elephant (1 John 2:15)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15

I used to love this joke as a kid:

How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Open the fridge door. Put in the elephant. Close the door.

How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? Open the fridge door. Take out the elephant. Then, put in the giraffe. Close the door.

In 1 John 2:15, the bible says the reason we do not have the love of the Father in us is because our hearts are already filled with love for the world.

So? Take out the elephant – I mean, the love for the world – and make room for our Father’s love.

No greater joy (3 John 4)

In Sunday School, kids are taught that JOY stands for Jesus, Others and Yourself. That is the secret to joy – putting Jesus first and others before yourself. J-O-Y.

(Conversely, getting the order wrong and putting yourself first; others second; and Jesus last means you end up with YOJ instead. “I’ve got YOJ, YOJ, YOJ, YOJ, YOJ in my heart!”)

In the bible we find the apostle John expressing just such joy.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 4

This is an amazing statement. “No greater joy,” says John. Numbered among the twelve apostles, he had spent time with Jesus in the flesh; sat under the Lord’s feet during his preaching ministry; seen powerful miracles of healing, exorcism, the feeding of the five thousand, the calming of the storm; witnessed the events of the crucifixion. Yet here John says his greatest longing is to hear that these new believers in the faith were “walking in the truth”.

This is the same expression of joy consistently found in all three of John’s letters in the New Testament. It is rather memorable as all three occur in the fourth verse of each letter.

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
1 John 1:4

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
2 John 4 (NIV)

It sounds a lot like a father’s pride in his son or daughter’s accomplishment. It is the kind of selfless pride over someone whom you love and feel a deep affection for. It is a joy that seeks another’s good. It is satisfaction that comes from seeing another’s blessing.

Yet this isn’t quite the sentiment John is expressing. It isn’t their accomplishments he is proud of as much as the believers’ obedience that the apostle rejoices in. They are “walking in the truth”. Or put it another way: For John, joy means seeing others put Jesus first.

That is why it is so important for John that his children know this “truth”. It is the truth of the gospel – that God has saved us through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. John is concerned to remind believers to remain in this truth (1 John 2:24). And when he hears that they have, he rejoices.

Who are the people in your life you most love? That person who means so much to you. Someone who has been there with you through thick and thin. For whom it is so easy for you to thank God for. Just thinking of them brings a smile to your face?

Will you pray for them to put Jesus first in their lives? Have you told them the truth that will allow them to do this – to walk according to the truth of God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ?

If you have, you too will know this greatest of joys. Of putting Jesus first, in the lives of others, who matter the most to you.

Do you know God? (1 John 2:3-6)

You are walking down the street and someone with a microphone walks up to you and asks, “Do you know God?” What would you say?

I think most of us would hesitate to answer. Even if you’re a Christian, I think you might be more confident answering questions like “Do you go to church?” or “Do you believe in God?”

Some hesitate because they are embarrassed. Doesn’t it sound arrogant to claim that you know God? After all, doesn’t the bible itself say that God is invisible? (1 John 4:12, Colossians 1:15, Romans 1:20) Who can really be sure?

Yet the bible does want us to be sure.

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
1 John 2:3-6

John says you know God if you know and obey his word. “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.” Still, the comparison he makes is not between a Christian and a non-Christian but between two people who both claim to know God. And John says one of them is a liar. He is the person who does not obey God’s command.

Specifically this is the command to love one another (2:10, echoing Jesus’ words to his disciples in John 15:9-17). What is remarkable about the letter of 1 John is how this command to Christians to love one another is repeated again and again, yet not once is it framed in terms of doing good or being moral. Instead, John says the one who loves his brother in living in truth and the one who hates his brother is living a lie.

You don’t need to be a Christian to know the importance of showing love to the people around you. Both Christians and non-Christians display sacrificial love every day – a mother’s love for her child, the soldier’s love for his country by laying down his life on the battlefield. Yet such love is understood as either a social, emotional or moral response. Some might even say it is a basic human quality to be found in each one of us to some degree or other.

Yet here, the New Testament document of 1 John speaks candidly and abundantly about love – love for man and love for God – but John never ever calls it a mere human emotion. Instead, John defines the love of a true believer as a rational, decisive, response to the truth of the gospel. Here, love is commanded. Here, the object of love is specific – love for God and not love for the world – the two are mutually exclusive. Here, love is a test of the Christian’s integrity – Is he is she really a Christian?

Or in other words, does he or she really know God?

In part, John writes this letter to combat the rising threat of false teachers. They were denying that Jesus was the Christ (2:22) and were trying to lead the church astray (2:26).

But John’s main purpose is to reassure us as Christians. He writes these words near the end of his letter.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13

These are such encouraging words! He is writing to Christians (“you who believe in the name of the Son of God”) to assure them that they have been saved (“so that you may know that you have eternal life”). Or putting it another way: John is reminding those who are saved that they have been saved.

Which means: there are Christians who are not sure of their salvation. Which means: Christians will sometimes struggle with their own faith. There will be times of difficulty, depression and doubt. And John writes these words to those who have been saved so that they know they have been saved and so that they can be sure of their salvation.

The key word in this verse is “know”. “So that you may know that you have eternal life”. In response to the question, “Do you know God?” The bible wants us as Christians to be able to answer confidently, “Yes!”

Yet the bible anticipates times when we will be unsure. In fact, the bible expects it. That is why it keeps bringing us back again and again to the same truth of the gospel – to Jesus on the cross and his effective work of redeeming sinners through his death and resurrection. This is the supreme display of God’s love for us. The cross is the one foundation of all Christian assurance.

But it is also the basis of God’s command for believers to love one another. The command to love is given us for God’s glory – as a display of his goodness and grace. But the main argument in 1 John is that this command to love another is given us for our good. It is for our assurance.

So much so: that when our conscience condemns us or when we struggle in prayer, John will remind us of the importance of both trusting in Jesus and loving one another (1 John 3:23). To be clear, our love does not save us, God’s love does. Christians trust in the one foundational truth that Jesus has saved us. But we must also be able to see this truth working out in our lives through obedience. God’s love for us in Jesus produces the fruit of love in the believer. It means that the authentic Christian life is one marked by growing obedience to God’s word.

Conversely, the person who claims to know God, yet lives in disobedience to his will is foolishly living a lie. John warns us against deceiving ourselves.

Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
1 John 2:4

Do you know God? Maybe for you, the humble – if not, honest answer is No. If so, the bible’s simple and clear answer to you is: know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. That’s how you come to know God. Through Jesus, God provides a way for sinful men and women to know him as their heavenly Father, by pouring out the punishment for their sins upon Jesus on the cross.

Yet some might answer, “Yes, I think I’m sure. I wish could be more certain, though. And I want to know God better.” To you, John reminds you of the same truth of the gospel – of the death of Jesus on your behalf securing your status as sons of God. But he also wants to draw your attention to the display of God’s grace working in your life moulding you to become more and more like Jesus – in your walk of obedience before God and in your love for other believers.

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
1 John 2:3-6

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:7-12