1 John 2

There is a present value, a current-moment power, to the blood of Jesus Christ. We have an advocate with the Father right now. Jesus is presenting His sinless perfection to the Father on our behalf. He speaks the persuasive truth of his own righteousness and of His sacrificial death for us as our propitiatory sacrifice. His innocent blood turns away the wrath of God that would have certainly come against us as guilty sinners. We are forgiven and we are alive.

For all who have been born of God, love is the fulfillment of the Law. Commandment keeping can be nothing more than living a life of Christ-like love in accord with the revealed will of God in the Scriptures. If we know God, the only way to enjoy the security of that love is in following Him by loving like Jesus did. Every other pathway of devotion only steals from our sense of well-being.

The command to love God and others in imitation of God Himself is a very old Law. Even before any father says a word about it, a son learns that the way to show admiration for his Father is by imitating his way of life. The imitation of God has always been a part of our honest worship of our ultimate Superior. But now this old commandment has a new example before our eyes, for the Son of God has more clearly shown to us what this divine love really is. We are to love one another as Jesus loves us. This is the perfection of obedience.

If we walk in the light of Christ, how can we still hate? We find ourselves easily turning against those who we should love the most. Our “loved ones” have not met our expectations. Our progress in love is tested by our response to those closest to us who disappoint us, or who show us disrespect.

God places before you the contrast of darkness and light, love and hate. Which will you choose? The cross is calling us to be more than inconvenienced for the blessing and happiness of others who we say that we love. If the present value of the blood of Christ is living in us, the love that we live out will expand, even reaching our enemies.

The love of Christ should especially be seen in our care for others in the church, the community that testifies together that our sins have been forgiven. In this glorious household, some are little children in the Lord. Others are to be examples as fathers in the faith. Some have the energy and excitement of youth. This is not to be despised. It has its place alongside the maturity of those who have been serving God patiently for many years. All are important in resisting evil, and all can benefit from the apostolic Word.

We are fellow laborers in mission and the Lord is our Commander. We love heaven, so we will not be distracted with the passions of the earth. The current age calls us to entangling affections, demanding our highest loyalties. We testify together that our King died for our sins, and won for us a realm of light. We are a living display of the love of another world. Therefore we resist the eager desires that captivate so many all around us. This age is continually clamoring for more, and can never be satisfied. Our eager desire is for Christ, so we give ourselves away in mercy to others out of reverence for Him.

This age is passing away, but the age that Christ won for us is forever. In this time of temporary passions and the pride of men, those who oppose Christ and His eternal kingdom would distract us from the King and the way of life that He has prepared for us. We need to be alert, and we need to stay together as those who call upon the Name of the Lord in worship.

The era between the resurrection of Jesus and the final resurrection is “the last hour.” The true length of that brief hour is in the Lord's hands. Life in this hour requires discernment. Many antichrists have been seeking to distract the church from her Lord. They may even seem to be a part of the church, but they are not really of us. The wheat and the weeds will grow together for a little more time, but at the end of the age the reapers will come and will flawlessly separate one group from the other.

Even now some expose themselves as antichrists by going out from the church. They cling to strange doctrines, denying the Lord and the truth that He has spoken to us in His Word. By the Spirit of God, the church is kept in the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done. By a different spirit, the spirit of Antichrist, liars seek to sow weeds in the Lord's field, denying both the Father and the Son, hoping to turn many away from the life of humble and honest service.

By the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we have embraced the message of the Father and the Son. This message stretches from before the beginning of creation through the present age and into eternity. This one good Word is the same throughout all the generations of God's saving work. It is a Word that abides in His people, a Word that testifies to us of our need for a Redeemer, and of God's provision for us in Jesus, our righteous Substitute. If we truly have this eternal Christ, then we also have His everlasting Father. If we do not confess the Son, we do not have the Father either.

The Word and Spirit that abide in us teach us the difference between what is true, and therefore should be embraced, and what is false, and therefore should be rejected. As the children of God in Jesus Christ we have embraced the Savior who died for us, and now we abide in Him. We are waiting for for Him to appear, and as we wait, we serve. We devote ourselves to the imitation of the Father and the Son, for we truly know God, and we love Him, for we are born of God.